‘May the King live for ever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.’
(Daniel 6:21-22)
The story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den is a powerful narrative filled with terrifying beasts, trickery, spying, manipulation, disobedience, and the intervention of an angel sent by God to save Daniel’s life. You may notice that the events in chapter 6, where Jewish exiles face the threat of death but are miraculously saved, are similar to those in chapter 3 involving Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In that chapter, they refuse to worship a statue and are saved from a fiery furnace. The differences, however, are the people involved, what the exiles are asked to compromise on and how the Kings respond to the Miracle.
In the Chapter, God is sovereign, and Daniel is loyal. Daniel’s boldness is evident as he continues to pray to God despite a royal decree against it. This act of defiance illustrates his determination to disobey unjust laws that conflict with God’s commandments, even when the cost of his disobedience is to be thrown into a den of lions. Daniel is gracious and joyful even in the face of threats, and he responds to the King kindly. God’s sovereignty is evident as He protects Daniel from the lions, demonstrating His power over earthly authorities and fierce, wild animals.
Daniel’s unwavering integrity in worshipping the God he knows to be true is a profound example for us, showcasing the importance of standing firm in one’s convictions while remaining kind and respectful to all.
Beth Keenan
This Week’s Sunday Service – 11am
This week we finish our series on Daniel, with perhaps the most famous story: Daniel in the Lion’s den. The service is a communion service, but the children and young peoples groups will be meeting and practicing their song for next week’s Family Carol Service.
Volunteers to Listen and Pray after the Service
We are hoping to create a team of people that can offer a listening ear and prayer after church services for those who might find that helpful. If you have done something similar before or think this is something you could do with a little bit of training and are willing to explore doing this at St. Luke’s, then please fill in this short form. We hope then to arrange some training in the New Year.
Mince Pies
We plan to provide mince pies as part of the refreshments for the Christmas Services. If you can donate some mince pies, then please bring them along to church by the start of the Family Carol Service on 22nd December.
Church Finances Update and Appeal
As we come to the end of the year, we have been looking more closely at our church finances. The bad news is that at present we are heading for a deficit in 2024 of around £14,500. It costs £95,000 a year to run St. Luke’s and most of that is covered by the generosity of people’s planned giving towards the church (around £66,000 a year including Gift Aid reclaimed). We receive around £7,000 a year from people putting money in the collection box and online and around £4,000 a year from other sources. So far this year we have also received just over £4,000 in one off donations. We will write to people asking them to consider their planned giving to the church in the New Year, but it would be really good if we can significantly reduce this year’s deficit.
Could you consider giving a one-off gift to the church before the end of the year to help us reduce the deficit? We know many people are struggling financially, but if you have the means to give generously to the work of the church this year, it would be a great help. You can give by putting a cheque in an envelope in the collection box or online using this link: stlukesramsgate.org/donate/
Carol Singing in Town Centre, Saturday 14th December, 12pm
Churches Together in Ramsgate are going to gather in the town centre (outside Timpsons) for carol singing, Bible reading and handing out candy and fliers promoting Christmas services. If you can join us, please just turn up!
Service of Remembrance, Saturday, St. Luke’s 6:30pm
This Saturday, 6:30pm at St. Luke’s. A chance to come and remember and give thanks for the lives of loved ones who, who we will be missing this Christmas. Find out more…
Christmas Baroque Concert, St. George’s, Monday 16th December, 7:30pm
Tickets available online or from Paul in church. Do join us for lovely Baroque music in the setting of St. George’s Christmas tree festival.
Ramsgate Lumiere at the Sailors’ Church, 12th-15th December
Part of Ramsgate Lumiere, a special feature in the Sailors’ Church will be Kinetech Design’s SUPERNOVA sculpture, commissioned for Clerkenwell Design Week, draws inspiration from the Elizabethan ruff. Its folded facets echo the pleated garment, created using Kiriorigami, a Japanese technique combining folds and cuts.
Sailors’ Church carols are at 3pm and repeated at 5pm on Friday 20th December.
Vision 2030 – Please respond by the end of the year
If you weren’t able to come on Monday night and missed the livestream, you can still watch it here. You can find the Vision 2030 document here. We are asking people to give us feedback on the vision using this simple and short online form by the end of the year. Then we will review the Vision and agree how to move forward at our PCC meetings in January.
Links to Share:
This week two contrasting on screen offerings…
Conclave the movie
An ecclesiastical election, conducted behind closed doors, by a group of old men hardly seems a subject for a riveting thriller. Yet, back in 2016, Berkshire-based novelist Robert Harris thought otherwise. Conclave became an international best-seller. Now it’s been turned into a movie. Read more…
Cheeky Pandas Christmas Resources
Looking for exciting resources to help children engage with the Christmas story? This series from the Cheeky Pandas includes four videos, each looking at Christmas from a different perspective.
Resources to help you plan children’s group sessions around the videos can also be found in the ‘Downloads and Resources‘ section of the site.
Finally, let’s pray that we can live daring lives for Christ.
Yours in Christ
Paul Worledge
(Vicar, St. Luke’s Ramsgate)
Weekly Calendar
Sunday 15th – Third Sunday in Advent
Creative Group Singing Practice (St Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:30am
Family Service (St. Luke’s Church), Daniel 6:1-23, 11:00am-12:00pm
Monday 16th
Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Baroque Concert (St. George’s Church) – 7:30-9:30pm
Tuesday 17th
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
Thursday 19th
Cafe4All (St. Luke’s Church), Coffee and Chat for all – 10:00-11:30am
Friday 20th
Play and Praise (St. Luke’s Church Hall) – 10:00-11:30am
Creative Group Singing Practice (St Luke’s Church) – 11:30am-12:30pm
Gather, Women’s Drop-In (St. Luke’s Church) – 12:30-2:30pm
Saturday 21st
Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Sunday 22nd – Fourth Sunday in Advent
Creative Group Singing Practice (St Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:30am
Family Service (St. Luke’s Church), Luke 1:26-38, 11:00am-12:00pm
Vision 2030- Please respond by the end of the year!
We are now inviting people to respond to the draft plan, preferably using the online form, but they can do so with paper forms also available at the back of church.
Christmas Baroque Concert, St. George’s, Monday 16th, 7:30pm
Tickets available online or from Paul in church. Do join us for lovely Baroque music in the setting of St. George’s Christmas tree festival.
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. of who has done the training.
St. Luke's Church Ramsgate 