Thread of Hope (Joshua 2:1-24)

“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” (Hebrews 11:31)

Our Sermon series on Joshua continues with the story of Rahab. Rahab is one of many people under judgement. What is more she is a prostitute. Yet, she believes in the God of Israel, and she chooses to be on his side. In so doing, she wins salvation for herself and her whole family and ultimately becomes the great-great-grandmother of King David.

Who is it that can be saved? Anyone, if they will only have faith in the God of Jesus Christ and give their allegiance to him.

As recorded at St. Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

A thread of hope (Joshua 2:1-24)

“Snap the rod of the oppressor, frustrate the plans of the wicked, and break the teeth of the ungodly.” Back in March, this is how the US Secretary of War prayed for those whom he believed deserved no mercy. “By the blast of your anger, let the wicked perish …and [be] delivered to the eternal damnation prepared for them”.1

It is an unsettling comparison to have to draw, but in Deuteronomy chapter 7, we read words that set the scene for the entire plotline of the book of Joshua, and raise a question for that book to answer. The question is this: will the book of Joshua come straight out of the Secretary of War’s playbook? “When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations … seven nations stronger than you – and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally”, we read in Deuteronomy. “Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them … for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods … If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you … [hesed in Hebrew] he will love you [hesed again] and bless you and increase your numbers …” (Deuteronomy 7:1-4, 12-13).

And so, when we come to read the book of Joshua, we may approach it with some trepidation. How is the conquest going to play out? Are we going to be reading what amounts to a record of genocide?

Well, in the story of Rahab, in the second chapter of the book, there is a thread of hope, that turns out to be more like a strong cord of hope. Rahab is referred to several times in the New Testament – in Matthew, in Hebrews and in James – where she serves as a parade example of someone who was undeserving of mercy – not because she was a prostitute, but because she was a Canaanite, part of a people group who by their evildoing had brought the disaster of dispossession upon themselves, again according to the book of Deuteronomy. (There – in Deuteronomy 9:4 – we read that “it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before Israel”.)

But in reading Joshua chapter 2, we find that there is a thread of hope running through it, arising from what Rahab says – she confesses faith in the LORD – and from what she does – she shows kindness to the Israelite spies. Even so, at the end of the chapter, we are left in suspense, not knowing whether that thread will hold, or whether it will break. The answer to that question will come later on in the book of Joshua. And the answer is much more than of historical interest. This is not merely a history lesson, because it speaks to the issue of what hope there can be for the rest of us, who by nature are “strangers to the covenants of the promise” (Ephesians 2:12) made by the LORD to Abraham and his descendants.

So first let us consider what Rahab says. “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us … our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” (Joshua 2:9-11).

The first thing to notice here is that Rahab speaks of the LORD. Now whenever you see ‘the LORD’ written like that in the pages of the Old Testament translated into English, please remember that you are looking at the personal name of the God of Israel, as first he revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush, saying ‘I am who I am – I will be who I will be’ (Exodus 3:14-15). In ancient near-eastern culture, every nation had its own god or gods, and every god had its nation. All the nations boasted that their god was the greatest, and had given them the land that they occupied, and disputes over this were commonly settled on the field of battle. So the confession of Moses that “the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below – there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:39) is not entirely surprising, although the idea of there being only one God is distinctive. The words of King Solomon’s prayer, later on in the Old Testament, follow a similar pattern. “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below – you who keep your covenant of love [hesed in Hebrew] with your servants” (1 Kings 8:23).

Yet there was far more at stake for Rahab than there was for Moses or Solomon in saying, as she did, that ‘The LORD your God is God in heaven and earth’. In these words there was a costly recognition that the only true God, the one who made everything in heaven and earth, the Creator of everything that has been made, was the God of a nation other than her own. These words are in effect a transfer of Rahab’s allegiance away from the Canaanite gods to the LORD. They constitute a confession of faith on her part.

That is what Rahab says in chapter 2, and now let us consider what she does. Having effectively hidden the Israelite spies in the attic, she misled the emissaries of the king of Jericho, her own king, into thinking the spies had come and gone – ‘they went that-a-way!’ Rahab’s action in doing this is not treated as an instance of breaking the commandment of God against bearing false witness, either here in this chapter, or anywhere else in the Bible.2 Rather, in hiding the Israelite spies, Rahab is clearly depicted in the text as having literally saved their lives. In Joshua chapter 2, verse 12, she speaks of this action as one of kindness. “Please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will … save us from death” (Joshua 2:12-13).

It is kindness that Rahab shows, or to put this in a different way, it is love, since the Hebrew word translated here as kindness is hesed, the word that is used throughout the Old Testament, which I have been highlighting in this sermon, for the covenant love of the LORD for his people. So in what Rahab says, she has faith – that, by the way, is what we are told in Hebrews chapter 11, and in what she does, she has works – that is what we are reminded of by James in the second chapter of his letter. And the tables of expectation are turned, since it is the Canaanite woman, not the Israelite spies, who first speaks of hesed, covenant love. By her words and her actions, it appears that Rahab has changed her allegiance.

Nevertheless, Rahab’s fate remains undecided right through to the end of Joshua chapter 2. The spies, certainly, promise that she will be protected. They swore an oath to protect her and her family, provided she tied a scarlet cord in the window and of her house, and brought her family within its four walls. This was the literal thread of hope they offered her.

But what would the LORD make of this arrangement? What would he do and say, he who had previously said ‘Destroy them totally; make no treaty with them; show them no mercy; do not intermarry with them … otherwise the LORD’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you’ (Deuteronomy 7:2-3)? Will he strike down the Canaanite woman and those who struck a deal with her?

We have to wait until Joshua chapter 6 to find out. There we read that, after the walls of Jericho had fallen, the spies whose lives had been saved by Rahab went into her house and brought her and her family out, and put them in a safe place “outside the camp of Israel” (Joshua 6:23). The scarlet cord did its job, and the thread of her hope remained intact. Nor did the anger of the LORD burn against Israel as a result of the deal that was made with her, the warnings in Deuteronomy notwithstanding. He showed his mercy to those undeserving of mercy, and he extended his kindness and covenant love past the boundaries of the people of Israel. That is what the LORD did.

The Israelites kept Rahab and her family safe, albeit that they couldn’t quite stretch to permitting them as non-Jews to reside inside their camp, which had to remain ritually pure. This separation notwithstanding, it appears that Rahab later married into Judaism, because in Matthew chapter 1 she is recorded as the wife of Salma, and the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth. And again the LORD relented from his retribution he promised for inter-marriage. Again, that is what the LORD did. He brought her into the people of God, and into the very ancestry of the promised Messiah.

