This message was delivered at Hillcrest Baptist Church on the evening of December 1, 2013. This message Chronicles the first message of Christ, repent! It deals with the necessity of repentance for each and every individual, as well as the need of the church to repent.. This post contains an audio recording of my sermon, plus the sermon notes. The sermon notes are not a full transcript of the sermon.
SERMON AUDIO:
AUDIO DOWNLOAD LINK:
SERMON NOTES:
Matthew 4:17
This follows Jesus’ baptism, and marks the official beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
The message which began Jesus’ ministry, is the same message that is so often omitted from the church today, REPENT!
The opening word of this first sermon sets the tone for Jesus’ entire earthly ministry.
Luke 5:32
And in his closing charge to the apostles, He commanded them to preach repentance as well.
Luke 24:46-47
We view the message as harsh and divisive, yet Jesus viewed it as a necessary requirement to follow Him.
Why have we gotten so soft? Why was the message that Jesus thought so important, not good enough for us today?
We say we don’t want to drive people away.
We say we want to draw people in, but what good is it to draw people in, if we are content to leave them in the same sinful state in which we found them?
Many claim to preach a message of love, but there is no love in a message that leaves a person to die in their sins!
People may say that Jesus accepted people just as they were. That’s true, but He never had any intention of leaving them the way He found them.
In fact, believers are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ.
Romans 8:29
That means that God has already willed that believers will change. That means repentance is a must!
The American church is a church in crisis!
Feel good, motivational speaker of the likes of Joel Osteen, and Rob Bell are leading people straight to the hell that they won’t even acknowledge, being condemned by the sin they won’t acknowledge.
However; this is not simply a fringe problem, perpetrated by a handful of false teachers, the doctrine of repentance is all but lost in mainstream christianity.
Sadly, we have let these churches define christianity. Turn your TV or radio to a “christian” station, and you’ll not often hear a call for repentance.
The truth is, the American church is in dire need of repentance. Maybe that’s why its leaders are so reluctant to preach the message?
There is not one among us who isn’t in need of repentance.
We need to understand the nature of repentance. We often feel sorry for our sins, we may even tell God we are sorry, yet we turn around and do it again.
Feeling sorry is not repentance!
2 Corinthians 7:8-9
A Godly sorrow (conviction by the Holy Spirit) will lead to repentance, but sorrow by itself is not repentance.
We, as Christians (me as a Pastor), should never fear making someone feel sorry for their sins.
If that sorrow leads to conviction by the Holy Spirit, which leads to repentance, thats a good thing.
2 Corinthians 7:10-11
Repentance means that you actually do something.
Repentance means that you put a stop to your sinful behavior, but that’s not all.
Repentance means that you begin to live an obedient life, focused on Christ.
Repentance means that you turn from your sin and turn to Christ.
The message is the same today as when Jesus and John gave it.
Becoming a follower of Christ means turning away from our self-centeredness and “self” control and turning our life over to Christ’s direction and control.
In Defense: The Blog 
Posted on December 6, 2013
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