“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
(Luke 16:13)
This week, the sections of the email are:
- Opening reflection: Money!
- Key notices: Dare to Pray, Harvest Service, Myriad Taster Event
- Coming Up: Macmillan Coffee Morning, The Birth of St. George’s, Men’s Night, Male Voice Choir
- From the Wider Church: Baby loss support service, ACTS quiz evening
- Interesting Blogs: The Death of Charlie Kirk
- Weekly Calendar
- Online Forms
Scroll on…
Opening Reflection
We all need money. Without it you can’t pay your mortgage or rent, you can’t buy food for your family or pay the bills to heat your house. You simply canot live without money. Jesus himself earned and spent money. There is nothing wrong with taking part in the economy.
Money is a part of life, but it does not need to be master of our life. Christians, of course, want to serve God. We are called to follow his good commandments. But do we allow Money to be another master in our life?
Jesus says you cannot have two Masters. If you do, then at some point, the commands you receive from them both will conflict and you will have to choose which one to obey. As Christians we cannot let God become another master in our life.
So, what does it mean for Money to be our master? It means that when it comes to key decisions in life, the trump factor will always be about what gives us or saves us the most money. Should I spend more time with my neglected family or take the overtime offered at work? Money will demand taking the overtime. Should I buy the cheapest product or the most ethically sourced product? Money will demand going for the cheapest. Should I give generously to God’s work or only a token amount? Money will demand giving only the token amount.
Ultimately, we need to choose who we serve. Will we serve the hard taskmaster of Money, or the loving and gracious God, who made us and gives to us freely? The choice is yours.
Paul Worledge
Key Notices:
Dare to Pray Prayer Meeting – This Saturday, 9:30-10:30am
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain!” Join us for this essential monthly meeting as we pray for the development of our vision. St. George’s Church.
Harvest Service – Sunday 28th September
Our Harvest Service, next week, will be an All Age service starting at 10:00am. We are hoping that this will be an opportunity for both the 9:30am congregation and Sunday School families to join together in a short service of thanksgiving. There will be a simple Holy Communion in the choir stalls before this service at 9:30am.
We will also be having a special collection, which will go towards Christian Aid.
We will be collecting non-perishable food items at the service, which will be donated to the local Salvation Army Food Bank. Please bring some non-perishable food to offer at the service.
Myriad Taster Event
Part of our Vision 2030 is to create new worshipping communities. One way that could happen is through the support of Myriad, which trains small teams of lay people to start small new worshipping communities. If you are interested in finding more about this, then there will be an online taster event for Myriad in Canterbury on either Thursday 25th September or Tuesday 30th September from 7:30-8:30pm. Please see Paul if you are interested. Why not also sign up to help develop this part of our vision on the New Worshipping Communities workstream. Go to form.
Coming Up:
Macmillan Coffee Morning at Café 4 All
On Thursday 25th September from 10:00am to 11:30am, Cafe4All will be hosting a Macmillan Coffee morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. You’re welcome to bring a cake or something yummy to share (homemade or bought). Find out more or share on social media…
The Birth of St. George’s – Saturday 4th October, 3pm
An illustrated talk by Margaret Bolton looking at how Ramsgate developed up to the Regency period and what prompted people to build a church. Why did they call it St George’s? Where did the money come from? Why was it designed to look as it did? Who worked on the project? How has it changed since?
Tickets are £5 on the door or in advance from the website. All proceeds to the St. George’s Restoration Fund. Fliers available at the back of church.
Men’s Night – Thursday 9th October
Sadly, due to weather the Petanque evening was cancelled. The next event is the Pool Challenge at the Frames Snooker Club on Thursday, 9 October.
Thanet Male Voice Choir – Saturday 11th October, 7:30pm
‘We Shall Overcome’ present Thanet Male Voice Choir in concert at St George’s Church. The proceeds will be shared between St George’s Church and East Kent Mencap. Tickets £9 + booking fee. Find out more…
From the Wider Church:
Baby Loss Support Service
Canterbury Cathedral 11am, 4/10/25
This service is for anyone who has either personally lost a baby at any stage of pregnancy, at birth, or in early years, or who has been affected by family members’ or friends’ loss. Whether the loss was recent or 80 years ago, everyone is welcome to attend. We have also extended the services, and gladly welcome anyone who is grieving the fact that they haven’t had children. This may be due to circumstance, infertility, or for other reasons – but all are welcome. Babies and children are also invited to come with their families, as the Saying Goodbye service is truly a family event for all. Find out more…
ACTS Fundraiser Quiz Evening
Friday 3rd October, 6:30 for 7pm start at St. Philips Church Palm Bay
£5 per person, you need to book a ticket. For more information see poster.
Interesting Blogs to Share:
The Death of Charlie Kirk
This week, rather than share a couple of different articles, I thought I would signpost some discussion on the murder of Charlie Kirk. He was a conservative Christian speaker and blogger, who was shot dead whilst debating students at a university campus in Utah. Whilst many of us would have agreed with some of what Charlie Kirk said, no doubt there would have been much we would have disagreed with. Nonetheless, the murder of someone whilst speaking publicly is always shocking and tragic and rightly condemned. But, in the context of the culture wars what is the significance of this tragedy.
Here are a variety of takes on the murder’s significance and what can be learnt from it. Khalil Greene surveys the perhaps shocking reaction of many younger commentators who don’t feel bad about what happened to Charlie Kirk, because of the views he expressed, not least his support of American’s right to bear arms. Graham Tomlin sees it as a warning about the dangers of anger in society. Glen Scrivener in this podcast talks about how the death was so shocking, but reflects on the problem of violence being used to silence speech and explores how this is one way to look at what happened to Jesus.
Weekly Calendar
Sunday 21st September – Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
Eucharist – (St George’s, 9:30am), Reading: Luke 16.1-13
Monday 22nd
Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
The Bible Course (St. Luke’s Hall) – 7:30-9:00pm
Tuesday 23rd
Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm
Wednesday 24th
Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm
Thursday 25th
Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
The Bible Course (St. Luke’s Church) – 11:30am-1:00pm
PCC Meeting (Soup Kitchen) – 2:00-4:00pm
Saturday 27th
Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm
Sunday 28th – Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity
Harvest Short Communion – (St George’s, 9:30am)
All Age Harvest Service – (St George’s, 10am), Reading: Luke 8:1-15
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.
Finally, let’s keep Jesus and His Father as our Master.
Yours in Christ
Paul Worledge
(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)
St. George's Church Ramsgate 