So to have remained “outside the camp” was no hardship for Rahab. It was a safe place for her to be. Again, for us this is no mere history lesson. According to the writer of the book of Hebrews, it is news we can use. “The [Jewish] high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but”, to maintain ritual purity, “the carcasses are burned outside the camp”, he explained (Hebrews 13:11). “And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate”, at a place of execution – Golgotha – chosen to maintain the ritual purity of the city of Jerusalem, “to make the people holy through his own blood” (Hebrews 13:12). This is what the LORD says to us today. The book of Hebrews encourages us to take a leaf out of Rahab’s book, and “go to Jesus outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore” (Hebrews 13:13).

In the context of the Bible as a whole, this is what the story of Rahab in Joshua chapter 2 is hinting at. The mercy of God may be found outside the camp of Israel, by those who have been judged by others, or who think of themselves, as unworthy of mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgement. It is mercy, rather than violence, destruction, anger, and damnation, that is the connecting thread through the book of Joshua, and through the Scriptures from beginning to end, starting with the Old Testament, carrying on through the New, and ending up, if you like, with those words from the book of Hebrews. This is what the LORD says to us today: For as long as a person is with Jesus, that person is perfectly safe outside the camp of whatever ring may have been drawn to exclude them from the covenant love of the LORD. They are as safe as Rahab and her family, because the LORD’s mercy now extends far past the boundaries of Israel, to embrace all who are undeserving, but whose confession of faith and acts of kindness prove their new allegiance. We, like Rahab, may hold on to, and rely on, the thread of God’s mercy, which however thin it may appear, is in fact the strong cord of his love, and which will never be broken.

1 https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5802042-defense-secretary-pentagon-prayer/amp/

2 This is nothing more than common sense. No-one could ever seriously suggest that those who hid resistance fighters, spies, or their Jewish neighbours from the Nazis ought to have let the German occupiers know what they were doing. No-one could ever seriously suggest that it is dishonest for soldiers to wear camouflage, because it might mislead their enemies.

This Sunday – 12th July

“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”

(Hebrews 11:31)

This week, the sections of the email are:

  • Opening Reflection: Rahab’s Faith
  • Key notices: ACTS presentation, ACTS Job Opportunity, Diocesan Safeguarding Survey
  • Coming Up: Friends of St. George’s Art Show, ACTS: Update Evening, Vicarage BBQs, Men’s Group BBQ, Sailors’ Church Services
  • Interesting Blogs: Why did God command Israel to invade Canaan?, How to handle tough topics in the Bible
  • Weekly Calendar
  • Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, Safeguarding

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” (Hebrews 11:31)

Who is it that can be saved? At first glance, the book of Joshua appears to be simply a book about an invasion of one nation by another. The Israelites enter the Promised Land, defeat those already living there, and settle the land in their place. We naturally have ethical concerns about what happened, especially in the light of modern Israel’s recent treatment of the Palestinians.

Yet, the Bible sees this as a unique situation. Yes, God is blessing Israel by giving them the land, but he is also judging the people of the land by taking it away from them. In Genesis, God is clear to Abraham, that his descendants will have to wait until the sins of the people there had become bad enough to deserve judgement (Genesis 15:16). Violent conquest is not a pattern to be imitated.

In chapter 1 God promises Joshua and the Israelites, victory in the upcoming invasion. At one level this could be read as God being racially biased. He is for the Israelites, and against the rest. Yet, even here, the emphasis is on encouraging Joshua to have faith that God will be with him and to be obedient to God’s commands (1:7-8). Then, chapter 2, immediately shows us that God is more concerned with faith rather than race.

Rahab is one of the people under judgement. What is more she is a prostitute. Yet, she believes in the God of Israel, and she chooses to be on his side. In so doing, she wins salvation for herself and her whole family and ultimately becomes the great-great-grandmother of King David.

Who is it that can be saved? Anyone, if they will only have faith in the God of Jesus Christ and give their allegiance to him.

Paul Worledge

Key Notices:

ACTS Presentation

This Sunday Charlotte and Sandra from ACTS (Active Christianity in Thanet Schools) will be speaking about the work of this organisation. There will be a collection for ACTS during the service and any money given on the gift machine will go to the work of ACTS.

ACTS Job Opportunity

ACTS is looking to appoint a new Primary Schools Work facilitator. Find out more here.

Diocesan Safeguarding Survey

As you may be aware INEQE Safeguarding Group have been commissioned to conduct Independent Safeguarding Audits of the Church of England to make sure dioceses and cathedrals are doing all they can to create environments where everyone feels safe, valued and respected. As part of the audit process for Canterbury, INEQE hope to engage with parishioners and members of the parish community through an online survey which will act as a mechanism through which individuals can comment on any matters relevant to the Audit’s focus. The survey is both anonymous (we are not seeking to identify you) and confidential (you will not be identified). We would therefore ask you to be open and honest with your responses. The survey results are received directly by INEQE’s Audit Team and not by the Church of England. The survey is now live and will close at 11.30 pm on Wednesday 2nd of September 2026. Access the Survey.

Coming Up:

Friends of St. George’s Art Show

This will run from 10th to 19th July, 2-5pm, in St. George’s Church. If you want to enter a painting, drawings, prints or mixed media contact Elaine on e_hartnell@yahoo.com or Janet on 01843 852780.

ACTS: Update Evening

Monday 13th July, 7pm, St. Philip’s Church, Palm Bay, CT9 3JJ.

Join us for an evening of prayer, thanksgiving and updates about the work of ACTS. As well as a time to catch up with the ACTS team, Abi, Charlotte, Rhodri and the trustees over a cuppa and a slice of cake.

Vicarage BBQs

These will take place on Saturdays 18th and 25th July, 5-8pm. Invitations and sign-up sheets are now available at the back of the church. If you can’t make the date that you have been allocated, then please feel free to sign up for the other date.

Men’s Group BBQ

£10. A chance to relax together over some excellent BBQ food. 6:30pm, Wednesday 22nd July. See fliers for more information or contact Bruce on 07708 682464.

Sailors’ Church Services

Each Sunday in August, refreshments from 5:30pm, service starts at 6pm. Join us for some lovely services in Ramsgate harbour’s Sailor’s Church. This year the theme will be: ‘Wisdom.’

Interesting Blogs to Share:

Why did God command Israel to invade Canaan?

