“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.”

( Job 19:25)

This week, the sections of the email are:

• Opening reflection: My Redeemer lives!
• Key notices: Remembrance Day Service Light Party, Samaritan’s Purse
• Coming Up: Men’s Group film and Chippy, Advent Sunday, Christmas Tree Festival, Christmas Baroque, Christmas Services at St. George’s
• From the Wider Church: Thanet Prayer Diary, Thanet Winter Shelter, World Day of Prayer Planning
• Interesting Blogs: Keep Calm and don’t cry, Flags on lampposts – what do they mean?
• Prayer Requests
• Weekly Calendar
• Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, access Safeguarding training

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

This coming Sunday is Remembrance Sunday, when we celebrate the courage and bravery of those who risked and gave their lives protecting our country and freedom. It is also a time to remember the horrors of war, which helps to encourage us to do all we can to avoid war breaking out in the future.

It is easy today to feel that the world is messed up and broken. Nonetheless, in our country at least, we live during a time of peace. Most of us have lived our whole lives without the horrors and dangers of war and it is easy to take peace for granted. It is easy to forget what a tragedy war brings to countries and people, although you only have to look at what has happened in Gaza to see the true horror that war brings to people. Families have lost everything: loved ones, homes, livelihoods, even hope.

What has the Bible to say to people caught up in such suffering? Job is a book in the Bible that explores the question of suffering. Job, himself, is a good man in every respect but God allows everything to be taken from him, his children, his wealth, his property, even his health. He is left in total despair. Yet, in the midst of this desperate situation, Job still clings to an unshakeable hope: ‘I know that my redeemer lives.’

When all else is lost, God is still there. Hope remains, because God remains. At the heart of the gospel story, there is the torment suffered by Jesus on the cross. To the onlookers, all seems lost for Jesus, but Jesus willingly suffered and died to redeem us from our sin and rescue us to be part of God’s family. The cross is not the end of the story. On the third day Jesus rose from the dead. His resurrection provides an historic grounding to Job’s statement of hope: “I know that my Redeemer lives.”

Paul Worledge

Key Notices:

Remembrance Day Service – 9^th Nov., 11am

This Sunday is our Remembrance Day service. This starts with a parade arriving outside the church and the Last Post and minutes silence at 11am. The wreaths of poppies will then be laid, and people will be invited into the church for our service. This year we are being joined by the Thanet Big Sing Community Choir, who sang at the Dunkirk Service in May.

Light Party

Thank you to everyone who helped out with this year’s Light Party. We had 44 children attend and over 96 adults. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves!

Samaritan’s Purse Shoe Box Appeal

Thank you to everyone who supported the shoe box appeal. We have raised £306 as a donation and have already collected 20 boxes ready to take the collection point. If anyone has a box they would like to send please can they be collected by the 14th November.

Coming Up:

Men’s Group: Film and Chip Night, Wed. 12^th Nov., 6:30pm

This one will be in church. The cost is £10 to cover a meal of fish and chips. Please contact Bruce Stokes… 07708 682464 bruce.stokes@btinternet.com

Advent Sunday – 30^th November

There will be a joint service for St. Luke’s and St. George’s at St. Luke’s Church at 11am on Advent Sunday, 30^th November.

In the evening from 5pm at St. George’s Church, there will be Let there be Light event after the 4:30pm Ramsgate Light switch on. This is a free event with refreshments and entertainment (see fliers for more information). Last year we had over 500 attend. If you can offer to help steward then please let Paul know.

Christmas Tree Festival

This will be running from 12^th December at St. George’s. If anyone would like to enter a Christmas Tree for the festival, then please see Janet.

Christmas Baroque at St. George’s – 18^th December, 7pm

The Baroque Collective warmly invites you to the fifth annual Christmas Baroque Concert at St George’s on 18 December at 7pm. This much-loved tradition brings together exquisite seasonal music and community spirit as a part of Christmas tree festival. Tickets: £13 in advance, £15 on the door; free admission for children under 16. Purchase online.

Christmas Services at St. George’s

Carol Service – Sunday 21^st December, 5:30pm (note earlier time than previous years)

Midnight Service – Christmas Eve, 24^th, 11:30pm

From the Wider Church:

Thanet Prayer Diary

The November-December prayer Diary is now available at the back of church or download here.

Thanet Winter Shelter

Some of you will remember that in 2016 the churches in Thanet under the leadership of Ramsgate Salvation Army provided a winter shelter for rough sleepers. This was eventually taken over by the council with government funding. However, there is now a need for the churches to step up again. On Monday 6^th October, a winter shelter for rough sleepers at St. Laurence Church Hall was started. Numbers attending are small at present, but expected to grow. Volunteers are urgently needed. If you want to offer some kind of support please go to the Volunteer Portal to sign up: https://portal.thanetsheltersupport.org  If you have trouble with the online portal, then you can ring Carl on 07900 49 73 26.

World Day of Prayer Planning

If anyone is interested in representing St. Luke’s to help plan for the World Day of Prayer service in March 2026, alongside other churches in Ramsgate, then please let Paul know. There is a meeting on Monday 1^st December to begin to plan for this.

Interesting Blogs to Share:

Keep Calm and Don’t Cry

Does Remembrance have emotional limits? In this article, Henna Cundill, considers Remembrance services and why we focus on emotional restraint and reverence, rather than overt grief. Read more… (5 mins)

Flags on lampposts – what do they mean?

Philip North, Bishop of Blackburn, considers what the increased flying of national flags in the last few months means for to different groups in our society and how we as a church should respond. Read more… (5 minutes)

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 9^th November – Third Sunday before Advent

Remembrance Day Service – (St George’s, 11am), Reading: Job 19:23-27a

Christianity Explored Youth (13-18s) (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 5:00-6:30pm

Monday 10^th       

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

Christianity Explored (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 7:30-9:00pm

Tuesday 11^th        

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

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

Wednesday 12th

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Men’s Group – Film & Chippy Night (St. Luke’s Church) – 6:30-9:00pm

Thursday 13th         

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

Christianity Explored (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 11:30am-1:00pm

Saturday 15^th      

Dare to Pray (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:30am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Sunday 16^th – Second Sunday before Advent

Eucharist – (St George’s, 9:30am), Reading: 2 Thessalonians 3.6-13

Sunday School (St George’s, 10:30am)

Christianity Explored Youth (13-18s) (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 5:00-6:30pm

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 remember that our redeemer lives!

Yours in Christ,

Paul Worledge

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