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"[The LORD] upholds the cause of the oppressed

and gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets prisoners free,"

(Psalm 146:7)

Last Sunday we looked at one of the hallel Psalms, the great Psalms of praise at the end of the book of Psalms. This week, we look at another hallel Psalm (146), which begins and ends with the Hebrew word: Hallelujah ("Praise the LORD!"), but also includes a great summary of what God is like.

So what is God like? Well one of the things stressed in Psalm 146 is that God cares about the poor and oppressed. If we are God's people then we need to have the same attitude of compassion for those who are struggling and in need.

Last week we looked at 'Praising Creatively' and I am encouraged that there is a great team of people coming together to develop how we do that at St. Luke's. We also have another fantastic team doing something similar to look at how we can practically show compassion to those in need in our local community. There are already many examples of this happening locally and people from St. Luke's have helped to support some of those great initiatives.

However, as we seek to reimagine and reignite coming out of the pandemic, let's consider afresh what the real needs around us are and how we as a church or in partnership with others may help to meet those needs. Why? Because God upholds the cause of the oppressed.

If you have any thoughts or ideas on this do get in touch.

Join us this Sunday as we focus on Compassion for our Community. The reading is Psalm 146.

Please read on...

• Prayer: Opener to send in, Churches Together in Ramsgate prayer meeting on Saturday and people to pray for. Also, Mini-autobiographies, poems, photos... let's get creative. A new page on our website.
• Care: Helping our re-connect team.
• Share: A great article from Tearfund on how the church nationally and internationally has responded to the Pandemic. Also, what does a bishop wear on her head? 

Contributions to this week's Opener

For this Sunday: Please video yourself responding to: 

“The LORD upholds the cause of the oppressed...” with:

“and gives food to the hungry.”

Please send contributions in as soon as possible (by 10am on Friday). You can send them by Whatsapp (07769 871520) or by WeTransfer.com to: [email protected].

For next Sunday: As it is mothering Sunday we are looking for people, including children waving daffodils and saying, "Happy Mothering Sunday!"

Churches Together Prayer Meeting:

Please join with others from across Ramsgate's churches if you can at 9am this Saturday, 6th March. We will do this by ZOOM

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8651865167

Meeting ID: 865 186 5167

And you can ring into Zoom by phone! If you ring 02034815240, followed by 8651865167# then you will hear and speak at the meeting. Calls charged at normal UK rate

St. Luke's Stories

Last week we mentioned the idea of people sending in mini-autobiographies, which we could share on our church website. There is now a new page called, "St. Luke's Stories" where we can easily add mini-autobiographies, poems, photos or even videos. So if you have anything you want to suggest for the page, please send it in.

Pam Elmes has sent in our first contribution. She writes: "Something the Holy Spirit gave me a few years ago. At the time it took few minutes to write, but it's as fresh for me today as it was then. And these words are for everyone to give a special focus on God." To read the poem check out:

St. Luke's Stories.

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...

• Schools and teachers as they prepare for children to return on March 8th.

• Jean Mayton, a lady who mainly attended St. George's but also joined St. Luke's for our evening service. Sadly, she is now in end of life care after a serious bleed on the brain.

• Nathan Court for his continuing treatment.
  

• Joy Smithers and others who are feeling quite isolated and frustrated at this time.

• Barb (Gloria's daughter's friend) starting radiotherapy and chemotherapy in March.

• Flo Baldock having problems with her stomach.

• Evelyn (Audrey's sister) doing well after a few small strokes recently.

• Jeannette (Claudia's sister). The cancer has not spread and she starts Chemotherapy mid-March.

• Annie's mum now in a respite home in Dover, waiting for assessment for the next step.
• Those whose appointments or operations have been cancelled or postponed.

Helping our Reconnect Team

Recently we had a meeting of the team of people that are seeking to connect with people at St. Luke's one to one by text or phone to see how they are. Hopefully, you have been contacted by someone in the last few weeks. If you haven't and think you should have been, then please let me know and I'll make sure you are on someone's list!

One issue that was raised was that at present, the reconnect team do not know what some of the people they are contacting look like! We wondered then if you would be happy to send in photos of yourself, which could be shared with just the reconnect person, so that they know what you look like. This will help a lot when we eventually return to church. If you are happy for them to have a photo of you, then please simply email me your photo and I'll pass it on to your reconnect person (and not share it in any other way!) You can also of course send it to them directly!

Last Week's Talk:

Praising Creatively (Psalm 150) - Available Online

The Psalms are a great collection of songs of the people of God. They include a great variety of expressions of human experience and emotion but conclude with an emphatic call to praise God. Psalm 150 is the ultimate climax which briefly explains why we should praise God, then tells us to do so with a variety of instruments suggesting we should do so corporately and creatively. This has much to show us about the kind of church God is calling us to be.

Interesting Blogs and Videos

For such a time as this: Tearfund

This article looks at the extraordinary responses of churches in the UK and around the world to the Pandemic.

What does a Bishop wear on her head?

This is from Cbeebies, the BBC's channel for the smallest children. It features Bishop Rose!

Finally, let's praise God and become like him through our care for others.

Yours in Christ,

Paul Worledge 

Vicar, St. Luke's Ramsgate

www.stlukesramsgate.org​