One of the harder parts of the Bible to accept today is God’s command to the Israelites to invade the land of Canaan and kill its inhabitants. It has become an even more difficult passage given what has happened in Gaza over the last few years. In this video John Lennox, gives a helpful way to understand what was happening. Watch video… (11 mins)

How to handle tough topics in the Bible

This is an advert for a course from the same people who brought us the Bible Course, which we used last autumn. However, it offers some quick advice to dealing with tough questions that reading the Bible may raise. Read more…

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 12th July – Sixth Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) Joshua 2:1-24 – 9:30am

Sunday School (St George’s, 10:30am)

Monday 13th  

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Tuesday 14th   

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Wednesday 15th  

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Thursday 16th    

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Saturday 18th  

Dare to Pray Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:30am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Vicarage BBQ (St Luke’s Vicarage Garden) – 5:00-8:00pm

Sunday 19th – Seventh Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) Joshua 3:14-4:18 – 9:30am

Last day of Friends Art Show (St. George’s Church) – 2:00-5:00pm

Life Groups

Will you dare to share the Christian life with others? Life groups are a great way to meet together regularly with a small group of other Christians, for mutual support, to share in reading God’s word and to pray for one another.

Please see Paul if you are interested in joining one. There are now more groups available! They meet at the following times:

  • Monday evening (two groups)
  • Tuesday afternoon
  • Wednesday morning
  • Wednesday evening
  • Thursday morning

There is also a youth life group on a Sunday afternoon.

Online Forms:

Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:

  • Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
  • Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
  • Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.

Safeguarding

Our website is now updated with the latest information about Safeguarding and links to the Diocesan form for reporting concerns and accessing training.

Training

If you volunteer in anyway at church the national authorities you should take at least the Basic Module in safeguarding training once every three years. If you hold a role connected with vulnerable adults or children and young people, then you will also need to take the Foundation Module. Once you have completed your training, please forward that certificate to James, our administrator, (office@churchramsgate.org) so that we can keep records of who has done the training.

Finally, let’s keep the faith.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)

Joshua’s Courage (Joshua 1:1-18)

“Have I not told you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged; for the LORD your God will be with you, wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Our Sermon series on Joshua begins with a huge change in the opening sentence of Joshua 1 where we are told of the death of Moses. Moses was the only leader an entire generation had known, and now Joshua had to lead a sometimes rebellious people into imminent war.

As recorded at St Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

The Livestream didn’t work this week but if you wish to see the whole service then click below.

Click here to view whole service

Courage in times of change

What are you worried about for the future?

Notice how the act of worrying made your body feel. I had been in such a state of worry that I went to see a physio about my shoulder and his response was I had been doing this so much feeling anxious that this muscle had become overworked and tense and sore so my mind had had a long lasting physical impact on my body.

When we anticipate change in our lives, it’s good to prepare, to pray, to ponder, to process but we can often find ourselves doing something unhelpful and that’s worrying about the future, trying to take control by making decisions out of fear out of panic. Our mind full of questions. What will happen, how will I cope, am I good enough to achieve the change I want? How can I make XYZ happen? What if I’m without a home? When this happens how will I make sure I’m ok? what if what if….

When we worry, our heart rate is elevated, we get muscle tension, insomnia, brain fog, digestive issues, our immune system lowers. Worry has a physical effect on our bodies that isn’t good.

And it’s a cycle we can get trapped in, it’s called the worry cycle, as soon as we get through the worry, the next time we encounter change our brain says ‘ah worry and panic and fear are how we survived this last time so let’s try that again’

Just so we can see this danger from another angle, I wanted to share an excerpt from one of my favourite books. If you’re not a reader, listen to audiobooks, but we should all be trying to grow our Christian understanding outside of the church building on a Sunday. If you do no reading now, try a page a week. If you don’t know what to read, come and ask me.

C.S. Lewis fantastic theologian just means somebody who has studied and written about God the bible, Christian spirituality, writer of Narnia, brilliant, wrote one of my all-time favourite books called the Screwtape letters. In this he has imagined the discussions that go on between demons who are trying to turn people away from God, their scheming and planning for how to twist a human’s mind to get them to focus on anything but our salvation in Christ Jesus.

And in chapter 15 these demons talk about how to keep us in a permanent state of worry when change happens.

Our business is to get them away from the eternal, and from the Present. With this in view, we sometimes tempt a human (say a widow or a scholar) to live in the Past. But this is of limited value, for they have some real knowledge of the past and it has a determinate nature and, to that extent, resembles eternity. It is far better to make them live in the Future. Biological necessity makes all their passions point in that direction already, so that thought about the Future inflames hope and fear. Also, it is unknown to them, so that in making them think about it we make them think of unrealities. In a word, the Future is, of all things, the thing least like eternity. It is the most completely temporal part of time—for the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is all lit up with eternal rays. Hence nearly all vices are rooted in the future. Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead. We want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow’s end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future every real gift which is offered them in the Present. It follows then, in general, and other things being equal, that it is better for your patient to be filled with anxiety or hope (it doesn’t much matter which) about this war than for him to be living in the present.

So, what do we know – When we are faced with change we can worry. Worry is bad for us. Ignoring the present and the eternal, also bad for us. So how do we face change well?

Our Bible passage on Joshua today shows a big big change, it shows how God leads Joshua through the change and how the community around him echo back God’s encouragements about this change. SO, let’s dive in

We get our change in this first line ‘After the Death of Moses’

‘A death, that’s the change, and this death is of the leader of the Israelites, the only leader an entire generation had ever known. He was the prophet who spoke to God, he had shown displays of Gods power. He has been leading Gods people through the desert for 40 years.

And now here comes Joshua, who has been assisting Moses for decades, now has to lead God’s people who have been pretty terrible at rebelling and complaining against Moses. There is an imminent war as Moses has died right at the border of Canaan just before they are to conquer a territory.

There are a thousand what if possibilities for Joshua to be worried about? What if the people don’t listen to me, how can I possibly lead in the shadow of Moses, am I brave enough?

But we don’t see any of that. This is what is what we read – That God Tells him the facts ‘Moses is dead so you are going to lead’ Clear, concise path forward and what does he promise ‘I will not fail you or abandon you’. God reminds him of his promises to his people, he reminds them that he is leading them, God reminds them of his presence, his protection and his provision. God says I’ve got this – look here is the plan it’s all sorted, don’t need to worry about that at all, go do some prep and get everybody ready but the actual plan, I’m on it, its sorted, its done, I’ve got you! Be strong and courageous because I’ve got you

The God of Joshua, our God is trustworthy and with you now and forever.

Joshua is commanded to BE strong and Courageous for the Lord is with him wherever he goes. We are not to rely on ourselves. We are not to look inward at our own insecurities, our own abilities, our strength or weakness but told to look to him for our strength, to BE with him and BE courageous because he is with us. God does not say to him but come one you’re pretty good at this, look what you’ve done so far etc because we would either think we had done it all in our own strength or be flooded with worry that we weren’t brave we weren’t courageous.

Joshua is asked to study the word of God and meditate on it day and night so he will be sure to obey everything in it to prosper and succeed in all he does.

