Dock Resource Kit

Sunday sermon, 21 September 2025

Summary

This week Phil continued our Vision & Values series by looking at our context: right here in the East End, in this Harbour of Hope. Drawing from Jeremiah 29, he challenged us to learn the art of landing well — making a home, investing in a legacy, and being good news for our city. Landing here with both feet means trusting God’s plans are good, and stepping together into the future he has for us.

Key Points & Takeways

  • Landing looks like making a home — not living with one foot in and one foot out, but putting down roots, committing to community, and treating this place as home, however long you’re here.

  • Landing looks like investing in a legacy — giving our time, prayers, and resources to bless others now and to sow into what will outlast us.

  • Landing looks like being good news — seeking the peace and prosperity of our city by praying, serving, blessing, and living as good news in everyday life.

  • Landing well means stepping in with both feet — not half-committed or hesitant, but rooted and trusting in God’s good plans for hope and a future.

  • Everyone has a part to play — building this Harbour of Hope takes all of us together, believing that God’s plans for East London and for this generation are good.

Dock Discussion Questions

  1. Making a home

    Jeremiah told God’s people in exile to build houses and plant gardens. What does “unpacking your bag” and making a home look like for you in this season — practically, relationally, or spiritually?

  2. Investing in a legacy

    We’re here today because others invested before us. Who are the people that invested in your faith journey? And when it comes to leaving a legacy yourself — how might that include your financial giving as well as your time, prayers, and relationships?

  3. Being good news

    God calls his people to seek the peace and prosperity of the city. What are some ways we can be good news in our workplaces, neighbourhoods, or boroughs? Where do you feel called to pray, serve, or bless others this term?

  4. Stepping in with both feet

    Of these three — making a home, investing in a legacy, being good news — which one do you sense God nudging you towards most right now? What’s one step you could take this term to lean into it?

Long-form, editted transcript

Vison & Values
Landing in this Harbour of Hope

Jeremiah 29:4–7, 11
Proverbs 3:9 & 11:25, Genesis 4:3–5,
2 Corinthians 9:7, Malachi 3:10, Acts 2:42–47

Our Harbour of Hope

As we step into a new term, we’ve been reminding ourselves who we are and what we’re called to as a church. Two weeks ago, we talked about our Vision — the what: Make Disciples, Transform Communities, Plant Churches. Last week, we looked at our Values — the how: Presence, Participation, Parties, Partnership, Planting. And today, we’re think a bit about our Context and Character — the where: right here, in the East End, in this Harbour of Hope.

I love where God has placed us. SPS sits right on the Highway — one of the busiest roads in and out of the city — and by the old docks. You can’t get more symbolic than that. For hundreds of years this river has brought people and trade from all over the world. This is a place of movement, of change, of dynamism. A place of landing and a place of launching.

We are a Harbour of Hope. I remember a couple who came to one of our services for a season. They hadn’t been having an easy time, but they met Jesus here and they said to me, “We just feel like we washed up on the shores of St Paul’s Shadwell.” I love that — this a place of refuge and peace, a place to pause and refuel, a place to be met with the love of Jesus. A place to land well and a place to launch from.

But the thing is — you can’t launch, or support others to launch, if you don’t first land. So that’s where we’re going to focus today, and ask the question: what does it look like to land well here, in this Harbour of Hope?

To help us answer that, we’re going to revisit a passage of Scripture that’s inspired us before — from the prophet Jeremiah.


Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7, 11

This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon…

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.’

For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Landing looks like making a home

Jeremiah writes to God’s people in exile: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.”

The context here is important. God’s people were in Babylon, and this wasn’t a holiday — it was exile. They didn’t know how long they’d be there. Some false prophets were saying, “Don’t worry, don’t settle, keep your bags packed — soon you’ll move on.” But Jeremiah, listening to the voice of God, says the opposite: even in exile, even in an unfamiliar place, somewhere that felt temporary, settle down. Build. Plant. Make a home.

Landing looks like making a home.

And that speaks straight into our context. Today we’re in one of the most dynamic and transient parts of London. Tower Hamlets is the youngest borough in the country, with a median age of just 30. Over the last decade the population has grown by more than 22%, and it’s predicted to rise towards 400,000 in the next 10 years. To put that into perspective — that would make Tower Hamlets the size of Manchester, all squeezed into this one East London borough. And if you add in Hackney and Newham, together we’re bigger than Birmingham — bigger than any other city in the UK outside London. Basically, there’s a lot of people on our patch.

