“For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

(Revelation 7:17)

This week, the sections of the email are:

• Opening reflection: What kind of King?
• This Sunday: Christ the King (Luke 23:33-43)
• Key notices: Decorating St. Luke’s for Christmas, Generous Giving Sunday response, Christmas Unwrapped, Carol Singing at Care Homes
• Coming Up: Advent Sunday, Meal and Magic Evening, Christmas Tree Festival, Christmas Baroque, Christmas Services at St. Luke’s
• From the Wider Church: Dick and Caroline Seed update, ACTS Update Evening
• Interesting Blogs: Pascal’s Wager, The Homeless Man who moved in
• Weekly Calendar
• Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, access Safeguarding training

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

Those of us who have recently done the Bible Course, or indeed read through the Old Testament, will have noticed that there are a lot of kings in scripture. Most of them are rubbish. They lead people away from God and are often oppressive and unjust. Even the best ones are murderous. Sadly, it is not difficult to think of world leaders today who are not much better.

This coming Sunday is called, ‘Christ the King’. So, what kind of king is Jesus? The verse above from Revelation beautifully encapsulates an answer to this question. In a wonderful play on imagery, it describes Jesus as both “lamb” and “shepherd”.

Jesus is “the lamb at the centre of the throne”. He is our ruler, but also the sacrificial victim, who died on the cross “to take away the sins of the world” (cf. John 1:36). Jesus does not rule for himself, but gave up everything for his subjects. He is the ultimate servant king, the true king of love, who has our interests close to his heart.

He is also our shepherd. ‘Shepherd’ was a common image in the ancient world for kings. They led the people as a shepherd leads his flocks. In this verse, however, in imagery echoing Psalm 23, we are told that Jesus as our shepherd king will lead us to springs of living water. His rule brings us life, a life where God will wipe every tear from our eyes.

Why not recommit to making Jesus the king of your life, accepting his sacrifice for your sins and allowing him to lead you to eternal life?

Paul Worledge

This Sunday (23^rd November)

Christ the King (Luke 23:33-43)

This week our Bible teaching focuses on Jesus as the King on the cross. There will be all the normal music, singing, prayers and teaching along with the regular children’s groups.

Key Notices:

Decorating the Church for Christmas – This Thursday

From about 11am on Thursday 27^th November, there will be a working party to decorate St. Luke’s for Christmas. Everyone is welcome to come and help. If you are interested in collecting some greenery to enhance the decorations then please see Lucy W-B.

Generous Giving Sunday – Response

Thank you to all those who have responded so far. We have had 14 responses. If you have not yet responded (even to say you cannot increase your giving), then please do so as soon as possible. You can use the form in the pack and the envelope addressed to Nicky, our treasurer, or simply email your response to Nicky: treasurer@stlukesramsgate.org .

Christmas Unwrapped

We are hosting two schools on the morning of Wednesday 3^rd December. If you can help with biscuit decorating or other activities, then please see Paul.

Carol Singing at Care Homes

We are planning to go into a couple of local care homes to sing some Christmas Carols for the residents. If you can join us for these events, then please let Paul know:

• Keele House, 2:30pm on Wednesday 10^th December
• Ramsgate Care Centre, 2:30pm on Monday 15^th December

Coming Up:

Advent Sunday – 30^th November

There will be a joint service for St. Luke’s and St. George’s at St. Luke’s Church at 11am on Advent Sunday, 30^th November.

In the evening from 5pm at St. George’s Church, there will be Let there be Light event after the 4:30pm Ramsgate Light switch on. This is a free event with refreshments and entertainment (see fliers for more information). Last year we had over 500 attend. If you can offer to help steward then please let Paul know.

Meal and Magic Evening, Saturday 6^th December, 7:00pm

The Men’s group will be hosting this fantastic event at St. Luke’s Hall. It will include a hot meal, a quiz and magic from Colin Hoult. This is open to everyone: children go free, adults only £5. See Bruce for more information, 07708 682464, bruce.stokes@btinternet.com .