Meditate to chew over – because how will he know to lead if he doesn’t understand the one who leads. God has given him everything he already needs, and he just needs to remind himself of that.

How often do we cry out to God for a comfort, for a sign for an answer when we could instead pick up our scriptures.

I want us to practise this now as most often when we hear ‘to meditate’ we think of how other religions or cultures meditate which is to empty. But Christian Biblical meditation is closer to chewing over a truth, mulling it over, turning it over in our minds, keeping it at the forefront of our thoughts, speaking it to others sharing it through the day. So, I would love us to practise this now. I want you to go to Joshua 1:9 and pick a small part of it whether that’s ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged or the lord your god is with you wherever you go’ and I want you to say it over in your mind. Is it bringing up any emotions for you, does it have weight, does it bring comfort.

Now I want you to catch the eye of someone else in the church and I want you to speak it to them all at the same time. We want to get comfortable speaking the word of God even when its messy.

Because this is the last point and you’ve all just demonstrated it for me beautifully

That The community Echoes God back to Joshua. VS 18 ‘So be strong and courageous’ We need each other. In times of change you need someone to pull you up, speak life into your situation, remind you of your God of his plans of his protection over you. Joshua needed it, a man who was speaking to God and we need it still now, what a privilege that we get to do that for each other.

So, to have courage in change we need to

1. Listen to the words God speaks over you

2. Meditate on Scripture

3. Be in Community that echoes God’s voice back to you

God does not want us to be anxious about the endless possibilities of the future but rather wants us to be free to live in the present, aware of our eternity with God through the salvation of Jesus Christ.

Reflect: What future “what-if” do you need to hand to the God who is already there?

Pray: Lord, remind me my strength comes from You. Help me leave tomorrow in Your hands and live faithfully today. Amen.

This Sunday – 5th July

“Have I not told you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged; for the LORD your God will be with you, wherever you go.”

(Joshua 1:9)

This week, the sections of the email are:

  • Opening Reflection: Joshua and a new future
  • Key notices: Putting up boards for art show, Venezuelan Earthquake Appeals
  • Coming Up: Churches Together in Ramsgate prayer breakfast, Friends of St. George’s Art Show, ACTS: Update Evening, Vicarage BBQs
  • Interesting Blogs: J.D. Vance’s Spiritual Memoir, The Nicene Sessions
  • Weekly Calendar
  • Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, Safeguarding

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

What are you worried about for the future? Even bringing it to your mind may tense your shoulders, quicken your heart, or shallow your breathing.

So how do we face change well?

Our Sermon series on Joshua begins with a huge change in the opening sentence of Joshua 1 where we are told of the death of Moses. Moses was the only leader an entire generation had known, and now Joshua had to lead a sometimes rebellious people into imminent war.

The book of Joshua inspires us with three ways to be courageous through change:

  1. Listen to the words God speaks over you
  2. Meditate on Scripture
  3. Listen to encouragement from your Christian community and speak encouragement back to them.

God does not want us to be anxious about the endless possibilities of the future but rather wants us to be free to live in the present, aware of our eternity with God through the salvation of Jesus Christ.

Reflect: What future “what-if” do you need to hand to the God who is already there?

Pray: Lord, remind me my strength comes from You. Help me leave tomorrow in Your hands and live faithfully today. Amen.

Bethany Keenan

Key Notices:

Putting Up boards for Art Show

In preparation for the upcoming art show in St. George’s, we need help to put up the display boards. It would be great if those who are able can lend a hand in putting up one or two after the Sunday service this week. Please see Giny after the service.

Venezuela Earthquake Appeal

It has been tragic to see and hear what has happened to the people of Venezuela because of the devastating twin earthquakes just over a week ago. If you want to give to support their recovery, you can do so either through: Tear Fund or The Red Cross.

Coming Up:

Churches Together in Ramsgate, Prayer Breakfast

Saturday 4th July, 9-10am, St. Ethelbert’s Church in Ramsgate.

Friends of St. George’s Art Show

This will run from 10th to 19th July, 2-5pm, in St. George’s Church. If you want to enter a painting, drawings, prints or mixed media contact Elaine on e_hartnell@yahoo.com or Janet on 01843 852780.

ACTS: Update Evening

Monday 13th July, 7pm, St. Philip’s Church, Palm Bay, CT9 3JJ.

Join us for an evening of prayer, thanksgiving and updates about the work of ACTS. As well as a time to catch up with the ACTS team, Abi, Charlotte, Rhodri and the trustees over a cuppa and a slice of cake.

Vicarage BBQs

These will take place on Saturdays 18th and 25th July, 5-8pm. Invitations and sign-up sheets are now available at the back of the church. If you can’t make the

Interesting Blogs to Share:

JD Vance’s Spiritual Memoir

In this review of J D Vance’s book, Communion, the writer acknowledges the criticisms of Vance, whilst also seeing some helpful insights into what is motivating some men to return to faith. Read more… (10 mins)

 

The Nicene Sessions

This is a new podcast series that explored the Nicene Creed one line at a time with Biblical experts. Find out more…

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 5th July – Fifth Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) Joshua 1:1-18 – 9:30am

Monday 6th  

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Tuesday 7th   

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Wednesday 8th  

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Thursday 9th    

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Friday 10th  

Start of Friends of St. George’s Art Show (St. George’s Church) – 2:00-5:00pm

Saturday 11th  

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Sunday 12th – Sixth Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) Joshua 2:1-24 – 9:30am

Sunday School (St George’s, 10:30am)

Life Groups

Will you dare to share the Christian life with others? Life groups are a great way to meet together regularly with a small group of other Christians, for mutual support, to share in reading God’s word and to pray for one another.

Please see Paul if you are interested in joining one. There are now more groups available! They meet at the following times:

  • Monday evening (two groups)
  • Tuesday afternoon
  • Wednesday morning
  • Wednesday evening
  • Thursday morning

There is also a youth life group on a Sunday afternoon.

Online Forms:

Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:

  • Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
  • Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
  • Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.

Safeguarding

Our website is now updated with the latest information about Safeguarding and links to the Diocesan form for reporting concerns and accessing training.

Training

If you volunteer in anyway at church the national authorities you should take at least the Basic Module in safeguarding training once every three years. If you hold a role connected with vulnerable adults or children and young people, then you will also need to take the Foundation Module. Once you have completed your training, please forward that certificate to James, our administrator, (office@churchramsgate.org) so that we can keep records of who has done the training.

Finally, let’s hand the future over to God,

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)

Joshua’s First Battle (Exodus 17:8-13)

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,” (Ephesians 3:16)

This Sunday we begin a series on Joshua. He started off as Moses’ main assistant and ended up taking over from Moses, when Israel entered the Promised Land. This week, we begin with the first time Joshua plays a significant role in the story, when he leads the Israelites as they defend against an attack by the Amalekites. Then from next week, we will be looking at the book of Joshua, which describes what Israel did under Joshua’s leadership.

