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the greatest prayer - Your Kingdom Come
the greatest prayer - Your Kingdom Come
by SPCK - John Dominic Crossan
4 Your Kingdom Come Thy kingdom come. Matthew 6:10, KJV Your kingdom come. Matthew 6:10, NRSV Hesiod was a Greek pessimist for whom the wineglass of history was half empty—and getting emptier. Around the start of the seventh century BCE his Works and Days proposed that humanity h…
52 Reflections on Faith - Jesus Christ today
52 Reflections on Faith - Jesus Christ today
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
8 Jesus Christ today: ‘Who is Jesus Christ for us today?’ This is the famous question asked by Dietrich Bonhoeffer from his cell in Tegel military prison, Germany, during the last 18 months of his life. Bonhoeffer had been arrested and imprisoned by the Nazis in April 1943. He wa…
52 Reflections on Faith - Palm Sunday: little donkey
52 Reflections on Faith - Palm Sunday: little donkey
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Palm Sunday: little donkey Sometime in the late 1990s the local municipality of Jerusalem denied all donkeys access to the walled Old City. The decision was made primarily on health grounds but it changed the landscape of Jerusalem immediately. Somehow the donkey was a feature of…
Traces of Glory Year B - Proper 21 - Year B
Traces of Glory Year B - Proper 21 - Year B
by SPCK - David Adam
Proper 21 Lord our God, On the way of goodness, if we stumble lift us up; On the way of holiness, if we stay bring us back; On the way of kindness, if we toughen soften our hearts; That we may draw others to you and your saving power, By our words and our example; Though Jesus Ch…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Peter Declares his Faith
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Peter Declares his Faith
by BRF - Dick France
PETER DECLARES his FAITH Caesarea Philippi is the most northerly point of Jesus’ journeys, in a remote non-Jewish area in the foothills of the Mount Hermon range. He takes his disciples not to the town itself but into the countryside, and the whole focus of this part of the story…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Fruitless Fig Tree
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Fruitless Fig Tree
by BRF - Dick France
The FRUITLESS FIG TREE A pointless display of power? Interwoven with Jesus’ attack on the traders in the temple is the story of his cursing and destruction of a fig tree because it had no fruit. Jesus’ other miracles save life and restore health, but this one seems quite out of c…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - In at the kill
Four Gospels, One Jesus - In at the kill
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
In at the kill The Passion, Mark 14—15 At last we come to the ending – the Markan Passion, a dark scene to which the whole gospel has been leading. Jesus has made his way to Jerusalem, and this geographical concentration has brought the conflict into focus: a lion’s story should …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - From four gospels forward to many Jesuses
Four Gospels, One Jesus - From four gospels forward to many Jesuses
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
From four gospels forward to many Jesuses Many interpretations tend to create the subject’s portrait in the author’s own image. Irenaeus applies the four living creatures not only to the evangelists themselves, but also to their portraits of Jesus: the four symbols are ‘images of…
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Central Argument
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Central Argument
by SPCK - N T Wright
Part 1: PAUL AND HIS WORLD Chapter One RETURN OF THE RUNAWAY? 1. A World of Difference (iv) The Central Argument These discussions about the actual situation and the request Paul made have tended, as I said, to make exegetes overlook the point which is just as important in its wa…
Safe in God who always held us
Safe in God who always held us
by Andrew Pratt
Safe in God who always held us from the moment of our birth, still protecting, never resting, till the ending of the earth. God our refuge, loving parent, guiding as our lives proceed; God of providence and comfort seeks to meet our every need. Verse 3 follows Tune: LAUS DEO (Red…
They met within an upper room
They met within an upper room
by Andrew Pratt
They met within an upper room, they wondered at their friend, disciples who had followed, now anticipate the end. The tension here was palpable for he would be betrayed. and yet he spoke of peace to them, they need not be afraid. Verses 3-4 follow Tune: CLAUDIUS (Fink) AKA: BETHE…
Through the silence at creation
Through the silence at creation
by Andrew Pratt
Through the silence at creation colours wove a brilliant light, shimmering rainbows, shards of lightning broke the darkness of the night. Verses 2-3 foolow Tune: SHIPSTON Metre: 8.7.8.7 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 21/7/2013 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer.…
Where the spirit wafts or blows
Where the spirit wafts or blows
by Andrew Pratt
Where the spirit wafts or blows we will never know, sometimes we will see the signs, let the spirit grow. Yet we never have control, God will make the choice, where to rest, or when to move, give the Word a voice. Verses 3-4 follow Tune: TAKE THIS MOMENT; ST AIDAN (Popple) Metre:…
Who is like a king of glory
Who is like a king of glory
by Andrew Pratt
Who is like a king of glory, wielding justice for each nation, bringing equity and freedom way beyond imagination? Representing God to people, shepherd king, as Israel saw him, ruling them with grace and kindness holding whether losing, winning. Verses 3-4 follow Tune: BABYLON’S …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Another Moses?
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Another Moses?
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Another Moses? Beginning ministry, Matthew 3—8.1 In the picture of Matthew in the Lindisfarne Gospels, there is another bearded figure peering out from behind the curtain, holding a book. Some scholars and art historians suggest this might be Moses, with the Law. Certainly, Old T…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The ox in the Temple and the stall
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The ox in the Temple and the stall
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The ox in the Temple and the stall Infancy and beginnings, Luke 1—4.13 Since the ox was the universal beast of burden, it is not surprising that Luke stresses the universal importance of Jesus. We have seen that the opening words of any ancient text were crucial. If Mark is not c…
The Living God - A God who remembers us
The Living God - A God who remembers us
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
A personal God: love and faithfulness 2 A God who remembers us In 2008 I began to research a new biography of C. S. Lewis. This involved reading everything he had written in chronological order, as well as the large amount of literature about him. I came across many early photogr…
The Living God - An almighty God: power, compassion and suffering