Vicars Letter 18th july 2025

Rev Guy Benton

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