Jonathan concludes our lenten series with a reflection on why we still hold palms on Palm Sunday, how they represent our incomprehension of the sheer magnitude of God's grace, and how, as the palm leaf becomes a cross, we catch a glimpse of our true desire.
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25:20
Lent: Overcoming Temptation
Lloyd offers the final reflection on the baptism and testing of Jesus in the wilderness focussing on how we can learn to respond like Jesus to the common temptations that we all face by utilising particular spiritual disciplines/practices.
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42:07
Lent: Jesus' Victory in the Wilderness
What does it look like to live a life that is guided by the Holy Spirit and which seeks to please God? It looks like great spiritual highs and great spiritual testing. Jesus offers not only a blueprint of how to overcome the core temptation – to believe we are alone and have to solve our own problems – he also acts as our substitute, succeeding where we fail. In the end, it is in our weakness – our 'deadness' – that God's power begins to work. Baptism is both a picture of this and a pattern for how to overcome temptation. You are not alone.
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38:50
Lent: Count Yourself Dead to Sin and Alive to Christ.
Lent is a season of repentance, renewal and preparation. Traditionally it is has been a time the Church has welcomed people to be reconciled to God and to be baptised. While we don't wait for lent to invite people to be baptised, we do seek to understand the significance of the act theologically, spiritually and relationally. In this sermon, Pete offers a rich theology of baptism which will be encouraging for those who have already been baptised, and stirring for those who haven't.
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30:24
Parables of the Kingdom: The Talents
Jonathan concludes (for now) our series on the kingdom parables by looking at the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). In what, on the surface, appears to be a story about earning our way to God's good graces, Jonathan shows that life in the kingdom is about entering into a cycle of generosity with the God who desires to give gifts to us and through us.
New Zealand