And many of us here today are part of that growth story. People move to East London for work, study, or family. People move for opportunity, adventure, or refuge. Some stay for decades, others just for a short season. And in the middle of all that, city life can feel unsettled — always moving, always thinking about what’s next.

That’s why we need to learn the art of landing well. Not living with one foot in and one foot out. Not holding back because we might not be here forever. But putting down roots, however long we’re here.

When I was younger, I worked as a canoeing instructor. The hardest part was never paddling — it was getting in and out of the boat. People would put one foot in and keep the other on the bank. And what happens? You wobble. You’re unstable. You fall in.

Life can be like that too. If we try to live with one foot in and one foot out, never fully committing, we create instability for ourselves and for those around us.

Landing well requires both feet. It means saying, “For however long I’m here, this is my home. These are my people. This is where God has placed me.”

One of the best bits of travel advice I ever got was: unpack your bag. When you get to the hotel, put your pants in a drawer, your toothbrush by the sink. Even if it’s just for a night or two, it doesn’t take much — and it’s so much better than living out of a suitcase.

I want you to know this morning, you don’t have to be here forever to make this your home. Whether you’re here for six years, six months, or even just six weeks — this is yours, and you can make a difference. You can build something, grow something, and when you launch, you will leave a “you-shaped indent” behind.

If you only remember one thing today:
both feet on the floor, pants in a drawer.

In all seriousness, make your mark. Get stuck in. Show up. Join a Dock. Serve on a team. Pray with someone. Make friends. Invite someone over for lunch — or better still, invite yourself to theirs for dinner.

This is your church. Make it home.

Landing looks like making a home.

And when we do, we discover that God really can grow something in us and through us — right here, right now.

Landing looks like investing in a legacy

Jeremiah continues: “Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.”

In the ancient world, family was everything — your children were your greatest treasure, your future, your legacy. And Jeremiah tells God’s people: even here in exile, don’t shrink back, don’t withhold the very best of what you have. Invest your family life, your sons and daughters, your greatest assets, into this place. Build a future. Plant something that will last beyond you.

That’s the challenge for us too. Landing well is looks like making a home for ourselves — it’s about investing in a legacy that blesses those around us and even echos into future generations.

We’re here today because others invested before us. I love the historic boards at the back of the church — they are a testament to a previous generations faithfulness. More than 350 years ago this church was built by people who gave their money, prayers, and energy so the gospel could be preached here and a community of hope could be built in Shadwell. And I’m sure most of us can point to people who invested in us — parents, teachers, mentors, friends, leaders — who sowed encouragement, generosity, and faith so we could grow.

So what about us?
What legacy will we leave?

What will people in years to come say grew because we chose to plant, give, and serve, in this Harbour of Hope?

One of the ways we all get to invest in a legacy here at SPS is through our financial giving. Giving isn’t just about keeping the lights on — it’s first and foremost an act of worship. It’s our way of saying: “I believe in what God is doing here. I want to be part of it. I want to see this Harbour of Hope thrive now and for generations to come.”

That’s why we launched the Harbour of Hope giving campaign earlier this summer — to make sure people can keep landing and launching with Jesus for years to come. It takes prayer, presence, and participation — but it also takes resources.

Three words that I’ve found really helpful when I think about my giving are: Priority. Percentage. Progressive. (I’m sorry, I’m all about the P words!)

Priority. Because if we wait until the end of the month, giving will always feel impossible — life swallows up what’s left. Scripture teaches us to give first. So Charlotte and I set our giving as the first thing to leave our account each month. A way of saying, “God, you come first. We trust you with the rest.”

Percentage. Because sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. The Old Testament spoke of tithing 10%. In the New Testament the call is wider: to give cheerfully, generously, and in proportion to what we’ve received, so that needs are met. The figure matters less than the principle. Our giving should reflect God’s generosity and our worship. For some 10% is too much, for others not enough. What matters most is intentionally starting somewhere.

Progressive. Because as life changes, our giving can too. From time to time Charlotte and I ask, “Is it time to increase?” and so over the years we’ve gone beyond 10%. Not because we had to, but because it’s become a joy — an act of worship, a way of joining in more fully with what God is doing.

Paul told the Corinthians, “whoever sows generously will also reap generously,” and we’ve found that to be true. The more open-handed we are, the more we see God at work in us and through us.

