“Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud. ‘This is my Son whom I love, ‘Listen to him!'”
(Mark 9:7)
Who do you listen to? The modern super-connected world hurls a tidal wave of different voices at us day after day, bombarding us with a multitude of news, opinions and stories. How do we choose what to listen to when we are faced with such an enormous selection?
An easy way is to go along with the opinions that are most common, allowing our thinking, behaviours and actions to be shaped by the attitudes of the largest crowd. After all it is hard to swim against the tide.
But is the crowd always the best voice to listen to? Pilate listened to the crowd and had Jesus crucified.
Another simple option is to select those voices that agree with what you already think. We can do that by choosing to buy a particular newspaper or we are pushed into it by social media algorithms that feed us with the opinions that best match ours. This is appealing because it gives us the impression we are always right. Everyone loves to feel that they are right. But we can’t all be right all the time.
Who then should we choose to listen to? Jesus, took Peter, James and John up a mountain, where he was transfigured before them. Somehow mysteriously, but visibly, Jesus’ true glory was revealed on top of the mountain. They had a glimpse of his true nature. This was no ordinary man, but God with us.
What did all this mean? Why did Jesus do this at this moment? As they were wondering about this, God’s voice gave an answer: ‘Listen to him!’ The revelation of Jesus’s unique and special nature showed them that Jesus’ words were more special, more important, more lifegiving than anyone else’s. When we are bombarded by so many voices, let’s choose to listen to Jesus above all.
Paul Worledge
St. George’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. There are now videos for all the sermons over the summer.
Weekly Calendar
Sunday 11th February
Eucharist (St George’s, 9:30am) – Reading: Mark 9:2-9
Monday 12th
Daily Prayer (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Craft Group (St. George’s Hall, Soup Kitchen) – 2:00-3:30pm
Tuesday 13th
Daily Prayer (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Coffee Morning (St. George’s Hall) – 11:00am-12:00pm
Pancake Party (St Luke’s Church) – 4:00-6:00pm
Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm
Wednesday 14th
Ash Wednesday Service (St. George’s Church) – 12noon-1:00pm
Thursday 15th
Daily Prayer (St Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Saturday 17th
Daily Prayer (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Sunday 18th
Eucharist (St George’s, 9:30am) – Reading: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Pancake Party – This Tuesday!!
Pancaked, fun and games on Tuesday 13th February, 4:00-6:00pm, St. Luke’s Church, organised by the St. Luke’s and St. George’s social committee. Please sign up on the list at the back of church. Bring your own frying pan!
Ash Wednesday Reflections – This Wednesday
To mark the beginning of Lent we will be having an Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday 14th February 12 noon at St George’s church. An opportunity to reflect on being dead to sin and forgiveness we receive due to the cross of Jesus.
New Curate
Last Sunday we announced that we will be welcoming a new curate to St. Luke’s and St. George’s at the end of June. Her name is Beth Keenan. Read more…
Snapshot: Youth Survey by the Diocese
This survey has been created by the Canterbury Diocese Youth Council to hear the voices of young people. If you are aged 11 to 24 (not just those involved in churches) we would love for you to complete it. The form is anonymous and we will be collecting the responses to pass on to Bishop Rose.
Snapshots has been designed to create a platform for hearing the voice of young people across our diocese. The Youth Council aim to put out three Snapshot questionnaires a year.
This first one is about church/sharing faith.
Closing date: the end of February.
Love is all you need
– Community Meal Fundraising Concert
A big thank you to all who helped to make this event such a great success, especially Jemima, St. George’s Regeneration officer. It was a wonderful concert with the Coastal Choir and Viking Ukes entertaining us beautifully. We had over 130 people who attended and raised over £1,000 for the work of the community meal.
World Day of Prayer
This year it is on 1st March, 10:30am at St. Laurence Church, Ramsgate. If you would like to take part, then email: drdebbie08@gmail.com.
We are looking for a cook
Are you able to cook a two-course meal for around fifty people? We are looking for volunteers to join a rota of cooks for the community meal on Tuesday evenings at St. George’s.
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.
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.
Links to Share:
What do smaller churches get wrong when they look at bigger churches?
In 2024, we are looking to have a year of discernment, where we consider what God may be calling us to as churches over the coming years. This article may help us develop the right attitudes when we think about this. Read more…
How are adults coming to faith in the UK?
Many of the questions submitted for our questions for the Year of Discernment asked about how we can better share the good news with the people around us. Phil Knox is an evangelist, speaker and missiologist at the Evangelical Alliance. He recently tweeted a thread about how are adults coming to faith in the UK at the moment. Here are the big themes and some suggestions for churches to explore… Read more…(It’s a short and encouraging read!)
Finally, let’s keep listening to Jesus.
Yours in Christ
Paul Worledge
(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)
St. George's Church Ramsgate 