St. Luke's, Ramsgate

Wisdom involves making choices that help us live good, happy and worthwhile choices. In Ephesians 5:15, Paul urges us to live as wise. In fact, Ephesians 4 and 5 is all about how to live in the light of the fact that God has made us alive in Christ.

This week Claire Coleman takes us through some of the do's and don'ts in Ephesians and shows us that they are part of a detailed call to be like Jesus and grow out of a life that has its eyes fixed on him.

We live in a world, where the church appears riven by division and many reject the possibility of absolute truth - especially when it comes to talking about religion. Yet, Paul's vision for the church is that sharing the truth helps us grow in love and unity. How does this work?

Colin Gale reflects on Ephesians 3 and how it speaks of love in three dimensions - as lived out by the apostle and by the church as they respond to the fathomless love of Christ.

Paul is talking about the transformation Jesus makes in our lives. In this passage he focuses on the transformation in relationships for those who come to Christ. Our differences no longer matter. This week's preacher is Claire Coleman,

This week we see the big picture of the transformation that happens when we become a Christian. We are made alive! Paul describes the before and after of being a Christian, the move from a kind of zombie-life, to a new life in Christ.

As Paul seeks to encourage his readers to see the big picture of what they have in Christ, he tells them that he prays that they will truly grasp the amazing access to God’s power they have in Christ.

Ephesians gives us the BIG picture of what it means to be a Christian, to be ‘in Christ’. This opening section reminds us of some of the amazing blessings we have ‘in Christ.’

Under Nehemiah and Ezra the people of Jerusalem showed a renewed devotion to the word of God. It was part of the rebuilding of a community that moved God's people from disgrace to distinction and enabled them to flourish for hundreds of years. What lessons can we learn as God's people today?

Leadership is one of the gifts given to some people for the sake of the church (Romans 12:4-8), but how are we to lead well? What does it mean to govern diligently? What kind of leadership is caring? What kind of leadership should we give? What kind of leadership should we look for and encourage? How do we support caring leadership? Nehemiah gives us a great example of leadership.

As Christians how do we respond to the challenges we face? When Nehemiah heard about the state of Jerusalem, he saw it as a challenge to deal with. His foundational response was to pray. In this talk we look at Nehemiah’s prayer and what we can learn about praying as we face challenges today.

What does it mean to say God is ‘holy’? Why is it important to understand the holiness of God? These questions are answered in this talk as we look at Isaiah’s amazing vision of God.

At times the people of God face moments when they feel like they have been totally abandoned or rejected by God. The Israelites felt like that when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians and they were left languishing in exile. It felt like there hope was gone, they were cut off. Ezekiel’s vision reminds them that no matter how desperate their situation, God is able to bring them back.

Does it matter what we believe? Sometimes it does. Sometimes it can be a matter of life and death. John here shows us that what we believe about Jesus is a matter of eternal life and warns us against some of the lies that may risk our salvation.

Why should we love other Christians? What does this love look like? How easy is it to love in this way? What has all this to do with true faith? These are questions that 1 John keeps coming back to and answering in slightly different ways as he strengthens our desire to love one another more and more.

If we belong to a church does it matter if we really believe in what God has done for us in Jesus? If we have a ‘personal relationship with God’ does it really matter if we go to church? Should we just carry on watching services in the comfort of our home once the restrictions are lifted on church services? All of these questions are answered by the simple statement: “God is love.” Check out this...

We talk a lot about love and its importance, but do we ever ask ourselves what we mean by ‘love’? In 1 John we are called to love one another as Christians, but we are also shown what love is through the lens of the cross.

Often to show things are definite and certain they are said or done three times. In this epilogue to John’s gospel not only does Jesus certify his resurrection by appearing for the third time to his disciples, but he has a three-fold conversation with Jesus to undo Peter’s three-fold denial.

Many people find the idea of Jesus being resurrected from the dead completely unbelievable. It is just not possible for dead people to come alive again. Thomas one of Jesus’s closest disciples was one of those people. He had been told by ten other disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead, but he refused to believe. Then the risen Jesus appeared to him…

Mary is distraught at the death of Jesus. Her one consolation is that she can care for his dead body. Then she discovers it is missing! Yet, in the midst of her grief she discovers an amazing truth.

Jesus is brought to Pilate, the Roman governor, the most powerful person in Judea, the only one who can officially condemn Jesus to death. The Jewish leaders demand that Jesus be executed. Who has the real power here? What is the truth about what is happening? What kind of king is Jesus?

Peter is flabbergasted that Jesus would wash his feet. How can the one who is Messiah degrade himself and act like the lowest of slaves? Yet, Jesus’s actions are designed to help Peter understand some very important truths.

How does an ancient Psalm, mothering Sunday and the film Terminator connect? This talk looks at a vision for the future as we seek to pass on the great truths of God's saving works and his rules for life from generation to generation.

This week we look at another song of praise. It is a psalm that focuses on what God is like and what God does. However, we tend to put into practice what we praise and become like those we worship, so as we consider what God does we find ourselves wanting to act like him.

The Psalms are a great collection of songs of the people of God. They include a great variety of expressions of human experience and emotion but conclude with an emphatic call to praise God. Psalm 150 is the ultimate climax which briefly explains why we should praise God, then tells us to do so with a variety of instruments suggesting we should do so corporately and creatively. This has much to sh...