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A baby had been promised
A baby had been promised
by Andrew Pratt
A baby had been promised, a child had come to birth whose counsel should be honoured by everyone on earth. His presence was first signalled in unexpected ways by shepherds and by Magi who came to offer praise. Verses 2-3 follow © Andrew Pratt 19/1/2014 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) …
The Pastoral Letters - The Mystery of Godliness
The Pastoral Letters - The Mystery of Godliness
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Mystery of Godliness 1Timothy 3.14-16 The senior officer investigating the case consulted his colleagues once more, and then went out to speak to the waiting press. ‘I’m sorry to say’, he said, ‘that the incident remains a complete mystery. There is no explanation for what ha…
The Pastoral Letters - God's Revealed Plan
The Pastoral Letters - God's Revealed Plan
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Revealed Plan Titus 1.1-4 ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ It’s the standard question children face from well-meaning adults. Often the answers are surprising. A ballet dancer. A gardener. This girl wants to run a bookshop. This boy wants to play the oboe. Sometim…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Paul's Appeal to His Children
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Paul's Appeal to His Children
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul’s Appeal to His Children Galatians 4.12-20 The French teacher was a strict disciplinarian. We weren’t allowed to speak a word of English during the classes, and neither did he. Everything, even trivial comments or requests, had to be made in French. He was determined that we…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday of Epiphany Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday of Epiphany Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Epiphany Isaiah 62.1–5 1 Corinthians 12.1–11 John 2.1–11 Nuptial imagery rings through the Bible like a peal of wedding bells. The first two chapters of Genesis reach their climax in the creation of man and woman in God’s image; the last two chapters of Rev…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - The Sinner
The Womens' Bible Commentary - The Sinner
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Sinner Accounts of a woman anointing Jesus appear in all four Gospels: Mark 14:3–9; Matthew 26:6–13; John 12:1–8; Luke 7:36–50. Critics are puzzled about exactly how the accounts are related. What seems likely is that one event lies behind them, an event that was changed radi…
Meeting God in Paul - 3c Living in the new creation
Meeting God in Paul - 3c Living in the new creation
by SPCK - Rowan Williams
Living in the new creation In 2 Corinthians 5.17, Paul says that to be baptized in commitment to Jesus is to become or to be involved in a ‘new creation’. Everything is beginning again because the real universe (as distinct from the fantasy world of our fear, selfishness, greed, …
the historical character of Jesus - 2b The ‘earthly Jesus’ as character in Acts
the historical character of Jesus - 2b The ‘earthly Jesus’ as character in Acts
by SPCK - David Allen
“The witnessed one”: Jesus in Acts Whatever one’s reason for so doing, the task of engaging with the book of Acts is fraught with interpretative questions. The discourse has two distinct textual traditions – the so-called Western and Alexandrian versions, with not insignificant v…
Great Christian Thinkers - 66 Marguerite D'Oingt
Great Christian Thinkers - 66 Marguerite D'Oingt
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Marguerite D'Oingt With Marguerite d’Oingt, we are introduced to Carthusian spirituality, which draws its inspiration from the evangelical synthesis lived and proposed by St. Bruno. We do not know the date of her birth, although some place it around 1240. Marguerite came from a p…
Meeting God in Paul - Introduction
Meeting God in Paul - Introduction
by SPCK - Rowan Williams
Introduction Trying to write a very short book about St Paul feels a bit risky: from the early centuries of the Christian Church until now, the great minds of Christianity have worked out their thoughts in lengthy and impassioned dialogue with Paul’s letters, and the quantity and…
Dealing with Failure
Dealing with Failure
by Roger Johnson
Evangelism Bulletin 267 – Dealing with Failure It was one of those days when my heart leapt with joy. I looked at the lectionary to see what reading was set for my Sunday service and it was one of my favourite passages. It was the encounter which Simon Peter and some of the other…
Hymn: We will hail the name of Jesus
Hymn: We will hail the name of Jesus
by Michael Docker
We will hail the name of Jesus, Lord of life, of death and birth; We'll proclaim his healing spirit Over all the wounds of earth: We'll proclaim him, (we'll proclaim him) Over all the wounds of earth. We will stand by Christ for ever, Hail his rising, his return, We'll proclaim h…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The ox, the herd, and the drivers
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The ox, the herd, and the drivers
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The ox, the herd, and the drivers Luke’s characterization The gospels’ stories involve three main protagonists – Jesus himself, his disciples and the religious leaders of his day, with three storylines developing en route to their shared climax at the death and resurrection. So l…
God’s messenger‚ in times long past
God’s messenger‚ in times long past
by Norman J Goreham (1931-2021)
The final stanza of this hymn attempts to recapture something of the atmosphere of Candlemas as described by St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, c 560- 638: “Our bright shining candles are a sign of the divine splendour of the One who comes to expel the dark shadows of ev…
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