Returning to the series on Kings, Chris Gray speaks on the lacklustre reign of Amaziah who was not a bad king, but was not totally devoted to the Lord. Chris explains that whole-hearted devotion to God matters because it is the very least that God expects of us and because God's people need His guidance.

Larry visits from Greenacre to speak on the passage in Mark where Jesus looks toward the suffering that he will face on the cross, and prays that though he doesn't want to do it, he will obey the Father's will. Larry indicates that if we are to truly follow Christ, our whole lives will be our ministry and in this we will do hard things that we don't want to for the benefit of others.

(Note that this recording contains a fairly explicit description of the torture of Jesus)

Barry presents the challenge: give up something legitimate for a period of time to pray and spend time with God. God will reward us when we fast by granting a deeper intimacy with Him, giving guidance and Spiritual power. If we fast and pray, God will grow the Church powerfully and resolve the issues that it keeps in the focus of our prayers.

Barry speaks on Peter's denial of Christ, and applies his experience to our proclamation of Christ in a world that hates Him. Peter failed because he was afraid, confused about Jesus' identity and didn't pray. However, Christ expects us to be faithful to the point of death, to be confident we must have a strong conviction that Jesus is God and died for our sins and we need to pray so that we can witness powerfully.

(This sermon is from the series being preached on Mark at The Good Shepherd Anglican Church at Greenacre)

Follow this link for the sermon that Barry preached on the Theology of Dating at the 7PM service this week.