As recorded at St. Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

Life is full of battles

Life is full of battles. In the last few weeks, we have been looking at the fruit of the Spirit, how as God’s people we are to take on the characteristics of God: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. But, we all find that at least with some of those characteristics it is a battle to develop them in our lives.

Life as a Christian in our world, can feel like a battle. Sometimes, people can ridicule or belittle your faith. Others can seem uninterested or dismissive of the Christian faith. When there is so much negativity around us, it can feel like a battle to remain and shine as a Christian.

Life as a Church together can feel like a battle. Working to keep the show on the road, to deal with divisions and tensions, lack of support or grief at those we have lost. Being part of a Christian community is not easy and it can feel like a real battle to become the kind of community Jesus wants us to be.

In today’s Bible story, we heard about the first battle Israel thought as a nation after they were rescued from being slaves in Egypt. We are not told much about the actual fighting. In verse 10, we are told Joshua goes out to fight the Amalekites, in verse 11, we are told sometimes the Israelites were winning and sometimes the Amalekites, then in verse 13, we are told Joshua won against the Amalekites. Hardly, the kind of in depth analysis we are given after an England football match!

What we are told about is the real secret behind how Joshua won.

Moses’ Staff

As part of the story, Moses’ staff features. Why was this staff important?

When God called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt,

he told him to take the staff and he said this:

“This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers–the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob–has appeared to you.” (Exodus 4:5)

In other words the staff became a sign that God was with Moses,

and that it was God’s help that was the secret weapon.

So, in many of the times God acted against Israel,

he told Moses to use the staff as a symbol of God’s presence.

Let’s go through them quickly…

1 child to hold rod. Strike the ground.

=>Explain the story…

Response:

Moses defeated the Egyptians

God is with us.

  1. Staff turns into snake. Egyptian’s do a similar trick, but Moses’s snake eats all of theirs. (7:9-10,12)
  2. Plague of water turning into blood. (7:17)
  3. Plague of frogs (8:5)
  4. Plague of Gnats (8:16)
  5. Plague of Hail (9:23)
  6. Plague of Locusts (10:13)
  7. Dividing the Red Sea (14:16)

So, 7 times the staff symbolised that God was with Moses and gave him victory over the Egyptians.

Water from the rock (17:5)

But now Israel had escaped Egypt and were travelling through the wilderness and had come to a place called Rephidim.

Was God still with them? At first it felt like he wasn’t. There was no water at Rephidim. But, God once again told Moses to use the staff. He was to strike the rock and water would come out. Moses did what God said, he struck the rock with the staff and water came flooding out.

Battle with the Amalekites:

Now, when Israel was in the wilderness they were attached by the Amalekites.

Perhaps the Amalekites wanted to take Israel’s water,

or steal their possessions.

This attack was an act of terrible bullying.

Tug of war… rope with card over it: Fighting the Amalekites…

When the rod is held up the Israelites were winning, when it was lowered they were losing. (Have ‘God’ a strong man, help the Israelites, only when the rod is held up, set it up, so that the Amalekites are a bit better than the Israelites)

But, Moses’s hands become tired. He can’t keep lifting them up.

So, they gave him a chair to sit on…

Finally, Aaron and Hur come to the rescue. They hold up Moses’s hands. So in this way Joshua is able to win the battle and God saves Israel from Amalek.

Eventually, Israel won the battle.

How did Israel win?

  1. Joshua needed to fight (sword)

In human terms, it was Joshua’s leadership and the men who fought with him that won the battle. As it says in verse 13,

‘So, Joshua overcame the Amalekites with the sword.’

Israel had been slaves in Egypt, they had never before fought a battle. They didn’t know how to. What is more they were in an unfamiliar place, away from the river valley of the Nile in the wilderness.

The Amalekites, on the other hand were on familiar territory and probably used to fighting battles. They saw Israel as an easy target for the Amalekites to attack, presumably hoping to defeat them and win a lot of booty.

So, Israel could not win without help.

  1. Moses needed to pray (rod)

Israel may have been relatively weak in the face of the Amalekites, but with God on their side, they were able to overcome.

So, Moses prayed. He called on God’s help by holding the staff up, the symbol of God’s victorious presence with them. When he prayed, the Israelites beat the Amalekites.

How did Israel win, through prayer and God’s help.

But, prayer is not easy. It can be hard work. Moses could not easily keep the rod held up. Moses could not pray without help…

  1. Aaron and Hur needed to support Moses

So, Aaron and Hur, helped Moses. They found him a chair or a rock to sit on, and they held up his arms, so he could hold up the rod. In this way, Moses could keep on praying and so Joshua could keep on winning the battle and Israel ultimately defeated the Amalekites?

How did Israel defeat the Amalekites?

Was it Joshua’s willingness to fight? Yes.

Was it Moses’ willingness to pray? Yes

Was it Aaron and Hur’s support of Moses? Yes

All three groups had to play their part in helping to ensure the victory. But ultimately, they won because God was with them and defended the vulnerable Israelites against the bullying Amalekites.

How do we win life’s battles today?

So, when we think of what happens in this battle, we can see that it is a useful pattern for all the battles we face.

Someone needs to act, but they need prayer and even the person praying needs support.

Fruit of the Spirit (hang on rope)

So how do we win the battle of developing the fruit of the spirit in our lives?

We need to act. We need to recognise where we need to show love, to focus on God’s blessings so we can be joyful, on his security, so we can know peace. We need to look for acts of kindness we can show, make sure we stick by our word even when it hurts and not give in to temptation.

We need to pray. In our own efforts we will keep failing, but with God’s help we can win the battle. So, pray for God to help you develop the fruit of the Spirit more and more. Perhaps reflecting on which ones you struggle with most and asking for God’s special help in those areas.

We need prayer support. But often we become tired of praying. We need the support of others to pray for and with us. You can do this with your family or perhaps set up a prayer triplet, so you can have your own Aaron and Hur to support you, people you can share your struggles with and ask for their support. Or you could join one of our Life Groups and ask for support in these areas for prayer.

Vision 2030

As we move forward with our vision for our churches, we need to work to take action. We need people applying for the grants that we need and working together to agree the best plans. We need the action.

But we also need to pray. Over the last year, we have been meeting once a month for our Dare to Pray prayer meetings. These have been a massive help to me in this process. The people who come to these prayer meetings, are like the Moses, Aaron and Hur in the battle of seeking to transform the churches for the future.

Everyone has a Part to Play

It may be that due to ill health or old age, there is little you can do in terms of action. Like Moses, you are not capable of fighting the battle, but you can sit on the hill and pray.

