St. Luke's, Ramsgate

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.