“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

(Matthew 28:19)

This week, the sections of the email are:

• Opening Reflection: Our Mission
• This Sunday: Livestream link
• Key notices: Beth’s return from maternity leave
• Coming Up: Men’s Group Croquet, Relationships Matter Course
• Opportunities to Serve: Service Team leaders needed, Tower and Crypt Tours at St. George’s
• Interesting Blogs: Every Moment Holy, AI and the pornification of Thought
• Weekly Calendar
• Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, access Safeguarding training

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

The above verse is often seen as Jesus’ mission statement. What are we meant to be trying to achieve as the church? Jesus says, make disciples!

Jesus says that we are to make disciple of all nations. No nationality or indeed type of person is to be excluded from becoming a part of the church of God. All are to be invited into the family of Jesus. I love that our churches contain a great variety of people, including people from other nations, because it reflects our mission to reach out with the good news to all.

We are also to baptise them. Baptism is a sign of a changed life and a changed loyalty. In particular, Jesus teaches us that we should baptise people into the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. This Sunday is Trinity Sunday. We worship a Trinitarian God, a God who is both one, but also three persons. That is the God revealed to us by Jesus, that is the God whom we become identified with through baptism.

Finally, disciples are those who are seeking to learn from and follow a teacher. So Jesus says in the next verse, that we are to teach them to obey everything he has commanded. Matthew’s gospel, perhaps more than the other gospels contains much of Jesus’ teaching about how we are to live. That includes the ethical teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, but there are also many parables about growing the Kingdom of God and instructions on spreading the good news as well. Our mission must be done with love and compassion, but it has to involve words and a call on people to conform their lives to Jesus’ teaching.

The Church’s mission is not primarily about buildings, clergy or worship. They matter, but only in as much as they help to fulfil our calling to make disciples.

Paul Worledge

This Sunday

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20)

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, and we are looking at Jesus’ great commission at the end of Matthew’s gospel. It will be an All Age service.

Key Notices:

Beth’s return from Maternity Leave

Beth will be returning to full-time work in her curacy role in September. Between now and then will be a transition period, where she will initially take on a few things, then gradually take on more as we go through the summer. Please pray for her and the family as they manage this period of transition.

Coming Up:

Men’s Group – Croquet

On Tuesday 23^rd June, at 5:30 for 6pm, the men’s group are holding a Croquet Evening at the Croquet Club on the Ramsgate Royal Esplanade (near the boating pool). It is £10 each. Please let Bruce know asap if you would like to come (07708 682464, brucestikes@btinternet.com).

Relationships Matter Course

A seven-week course exploring the good, true and beautiful picture of relationships, sex and sexuality expressed in the Bible. Newington Free church are running this Evangelical Alliance course on Saturday evenings (Saturdays 13, 20, 27 June; 4, 11, 25 July; 1 August), 7-8pm.

Opportunities to serve:

Service Team Leaders Needed

Can you help to care & share? Service Team Leaders required – mainly to help on a rota to open and close church and assisting Church Wardens by providing occasional cover. A great opportunity to serve and learn without feeling too responsible. Please speak to Andrew McMillan for more information.

Tower and Crypt Tours at St. George’s

We are still looking for people to join a team of people who may be willing to help out with the tower and crypt tours on Saturdays in the summer at St. George’s church. This is a great way to show a warm welcome to the public and also raise funds for the church. If you are interested let Paul know.

Interesting Blogs to Share:

AI and the Pornification of Thought

In this insightful and provocative article, Helen Collins compares the use of Large Language Models like Chat GPT with the use of porn and finds parallels between the two. Read more… (5mins)

Every Moment Holy

Listen to this Podcast discussing a new popular resource for Christians called, ‘Every Moment Holy’. It is a book of prayers produced to pray at ordinary moments in life. Find out more by listening… (45 minutes)

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 31^st – Trinity Sunday

Family Service (St. Luke’s Church) Matthew 28.16-20 – 11:00am-12:00pm

Monday 1^st June        

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

Tuesday 2^nd         

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

Wednesday 3^rd  

Gardening Group (St. Luke’s Church) – 10:30am-12:00pm

Thursday 4^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 5^th   

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

Saturday 6^th      

CTiR Prayer Breakfast (Newington Free Church) – 9:30-10:30am

Sunday 7^th – First Sunday after Trinity

Family Service (St. Luke’s Church) Matthew 5:31-37 – 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 keep praying that we can carry out Jesus’ mission.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Vicar, St. Luke’s Ramsgate)