So, why not find ways to support others in prayer. That may be by joining us at one of our prayer meetings or being part of a life group. Or it may simple be about getting to know one or two younger people in the church and asking them how you can pray to support them in their life’s struggles.

We’re never too old to pray. And as we have seen, prayer is crucial to helping people win the Spiritual battles that we all face.

So, in life’s battles, let’s act, let’s pray and let’s offer support in prayer!

This Sunday – 28th June

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,”

(Ephesians 3:16)

This week, the sections of the email are:

  • Opening Reflection: Introducing Joshua
  • Key notices: Dare to Pray, Wendy Fuller’s Thanksgiving Service, ACTS Update, Thanet Prayer Diary
  • Coming Up: Thanet Wide Prayer Meeting, Friends of St. George’s Art Show, ACTS: Update Evening, Vicarage BBQs
  • Interesting Blogs: Revolving Door at No. 10, The World Cup: 47 out of 48 teams will lose
  • Weekly Calendar
  • Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, Safeguarding

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

This Sunday we begin a series on Joshua. He started off as Moses’ main assistant and ended up taking over from Moses, when Israel entered the Promised Land. This week, we begin with the first time Joshua plays a significant role in the story, when he leads the Israelites as they defend against an attack by the Amalekites. Then from next week, we will be looking at the book of Joshua, which describes what Israel did under Joshua’s leadership.

The story involves lots of battles and fighting. However, the Bible does not focus on military tactics or the glorification of war, but the importance of faith, courage and obedience. Israel cannot win without God’s help, but neither is God a secret weapon in their arsenal. God is the one who is blessing Israel and judging the nations they fight against. He needs to remain their ultimate leader.

Which brings us to Joshua’s battle against the Amalekites. The battle is not won because Joshua is a great general or Israel a superior fighting force; Israel are a group of recently defeated slaves, who have no experience of battle in an unfamiliar wilderness fighting against an Amalekite force who are on their home ground and used to fighting. On paper Israel have no hope. But God is with them and he enables them to win.

The Biblical narrative demonstrates this by focussing on the prayer of Moses. When Moses lifts his hands in prayer, the Israelites are winning, but when his arms drop through tiredness, Israel loses. With the help of others, Moses’ arms are propped up and the battle is eventually won.

As Christians, we will only find strength for the metaphorical battles of this life, with God’s help, when we pray and when we seek the support of others in prayer. As churches facing some big challenges and changes, it is important that we support one another in prayer. Why not join us for the Dare to Prayer meeting on Saturday, 9:30-10:30am at St. George’s.

Paul Worledge

Key Notices:

Dare to Pray

Join us as we pray for the future vision for our churches, this Saturday, 9:30-10:30am at St. George’s.

Wendy Fuller’s Thanksgiving Service

Everyone who knew Wendy is welcome to join us for this thanksgiving service on Saturday, 2:30pm at St. George’s. There will be refreshments after the service. People are encouraged to dress brightly and not in black.

ACTS Update

Copies of the latest update are available at the back of church, or you can access them here: page 1, page 2

Thanet Prayer Diary

Copies available at the back of church or download.

Coming Up:

Thanet Wide Prayer Meeting:

There will be a Thanet Wide united prayer meeting at Hardres Street United Church in Ramsgate this Sunday 28th June 2026 at 6:30pm. Everyone welcome.

Friends of St. George’s Art Show

This will run from 10th to 19th July, 2-5pm, in St. George’s Church. If you want to enter a painting, drawings, prints or mixed media contact Elaine on e_hartnell@yahoo.com or Janet on 01843 852780.

ACTS: Update Evening

Monday 13th July, 7pm, St. Philip’s Church, Palm Bay, CT9 3JJ.

Join us for an evening of prayer, thanksgiving and updates about the work of ACTS. As well as a time to catch up with the ACTS team, Abi, Charlotte, Rhodri and the trustees over a cuppa and a slice of cake.

Vicarage BBQs

These will take place on Saturdays 18th and 25th July, 5-8pm. Invitations to come.

Interesting Blogs to Share:

Revolving Door at number 10

In this article Paul Wolley, the CEO of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity argues that complex times require leaders who can act for the long term… Read more (4 mins)

The World Cup: 47 out of 48 teams will lose

Graham Tomlinson reflects on losing and how we should deal with it. Read more (5 mins)

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 28th June – Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) Exodus 17:8-16 – 9:30am

Thanet-wide Prayer Gathering (United Church, Hardres Street) – 6.30pm

Monday 29th  

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Tuesday 30th   

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Wednesday 1st July 

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Thursday 2nd   

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Saturday 4th  

CTiR Prayer Breakfast (St. Ethelbert’s Church) – 9:00-10:00am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Sunday 5th – Fifth Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) Joshua 1:1-18 – 9:30am

Life Groups

Will you dare to share the Christian life with others? Life groups are a great way to meet together regularly with a small group of other Christians, for mutual support, to share in reading God’s word and to pray for one another.

Please see Paul if you are interested in joining one. There are now more groups available! They meet at the following times:

  • Monday evening (two groups)
  • Tuesday afternoon
  • Wednesday morning
  • Wednesday evening
  • Thursday morning

There is also a youth life group on a Sunday afternoon.

Online Forms:

Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:

  • Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
  • Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
  • Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.

Safeguarding

Our website is now updated with the latest information about Safeguarding and links to the Diocesan form for reporting concerns and accessing training.

Training

If you volunteer in anyway at church the national authorities you should take at least the Basic Module in safeguarding training once every three years. If you hold a role connected with vulnerable adults or children and young people, then you will also need to take the Foundation Module. Once you have completed your training, please forward that certificate to James, our administrator, (office@churchramsgate.org) so that we can keep records of who has done the training.

Finally, let’s support one another in prayer.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)

Fruit of the Spirit: Self-Control (2 Peter 1:1-11)

“Like a city whose walls are broken down is a person who lacks self-control.” (Proverbs 25:28)

The Proverb above says, that if we lack self-control, we are like a city without walls. We become defenceless – not from external attack, but to our own destructive behaviours.

Self-control is a guard for our life. Without it all the other characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit become worthless. Listen, watch this Sunday to find out more…

As recorded at St. Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

Fruit of the Spirit: Self- Control (2 Peter 1:1-11)

Giving up tea and coffee…

Are you in control of yourself?

Early last year on a Tuesday, I woke up and did my normal routine, coffee breakfast, off to prayers, staff meeting and back home to work. But I found myself much more tired and grumpy than normal. And as the day went on it wasn’t getting better.

After lunch, I was feeling so bad, I tried lying down for a bit. But when I woke up, I still felt bad! Then came a eureka moment. The coffee I had made myself in the morning had been decaffeinated, because we had run out of caffeinated coffee. I was suffering from caffein withdrawal. So, I ran to Aldi, bought some caffeinated coffee and quickly recovered.