Christmas Tree Festival

This will be running from 12^th December at St. George’s. If anyone would like to decorate a Christmas Tree on behalf of St. Luke’s, then please let Paul know.

Christmas Baroque at St. George’s – 18^th December, 7pm

The Baroque Collective warmly invites you to the fifth annual Christmas Baroque Concert at St George’s on 18 December at 7pm. Tickets: £13 in advance, £15 on the door; free admission for children under 16. Find out more and buy tickets.

Christmas Services at St. Luke’s

Tree of Love Service (Formerly Remembrance Service) – Sat. 20^th, 6:30pm

Family Carol Service – Sun. 21^st, 11am

Crib Service – Christmas Eve, 24^th, 4pm

Traditional Carol Service – Christmas Eve, 24^th, 6:30pm

Christmas Day All Age and Holy Communion – Christmas Day, 11am

From the Wider Church:

The Latest from Dick and Caroline Seed

Since our trip to Rwanda in August, we have been to Australia for the Local Leaders’ conference and to Indonesia for further training in research methodology. We have written about this in the latest link letter which will be sent to you from CMS soon. You can also download it from the CMS website once it is published.

Please pray for Caroline who travelled to Angola on Saturday to help run Phase 1 training for the Anglican church there. She will be joined by the Brazilian bishop who translated our materials into Portuguese and one of our TALHITE Brazil 2024 graduates, who is also a professional trainer. They both speak Portuguese and Caroline does not, so I will be assisting them to run the training. Please pray specifically for:

1. Safe travels. The journey takes from 5-8 hours depending on conditions.
2. Good communication with the lecturers who attend.
3. Special strength for our Brazilian facilitators.
4. Good electricity supply so that we can run our PowerPoint presentations.
5. Wisdom for the Angolan bishops as they consider how to deepen and extend theological training in Angola.

Dick will be remaining in Cape Town to complete the preparations for the Postgraduate Diploma that is beginning early next year. We anticipate admitting the final students by the end of next week. Pray also for the interviews for a new assistant programme manager to work with Dick. The second interview is taking place next week.

ACTS update evening

Join Active Christianity in Thanet Schools for their latest update evening on Monday 24^th November, 7pm at St. Philip’s, Palm Bay.

Interesting Blogs to Share:

Pascal’s Wager

Have you ever come across ‘Pascal’s Wager’? It is the argument by 17th century French mathematician and philosopher, that in view of all possible outcomes, you are best off betting on believing in God. The following video was recommended by someone on the Christianity Explored Course. Watch video (26 minutes).

The Homeless Man who moved in

Some of you may have heard of Rob Parsons, from Care for the Family, who has written a number of Christmas books. This article from the Metro is about what happened when he and his wife let a homeless man stay in their home. Read more…

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 23^rd November – Christ the King

Family Service (St. Luke’s Church) Luke 23:33-43, 11:00am-12:00pm

Youthwork Consultation (St. Luke’s Hall) – 12:30-2:00pm

Christianity Explored Youth (13-18s) (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 5:00-6:30pm

Monday 24^th  

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Christianity Explored (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 7:30-9:00pm

Tuesday 25^th

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 26^th

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Cafe4All (St. Luke’s Church), Coffee and Chat for all – 10:00-11:30am

Christianity Explored (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 11:30am-1:00pm

Friday 21^st   

Play and Praise (St. Luke’s Hall) – 10:00-11:30am

Saturday 22^nd    

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Sunday 30^th – Advent Sunday

Joint Service (St. Luke’s Church) Matthew 25:1-13, 11:00am-12:00pm

Christianity Explored Youth (13-18s) (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 5:00-6:30pm

Let There Be Light (St George’s Church) – 5:00-7:00pm

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@churchramsgate.org), so that we can keep records of who has done the training.

Finally, let’s keep Jesus Christ as our king!

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Vicar, St. Luke’s Ramsgate)