Turn to Jesus

Mark 1:14–15 LEB

And after John had been taken into custody, Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”

Introduction: A truly stingy painter was contracted to paint the local Church a beautiful white on the outside. The Deacons negotiated a price with the painter and he set to work. He thought to himself, "I can make a little higher profit on this job." So he thinned down his paint, so that the paint to do one side, ended up painting the whole building. As he finished and was admiring his work, it began to rain. And it rained. And rained. And Rained. And the white paint ran down the sides of the church, and ran off into the sewer. The painter fell to his knees and cried, "Why me, God?" And suddenly, a voice was heard from heaven, "Repaint, and Thin no more!"

What comes to mind when you hear Repentance?

- Fire & Brimstone Preachers

- Fire & Brimstone Preachers

We need to understand Kingdom, and the Gospel, For that we need to go back to the beginning.

God’s Rule is Back.

Week 2: God Created Paradise, A home for humanity, A Garden Temple with God at the Center, God provided Abundance, Harmony with God and Humans/Humans-Humans/Humans-Creation. We were Called to Rule over Creation on God’s behalf using his guidance of what was right and wrong, not our own.

Week 1: Jodi Cole Meyer talked about how humans decide to rule on their own without God, thinking that they are just as equipped to decide what is right and wrong for themselves. We left the circle of safety, our home, paradise is lost. Sin characterizes humans, not just sins. We sin, because we are sinners!!! If we are sinners, because we sin, then just stop sinning (problem solved), but that is not possible for humans, - Shattered Mirror. We are unable to put the pieces back together.

Jodi, also, mentioned that God then goes into the darkness to pursue us, to save us.

Last Week, we talked about the Bible’s story is then a pilgrimage back home, to restore this world as God intended it. with God at the Center, God provided Abundance, Harmony with God and Humans/Humans-Humans/Humans-Creation. We were Called to Rule over Creation on God’s behalf using his guidance of what was right and wrong, not our own.

This home is where heaven and earth meet, and it is what Jesus here is calling the Kingdom of God. - The Kingdom is anywhere that God rules de facto.

The Old Testament

God pursues humans by calling Abraham - Through his descendants God will bless all of the nations

God then pursues Abraham’s descendents the Israelites to be a “Kingdom” of priests to Connect all of the other nations to God.

God promises one King of this “Kingdom” of priests, King David, that one of his descendants will restore God’s Kingdom on Earth as it is in heaven forever.

When Jesus comes on the Scene, He is announcing the Good News that that King, and that Kingdom that was promised, has come near. - Through the rest of Mark, and the other Gospels Mark makes plain what he says in the opening line of his book, that Jesus is that King, and He is coming with God’s kingdom, and that he is going to do something to deal with this rift between God and Humans called sin so that the Kingdom of Paradise is restored. “The beginning of the Good News, about Jesus the Annointed, the Son of God.”

Because this Kingdom is arriving, it is urgent for Jesus to call people to not miss the boat, to be a part of this Kingdom.

“Two conditions we must meet in order to be saved…Repentance and Faith.” (John Piper, Pg. 61 – Desiring God.)

Jesus wants us to Repent.

What is Repentance?

Snap-Snap

Ask a good-natured student in your group to stand, then lightly snap a rubber band against his or her arm repeatedly, apologizing

insincerely each time you do it. Then ask your students to call out some insincere apologies theyve heard that you can use so you can

keep snapping their friend.

When the ideas have reached an end (or ridiculous suggestions!) say:

- If repentance makes sense for our relationships, it makes sense for us.

- The word here for Repent, means to have a change of self that abandons a former way of life, and results in a new self, new behavior, and regret over the former way of life.

It means to turn around. You were going in this direction, to repent is to turn and go in another direction

Why is it needed?

Quite Frankly, because all humans are going in the wrong direction. When humans decided to rule under their own sense of right and wrong and not God’s sense of right and wrong, then everything was broken, and it is not working. Paradise has been lost.

In Jesus, God is offering in the restoration of his rule, a restored paradise/Kingdom/Home.

By the very nature of the offer, it requires of us to turn from our way, and turn to Jesus and his Kingdom, if we want to be saved.

John the Baptist - Preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins - This recognizes that our way is not working, it is the wrong direction. Jesus preached repentance because the Kingdom is near...

In contrast, Jesus’ call to repent is not a caustic reprimand but an invitation to switch allegiances. He offers a summons, welcoming people to respond to God’s initiative. God is unleashing a new power that makes repentance possible. - D.E. Garland, Mark p. 64.

We Don’t because as DE Garland Suggests.

People tend to wince when they hear talk of repentance because that cry has so often been used to harangue others.

The human penchant to become infuriated at anyone who would dare to tell us we need to change.

Many have no sense that they have rebelled against God.

our contemporary culture has a shallow view of repentance.

Huck Finn’s alcoholic pappy:

The old drunk cried and cried when Judge Thatcher talked to him about temperance and such things. Said he’d been a fool and was agoing to turn over a new leaf. And everyone hugged him and cried and said it was the holiest time on record. And that night he got drunker than he had ever been before.

The old drunk cried and cried when Judge Thatcher talked to him about temperance and such things. Said he’d been a fool and was agoing to turn over a new leaf. And everyone hugged him and cried and said it was the holiest time on record. And that night he got drunker than he had ever been before.

Works when applied

A soap manufacturer and a pastor were walking together down a street in a large city. The soap manufacturer casually said, "The gospel you preach hasn't done much good has it? Just observe. There is still a lot of wickedness in the world, and a lot of wicked people, too!" The pastor made no reply until they passed a dirty little child making mud pies in the gutter. Seizing the opportunity, the pastor said, "I see that soap hasn't done much good in the world either; for there is much dirt, and many dirty people around." The soap man said, "Oh, well, soap only works when it is applied." And the pastor said, "Exactly, so it is with the gospel."

Whereas Repentance is a turning to Jesus, Faith is the Receiving of Jesus.

Jesus wants us to Believe.

The Word to Believe in the Good News is to Trust the Good News.

Why is this important. The reality of Repentance is we really can not do it on our own, why because remember, we sin because we are sinners. The curse of sin holds us back. The Good News story shows us how Jesus both removes the curse, and enables us to truly repent. And therefore, Trust is necessary for receiving the Kingdom or else we will keep trying in our effort, in our sinful human way to turn to God’s way when we can’t.

The Gospel Story -

This is the Story we Trust, because ultimately it is the Story of Jesus whom we Trust, and we find that both Repentance and Faith come to us by God’s Grace....

Conclusion: My Hear Christ’s Home.