“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

(Colossians 3:12)

This week, the sections of the email are:

• Opening Reflection: Kindness
• This Sunday: Livestream link
• Key notices: Electoral roll now published, Joining the PCC
• Coming Up: Life in Tudor Ramsgate, Annual Parochial Church Meeting, Men’s Group – Mini-Golf, Pentecost Service – Churches Together in Ramsgate
• Wider Church: Thanet Prayer Diary
• Interesting Blogs: The Quiet Revival – One Year on, Gospel Hospitality
• Weekly Calendar
• Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, access Safeguarding training

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

We are looking at the fruit of the Spirit, the set of qualities that we should expect to be growing in as Christians as our character is formed to be more like the character of God. This week we are considering kindness. Kindness is about helping and caring for others in a generous way.

Princess Diana, who herself was known for showing kindness,  was reported as saying, “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” There is truth in this. Kindness often begets kindness, whereas unkindness spawns more unkindness. As Christians, however, we are not motivated to show kindness in the hope that it will rebound on us, but because God, our Father has already shown kindness to us.

God’s kindness to us is closely linked to his grace (Ephesians 2:6-7) and to his work through Jesus to bring about our salvation (Titus 3:3-7). It is no surprise then, that it forms one of the key qualities that makes up the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23a) and should be expected from God’s chosen people (Colossians 3:12). Indeed, Christian love is often expressed through acts of kindness (1 Corinthians 13:4).

Kindness does also make a difference to the world. Blaise Pascal said, “Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.” Kindness works in our most intimate relationships, but also with strangers. Showing kindness to your spouse is one of the best ways to improve your marriage, whilst a kind  welcome to a stranger opens the possibility of a lasting and fruitful friendship. Let’s pray for more kindness.

                                                Paul Worledge

This Sunday

Kindness (Ruth 2)

This week our Bible teaching theme is Kindness. It is a baptism service, and all the children’s groups are running as normal.

Key Notices:

Electoral Roll – Now Published

The revised electoral roll is now available to check on the church door noticeboard.

Joining the PCC

Are you interested in helping our church flourish? Do you want us to be more effective at daring to share the gospel with the outside world and life with one another? Do you long to see a church that is growing rather than struggling? Do you want to help steer our church through the big changes in the coming years? None of this can happen, unless we dare to share the organisational load of running a church. We need people to join our Parochial Church Council, who are effectively the trustees of St. Luke’s, to work with the vicar in overseeing the work of the church. If you are interested, then please speak to Paul or another PCC member. Elections take place at the annual meeting on 17^th May and nominations need to be made by then.

Coming Up:

Life in Tudor Ramsgate

On Saturday 16^th May, 3pm, Margaret Bolton will be giving a talk about Tudor Ramsgate. It will include insights into school life, the work of a housewife, the jobs people did, visits by important people and the experiences of family life. Tickets will be £5 with all proceeds going to the St. George’s Restoration fund. Tickets available online, via the St. George’s website or on the door.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM)

The Annual meeting is on Sunday 17^th May after church. The Annual Report is now available on the website or at the back of church. There will be elections for two Churchwardens, two Deanery Synod reps and four PCC members. Please consider standing or encouraging others to stand.

Men’s Group – Mini-Golf

Wednesday 20^th May, 6pm at Strokes in Margate. Trophy night for him with the lowest score! Early start, lifts to the course, snacks available. £7.50. Contact Bruce Stokes 07708 682464, bruce.stokes@btinternet.com.

Pentecost Services – Churches Together in Ramsgate

Join other Christians from around Ramsgate for our next joint service on Sunday 24^th May, 6pm at the Royal Harbour Academy, Upper Site, off the New Haine Road. There will be praise, prayer and Bible teaching, along with activities for all ages.

Wider Church

Thanet Prayer Diary

You can find the latest Thanet Prayer Diary for May and June at the back of church ordownload here.

Interesting Blogs to Share:

The Quiet Revival One Year On

As you may be aware the original Quiet Revival report published a year ago, has recently been discredited, with the YouGov research being shown to be faulty. However, Bible Society have now published a new report, which collates a lot of evidence to show that there is a change in the Spiritual climate in our country and especially among younger people, where there is a greater openness than before to the Christian faith. Read the report… (Long Read)

Gospel Hospitality

Keeping with the theme of kindness, this post talks about using hospitality to build relationships which may enable the sharing of the good news. 6 minute read

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 3^rd May – Fifth Sunday of Easter

Baptism Service (St. Luke’s Church) Ruth 2 – 11:00am-12:00pm

Tuesday 5^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 7^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

Friday 8^th   

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

Saturday 9^th    

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

Sunday 10^th – Sixth Sunday of Easter

Baptism Service (St. Luke’s Church) Genesis 39:1-20a – 11:00am-12:00pm

Life Groups

Will you dare to share the Christian life with others? Life groups are a great way to meet together regularly with a small group of other Christians, for mutual support, to share in reading God’s word and to pray for one another.

Please see Paul if you are interested in joining one. There are now more groups available! They meet at the following times:

• Monday evening (two groups)
• Tuesday afternoon
• Wednesday morning
• Wednesday evening
• Thursday morning

There is also a youth life group on a Sunday afternoon.

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 show real kindness as we go about our day to day life.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Vicar, St. Luke’s Ramsgate)