St Martins, Hull

In the midst of disaster... who do we trust in?  Who do we believe?   Do we need to wait till we get to heaven to have new life... or can resurrection life come even now in the midst of darkness?

Do you ever get busy?   It is something we all do, yet we discover in our Bible reading the person receiving the praise is the one sitting and being with Jesus, not the one getting everything done.  As the world around us gets busier, what can we learn from Mary, choosing to 'Be' with Jesus, putting aside the 'Doing'? 

The happy ending!  But there is so much more going on. Ruth's faith and search for  'grace' opens the door to being 'redeemed' ;- debts and poverty wiped out, Naomi and Ruth being given a fresh start; the curse as a Moabite  broken; creating the way for great grandson to redeem King David to redeem his nation; creating the way for a future heir, the King of Kings, Jesus, to redeem all human kind.

Ruth seeks a 'Redeemer' someone who will rescue her and Naomi from their situation.  Within this apparently simple story of two women in need, we start to see the hand of God working, to bring 'redemption' into their lives and to start the  incredible story of 'redemption' the great rescue in our lives as well by Lord in our lives through Jesus.

What do you do when you are desperate?   Ruth seeks someone who will have 'Favour' on her.  'Favour', often translated as 'Grace'  is something we all need, and need to seek out.   As we continue to explore the journey of this ordinary young women with faith, seeking 'favour' we discover how her life, the life of Naomi and ultimately our lives are changed by grace.

Part of our 'Women of God' series, this is the first of four parts exploring the book of Ruth. 
Where do you go when things are hard? When tragedy strikes?  Hope comes though the faith and actions of an young women who tasks a great risk to return to her mother-on-laws home land where she would be an outcast. Yet her faith unlocks their future... and ultimately ours  

Anna was a prophet with a life devoted to worship and prayer, one of the people used by God to announce the coming of Jesus and the beginning of the Kingdom. What can we learn from her life of devotion? 

This is the final part of our series exploring the book of Philippians.   Today we think about Pauls final comments thanking the church in Philippi for their generous gift to support him, but he goes on to say that he is actually content with what he has, because he has learned what contentment really means.

Part of our 'Journey through Philippians' series, today we explore what Paul means by 'Rejoice in the Lord always' means for us, how it can be hard, but thinking about the ways we can learn to rejoice with the help of the Father 

Talk from Sunday 11th June 2023.  Part of our journey exploring the letter written by Paul to the young church in the Greek City of Philippi.
Reading taken from Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®