Kia ora, All Saints

I have been reflecting over the history of All Saints this week, due to a number of factors, and it never ceases to amaze me the power of a faithful group of people, whose lives were completely sold out for Christ, one another, and their local community. 

There have been many patches throughout our history as a faith community where times have felt hard, oppressive, or wobbly, as well as times of real fruitfulness or "Glory days". Time after time, as we reflect back, there is always a group of people who have lived their lives both publicly and privately as living sacrifices for Christ, either in service of the church or as disciples of Christ in their homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods. 

We are finding ourselves in a season of growth, both in the people gathering and our biblical, missional, and prayerful discipleship. We are staring down the barrel of a building that's costing us. We are extending our youth ministry discipleship with our leaders. The number of kids coming is growing. Bible studies are starting. Weekly discipleship of young people has increased. Our children's ministry is on the cusp of developing some more. This all comes at a cost! To our lives, the time and skills we offer, and our finances. 

We have just come out the back end of our giving series, and Parish Council is beavering away in the background to help steer us faithfully into the future. I hope that our hearts continue to be stirred in a real and powerful way in all that we do as followers of Christ! Christ did not come to condemn the world but to save it! It's in the recognition of Christ's incredible generosity to us that he is always with us that we, in turn, want to participate with him in all we do, our lives, our work, our families, our resources, we offer the best of it back to him in response to the generosity he has given us. 

I encourage us all (Summer and I included) to prayerfully consider our giving to this community. God is undeniably moving. People are finding Christ, growing in their faith, and being inspired to reach out to others. Those are wonderful stories to join in on! Let us join in together as we continue to see God move here in a real and powerful way. 

God is with us! he is the generous giver! Let us join in on what God is doing by joining together to offer our best and worship him! 

Love in Christ

Kia ora, All Saints

Yesterday, we lost our dear friend Betty to this earth. We are thankful for the time we had with her (which was a lot), but we grieve the time we are separated until we are reunited again in heaven.

I have been thinking about the power of the resurrection and our life in Christ. One of the most powerful images and promises we find in scripture is that when we come for Baptism, we are dying to our old self and rising alive again in Christ, born anew in the Spirit. With this in mind, we can celebrate and be joyful of Betty's uniting with Christ, we can also take heart that through Baptism we have already done the death piece, we have died to our earthly bodies already and stand in the full knowledge and promise of God, through the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. So we have done the dead piece already! We can grieve the loss of time together on this earth, but we celebrate the eternal life in Christ together. 

Romans 6:3-4 | 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through Baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If you are interested in exploring Baptism or confirmation, please reach out to me (Guy). We are preparing a group for both Baptism and confirmation. 

A reminder that we have Alpha starting this Sunday at 5pm, it's not too late to invite your friends, please head to our website to find out all the information you need. 

Love in Christ

Kia ora All Saints

Yesterday it was a privilege to host a diocesan event with Bishop Oscar from Nairobi Chapel as the keynote speaker for several sessions. 

Two things stood out to me: one, the hospitality shown by All Saints to our wider diocesan family was amazing! Such a gift to have special people in the room who ooze hospitality and welcome. The second was the encouragement, it was to hear from someone with lived experience of forming disciples and planting churches! Something that lives in our DNA here at All Saints. It was powerful to hear that there are things that are happening here that are key to the formation of disciples and sending out church planters, but there were also some powerful challenges and spaces to learn to grow in! 

Key things that stood out were being intentional with our discipling journey with those younger than us, and who are we discipling? Reading the bible together and letting it speak to us! Being on our knees in prayer for prayers that are beyond our control, that only God can pull through on! Taking a really good look at what spiritual formation looks like us as Jesus followers, it has to be more than just turning up in the room. 

A reminder that we are into our second week of our Generosity series for giving month, as we take a look at what it means for us to give of ourselves as a community of Jesus followers. 

If you missed last week, feel free to pop over to our website and pick up the recording there. 

We will be looking at a passage from Exodus 16 this Sunday, so we are encouraging everyone to have a read of that before coming. 

A reminder that Alpha starts July 20th at 5 pm in the center. Let's invite our friends and family. 

All the information you will need can be found on our Alpha page here.

There will also be an announcement about our brick building on Sunday at both services, so come along to find out more there. 

Love in Christ

Kia ora All Saints

This week, we begin our giving month here at All Saints. Each year, we choose to take a month to dive into how giving is core to our discipleship from all the angles of our lives, gifts, skills, talents, times, and financial resources. 

This year, we are going to base our four-week series on Haggai Chapter One, it's only 15 verses, which looks at what happens when a people group tries to do things on their own and how God shows up, what God says, and how they respond. My heart is that we can take a moment to stocktake our own relationship with God and how we give, are we giving too much? Just enough? Not enough? Are we being intentional with it at all and allowing Christ in, or are we just charging off on our own hoping for the best? 

Give Haggai Chapter One a read before 9 am or your house church this Sunday, and let's explore how God is speaking to us. 

A reminder that we have our AED fundraising Ceilidh tonight (Friday, July 4th), it's not too late to get involved, grab a ticket, pay at the door, and come and dance the night away together for our community. 

Alpha is starting on July 20th at All Saints. Check out the e-news notice for all the information you need, or jump onto our website to find out more. There are resources to invite friends and family, or, like some, your boss. 

Always praying for you as you faithfully follow Christ in your communities. 

Love in Christ