Jesus said, “…Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will never pass away.”
(Mark 13:31)
Advent is a time of looking forward. For most people these days it is a count down to Christmas, perhaps using an Advent calendar or just longing for all the busyness and preparation to be over and for time to relax. For Christians, however, Advent is more than just the lead up to Christmas. It is an opportunity to reflect on our lives from the perspective of eternity.
In the Old Testament, the book of Ecclesiastes stands out as a book that reflects on the meaning of this life, often concluding that it is all meaningless! In particular it says, “[God] has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). As humans we have a sense of time beyond the present and even beyond our own life. We look back with interest at history and speculate what the future might bring. For our lives to have meaning, we need to be able to set them in the context of eternity.
One of the tragedies expressed in Ecclesiastes, is that so often the things we work for in this life are lost when we die. We invest so much in what is temporary and passing, but if we are to find meaning, we need to invest in the eternal, in things that last.
In Mark 13, Jesus talks to his disciples about the future. Much of this is focussed on the coming destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. For the disciples the temple was a magnificent and permanent structure, with its massive stones. But Jesus says that not one stone will remain on another, it will be utterly destroyed. It was – only forty years later in AD70. In contrast, Jesus says his words will never pass away, they are eternal and as Peter acknowledges, they are “the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68).
So, this Advent, lets commit to what will last – to sharing the words of Jesus.
Paul Worledge
Coming Sunday’s Service – 11am
Join us for our All Age celebration of Advent – a joint celebration with St. George’s church. We will be looking at Mark 13:24-37 and Jesus’s predictions for the future.
St. Luke’s Website
- What’s On – a page which lets you know what is happening this week and gives information about upcoming events.
- Notices – You can read the latest notices on this page.
- Sermons – Read a transcript of a recent sermon or watch the YouTube version recorded at St. Luke’s. You can also listen to the sermon through the podcast website castbox.
Weekly Calendar
Saturday 2nd December
Ramsgate Churches Together Prayer Breakfast (St. Mark’s) – 9:00-10:00am
Sunday 3rd December
Creative Group Singing Practice (St Luke’s Church) – 9:00-10:30pm
Joint Service (St. Luke’s Church), Reading: Mark 13:24-37,
11:00am-12:00pm
Monday 4th
Daily Prayer (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:30-9:30pm
Tuesday 5th
Daily Prayer (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Christ Church Toddlers @ St Luke’s (St. Luke’s Church Hall) – 9:30-11:30am
Study Group (Lyndhurst Road) – 2:30-4:00pm
Wednesday 6th
Study Group (Langdale Avenue) – 10:00-12:00 noon
Depression & Anxiety Self-Help Group (Perry Room) – 6:00-7:30pm
Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:30-9:30pm
Thursday 7th
Daily Prayer (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Cafe4All (St. Luke’s Church), Coffee and Chat for all – 10:00-11:30am.
Time4All (St. Luke’s Church) – 11:30-15:00.
Friday 8th
Play and Praise (St. Luke’s Church Hall) – 10:00-11:30am
Gather, Women’s Drop-In (St. Luke’s Church) – 12:30-2:30pm
Creative Group Singing Practice (St Luke’s Church) – 4:30-6:00pm
Saturday 9th
Daily Prayer (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Christmas Fair (St Luke’s Church) – 10:30am-2:30pm
Sunday 10th
Family Service (St. Luke’s Church), Reading: Mark 1:1-8,
11:00am-12:00pm
Joint Advent Sunday Service
Today we welcome members of St. George’s as they join us for our annual joint service at St. Luke’s.
Christmas Fair – Saturday 9th December
The Social Events team will be holding a Christmas Fair in St. Luke’s Church on Saturday 9th December from 10:30am to 2:30pm. Do come along, enjoy the fun and bring friends and family. Donations of Tombola items are welcome.
Christmas Decorations – Thank You!
Many thanks to all those who helped to decorate the church for Christmas this year. It looks fantastic!
The Depression and Anxiety Self-Help Group
This group meets on Wednesday 6 December from 6-7.30pm in the Perry Room in the church hall. Our theme will be Morning and evening routines. For more details contact Pauline (p.emptage@sky.com) or David (07881 582800 or davidw.hawthorn@sky.com).
Christmas Leaflet Distribution
We now have 5,000 leaflets detailing the Christmas Services across St. Luke’s, St. George’s and the Sailor’s church. The aim is to deliver as many as possible through front doors across the three parishes of St. Luke’s, St. George’s and Christ Church. If you can deliver some:
- Choose a road on one of the maps and check no-one else has yet chosen it.
- Cross it off on one of the maps, so no-one else chooses it.
- Pick up a pile of leaflets that you think will give you enough to deliver.
- Deliver to the road and return any spare leaflets next week.
Feel free to also take posters and leaflets to put up in visible spaces.
Christmas Unwrapped – Tuesday 12th December
Once again, we are hosting four Year 6 groups from local schools for Christmas Unwrapped a 90-minute interactive exploration of the Christian message behind Christmas. If you can help out on the day in anyway on either the morning or afternoon, then please let Paul know as soon as possible.
Christmas – Mince Pies
We love to offer Mince Pies at our Christmas services starting on 16th December. Please bring donations of mince pies in from next Sunday.
There is No Rose! (Baroque Concert)
Petra and friends will be holding another Baroque concert in the beautiful setting of St. George’s at the end of the Christmas Tree Festival on Sunday 17th December at 7pm. Tickets £15 on the door, £12 online and £10 in church. Under 18s are free. Buy online now. (There appears to be a problem with online ticket sales at present, but we are working to resolve this).
Dick and Caroline Seed Update:
Dear friends
Thank you for remembering us in prayer over the past few weeks while we were in Uganda. The Lord went before us and our time was successful in many ways.
The first week was Phase 3 training with the Uganda Christian University theology lecturers in Jinja, overlooking Lake Victoria. We were impressed with the way they had implemented the learning from last year and with the contributions they made during this phase. Initial feedback was that many of them feel that they are “transformed lecturers” as a result of the course.
The second week was different in that we had a smaller group, and we were assisting them in writing workbooks for the Generosity Project church training. We worked together on the first workbook to provide an agreed template and then they got on with their own writing. Some of them stayed on at UCU for a few days after we left to complete their workbooks in peace and quiet.
We are now back at GWC, writing end-of-year reports, marking participant reflections, editing the academic Generosity Book, and doing some writing ourselves. It has been a busy year, and we look forward to a few months “at home” in Cape Town.
The official link letter will be with you before Christmas.
In Christ
Caroline and Dick
Links to Share:
How to talk to your children about conflict and war
This short article gives some wise advice on talking to children about the wars and conflict that appear on our news. Read more….
What do smaller churches get wrong when they look at bigger churches?
In 2024, we are looking to have a year of discernment, where we consider what God may be calling us to as churches over the coming years. This article may help us develop the right attitudes when we think about this. Read more…
Finally, let’s look to what is eternally important, and share Jesus’s eternal words.
Yours in Christ
Paul Worledge
(Vicar, St. Luke’s Ramsgate)
St. Luke's Church Ramsgate 