This Sunday 14th December 2025

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“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”

(Matthew 24:42)

This week, the sections of the email are:

  • Opening reflection: Advent – “Do I treat other people, as though they are Jesus?”
  • This Sunday: Care for others (Matthew 25:31-46)
  • Key notices: Pre-service prayer and prayer ministry, Request for mince pies, Christmas Publicity
  • Coming Up: Christmas Tree Festival, Cafe4 All Christmas, Christmas Baroque, Dare to Pray, Christmas Services,
  • From the Wider Church: Dick and Caroline Seed Update
  • Interesting Blogs: Australia’s Social Media Ban, God watches the way we work
  • Weekly Calendar
  • Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, access Safeguarding training

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

Over the last few weeks we have been considering the great Advent question: “Am I ready for Jesus’ return?” It is a really important question to ask and as we have seen it needs to be considered from different angles.

One angle is to ask the question, “Do I treat other people, as though they are Jesus?” This is the thrust of the last of the stories that Jesus tells to help us consider whether we are ready for his return in Matthew 25.

Jesus uses a day to day image of sorting to illustrate the ultimate separation that will divide people between those who are in God’s eternal kingdom and those who are excluded. In this case the image is of a shepherd dividing the sheep and the goats. It was a common scene in the ancient middle east. However, in this parable the imagery quickly falls away and the reality that Jesus is trying to illustrate is put forward bluntly.

Jesus identifies himself with those in need and says that if you have helped them, then you have helped Jesus. In so doing you have shown yourself to be a true believer and you will be welcomed into God’s eternal kingdom. If, however, you refuse to help those in need, then Jesus says you have failed to help Jesus. So, naturally you will be excluded from God’s eternal kingdom.

Do we see Jesus when we see someone in need? If we say we are a Christian now, if we believe that Jesus gave his life, so that we can have the hope of eternal life, then how would we not help Jesus in need? Jesus says the way we need to do that is to help those we come across who find themselves in need.

Paul Worledge

This Sunday (14th December)

Care for others (Matthew 25:31-46)

This Sunday is a communion service with all the normal children’s and young people’s groups running. Join us as we consider together the last in our Advent series.

Key Notices:

Pre-Service Prayer and Prayer Ministry

We are happy to announce that we will be starting pre-service prayer this Sunday 14th December at 10.30 am. This is open to all.

After the service there will be opportunity for anyone in the congregation to receive prayer from our newly formed prayer ministry team.

Request for Mince Pies

As is traditional we love to serve mince pies at our Christmas services. We will need some for the service on Saturday 20th onwards. If you can donate a box or two, then please bring some at the start of one of the services or drop off at Café 4 All.

Christmas Publicity

This week is the last chance to take some fliers to deliver. It would be great if most of them could be taken out! If you can deliver to one or more roads, please grab enough leaflets from the pile at the back of St. Luke’s, check the roads are not already taken on the maps, then cross out the road(s) so that others do not deliver there. It would be great to cover as many roads as possible.

Coming Up:

Christmas Tree Festival at St. George’s, 2-5pm

Running from Friday 12th December to Sunday 21st. Come and view the beautiful Christmas Tree festival inside St. George’s church

Cafe4All Christmas

There will be Carol singing and Christmas celebrations at Cafe4All on 18th December. However, Cafe4All will then be closed for two weeks and re-open on 8th January.

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

We have now sold over 60 tickets online. If you cannot buy online, then tickets can be bought at church this Sunday for only £10 each or for £15 on the door. We are also looking for a small team of volunteers to serve mulled refreshments on the night. Let Paul know if you can help.

Dare to Pray – Saturday 20th, 9:30-10:30am

There are lots of events happening over Christmas and it is a great opportunity to welcome more people into our churches to hear the good news about Jesus. But we need to pray for God to work. So please join us at our monthly Dare to Pray meeting at St. George’s church this Saturday.

Christmas Services:

For more information see the fliers or website.

  • Carol Services (Sailors’ Church, Harbour), Friday 19th, 3pm and 5pm
  • Tree of Love Service (St. Luke’s), Saturday 20th, 6:30-7:30pm
  • Family Carol Service (St. Luke’s), Sunday 21st, 11:00am-12:00pm
  • Carol Service (St. George’s, Church Hill), Sunday 21st, 5:30-6:30pm
  • Crib Service (St. Luke’s), Christmas Eve, 4:00-5:00pm
  • Traditional Carol Service (St. Luke’s), Christmas Eve, 6:30-7:30pm
  • Midnight Service (St. George’s, Church Hill), Christmas Eve, 11:30pm
  • All Age Service and Communion (St. Luke’s), Christmas Day, 11:00am

From the Wider Church:

Dick and Caroline Seed update:

We depart for Chile today (Thursday) to co-teach Phase 3 with the leaders of the Centre for Pastoral Studies (CEP). Please pray for a safe journey the whole way and for good learning and teaching when we get there.

We have been working with CEP for 5 years and they are now at the point where they are ready to run teacher training in Spanish for themselves. They have already started running the first phase with their final year students. This week of training will help the leaders learn how to deliver Phases 2 & 3 and how to assess the course.

Interesting Blogs to Share:

Australia’s Youth Social Media Ban – Brave Step or Overstep? There are lots of articles outlining the harmful effects of social media on young people. Should our country follow Australia’s lead and ban Social Media for under 16s? This article provides a brief summary of and a link to a much deeper article, that argues that the social media ban for under 16s in Australia is an overstep. It raises interesting questions about how much young people’s voices should play a part in policy development, rather than adults deciding what is best for them. Read more…

God watches the way we work

This article by John Lennox, tells the true story of a man in Hungary during the Communist era. He worked as a maths teacher and preached in local churches in his spare time, without being paid. The police forced him to make a decision. He couldn’t be both a maths teacher and a preacher. So would he give up his well paid job or give up preaching? Read more…

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 14th December – Third Sunday in Advent

Family Service (St. Luke’s Church) Matthew 25:31-46, 11:00am-12:00pm

Monday 15th    

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

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

Tuesday 16th  

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 18th

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

Baroque Concert (St. George’s Church) – 7:00-9:00pm

Friday 19th

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

Carol Services (Sailors’ Church, Harbour) – 3pm and 5pm

Saturday 20th

Dare to Pray (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:30am

Tree of Love Service (St. Luke’s) – 6:30-7:30pm

Sunday 21st – Fourth Sunday in Advent

Family Carol Service (St. Luke’s Church) – 11:00am-12:00pm

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 be ready for Jesus’ return.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Vicar, St. Luke’s Ramsgate)

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