“They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”
(Acts 1:14)
Do you enjoy waiting? I remember when I first went out with Fiona, I used to visit her a few miles away from where I lived in London, then have to catch the night bus home late in the evening. It was a particularly cold winter and waiting at the bus stops was not much fun! No-one likes waiting. Especially when the conditions are inclement.
Yet, God often makes us wait. We are naturally impatient, and in our society often in a rush to get to the next thing. Waiting can be boring. It can be uncomfortable and unsettling, particularly when the future is uncertain, and you do not know how long the wait will be. When will the bus come? Will it ever come? Or will I freeze to death waiting?
The book of Acts starts with the wonderful period of Jesus’ resurrection appearances, where he proves to his numerous disciples that he was truly raised from the dead. But then, Jesus leaves and ascends to heaven. Before doing so what does he tell the disciples to do? To wait. They are to stay in Jerusalem until they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which will enable them to witness powerfully to the reality of Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 1:4,8).
So, they wait in Jerusalem. They don’t know how long it will be until the Spirit comes or quite what the future will be like. It must have been an unsettling, uncomfortable and frustrating time. What did they do in this waiting period? They prayed and they discerned who should join them in leadership.
As churches we are engaged in a Year of Discernment. In a way this is a waiting period as we wait for God to show us where he is leading us over the next few years. It is uncomfortable and unsettling, but we need to face the uncertainty and throw ourselves on God in prayer as we seek his will.
Paul Worledge
This Week’s Sunday Service – 11am
Waiting, Praying, Discerning (Acts 1:15-17, 21-26)
Join us for our regular Sunday morning worship. This week there are the normal groups for children, but as it is our annual meeting Sunday, we will be focusing on some practical issues to do with the life of St. Luke’s, through teaching on Acts 1:15-17, 21-26.
Thy Kingdom Come
This week is the second phase of the Thy Kingdom Come prayer initiative. Do join us for one of the prayer meetings or prayer walks and or try out the prayer space in St. George’s church. Find out more…
St. Luke’s APCM – Next Sunday
This Sunday is our Annual Meeting. We will reflect this in our service, by including some time to give thanks for what God is doing and pray for what we hope he will do in the year or so ahead. Then after a coffee break, we will reconvene for a short business meeting, to receive and ask questions about the annual report and to elect PCC members and church wardens.
We are going to try out some new technology to make this more interactive, so if you have a smart phone, please bring one (there are ways of engaging for those without smart phones). You can also submit questions (or like other people’s questions) for the meeting using this link. You can ask anonymously, but it is preferable if you give your name.
All the paperwork including the annual report is available on the website.This includes the annual report and role descriptions for PCC members and church wardens, along with nomination forms.
If you want to stand for election or nominate someone, then forms are available on the desk at the back of church and must be completed and handed in before the start of the APCM meeting at 12:30pm.
The Event, Youth meeting at St. Luke’s, This Sunday
On Sunday 12th May St. Luke’s will be hosting The Event from 6-8pm. This is an evening where young people from across Thanet gather to have fun, eat, hear a message from God’s word and worship together. Please encourage any Secondary School aged young people to come along and enjoy the food, games, praise and teaching. Find out more.
If you are able to help – please let Claire know.
Pentecost Sunday – 20th Anniversary for Paul and Fiona
On Sunday 19th May, Paul and Fiona will be celebrating 20 years at St. Luke’s. We invite people to send in photos of church life from the last twenty years.
In addition, we plan to make this a special gift day to raise money for two new church noticeboards. One noticeboard costs around £1,000. As is traditional, we will also donate 10% of this gift day towards our patrons CPAS.
Paul and Fiona’s celebration BBQ
On Sunday 19th May we will be holding a celebration BBQ for Paul and Fiona who have been at St Luke’s for 20 yrs. It will be held in the field behind church. It starts after the normal service at St Luke’s. There are forms to sign up: to attend, to contribute food and to indicate dietary requirements.
Training for After School Club
On the 23rd May we are having a meeting at 7.30pm at St George’s hall with Jen from the Canterbury diocese to encourage us in connecting with young people in our community, as we continue exploring a potential after school drop in on Thursdays from September.
It would be great for many to attend and if you’re interested in being a volunteer – commitment can be weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Anyone interested in volunteering but not able to make the meeting can contact Tonya on 07376485784.
ACTS Prayer Day – Saturday 18th May
ACTS is the local Christian schools’ work. The ACTS prayer day is a great opportunity for Christians throughout Thanet to join together to pray for our schools, teachers & children.
It’s on Saturday 18th May (at Elim Oasis Church, Ranelagh Grove, St Peters, CT10 2TE). There are two opportunities:
- 10am-12noon ‘Interactive Prayer’ (family friendly).
- 2pm-4pm ‘Prayer for Schools’
Overcoming depression one step at a time
This is the title of a course we are running in the Depression and Anxietiy Self-Help group over ten sessions. Our first session was to introduce the course. Next Wednesday, 15 May, we are holding the second session on How depression works. We’ll be meeting from 6-7.30pm in the Perry Room in the church hall at St Luke’s. Just look for the signs pointing to the room. All are welcome. We will be doing an exercise where we identify our coping strategies and how well they help us. We’ll be doing another exercise where we write down our activities during a typical week and thinking about whether we would like to change how we spend our time.
Links to Share:
The state of culture in 2024
In this insightful article (not Christian) there is a damming enditement of where our culture is heading. Read article (10mins).
Why come to church?
In this 3 minute video, Glen Scrivener gives a beautifully succinct answer as to why as Christians we should be a part of a church. Watch video.
Finally, let’s keep on waiting and praying that God will show us the way.
Yours in Christ
Paul Worledge
(Vicar, St. Luke’s Ramsgate)
Weekly Calendar
Sunday 12th May
Family Service (St. Luke’s Church), Acts 1:15-17, 21-26, 11:00am-12:00pm
APCM (St. Luke’s Church) – 12:30-1:00pm
The Event (St Luke’s Church) – 6:00-8:00pm
Monday 13th
Thy Kingdom Come Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:15-9:30pm
Tuesday 14th
Thy Kingdom Come Prayer Meeting (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 15th
Study Group (Langdale Avenue) – 10-12 noon
Thy Kingdom Come Prayer walk (St. Luke’s Church) – 10:15am-12:00pm
Depression & Anxiety Self-Help Group (Perry Room) – 6:00-7:30pm
Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:30-9:30pm
Thursday 16th
Thy Kingdom Come Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Cafe4All (St. Luke’s Church), Coffee and Chat for all – 10:00-11:30am.
Friday 17th
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
Thy Kingdom Come Prayer walk (St. George’s Church) – 6:45-8:00pm
Saturday 18th
Thy Kingdom Come Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Thy Kingdom Come Prayer Stations & Open Church (St. George’s Church) –
10:00-12:00pm
Sunday 19th
Family Service (St. Luke’s Church), Acts 2:1-21, 11:00am-12:00pm
Paul & Fiona’s 20th Anniversary BBQ (St. Luke’s Vicarage Gdn) – 12:30-3:00pm
Online Forms
Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:
- Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
- Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
- Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.
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.
Safeguarding Training
If you volunteer in anyway at church the national authorities are strongly encouraging you to take at least the Basic Module in safeguarding training once every three years.
If you have not completed the training in the last three years, then the module can be completed online and takes about ninety minutes. You can access the training by following this link. You will need to first register, to access the training. Once the training is completed, you will be sent a certificate. Please forward that certificate to James (office@stlukesramsgate.org), so that we can keep records of who has done the training.
St. Luke's Church Ramsgate 