Someone has managed to set up bogus email accounts in the name of the church and our Minister inviting speakers to a conference and asking for money. Ignore such messages! The police are being alerted!

Friday Fun Club is just for you! Every Friday in term time. Come to the Duck Lane entrance of St John’s Church of England Primary School (Kingsmead Site) CT1 1AF. From 6.00pm to 7.15pm you will find action, fun, games and a team-talk Bible slot. More details from Josef on 07941 483423.

A wealthy man once came to Jesus with this question: ‘what must I do to gain eternal life?’ This is the single most important question any of us could ask. Many of us think the answer is to live a good life and be rewarded at the end with eternal life. But Jesus replied to the man saying something quite shocking: ‘no-one is good except God alone’. In other words- the rich man wasn’t good and no-one of us is either. I was never very good at high jump at school. When it was my turn, the PE teacher would lower the bar so I could step across even without jumping. That is what we do with God’s standard of goodness- we lower the bar so that we can step across, and then think that we have done enough to deserve heaven. Jesus used a comical illustration to make his point- that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. But here is the good news- Jesus has done the impossible. Through his death he can freely offer us eternal life. If we come empty handed and ask him to save us, that is what he will do.

Let’s not make the same mistake this autumn as Thelma Howard, an American maid. She missed out on a fortune because she didn’t look carefully enough at what she already had. Her employer was Walt Disney, who gave her a piece of paper in an envelope every Christmas Eve. Thelma didn’t understand what they were, so she simply added them to a pile under her bed. After her death, her relatives discovered the documents and realised that they were shares in the Disney Corporation worth thirty million dollars. 

On Sunday mornings this term we’re going to be unwrapping the huge blessings we already have as Christians in two series before our Christmas services. Find out more from our term card.

Students are a lively part of Emmanuel Church. Do come and meet us all sometime. Get more details by clicking the tab Students.

Earlier this month, we enjoyed our first ever 'Big Day Out' as a church family, at Blean School, just outside Canterbury. Paul Bolton joined us to give two talks from John 10 & 11, which you can listen to here and here. It was fantastic to focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, our good shepherd and our hope, together. The whole day was a really refreshing time for the church family as we looked at God's word, prayed, ate together and enjoyed some afternoon fun, including 'Emmanuel's Got Talent', which showcased everything from conjuring tricks to rap! One highlight was this poem, submitted anonymously, which gives you a flavour of what our church is all about:

Emmanuel: 2009-2012

Emmanuel!  What’s in the name?

What a glimpse of fortune, wealth or fame,

Was caught that bright October mom?

Cast out, like Him, the church was born:

No room, no space that she could claim,

Her own- yet giv’n a glorious Name.

Emmanuel, you’re grown apace,

Kaleidoscope of age and race.

Some came to taste, and some have strayed,

But most, by far, have drunk and stayed,

To learn to love the Saviour’s face

And draw in depth of saving grace.

Emmanuel, we hear you sing

To wind and brass and drum and string

Both new and old in hymns we raise,

United voices loud in praise

Let chords be struck and rafters ring

In tribute to the servant King!

Emmanuel, a home from home,

A trusting place for those who come,

To hone their skill, to stretch the mind:

A path to choose, a friend to find

Thought stimulates a vibrant hum,

Three years to shape what I’ll become.

Emmanuel, your children dear

So eagerly crowd round to hear,

Commands of God, proverbial truth

All geared to reach the heart of youth.

Dramatic art and songs that cheer;

The seed is sown, the harvest near.

Emmanuel the Prince has died;

The Father promised to provide,

A Lamb, to take away all sin,

To open Heaven and let those in

Who saw their need and humbly cried

For mercy from the Crucified.

Emmanuel, your Word is taught,

Exploits of old and battles fought;

Tales told that grip the human heart

Of loss and gain in field and mart;

The reasoning that calls for thought,

The truth is grasped, the vision caught.

Emmanuel, we hear your call;

Within, without the city wall

To preach to those with listening ear,

To set man free from doubt and fear,

To name Him King, whate’er befall

The Sovereign Saviour, Lord of all.

Emmanuel, your grace we need,

To be content, to quell our greed,

To recognise the troubled soul,

To ease the pain, make bodies whole,

To share in word as well as deed

The love His death in us has freed.

Emmanuel, God with us still!

Come ache or age or deathly ill,

No power no scheme of fiend or foe

His grip on us can overthrow.

His promise firm for aye, until

We stand with Him on Zion’s hill.

Centiqasi Incogniti

ix. vi. mmxii

If that intrigues you, why not join us one Sunday morning to find out more?

Did you see the list of 60 ‘New Elizabethans’ – individuals who’ve had a major influence on British life in the 60 years since Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne – that the BBC released recently? Some of the names were predictable enough: Baroness Thatcher, Alfred Hitchcock, Lennon and McCartney. Others were more unexpected, like Barbara Windsor, or the infamous RBS boss Fred ‘the Shred’ Goodwin.

Taking another look at history often throws up surprises. Sometimes those who were most prominent in their day are quickly forgotten, whilst the unsung talent turns out to have changed the world forever.

Today, Jesus Christ is known the world over. But the Bible tells us that in his own day it was different: he was from a nowhere sort of town, Nazareth (see John 1:46), and even there he was dismissed as ‘the carpenter’ (see Mark 6:3). As the prophet Isaiah said of him, 700 years before his birth, ‘he had no form or majesty that we should look at him’, he was ‘despised and rejected by men’ (see Isaiah 53:2-3).

Yet this apparently unremarkable man came to turn the world upside-down. Even as he was ‘despised and rejected,’ nailed to a wooden cross, he revealed himself to be that most remarkable of things – as Queen Elizabeth herself said last Christmas, ‘neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.’

Perhaps it’s time for us to take another look at Jesus?

The great Russian author Leo Tolstoy once wrote, ‘Is there any meaning in my life that the inevitable death awaiting me does not destroy?’ It’s a sobering question – perhaps not one we’d choose to dwell on – but a crucial one. It’s the question that hangs over all our relationships, our daily work and our fleeting pleasures. What happens to all of this when I’m gone? It’s the question that has vexed philosophers too – from Plato to the present day. What is the meaning of life, when everything dies and decays? The resurrection of Jesus Christ, which Christians celebrate especially at Easter, confronts us with the reality of hope. The women who went to Jesus’ tomb that first Easter Sunday must have almost given up any hope of meaning. The man Jesus Christ, who had made such astonishing claims – even to offer life beyond the grave – had been brutally executed before their very eyes. But the greatest shock was yet to come: ‘He is not here, he has risen… just as he told you’ said the angel at the tomb (see Mark 16v6-7 in the Bible). Later they would see him themselves: not a ghost, not a vision, but a real man, raised from death, just as he said would happen. And if those words had proved true, couldn’t everything else be ‘just as he told you’ too? Even the offer of life beyond the grave for all who trust in him. If that is even possible, it must be worth exploring further. Why not consider looking again at the resurrection of Jesus Christ for yourself?

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.'