Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear!”

(Mark 4:9)

Have you got “ears to hear”? At one level this saying from Jesus which appears twice in Mark 4 seems to imply that deaf people are excluded and those who are not deaf should listen. But Mark 4 is a chapter full of parables, short stories or images that mean one thing on the surface but are meant to point to a deeper meaning.

Those with ‘ears to hear’ are not the non-deaf. They are those who are ready to hear, understand and grasp what Jesus is really saying. In contrast many, in the words of God to Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10; Mark 4:12) are “ever hearing but never understanding.” You may think that does not matter, but the quote from Isaiah goes on to explain that unless people understand the message of Jesus, they will never turn to God and never find forgiveness or salvation.

So how can we have ‘ears to hear’. In Mark 4, everyone hears Jesus’ parable of the Sower, but not everyone understands it. Indeed, those who were ‘around Jesus’ (4:10) had to ask him about the parables and their meaning. They heard Jesus talking about seed falling on different types of soil and realised that this was not a lesson in agriculture, but teaching about something deeper, something that really mattered. So, they looked more deeply into it by coming to Jesus and asking him. It was only then that Jesus was able to fully help them understand its meaning.

To have ‘ears to hear’ is to realise that Jesus is worth listening to. Not just for entertaining stories, but because, as Peter puts it elsewhere, Jesus has “the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68) Knowing this, such people want to find out more, look below the surface meaning of parables and discover what Jesus really wants to say to us.

Having ‘ears to hear’ is not about the quality of our ears, but the attitude of our heart.

Paul Worledge

Welcoming Beth and Family

Beth our new curate, husband Tom and son Toby are moving to Ramsgate in the middle of June. They are moving into a different house to Claire!

We want to provide a small welcome pack for when they move in. If you would like to contribute to this, then please give Amanda Ogden a small financial donation on Sunday. (Alternatively bring a non-perishable item of vegan (i.e. non-meat and non-dairy) food). Please also sign the welcome card! Amanda and Charlie from St. Luke’s will then deliver the welcome pack to them when they move in.

Also, check out this Facebook post from the Diocese about Beth. Read more.

Hustings at St. Luke’s, 7:30pm Monday 24^th June

St. Luke’s will be holding a hustings of some of the local candidates to be MP (or their representatives) in the lead up to the General Election. The event will start at 7:30pm, but it would be good to be able to offer refreshments from 7pm.

If you are able to help welcome people that evening, serve refreshments or help with the audio-visual then please let Paul know asap.

We are inviting people to submit questions ahead of time. Either do this yourself online or if you cannot do that ask someone to help you submit a question online. Submit Questions.

Depression and Anxiety Self-Help Group

The group meets from 6-7.30pm on Wed 19 June in the Perry Room at St Luke’s Church to continue our course on Overcoming depression one step at a time. Our theme on Wed will be Avoidance. The group is open to anyone and is free. For more details contact David (07881 58200, davidw.hawthorn1@sky.com).

Links to Share:

Atheism verses Christianity – The Latest Debate

In this 10 minute read Graham Tomlin reflects on a recent debate between atheist Richard Dawkins and former atheist now Christian Ayaan Hirsi. Read More…

Poetry Slam – Hannah’s Story

Rebecca Rocker from Swindon beat 16 other spoken word artists, to win The Big Church Poetry Slam 2024. In this video she brilliantly tells the story of Hannah, the mother to be of Samuel. Watch 3 min. video

Finally, let’s make sure we have ears to hear Jesus.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)

 Weekly Calendar

Sunday 16^th June – The Third Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist (St George’s, 9:30am) – Reading: Mark 4:26-34

Monday 17th       

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

Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:15-9:30pm

Tuesday 18^th      

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

Coffee Morning (St. George’s Hall) – 11:00am-12:00pm

Study Group (Lyndhurst Road) – 2:30-4:00pm

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Wednesday 19th    

Study Group (Langdale Avenue) – 10-12 noon

Depression & Anxiety Self-Help Group (Perry Room) – 6:00-7:30pm

Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:30-9:30pm

Thursday 20^th  

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

Saturday 22^nd    

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

Open Church (St. George’s Church) – 11:00am-1:00pm

Sunday 23^rd – The Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist (St George’s, 9:30am) – Reading: Mark 4:35-41

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. 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.

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.