Landing well looks like making a home and investing in a legacy — not out of guilt or obligation, but out of joy, faith, and vision. Because when we give, we’re sowing into disciples being made, communities transformed, churches planted. We’re investing in something that will echo into eternity.

So as we step into this new season, I want to challenge you: could you take a step of faith? Could you make giving a priority? Could you choose a new percentage that reflects God’s generosity to you? Could you allow that percentage to grow as your faith grows?

Could you join us in investing in this Harbour of Hope, so that generations to come will look back and say, “I’m here because someone chose to give”?

Landing looks like making a home.
Landing looks like investing in a legacy.

And…
Landing looks like good news for everyone.

Landing looks like good news for everyone

Jeremiah goes on: “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

This is an extraordinary command. God tells his people in exile to pray for their captors, to seek the prosperity of Babylon, to bless the very place where they felt displaced. It was radical then — and it’s just as radical now.

When God calls us to land in a place, he calls us to be good news for all the people around us. To seek the peace and prosperity of the city. To pray for it. To bless it. To serve it.

And that’s our hope for East London?
This place is full of vibrance, energy, creativity.

It’s young, it’s full of potential, full of future — but it’s also full of challenge — we have some of the highest rates of child poverty in the nation, huge inequalities, pressure on housing, on health, on jobs. Landing well here means choosing not to stand at a distance, but to be good news in the middle of all of that.

And we get to do that in so many ways. When you worship and when you serve on a Sunday, you are being good news. When you open your home to others in hospitality, you are being good news. When you show up at work with integrity, you are being good news. When you pray for your neighbours, you are being good news.

You are good news.
You landing here fuels mission.

You are the reason Alpha can run, so people discover Jesus for the first time. You are the reason youth and children’s work can thrive, so the youngest generation in this country grows up knowing they are loved, valued, and called by God. You are the reason recovery ministry happens, so people can find freedom from addiction. You are the reason new churches can be planted.

You landing well in this Harbour of Hope means God’s kingdom comes in Tower Hamlets, in Hackney, in Newham, in Greenwich. You are the answer to the prayer: “May our boroughs prosper. May lives be changed.” Because God has chosen you.

And notice what Jeremiah says:
“If it prospers, you too will prosper.”
There’s a beautiful exchange here.

As we seek the good of the city, we are blessed. When we give ourselves away, we find joy. When we share what we have, we find abundance. When we bless the city, we are blessed in return.

So let me encourage you: land in such a way that your presence here is good news for others. Don’t just build a private home for yourself. Don’t just invest in your own legacy. Pray for the East London. Bless the city.

Join us in making this Harbour of Hope good news for everyone, a place where men and women, young and old, wash up on these banks and encounter the love of Jesus.

Both feet in

Jeremiah finishes with those famous words: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

We often quote that verse on its own, but it only really makes sense in the context of what comes before. God’s promise of hope and a future is tied to the call to land well. To build, to plant, to make a home. To invest in his Kingdom. To seek the peace and prosperity of the city.

And I believe that’s the call to us today — to step into God’s plans with both feet. Not wobbling on the edge with one foot in and one foot out, but rooted in this Harbour of Hope, trusting that his plans are good.

Landing well looks like making a home — this is your home, SPS and East London, however long you’re here.

Landing well looks like investing in a legacy — sowing into something that will outlast you.

Landing well looks like being good news for everyone — praying, serving, blessing, giving.

And what excites me is that we’re already seeing it. People are finding faith in Jesus. Communities are being transformed. Leaders are being raised up. Churches are being planted. And this is only the beginning.

But to keep building, to keep investing, to keep being good news — it takes all of us. Every one of us has a part to play. All of us together believing that God’s plans for Tower Hamlets, for Hackney, for Newham, for East London, for this generation — are good. Plans to prosper and not to harm. Plans that give hope and a future.

Would you stand with me.
Let us pray…

Commissioning Prayer

Lord, we thank you for calling us here,
into this Harbour of Hope.
Help us to land well.
To build, to invest,
to be good news for everyone around us.

We give ourselves to you — our time, our energy, our prayers, our money — as an act of worship, trust, and love.
Use us to bless this city.
Use us to bring hope to our boroughs.
And as we land well here, may we be ready to launch well into all the places you send us.

We step in with both feet today,
into your good plans,
plans to prosper and not to harm,
plans to give us hope and a future.

Amen.