WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:17.280 Well, we're in our second week of Advent, so we have this passage in Luke chapter 3, and this passage that says that we need a baptism of repentance, and this baptism of repentance is how we'll see salvation, is how we will see how to be right with God and how to be whole with God. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:30.160 So maybe one time you went to a U2 concert or a James Taylor concert, or maybe you went to the Atlanta game like championship game we won last night, in case you didn't know. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:35.600 Maybe you went to that game and you went in the game and you had a great time and we won, and everything's wonderful. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:50.640 You had such a great time, and on your way out back to your car, there's a man standing on the curb and he has a sign and he has a big old megahorn and he is angry and he's yelling, and you know what he's yelling because you've heard him before, and he is yelling, uh, you're a sinner. 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:52.479 Okay, true, got it. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.479 Uh, and you're going to hell. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:01:08.159 Um, that part you didn't know because you thought you were right with God uh via your relationship with Jesus, but apparently he might know something uh that you didn't know, but he's yelling it at you, and he's saying, repent and be saved, right? 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:10.239 Anyone had this situation? 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:15.359 Maybe if you're at some other game or some other concert, and you always think to yourself, uh, is he yelling at me? 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:16.640 Is he yelling at somebody else? 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:23.519 And and I think slowly over time we can become a little bit maybe um jaded with this word repent or repentance. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:35.840 Um, some of us have other experiences with this word of repentance because maybe you had a moment of repentance, like of confession plus a turning of like, like, I don't want to do that anymore. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:42.959 God, I'm you know, I'm sorry, and it was so true, and I'm so sorry, and you know, I don't want to do that anymore, so destructive, you know, I want to turn away from that. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:48.159 And you had this moment of repentance, and then you you went back to doing the same thing. 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:52.079 And you have to think to yourself, like, why didn't it work? 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:54.159 Like, why didn't that take? 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:14.240 So maybe you've been in some sort of cycle of repenting at some point about some thought or behavior, and you do that thought or behavior, and then you turn around and the next morning, the next day, you repent again, God, I don't want to be like that, I wanna do that, and then you turn back around and you do it again, and at some point you sort of go like, like, okay, what is this? 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:15.280 What is this repentance? 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:16.479 Why is it not taking? 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:24.319 What is this word that a lot of us, a lot of us, not everybody, but a lot of us have some baggage with or some experience with? 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:29.360 And then how could this word, how could this word be good news? 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:33.840 Like, how could this, how could this actually be really good for us? 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:42.960 Like, is it possible, the angry man on the curb, who does seem too angry, I'll just be honest, that's my issue. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:44.719 Uh, he seems too angry. 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:50.080 Is it possible he has taken a really good thing from us? 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:51.840 Repentance. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:56.319 All right, so a few thoughts to lead us this morning. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:01.280 The first is is point number one, repentance changes the temperature. 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:03.439 Repentance changes the temperature. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:23.199 So say it's a chilly December night, say it was like last night, and it's kind of cold out, but say you're kind of a tightwad, and and so uh it's bedtime, and right before you go to bed, uh your wife's already headed to bed, or maybe you're the tightwad and you're the wife, and your husband's not the Taiwan, but let's just pretend the husband's a tightwad for stereotype purposes. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:32.800 And so the wife has already gone to bed, and your wife's already gone to bed, and you cruise by the thermostat and you turn that thing down just a little bit further than you know she wants you to, right? 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:46.240 Because you're a little bit of a Taiwan and you get into bed and you're under one sheet and you look over, she gets five blankets, and the next morning you wake up and you go back along the hallway and you turn the thermostat back up, right? 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:51.039 You turn it back up because the temperature in the house is so cold and something is needed. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:04:01.759 And you're not gonna be able to generate enough heat on your own, and your kids aren't gonna be able to generate enough heat, or your roommate, or your uh your spouse, and so you adjust the temperature. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:03.599 This is what repentance does. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:07.120 Repentance has this power to adjust the temperature. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:10.960 Now that's not technical, that's abstract, but it's still true. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:18.879 Repentance divinely adjusts the temperature inside of you and those around you. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:24.720 So let's just pretend you have a sweet somebody and things aren't quite right. 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:26.240 Things are cold. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:26.800 Okay? 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:29.279 The temperature needs to be adjusted. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:32.160 You're not connecting, you're you're distant. 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:35.920 And only one thing is needed, right, in these situations. 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:42.800 If you've ever in the past been in a romance, or maybe in the future, maybe presently are, and it's things are cold. 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:45.120 Only one thing is needed. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:46.800 We know what it is. 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:50.000 Now, sometimes we label it groveling. 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:53.120 It's not really groveling, it's repentance. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:56.959 Babe, I've been a moron. 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:01.600 I've been distant, I did this, I've been paying attention, you know. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:05.360 I'm sorry, I love you, I'm gonna do better, I wanna be different. 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:10.560 And all of a sudden, if it's sincere, the temperature changes. 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:23.839 It just in the recognition to her or to him or to your kids, to your parents, to your friend, your roommate, everything changes, the temperature changes. 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:29.680 Mark Gallia, editor at Christianity Today, in his article, Whatever Came of Repentance, he wrote this. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:39.920 And thus it, repentance, and thus repentance is also the means by which we can change the temperature of the angry debates in church, online, and in our culture. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:56.800 What if instead of stubbornly entrenching ourselves deeper in argument or accusation, we paused and we said sincerely, I'm sorry to say that I've contributed to this problem and I have a lot to repent of? 00:05:57.439 --> 00:05:59.600 Like, like what if we did that? 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:10.079 What if we actually admitted before other people, before God, ultimately this passage about that, we'll get there, that we were wrong? 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:14.800 What if our starting point wasn't defense, but it was humility? 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:20.959 Like, what would that mean for that romance or for parenting or family or for friendship? 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:22.079 What would that mean for that? 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:35.680 And then the question becomes like, so how in the world, how in the world do we become the kinds of people that would risk honesty about ourselves in front of God? 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:38.240 And then also in front of other people. 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:46.720 So I think that begins with another question, and that other question would be what do you think would happen if God physically showed up in your life? 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.920 So say you're at the quick drip and you're buying a couple corn dogs. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:59.040 It's Monday, you're grabbing lunch, you filled up your car, a couple corn dogs at the quick trip, and there buying corn dogs is God Himself buying corn dogs with you. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:01.360 Pretend with me in this situation. 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:03.279 Now, how would he treat you? 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:06.959 Would you be anxious about this moment? 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:25.680 And say he he just jumped in the car with you and you're running errands, with God in your car, physically in your car, all up in your business for the day, and he's still God, so he still knows all of you, all your thoughts, all your wounds, all the things you've done, all your motives, all of it. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:30.480 And he's with you, and he sees everything and he knows everything. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:32.959 And is that a terrifying thought for you? 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:37.199 Is that a little like uh uh-oh, uh-oh, is there an uh-oh? 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:42.560 Or would that be the most wonderful day to you? 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:57.120 And my hope is that we can grow in saying, well, God is love, and in Jesus, he holds no condemnation toward me. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:07:59.920 And he knows everything about me. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:02.399 All of it, all the mess. 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:06.560 And because of Jesus, that would be a great day. 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:09.199 That would be a really, really good day. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:10.800 And then what would that mean? 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:18.560 So if we get there, then what would that mean for uh honesty in life, honesty about yourself, honesty with other people, honesty in relationships, honesty about your motives? 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:19.920 What would that mean for confession? 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:22.560 What would that mean for repentance before God? 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:33.519 All of a sudden, repentance starts to feel a little bit different if our view of God and his regard to us is in that starting place of goodness and kindness in Jesus. 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:38.799 Author, Pastor Tim Keller, he has a great article called All of Life is Repentance. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:45.200 And he he kind of summarizes and he talks about religious repentance and he talks about gospel repentance. 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:47.759 So this is our point two and point three. 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:51.759 Point number two, religious repentance begins in fear. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:56.240 See, religion makes uh repentance self-centered. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:05.759 We're sorry, but we're just trying to escape punishment with nothing more than fear as our motive. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:10.240 So we're not truly sorry for the sin. 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:15.840 We're only sorry that we think we might get in trouble. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:23.279 So we're only sorry for the pain that it might cause us, or we're only truly sorry for the possible consequence. 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:24.879 So we're not sorry for the sin itself. 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:26.639 We're not truly repentant. 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:28.399 We're just selfish. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:33.120 We're selfishly sorry for what might happen to us. 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:39.440 So of course you're religiously repentant, but of course there's no change. 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:43.919 Or maybe you're thinking, okay, I'll just beat myself up enough, right? 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:47.039 Like it takes its form in self-pity, like a religious self-pity. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:52.720 I'll beat myself up enough, and then I'll I'll be forgiven and free. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:55.120 It's still self-absorbed. 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:58.799 It's still fear-based. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:09:59.840 And that's religion. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:00.960 Man, is that religion? 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:03.279 That is a religious repentance. 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:04.879 It makes it on you. 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:17.919 Even turning repentance into your discipline, all about you, out of fear, and it's not connected to God's absolution of you and forgiveness and acceptance of you. 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:22.399 It has no connection to what later in the New Testament we learn, God's kindness. 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:25.360 God's kindness leads us to repentance. 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:36.159 So then it's really hard to actually face, if this is the kind of repentance we know, this religious repentance, it'd be really hard to face some real questions. 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:40.320 Like, have I looked down on anyone this week? 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:44.559 Like, what's my motive in life? 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:48.000 Why why do I seek other people's approval so much? 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:51.360 Am I and judgment on people of other races and classes? 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:53.600 And then why do I even do that? 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:58.240 Have I been wise in my decisions and with my money and my time? 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:00.320 Why do I keep yelling at my kids? 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:02.320 Why am I afraid to die? 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:07.200 Why can't I love my spouse like I don't want to? 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:15.039 See, it's really hard to face those kinds of questions out of a religious repentance because you're constantly just managing fear. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:26.000 If your worth and your standing with God is up to you, eventually you just end up being a pretender or a performer because you have to pretend all that mess isn't there. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:28.799 Or you have to perform in your repentance. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:31.440 Your repentance just becomes a performance. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:32.879 I'll never do that again, right? 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:35.440 Like we're like very performing in it. 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:39.759 And it's all out of a fear. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:46.320 That you're not right with God, even though if you are in Jesus, you're already right with God. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:51.759 A fear something bad might happen to you because of something you did, which is not true. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:12:02.720 A fear that you aren't who you really thought you were, which isn't really true because your value and worth and identity is based in Jesus, not in what you do. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:05.679 Well, the good news is there's another way. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:07.519 And this is this gospel repentance. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:08.480 That's point number three. 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:11.039 Gospel repentance begins in love. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:19.440 Romans 2, 4, Paul expands our thoughts on repentance, and he says, God's kindness leads us to repentance. 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:26.000 So there's nothing to fear here, that the repentance is actually inside of God's kindness. 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:33.759 Jack Miller, who is a professor and a pastor, he's a mentor, many, many pastors, and he said this. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:42.960 He said, repentance is our ongoing calling to collapse on Jesus, acknowledging our need and receiving his supply. 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:44.720 So it's a turning. 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:50.240 Repentance is a turning, but the turning is not about us and our effort. 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:53.120 The turning is about our death. 00:12:56.159 --> 00:13:05.600 Our death into God's provision of righteousness for us, and our death into God's empowerment inside of us in his spirit. 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:12.080 So imagine John the Baptist in this situation in Luke 3, in this very religious situation. 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:14.799 He's in a renewal movement at the time. 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:16.960 He's a radical in the Jewish world. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:20.799 He's preaching, he's sort of a bush hog, right? 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:32.399 Like he goes into the brush and he's just plowing through little trees and bushes and just plowing it open, like preparing a way, making a trail for Jesus to come into. 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:40.000 And John is here, he's preaching a high moral need, but he's also preaching this repentance. