St. Luke's, Ramsgate

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3) Join us as we begin our series on Biblical Visions, looking at the vision God had for Abraham and his descendants.

This week’s theme is the secret of wisdom as we focus on Solomon, Israel’s wisest king.

This week's theme is the armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-20). Listen and find out how to be equipped for life's spiritual battles.

This Sunday in our morning worship our reading is 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14 and we hear about the wisdom of Solomon.

This Sunday in our morning worship, using John 6:60-69, we see Jesus answering questions from the crowds and disciples in the wake of his radical statements about who he is after feeding the 5,000.

This week we think about what our motivation is in how we live, and ask ourselves: are we living the wrong life? (John 6:24-35)

Jesus seems superhuman, but is superhuman the right way to describe him? Is there something more going on? If so, what does that mean for us?

“Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.” (Mark 6:41) At the feeding of the 5000 the disciples' role in organizing the people, distributing the bread and loaves, and collecting the leftovers teaches us to participate in God’s work to provide for others and to trust in God’s ability to meet our needs whilst working to show compassion an...

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, this is your true and proper worship." (Romans12:1)

"Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honour except in his home town, among his relatives and in his own home.'" (Mark 6:4) It turns out that procrastination until 'tomorrow' and nostalgia for 'yesterday' are both ways of avoiding the present moment, and the opportunities and the challenges it brings. In living our lives before God, we would be wise to seek the Lord while he may be found,...

"Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."" (Mark 5:36) Both fear and faith can be strong motivators, but they create very different emotions. Fear creates an atmosphere of gloom and despair. Faith produces hope and excitement. Jesus did tell us to fear hell and the temptations of the devil, but there was a stronger emphasis on faith. He inspired people to trust him, offerin...

This Sunday we welcome David Bird, who will be joining us to talk about the work of Compassion. Our Sunday Club support, John, a Compassion child in the Philippines, so it will be great for them to hear about the kind of support that he receives.

Then Jesus said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear!" (Mark 4:9) Have you got “ears to hear”? At one level this saying from Jesus which appears twice in Mark 4 seems to imply that deaf people are excluded and those who are not deaf should listen. But Mark 4 is a chapter full of parables, short stories or images that mean one thing on the surface but are meant to point to a deeper meaning.

“Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:20-35) As followers of Jesus, we are now family – Jesus the radical King is the head of the family and we bear his likeness, sharing his power and authority – sharing the ways of his kingdom and living in obedience – we have a family business of living out God’s kingdom in word and deed. Let’s encourage each other in that task.

Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27-28) God commanded the Sabbath for our good. As Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made for man.” Yes, Jesus also challenged the legalism that had been built up from human tradition around what could or could not be done on the Sabbath, because those Sabbath regulations...

'The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.' (Romans 8:16-17a) This week we celebrate Trinity Sunday where we reflect on the mystery and wonder of God, being Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is not some sort of abstract description of God. The Trinity bears witness to the fact tha...

"And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." (Ephesians 2:22) This weekend Fiona and I celebrate twenty years serving at St. Luke’s in Ramsgate. God has been at work during those twenty years. People have come to faith and others have found a Christian home and family within the church or been helped in their walk of discipleship. People come...

"They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers." (Acts 1:14) The book of Acts starts with the wonderful period of Jesus’ resurrection appearances, where he proves to his numerous disciples that he was truly raised from the dead. But then, Jesus leaves and ascends to heaven. Before doing so what does he tell the disciples to...

"One thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14) So, after our lives have ended, what will come next? At one level it’s apparent that our material ‘waste’ will be reconstituted into something different. In funeral services the words of c...

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." (1 Corinthians 15:20) The Christian belief in life beyond death is one we can have confidence in because it is rooted in the historic event of Jesus’ actual resurrection. He is the first fruits of those who die, meaning that our life beyond death will be ultimately like his, a bodily physical resur...

Easter is not over! We hear about Thomas, who on meeting the resurrected Jesus found his doubt demolished (John 20:19-31)

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3) These are great words of praise from Peter’s first letter and echo the point in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians of the importance of Jesus’ resurrection and the truth of it (1 Corinthians 15:3-6a).

"For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." (1 Corinthians 12:26)  At the Last Supper Jesus explains that his death is for the forgiveness of our sins and to create a new covenant - a new relationship between us and God.

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:12) As we reflect on this passage, we need to ask ourselves how we are enabling every church member to play their part in growing the church, the body of Christ?

"And now these three remain, faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13) To become a father takes only a few minutes. To become a mother takes nine months of pregnancy - and that is only just the start of it!