However, the experience made me think. Who is in control of my life? Me or caffeine? Lent began soon after, so I decided to give up tea and coffee for Lent. Then at the end of Lent, I decided to give it up for good. I enjoyed not being enslaved to caffeine, not having to worry about having to chase my next fix, and I think I felt less stressed and I wasn’t tired in the same way. I felt more in control of my own life.

 Now I am not saying everyone should give up coffee. Although, it is addictive, it is not harmful and arguably it may have some good effects. For me, however, regaining control from caffeine felt like a positive win.

 Self-control is freedom. It is freedom from control by our inner desires. Freedom to do what we know to be right, rather to be ruled by our natural and often evil impulses.

Fruit of the Spirit

Today, we are finishing our series on the Fruit of the Spirit, the list of characteristics that Paul says, we gain as Christians as we learn to walk in step with God’s Spirit, as we become more like God in our characteristics.

Before he comes to the Fruit of the Spirit, Paul talks about our freedom as Christians:

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature (or the flesh); rather, serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13)

He then lists, many examples of works of the flesh, before encouraging us to take on the fruit of the Spirit. Heading up the list and so taking the place of prime importance is ‘Love.’

But the last place in the list, also carries with it importance. And self-control is the last characteristic to be mentioned. Why does it hold such importance? Because the passage is all about self-control. Not giving in to the evil desires that destroy the world, the works of the flesh, but living in a way that pleases God.

Self-Control in thought down the ages:

Down the ages and across cultures, self-control has been viewed as a trait than helps us to be good and effective people.

 In modern times, ― Stephen R. Covey, in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People says:

“The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person.”

 During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci said,

“One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.”

Back in Ancient Greece, Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism said,

“Man conquers the world by conquering himself.”

But it is not just Greek or Western thought, Lao Tzu, a legendary Chinese Philosopher said,

“Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.”

Seeing self-control as a virtue, is not specifically Christian. Indeed, when the New Testament was being written, Stoicism was a popular philosophy in the Roman empire and Stoicism saw self-control as one of the most important virtues.

Why have self-control?

So, why have self-control? I want to suggest two reasons.

It Guards Us

Firstly, it guards us. There is a verse in Proverbs, which says:

“Like a city whose walls are broken down

is a man who lacks self-control.” (Proverbs 25:28)

In the ancient world, city walls, were a crucial guard against enemies who might come and raid your city, destroying and pillaging all that mattered to you. Without city walls, you were very vulnerable to raids and destruction. Even today, we spend lots of money on defence to make sure our country is protected from attack by enemies who might want to destroy us. You only have to look at what has happened to some parts of Ukraine, to see what happens when you cannot defend yourself against an aggressive neighbour.

But, on a personal level, self-control acts as a guard, not on threats from without, but from self-destruction. If we do not have control over our evil desires, then we will fall into behaviours that might destroy our life.

Many of those behaviours are what Paul lists as the works of the flesh in Galatians 5, before he talks about the fruit of the Spirit.

  • If you do not keep your sexual desires under control, then you are in danger of being drawn into an affair and ruining your marriage.
  • If you do not keep your curiosity for spiritualism or witchcraft under control, you may end up opening yourself up to evil spiritual influences.
  • If you do not keep your impulse to be angry under control, you may lash out at those around you whom you love and cause damage to them and your relationships.
  • If you do not keep your desire to be successful under control, you may end up walking over others in your desire to climb the career ladder.
  • If you do not keep your desires for drink or drugs under control, you may end up destroying your physical health or wasting all your money on them.

The list could go on and on. But you get the point. If we can control ourselves, then we can guard against the destruction that our evil desires or lusts might lead us into.

In 2 Peter, after giving a list of virtues including self-control, he says:

“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall,” (2 Peter 1:10)

 Self-control acts as a guard to us from falling away from God and back into a life dominated by sin.

It Grows Us

Secondly and more positively, self-control helps to grow us.

 In 1 Corinthians, Paul says:

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever.” (1 Corinthians 9:25)

 If you want to be a success in sport, then you need self-discipline, which is a form of self-control. As we watch the World Cup, with the top players in the world competing against each other, it is easy to forget, the commitment and training that it has taken them to reach the highest levels of the sport.

 Why is Harry Kane England’s top goal scorer? Partly, because he has amazing natural ability, but also because he has the self-control and self-discipline to train over many years and to keep at it. He could have all the natural ability in the world, but without the self-discipline and training, he would be a mere spectator like the rest of us.

 But Paul’s point is not to become a successful athlete. His goal is something more important than winning the World Cup, it is winning eternal life. It is as Jesus put it, ‘storing up riches in heaven.’

 Our passage in 2 Peter, also makes this point. It lists a number of qualities, including, self-control, and concludes:

 “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:8)

Self-control helps us to achieve things for God. To do the good deeds, that God has prepared in advance for us to do and ultimately as Jesus puts it, ‘to build up treasures in heaven’, so that as 2 Peter says:

“…and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:11)

How do we gain self-control?

So, if self-control is so important, how do we gain self-control as Christians? How do we gain this ability that guards us, and grows us as Christians?

Some people have it more naturally than others, and others have it because they were trained in it well by their parents when they were brought up. But, as Christians, whether we have it naturally or not, and whether we had good parenting or not, we can have self- control. How?

Well, the key comes at the start of the passage in 2 Peter 1:

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3)

Jesus gives us everything we need for life and godliness. It is by knowing Jesus, being in a relationship with him – which is what being a Christian is – that gives us the power we need for life and godliness.

Often when you buy furniture online, it arrives in a flat pack. You have everything you need to make your piece of furniture, but you need to actually put it together for it to be any use. I remember when we were first married, we bought a lot of furniture that was flat packed. Most of it we put together, but there were some boxes that remained unpacked. We had all we needed for the set of shelves, but the box remained unopened for years. It remained useless.

For many Christians, God has given us all we need for a godly life, but we have done nothing to construct the life he wants from us. Peter says, in verse 5,

“For this reason, make every effort…”

So, what are we to do? The list suggests adding one thing to the next. It starts with faith and ends with love. We build from faith to love. Faith is the foundation. Love is the goal.

Everything else, flows out of our faith and towards the goal of love: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance godliness and mutual affection.  

So, how do we grow in self-control? We build it on the foundation of faith and with the goal of love.

To build on the foundation of faith, means to recognise what Jesus has done for us and continues to do for us.

  1. He died for our sins. It says in Galatians 5:24

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature of flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:24)

Jesus died because of the sins arising from our sinful nature or flesh. When we focus on the cross, we remember how serious our sins are and how much it cost Jesus to deal with them. So, in a sense we crucify them.