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:43.120 He becomes popular, his crowd. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:48.879 And what he says is he says, Hey, you need a baptism of repentance. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:51.840 Now, this would be loaded language at the time. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:14:04.320 Because a lot of these religious people, before they'd come up onto the Temple Mount to enter the presence of God, their understanding of the presence of God at the time, they would cleanse themselves in these pools of water, these baptism pools. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:06.639 And this is how you cleansed yourself. 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:11.360 You cleansed yourself by you getting in the water. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:13.120 And this is how you cleanse yourself. 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:18.960 And he says, ah, no, no, no, no, no, no, he comes into this ritualistic mindset and he says, No, no, no, no, no, no. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:23.200 You don't, you don't need any immersion of all that ritual. 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:26.879 You you you need an immersion of repentance. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:35.360 So not you doing something as to earn forgiveness, but you admitting you can't do something or all those some things. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:38.000 But he knows all of you. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:54.720 And in his kindness, he's in his kindness, he's leading you into that thinking, that acknowledgement, that feeling, that place where you understand you're you're broken and you can confess that because it's inside of God's kindness. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:57.440 And in Jesus, you are forgiven and free. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:00.639 Let's pretend Christy checks our online banking. 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:08.799 And let's pretend uh a week before she checks it, uh, we had this little conversation, and we, oh, we have, you know, we we need to dial back spending, right? 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:10.240 Every once in a while you have this conversation. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:15.200 You know, your spending's fine, and then you like you eek eek eek, and then it's like, uh uh oh, and like look, pull it back in. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:22.080 And so we had just had this conversation, we're gonna pull it back in, but I have a lunch down in Buckhead, and so I swing into the Orvis shop. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:29.200 And there's not many shops for me where self-control goes out the window, but this is a shop where all of a sudden anything happens. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:37.200 And let's say I walk by the fishing rod section, they have this little sales section, and I buy three new rods. 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:42.000 You couldn't return them, let's pretend you can't return them, it's one time only. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:52.000 I mean, and this was such a deal because I was waiting for a saltwater rod, and I was waiting for, you know, and so I buy these three rods, and I get in the car and I'm driving home, and then I remember that conversation. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:54.480 Oh no, like, oh, what did I do? 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:56.559 But I'm excited about the rods at the same time. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:58.559 Let's not let's be honest about that. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:03.039 And so I'm driving back and I decide, well, I just won't, I just won't tell her. 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:04.080 I just won't tell her. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:06.320 This is how I'll this is how I'll get by with this. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:06.960 I won't tell her. 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:11.120 Or I'll let enough time go by that when I tell her, it will sort of have passed. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:12.559 But she checks online. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:13.200 Let's pretend. 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:15.440 This is a pretend scenario, mind you. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:18.240 Let's pretend she checks, it really is a pretend. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:19.600 I'm not saying that it really is. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:26.480 So let's pretend she checks online and she sees it, and she's like, what is that? 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:28.240 He went to Orvis again. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:32.240 And so I get home and she says, Hey, babe. 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:37.840 I saw, I was looking online, I was checking some stuff, and uh I saw you went to Orvis. 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:39.919 Like right then, right? 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:41.440 The light's on me, right? 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:42.480 Right then. 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:44.399 I'm caught. 00:16:45.759 --> 00:17:00.320 Now if she's approaching me in judgment and is accusatory, and I know a hammer is coming, maybe I get defensive. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:03.200 I probably can't deny it at this point. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:05.119 So maybe I just get defensive. 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:09.039 I I I start telling her all the money she wastes, right? 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:17.279 But let's say I'm pretty confident that she's just being loving. 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:18.880 Like she's just for us. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:24.160 She's just for our family and us not being in debt. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:25.920 And she's for me. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:27.119 And she's just curious. 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:28.720 Like, hey, what was that? 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:33.039 Well, all of a sudden, sort of my reaction changes, doesn't it? 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:35.440 I come clean. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:42.079 See, this is gospel repentance because the love comes first. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:45.839 God's kindness leads us to repentance. 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:55.039 We're already secure in that in Jesus our sin was taken from us, his righteousness is given to us, we are fully beloved. 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:57.519 We are, we are, we are that. 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:03.839 Therefore, when when it comes to repentance, when it comes to repentance, it is inside of God's kindness. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:09.519 Even that initial repentance you you you had when you gave your life to the Lord, that is inside of God's kindness. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:10.960 That was God being kind to you. 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:14.160 That's how you become secure enough to say, look at my life, God. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:15.279 I'm a mess. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:17.119 And we said it once, right? 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:23.680 Like as you become a Christian, you say it, but you then you end up you end up saying it again, like I'm still a mess. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:26.079 I know I'm yours, but I'm I'm still a mess. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:27.680 I'm still a process. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:33.680 And we can repent because we know we know God loves us in Jesus. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:39.680 And all of a sudden, repentance is suddenly good news. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:42.960 It's not depressing. 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:53.680 In that article, Tim Keller's article, All of Life is Repentance, he says this our hope, our hope is in Christ's righteousness, not our own. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:59.359 So it is not traumatic to admit our weaknesses and lapses. 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:03.200 In religion, we repent less and less often. 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:11.519 But the more accepted and loved in the gospel we feel, the more and more often we will be repenting. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:19.599 And then I think a question comes at some point, at least for me, it's like, okay, well, but is my repentance enough? 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:21.519 Like, was that enough repentance? 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:23.599 Or like, did I feel it enough? 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:24.240 Right? 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:29.680 Like, like, okay, I repented, but was there enough, uh, was there enough in me up like in it? 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:30.880 Like, did I really mean it? 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:35.359 Or was it like fifty- was I at like 50% on that repentance level? 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:38.799 You remember the story of the prodigal son, right? 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:44.400 Like the son, he gets his dad's uh inheritance, he runs off, he squanders it, he wastes all the money. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:50.720 Before long, he's he's he's longing for food that pigs are eating, and he wonders, maybe I'll go home to dad. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:55.519 And on the way home, he prays this little speech, he prepares a speech, like the speech of repentance. 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:58.000 I've sinned before you, I've sinned before God. 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:04.000 And as he returns home, and in this act of repentance, can you imagine this moment? 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:05.839 He's wondering, what am I gonna get from dad? 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:17.119 We're sort of wondering it, if we're reading the story for the first time, we're wondering what are you gonna get from dad because this character, the father, is for us in the story, this is the symbol of God. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:24.480 And the emphasis is not on the son, and the emphasis is not on how genuinely he believes. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.759 Although he does believe, because he's there. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:34.559 The emphasis is on the love of the father, and that the father receives him in love. 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:41.359 And it's not because the son has the right measure of being contrite. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:44.880 It's because the son is there and is contrite. 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:48.480 And the father's love takes over from there. 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:58.559 So, my brothers and sisters, may you live in the immersion of God's kindness to you that leads you to repentance, and may you live in great repentance. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:20:59.680 Let's pray together. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:02.880 God, thank you that repentance is such a gift. 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:14.480 Forgive us for the ways that we have allowed it to be fear-based, that we have made it into something that is depressing rather than something that is freeing. 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:28.079 Help us to see that honesty, confession, collapsing on Jesus, for you to be our provision and receiving you for the empowerment by which we understand ourselves and live our lives, that there's nothing greater. 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:33.759 For so many of us, we need to reframe our thinking on repentance. 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:40.480 We need to allow our hearts to come around the idea of repentance in a new way. 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:56.640 That when we have light shined on us by your Holy Spirit, that we would not run, we would know that it is your kindness, that it is a kind light, that your kindness leads us to repentance. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:02.079 Help us to trust greater in Jesus' righteous record for us. 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:16.000 Help us to trust greater in his sufficiency on the cross for us, that we might be more and more secure as your children, and we might repent more and more as we walk the walk of faith. 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:17.279 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:18.160 Amen.