This Harvest Sunday 1st October 2020 Online: YouTube (from 6am Sunday) Please register to attend In-Person using this link: Sunday 9:30am and 11:00am On Zoom : Sunday 11:30am until 13:00pm "You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. (Psalm 69:5) Perhaps one of the things that God has been teaching us through the Covid-19 Pandemic is not to take things for granted. During the severe lockdown in April we realised that the important Key Workers included those who work to ensure we have easy access to food in the shops. From farmers, to those working in food factories and distribution hubs, to lorry drivers and shop workers, we need to be thankful to God for all the effort that goes in to enable us to eat well. Of course in the worsening economic climate not everyone can afford the food in the shops. So it is right that this Harvest we contribute to the Food Bank to help ensure everyone has food. Please see under 'Serve' for more information about what kind of foods to bring. It is also right, that we remember those in parts of the world where the support structures are more fragile than here. So please do give generously to our financial appeal to Tearfund. In order to donate to our Tearfund appeal, there are now three options: Bring cash or a cheque to church and use one of the envelopes to donate, filling in the Gift Aid form if you are a tax payer. Bring a debit card to church and use our new contactless payment system. Again you can give your details for Gift Aid if you are a tax payer. Donate online. Using this link . Fill in the amount at the top, then under that click: 'Include any details and/or your reference number' and write in 'Harvest Appeal'. Then follow the rest of the instructions to donate and declare Gift Aid if appropriate. It is right that we express our thanks to God for the food he does provide with our gifts, so thank you in advance for your generosity. Also remember: not only is it Harvest this Sunday, but it is our Annual Meeting tonight. Do join us if you can! Click here for details of our Annual Meeting: including Agenda and list of those standing for positions on the PCC. Join us TODAY 1st October, 7:30pm, in Church or live on Zoom Please read on... Prayer: Video clips to send in for our Harvest Service - TONIGHT please! Care: More details on our Our Harvest Appeal Share: Helping children and young people be every day disciples Video Clips for Harvest Service: Thank you to those who have already recorded clips giving thanks for their favourite food. It would be really good to have more videos of people giving thanks to God for different key workers involved in providing the food we eat. For example: "I thank you God for the dairy farmers who work tirelessly to ensure I can have milk to drink." Please keep them short (10-30 seconds is ideal) so that we can include as many as possible. I need to have the videos by the morning of Friday 2nd October (tomorrow). Please send them either by Whatsapp: 07769 871520 or WeTransfer to
[email protected]. Prayer Requests: Be assured I will do my best to check that people are happy for the requests to be shared before including them. Please pray for: All those joining our PCC and taking on new roles. A good response to our Harvest Appeals this Sunday, both for the Food Bank and Tearfund. Dick and Caroline Seed running online teaching sessions next week. These are for students training to be vicars in Tanzania. Evelyn (Audrey's sister), who has now moved into a care home that she will settle there happily. Lizzie (a friend of Willow Whybrow and Barbara Kail) has now had an operation for her cancer and they think she is now clear. Give thanks and pray that her health would continue to improve. Hazel Kenney's family after the death of her dad. The funeral is on Friday 9th October. Beth Patterson and family after the death of her mum. June Warren and family after the death of Gordon Warren. Those struggling with deteriorating joints, especially those who are having to wait longer than normal because of the present crisis. Each year we have Harvest Appeals to support those in need. As in the last few years there is an appeal for non-perishable food stuffs to support a local food bank and a financial appeal to support the needs of those struggling abroad. The Churches Together in Ramsgate Food Bank are particularly looking for the following foodstuffs: Jars of meat and fish paste. Peanut Butter, chocolate spread and jam. Ring-pull tins of ham, corned beef, chicken in sauce or beef in sauce. UHT milk. Also, if you can bring and leave bags for us to carry the food in that would be very helpful. Our financial appeal this year is to support Tearfund's Coronavirus response . Please see the start of the email Remember: £54 could provide 18 families with a month’s supply of life-saving essentials such as soap and disinfectant £82 could provide health training and food support to five families over three months Below is a video about the work of Tearfund in Bangladesh on what is happening there and how they are responding: Last Week's Talk: How many times are we to forgive others? How big a sin is still forgivable? Jesus's answer to these questions is radical, so he tells a story to help us understand why as Christians it is essential that we always forgive. Litigious Servant (Matthew 18:21-35) is available as a video, podcast or transcript. Finally, this blog post gives some good advice on how to encourage our children and young people to be 'Everyday Disciples'. It is also a reminder of the studies many of us did called: 'Fruitfulness on our Frontlines'. Don't take things for granted. Give thanks to our Creator God! Yours in Christ, Paul Worledge Vicar, St. Luke's Ramsgate www.stlukesramsgate.org
