Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
The lectionary reading for Easter 7, the last Sunday of the Easter Season before Pentecost, is the first part ‘great prayer’ of Jesus in John 17.1–11. The lectionary divides the chapter into three parts over Years A, B and C, which either assumes that preachers and people have a good memory from year to year, …
The Sunday gospel lectionary reading for the Second Sunday in Easter is John 20.19–31, which includes Jesus’ encounter with so-called ‘doubting Thomas’. It is the set reading for this week in all three years of the lectionary, so we know it well—and need to reflect on it if we are going to preach effectively on …
The Sunday gospel lectionary reading for the Second Sunday in Easter is John 20.19–31, which includes Jesus’ encounter with so-called ‘doubting Thomas’. It is the set reading for this week in all three years of the lectionary, so we know it well—and need to reflect on it if we are going to preach effectively on …
The discovery by two disciples of the empty tomb, and Mary Magdelene’s encounter with Jesus, in John 20.1–18, is one of the main options for the gospel reading for Easter Sunday in Year C (the alternative is Luke 24.1–12). And it is, in many ways, the most appealing choice, because of its polished literary form, …
The gospel lectionary reading for Lent 3 is John 4.5-42, probably the longest reading in the lectionary! It is strange contrast with readings a few weeks ago from the Fourth Gospel which were only a few verses. We are continuing with our progress through the catechetical pattern of the readings in Lent, looking at encounters …
The gospel lectionary reading for Lent 3 is John 4.5-42, probably the longest reading in the lectionary! The story is well-known—but common interpretations of the story are worth examining carefully. The woman is in some sense an ambiguous figure, but perhaps not in the ways we might expect. Join James and Ian and they explore …
The Sunday lectionary gospel reading for Lent 2 in Year A is Nicodemus’ meeting with Jesus in John 3.1–17. Although we are supposed to be reading from Matthew’s gospel, and the RCL used ecumenically has continued to do so, the lectionary in Common Worship offers us a sequence of four encounters between Jesus and individuals …
The theme for the Tyndale New Testament Study group this year is The Holy Spirit in the New Testament, and we are meeting from Wednesday 5th to Friday 7th July 2023 at High Leigh Conference Centre. As in 2022, we will be meeting simultaneously with the other study groups. We are hopeful that we will …
Should we preach on the Trinity on Trinity Sunday? Or should we preach on the passage in John 16? Or should our preaching always be in some sense ‘Trinitarian’? James and Ian discuss the issue, the details of the text, and some important issues to think about when talking about the Trinity. For full textual …
The Sunday gospel lectionary reading for Trinity Sunday in this Year C is John 16.12–15. It is another very short reading (four verses) from the ‘farewell discourse’ of Jesus, and I think is actually quite a difficult reading to preach from. Like much of this part of the Fourth Gospel, it is reflective, repeats things …
A service was held on Sunday 8th May to mark the 800th anniversary (one day early) of the Synod of Oxford of 9th May 1222 which introduced the first measures against Jews in England, and led to more harsh measures and the eventual expulsion of Jews from England in 1290. This appeared to have encouraged …
