We were in the bank recently and received a leaflet telling us about the new £50 notes. Rather than telling us about every forger's trick, it shows in detail what the genuine £50 note looks like. That is like what we have in the apostle Paul's letter to the Colossian Christians, which we have begun to look at on Sunday mornings.  It seems that the Colossians were in danger of being drawn away from Christ by new teachers that seemed to promise a new fulness and freedom by having visions and observing rules. The way Paul deals with it is to show them the genuine article. In Colossians we have some breathtaking descriptions of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the fulness of God is in him. Christians are in Christ. Therefore we have all of God's fulness already. Fantastic!

Why does God allow suffering? Will it ever end? How can we go on trusting him when it hurts? 

These are big questions for us to wrestle with, whether we'd call ourselves Christians or not. Many of us have been through terrible suffering. Others have seen loved ones go through it. Still others weep when we read the newspapers or watch TV reports from around the world. All of us find ourselves asking the big questions from time to time.

Does the Bible give us any satisfying answers to the problem of suffering? Does it help us to cope as we go through pain? We believe so, and over the next three weeks we'll be thinking about suffering on Sunday mornings as we look at the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. 

Habakkuk was a man just like us, someone who struggled with the suffering that he saw all around him, and who took his struggles to the LORD in prayer. There's a lot we can learn from him! 

Click on the Resources tab and listen to the sermons dated 8th, 15th and 22nd January 2012.

Stability is in short supply these days.  Whether it’s the ongoing chaos in the Eurozone or the persistent turmoil in the Middle East, the question everyone seems to be asking is not so much ‘is there a crisis coming?’ but more ‘when is it coming, and what will it be this time?’ Many of us feel it closer to home too. Are our jobs safe? What kind of future will the kids have? Can we keep on top of all our debts?

 The secret about our twenty-first century sense of instability, of course, is that it’s nothing new! Many of the people Jesus met were seeking stability and certainty too. On one occasion, he told a story about two house-builders. One built his house on solid rock, the other on shifting sands. You can imagine the difference when a storm came! So it is with our lives, Jesus said: build your life on the solid rock of Jesus and his words in the Bible, and you’ll have true stability. Build on something else, and you won’t last (see Matthew 7v24-27 if you’re interested).

 That’s not to say Christians are immune from life’s troubles – far from it! But it does mean that when it comes to the next inevitable crisis, we don’t need to lose heart. Nothing can shake our hope – not failing currencies, redundancy, or even death. Isn’t that kind of stability worth investigating?

We celebrated our second birthday together as a church on Sunday 16th October. Do come along and join us one Sunday in giving thanks for all that the Lord has done in us and through us here in Canterbury since October 2009.

As students across the UK get their A-Level results, many will be rejoicing, others will be disappointed. Perhaps you're one of them, and perhaps you've just found out you'll be heading to Canterbury in the autumn.

If that's the case, here's a question for you: What are you building your life on as you head off to uni? Academic success? The prospect of new friends and new freedoms? Or something more solid than that? 

The Lord Jesus famously urged people to 'build their lives on the rock' of his words (Matthew 7:24-27). In the end, everything else will disappoint; 'Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words will never pass away' (Mark 13:31).

So why not resolve to build your life on Jesus' words as you arrive in Canterbury this autumn? We at Emmanuel Church would love to help you do that. Check out the student pages on the website for more information on how to get stuck into a church that'll help you build on solid rock at university. 

On 20 March 1991 the guitarist Eric Clapton arrived home to discover dreadful news: while playing hide and seek, his four year old son Conor had fallen from a window to his death. Clapton wrote ‘Tears in Heaven’ soon afterwards, and in moving lyrics he raises questions we all ask about heaven. What is it like? Will people recognise one another? Will loved ones be reunited? As a church in the run up to Easter we will be looking at what God says about heaven. We will answer all these questions and more by looking at the Bible together. Clapton is sure that there will be no tears in heaven, and the Bible says he is right. In Revelation chapter 21 verse 4 we find that there will be no more tears. In his tender mercy God himself is the one who will wipe them away. Even the cause of tears will be gone- the old order of death and mourning and crying and pain will be no more. Easter is what makes heaven possible for all. On that first Good Friday, Jesus died paying for crimes he did not commit. In his love he died to save others from God’s punishment for sins. All this was to open up the way to heaven itself. Any who turn to Jesus as their Saviour and Lord can be certain that heaven is for them, where there will be no more tears and no more tragedies. I can’t wait, can you?

 “He who is not a slave to Christ is a slave to sin.”

"The Gospel is the unimaginable good news of God who saves us from death and makes us holy for all time."

