Growing in Christ to glorify God and enjoy him forever!
Job 19:25: ” I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.”
This Sunday is Remembrance Sunday, when we celebrate the courage and bravery of those who risked and gave their lives protecting our country and freedom. It is also a time to remember the horrors of war, which helps to encourage us to do all we can to avoid war breaking out in the future.
“We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes. 1:12)
This week we begin a mini-series on the short letter of 2 Thessalonians.
Psalm 51:1: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.”
This week is the last in our series on ‘Stories Jesus told’. This week we look at the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
Luke 15:32: “But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
This week we continue our series on the stories Jesus told, with a look at one of the most famous parables of all, the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)
Jesus tells a parable to challenge the Pharisees of his day, who were themselves lovers of money. In the story, there are two characters, a rich man and a homeless man who sleeps at this gate, called, Lazarus. The rich man has clearly lived a life that is all about gaining all you can and spending all you can. He did nothing to help Lazarus, he did not take seriously the teaching of the Bible to be generous, he was nothing like Christ. Jesus is blunt. The rich man ends up in hell. Let’s not make the same mistake. Rather than, ‘Gain all you can to spend all you can,’ let’s be those who, ‘Gain all we can, to give all we can.’
“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Luke 16:13
Money is a part of life, but it does not need to be master of our life. Christians, of course, want to serve God. We are called to follow his good commandments. But do we allow Money to be another master in our life?
Ultimately, we need to choose who we serve. Will we serve the hard taskmaster of Money, or the loving and gracious God, who made us and gives to us freely? The choice is yours.
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 14:15)
This week we begin a series looking at the stories Jesus told. This week’s story is about invitations and excuses.
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Today is the last in our series of talks on 1 Thessalonians.
“He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.” (1 Thessalonians 5:10)
“For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” (1 Thessalonians 4:14)
St. Luke's Church Ramsgate