Kia ora All Saints

Guy here this week. I have been reflecting on a few things this week in light of our recent conversations and journey into scripture as a parish. It struck me that on several occasions, across the parish, people haven't been afraid to raise tricky and, at times, confronting topics and conversations with me (some would even say conflict). The result of every occasion (unless I have completely misread the situation, I am, of course, only human), I have walked away feeling like between us, we have built more trust, grown, learned, and felt Christ more present in our friendship and relationship, not to mention in my own life. I have reveled in the beauty of this Authentic Jesus Community. Let me be clear: On all of these occasions, I have not always been right and have even had to apologise.

It is this type of DNA that I believe is attractive, this way of interacting with one another not simply from a secular progressive let's be better, love each other, be kind point of view, but one that speaks truth in each others lives, one that centers itself on scripture and what is God saying to us through scripture, through the words of Jesus and the Apostles.

I'm reminded of the scripture John 13:35 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Be encouraged to walk this out together, be a spirit-filled, Jesus-centered community, and love one another and those who persecute you.

There are a few points to note

• We are back into our 9 am and House Churches this week.  
• Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday are next week (4th and 5th of March)
• 23rd and 30th March are 10 am Combined services (Ministry Leader Family camp - 23rd, and Combined AGM - 30th)

If you are not in a Lent Study group, please let me know, as we have a few options available to you.

Much love to you all,

Kia ora All Saints 

Guy here this week; I'm super excited to gather for our Central Gatherings at 9am and 10:30am. It feels as though it has been a slow entry to the year with all the public holidays and where they have been placed. I initially felt a bit stressed by where they landed and what that meant for the calendar here at All Saints, but after some time with the Lord, I found myself leaning into the slower rhythm of it all, turning up on Sunday of Waitangi weekend prepared for a significant amount of us to be away, only to be in absolute awe of a full room with not a lot of space to extras. Praise God! 

This Sunday is our annual Launch Sunday, which is always an exciting time for us as a parish as we look towards what gives us foundation, why we do what we do, and where we are hoping to go this year. I will be preaching from Ezekiel 37, so feel free to read it beforehand and come prepared to see what God might be saying to you and what you are going to do about it. 

I have spent this week praying for you all following our gathering last Sunday as we went out with the challenge to share our faith with someone during the week. May God reveal someone to share the good news with. 

Lent is fast approaching us; we have a number of Lent groups that will be starting up on the 5th of March; it's not too late to register your interest in one. Please fill out the form in our newsletter or click here to let us know if you want to be in one. 

Make sure you check out our newsletter for things that are coming down the line.

Love in Christ,

Kia ora All Saints 

Guy here this week; this week is our final summer series together at 10 am it has been a joy to see our community continue to gather over the summer for regular services of liturgy, worship, prayer, and teaching. I love that our parish has enough energy, leadership, and passion to make this happen. I look forward to bringing the final message for our summer in the sand series; we will be unpacking the text from Acts 9:1-9 focusing on how the road that leads to God passes through the gateway of Christ. 

Next Sunday - Feb 16th - is our Launch Sunday for the year, each year we start the year with our first regular Central Gatherings, with a particular focus on what we feel like God is saying to us here at All Saints and where we feel like we are going, it is our hope that through this as we journey throughout the year, we have a depth and understanding of why we do what we do. 

Here at All Saints, we have a deeper rhythm of discipleship through our house churches and missional communities, but for some of you, this isn't a touch point; with that being said, we are looking to establish a couple of Lent study groups during the season of Lent. The diocese has put out a Lent study guide for us to use in these groups. If you are interested in joining a Lent study group during the season of Lent, please let us know by filling out this form or from our newsletter; this will help us to know how many groups we will need; we have a number of people who have stuck their hands up to lead these. 

As we set out this year in what I hope will be an exciting year full of surprising God moments, the scripture that continues to prod is from Romans 12:4-5. We are all members of one body, but we come with different skills and talents. Let us lean into what God has called us to be and where we have skills and talents to offer; let us consider where God might be calling us to strengthen or try new things and how we can support one another in this. 

God is at work amongst us; remain faithful to the gospel, and let us see what surprising things happen when we call on the name of Jesus!

Love in Christ,