If you are struggling to control a specific evil desire in your life, then remind yourself what Jesus did to rescue you from the consequences of that sin.

  1. He gives us His Spirit.

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)

Jesus does not leave us alone. He is there to help us and train us by His Spirit. As we spend time with God in prayer, so we draw on his strength, to give us the self-control needed to control those evil desires. Don’t let time with God be squeezed out of your life, practice a deeper dependence on him for the support you need to gain self-control.

So, our faith is the foundation, but love is the goal. We need to remember the benefits of self-control, and it is to help us better love those around us, to be effective in our care for one another. You cannot love others, if you are controlled by drink of drugs. You cannot love others, if you are motivated by greed for self-gain or selfish ambition. You cannot love others, if you are overcome by fits of rage.

 If you are struggling with self-control, ask God to help you remember the goal. To show love through good deeds to those around you.

Conclusion:

Self-control is so important. Many cultures recognise that. We need it to guard ourselves from self-destructive traits, we need it to succeed in our life’s goals.

The great news is that as Christians, we have all the resources we need to grow in self-control and so achieve the true Christian freedom and love that God calls us to.

 As Paul says,

 “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature (or the flesh); rather, serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13)

This Sunday – 21st June

“Like a city whose walls are broken down is a person who lacks self-control.”

(Proverbs 25:28)

This week, the sections of the email are:

  • Opening Reflection: Fruit of the Spirit: Self-Control
  • Key notices: Service Team Leaders Needed
  • Coming Up: Midsummer Yard Sale and Open Day, Men’s Group Croquet, Dare to Pray Meeting, Wendy Fuller’s Thanksgiving Service, Friends of St. George’s Art Show, Vicarage BBQs
  • Interesting Blogs: Class and Evangelicalism in Britain, Dyslexia: Superpower or Challenge to be Acknowledged
  • Weekly Calendar
  • Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, Safeguarding

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

There is a lot of debate in the news at the moment about the level of funding needed to defend our country. Indeed, only last week, the Defence Secretary resigned, because he felt the government’s agreed increasing in funding was insufficient for the defence of the country. Defence matters, because without defence we risk losing control of our country to an agressor, like Vadimir Putin. Such an outcome would be catastrophic.

In Bible times, one of the most important forms of defence was the city wall. Citizens would spend lots of money to build a wall, to make sure they could defend themselves against hostile raiders, or hold out against invading armies, whilst they waited for their own army to turn up and rescue them. If the walls were broken down, then the city was left defenceless and in danger of losing control to any enemy who invaded.

The Proverb above says, that if we lack self-control, we are like a city without walls. We become defenceless – not from  external attack, but to our own destructive behaviours.

We need self-control to stop ruining our health, through lack of exercise, overeating, alcohol or drug abuse. It is also necessary to control what we say, so that we don’t blurt something out that makes us look stupid, gives away a secret or causes offence or hurt to those we love. At a more extreme level, if you are someone prone to bouts of anger, you need self-control to stop your anger flaring up when provoked so that you end up attacking someone violently.

In all these areas and more, self-control is a guard for our life. Without it all the other characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit become worthless. Join us this Sunday to find out more…

Paul Worledge

Key Notices:

Service Team Leaders Needed

We are looking for people to go on a rota to help us run our Sunday services by opening and setting up the church before the service and clearing up after the service. If you can help in this way, then please speak to Paul or Mark.

Coming Up:

Midsummer Yard Sale and Open Day

10am-3pm, Saturday 20th June, St. George’s Church. Encourage people to come along! If you can help with a tower or crypt tour on the day, then please let Paul know asap. You can now purchase tickets for the tours on the website.

Men’s Group – Croquet

On Tuesday 23rd June, at 5:30 for 6pm, the men’s group are holding a Croquet Evening at the Croquet Club on the Ramsgate Royal Esplanade (near the boating pool). It is £10 each. Please let Bruce know asap if you would like to come (07708 682464, brucestikes@btinternet.com).

Dare to Pray, Prayer Meeting

Due to clashes on 20th June, the Dare to Pray prayer meeting this month will be on Saturday 27th June, 9:30-10:30am at St. George’s Church

Wendy Fuller’s Thanksgiving Service

Saturday 27th June, 2:30pm at St. George’s. Everyone who knew Wendy is welcome to attend.

Friends of St. George’s Art Show

This will run from 10th to 19th July, 2-5pm, in St. George’s Church. If you want to enter a painting, drawings, prints or mixed media contact Elaine on e_hartnell@yahoo.com or Janet on 01843 852780.

Vicarage BBQs

These will take place on Saturdays 18th and 25th July, 5-8pm. Invitations to come.

Interesting Blogs to Share:

Class and Evangelicalism in Britain

In this more academic paper, Kirsten Birkett explores the topic of class as understood in Britain and why the evangelical church has not been great at reaching the working classes. Read more… (Long read)

Dyslexia: A Superpower or a Challenge to be Acknowledged

In this 6 minute read, Zoe Strong reflects on an interview with Tom Holland, the actor where he shares the challenges he faces because of his dyslexia. Read more…

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 21st June – Third Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) 2 Peter 1:1-11 – 9:30am

Monday 22nd  

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Tuesday 23rd  

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Men’s Group Croquet (Croquet Club, West Esplanade) – from 5:30pm

Wednesday 24th 

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Thursday 25th  

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Saturday 27th  

Dare to Pray Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:30am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Thanksgiving service for Wendy Fuller (St. George’s Church) – 2:30pm

Sunday 28th – Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) 2 Peter 1:1-11 – 9:30am

Thanet-wide Prayer Gathering (United Church, Hardres Street) – 6.30pm

Life Groups

Will you dare to share the Christian life with others? Life groups are a great way to meet together regularly with a small group of other Christians, for mutual support, to share in reading God’s word and to pray for one another.

Please see Paul if you are interested in joining one. There are now more groups available! They meet at the following times:

  • Monday evening (two groups)
  • Tuesday afternoon
  • Wednesday morning
  • Wednesday evening
  • Thursday morning

There is also a youth life group on a Sunday afternoon.

Online Forms:

Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:

  • Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
  • Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
  • Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.

Safeguarding

Our website is now updated with the latest information about Safeguarding and links to the Diocesan form for reporting concerns and accessing training.

Training

If you volunteer in anyway at church the national authorities you should take at least the Basic Module in safeguarding training once every three years. If you hold a role connected with vulnerable adults or children and young people, then you will also need to take the Foundation Module. Once you have completed your training, please forward that certificate to James, our administrator, (office@churchramsgate.org) so that we can keep records of who has done the training.

Finally, let’s ask for God’s help to keep control of ourselves.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)