Vicar's Letter - 13th September 2024

Rev Guy Benton

Kia ora All Saints Whānau, Guy here this week. 

I have felt for a while now that God was highlighting to me the promise he declared in Hebrews 22: I will never leave you nor forsake you. This is a promise I have been holding so firm to in this season of transition and as we look towards the future here at All Saints. The world is a choppy place; its pull is strong in all directions. As the saying goes, Kingdoms will rise and fall, but the word of the Lord will remain forever. For me, this is what stands loud and tall in our present age. The call from the Lord is not to pick up or trust in the things that keep us from him but to remain in the promise that regardless of what happens around us, he will never leave or forsake us! Even when we think he has. There are some pretty powerhouse biblical characters who have cried out to the Lord, wondering why he has forsaken them! Only for them to realise he hadn't. 

Take heart! Stand firm! Be bold in the knowledge that all barriers that keep us from all the goodness the creator of the universe has for us are gone, and we walk a life that is dead to the world but alive in Christ! 

I'm proud of the way people in the Parish are stepping into roles of leading and discipling others. There is so much energy and power in groups of people sharing about Christ's transformation in their own lives to those who don't yet know him! Keep going. Summer and I are in your corner. 

A few things to draw your attention to in our notices. 
1 - Parish Weekend away is next weekend. Come along for the day if you can on Saturday. There are NO services here on Sunday, 22nd Sept; your options are to come to El Rancho in Waikanae with the Parish led by Bishop Ana or pop along to St Aidens in Miramar for 10am. 

2- Our regular Go Sunday will not be happening on the 5th Sunday in Sept but rather the last Sunday in October due to our Light party falling on that day. 29th Sept will be Central Gatherings and 27th October will be our Go Sunday Light Party. So please gather your friends, house churches, missional communities, and prayer groups and invite your friends to the Annual Light Party. 

3- We are starting our final sermon series for the year, before Advent, next month, looking at the 7 letters to the churches in Revelations, again with the focus on what this is saying to us as an authentic community and how it is this continuing to point us to Jesus. 

I'm always open to coffee and chatting here at the centre if you want to spend time together. Reach out via email, and we can schedule a time. 

Yours in Christ,