“‘Being saved’ means being saved from death in the larger sense of being saved from judgement and Hell. It does not mean being saved so we can live a better life and, by the way, eternal life is tacked on.”

Three of the memorable quotes by Don Carson heard by six people from Emmanuel Church on the first Saturday of February at a London gathering of the South East Gospel Partnership focussing on Building the Church. Dr Carson explored the theme of how we are to be “to the praise of God’s glorious grace.”

Brilliantly dramatized and presented by just two people, John Bunyan’s classic ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ came alive to old and young alike.

David and Suzy Gould each played a number of parts as Emmanuel Church met on the first Sunday of 2011. The epic journey of Christian to the Celestial City began by emphasising the cross of Christ as the place where the burden of sin can be removed.

The danger of diversion from the pathway was clearly depicted as David gave an impressive display of juggling at Vanity Fair. Facing death as the final hurdle in the journey, Christian (Suzy) vividly portrayed both natural fear and the joy of ultimate arrival at the city ‘across the river’.

Then David spoke from Hebrews 11 and Revelation 21 to centre thoughts at the start of the year on desiring the city to come, and the nature of the New Jerusalem itself.

We have just begun a new curriculum called ‘Children Desiring God’ with our 3-7 year olds on Sunday mornings.  Written and tested in John Piper’s church in the USA, it seeks to focus children’s minds and hearts on the greatness and worth of God.  Week by week this year they will be looking at one attribute, or character quality, of God. We hope that alongside parents reading the Bible to their children at home, this curriculum will lead the next generation among us to love and prize God with every fibre of their being. To find out more see http://www.childrendesiringgod.org/

The last day of October marked the 493^rd Anniversary of the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 ‘theses’ to the door of the university chapel in Wittenberg. Those meeting at Emmanuel Church met a Martin Luther lookalike, outraged at Johann Tetzel’s selling of indulgences, but joyfully discovering in Romans Chapter One that the righteousness of God is a gift from God through faith. Then Peter Buss, formerly pastor at Union Chapel Bethersden, used Romans 1:16-17 to give a presentation of the work of Christ, and a clear Gospel call.

   Finally a group led by Richard Hagan walked around historic Canterbury sites as Richard explained how the Reformation changed the entire fabric of this nation. They learned the contrasting significances of early Roman believers, of Augustine, of Thomas Becket, especially of Thomas Cranmer, and of Robert Cushman. The group stopped outside the building where Cushman leased the vessel Mayflower in which the Pilgrim Fathers crossed the Atlantic, seeking to establish a godly community.

Over the summer Priscilla and Richard have been busy making some videos. We hope you enjoy our first attempts by clicking on 'about us' then 'videos' from the homepage. The '5 reasons to come to Emmanuel' video speaks for itself. The Canterbury Explored video also makes good viewing. The history of Canterbury is fascinating, and holds some important lessons for us to learn from today.

How should we apply the Ten Commandments in 2010? Are they important? Relevancy to the present through bringing out the essence of each commandment lies at the heart of a series of ten summer Sunday morning services. People of eight nationalities gathered to learn more of the Third Commandment, which is about using the name of God.  

   Visiting Emmanuel Church from Finland, Margot Kottelin was impressed by the message. ‘The preacher explained what it means for each of us today, first in the obvious way,’ Margot reports. ‘Then he centred the concept of God’s name on Jesus, because he is the ultimate revelation of who God is. It was very good, thought-provoking and really helpful.’ The series continues each Sunday until 11 July, and will be covering topics such as family relations, sexual conduct, theft and integrity.

Making sense of suffering. That's what has often faced Colonel Robert Thomson, who has just moved with his family to East Kent.

For six arduous months last year, he led 1,100 troops on Afghanistan's front line. 'It was challenging, rewarding and terrifying in equal measure,' confesses Colonel Thomson. 'The commitment, courage and sheer grit of every man has been humbling. I only commanded heroes.'

But, surrounded by suffering of many kinds among people they were sent to help, Robert's men themselves lost 13 comrades in operations.

Just now, he has spent Sunday mornings in Canterbury thinking over questions such as "Is there any purpose in suffering?" and "What hope is there in suffering?". Topics like these were considered by those attending Emmanuel Church as they went through the book of Job in the Bible.

'These Sundays have not cleared the mystery out of suffering for me,' admits Robert Thomson. 'But they have helped me put some of the traumatic things I have witnessed into a wider picture. That is vital for any soldier – and surely for any human being.'

A newcomer to Emmanuel Church Canterbury, Robert affirms, 'It is a place to make friends quickly.'