Thoughts from the Vicarage
Well, I guess that most of you will have had a Summer holiday by now and I hope that you are rested and refreshed and ready to go about your ordinary daily lives again.
At a recent family service, we thought about holidays and the things we need to take with us – a case, clothes, camera, bucket and spade, books etc. We decided that, if we went on holiday in the United Kingdom, we would probably need an umbrella but not a passport. If we went abroad, however, we would need a passport to prove we belong to the United Kingdom and which will give us lots of protection and privileges. My passport says….. Her Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State requests and requires, in the name of her majesty, all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary. So it’s a good thing to belong to the United Kingdom and to know that we have all the protection and privileges of being a member.
But, the United Kingdom isn’t the only Kingdom we belong to – we all belong to the Kingdom of God as well. And just as we have a passport to prove that we belong to the United Kingdom, we are Baptised and have a Baptism certificate to prove that we belong to the Kingdom of God.
A Baptism Certificate says that the adult (I have baptized quite a few adults – even one over the age of 80!) or child has been baptized with water in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit which guarantees that the child has the protection of God the Father and God the Son and that God the Holy Spirit is a part of his or her life and has given the child all his gifts. So it is a good thing to be Baptised and to know that you have all the protection and privileges of being a member of the Kingdom of God.
God bless
Henry
Tags: Lt Horkesley
