July 16th, 2020 Repentance II As noted last week, repentance involves both the desire for repentance and actual repentance. The desire for repentance is connected most closely to the notion of experiencing sorrow over our sin, and wishing things could be different. Actual repentance is the act of making a change in one’s life. It is changing from one way of living to a new or different way of living. As this discussion relates to Christian faith, repentance is turning from our old way to the Way of Christ. It is tempting to think of repentance as an act of the will. That is, “I will decide to do this new thing in my life,” and then set about making it happen. An example of such thinking could follow along these lines: A person comes to the realization that his life is a mess. His marriage is in trouble. He drinks too much. Furthermore, he is not a good father. The plan, he thinks, is to get himself and his family back in church; he will decide to live right! This is noble, but it is as likely to fail as succeed. He may go to church for a while. Then he may lose interest, and little by little drift back to where he started. He may blame his lack of interest in church on the preacher, or on the congregation. The excuses vary widely. The preacher is boring, not on fire enough, on fire too much, or so on. The congregation is not active enough, too active, not friendly, too meddlesome, and on this list goes. Actually, the man loses interest because actual repentance never took place. Repentance is not something we make happen through our will; it is something we allow God to do by surrendering our will. You see, the power to change me does not reside within me! The power to change me resides only with God! Therefore, if real change is to take place in my life, I must give my will over to God. The Holy Spirit at work in a person’s heart brings about real and lasting change. You and I can make changes in our life for a time, but we run out of interest or energy after a while. When this happens, life goes back to the way it was. However, the Holy Spirit does not lose interest, or energy. Next week I will talk more about surrender to God, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the joy of real change. -God bless! Pastor Rick Please note: We will continue to send out a weekly newsletter through the month of July. Church Office Hours Throughout the month of July, the church office will be open Monday through Thursday from 8am-4pm, and closed on Fridays. As always, you may reach us by phone or email: Church Office: 931-455-5434 [email protected]Finance Office: 931-455-7127 [email protected]The ministry staff continues to always be available for any pastoral needs that may arise. Daily Devotionals Join us on Facebook each evening at 6:30pm for a short video devotional. Holy Communion on Thursdays Each Thursday, Pastor Rickey will be leading Communion on Facebook Live at 6:30pm. Additionally, we will have limited (6-10) in-person participation. If you like to attend one of these in-person Com- munion Services, please contact the church office.
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July 16th, 2020...6:30pm for a short video devotional. Holy Communion on Thursdays Each Thursday, Pastor Rickey will be leading Communion on Facebook Live at 6:30pm. Additionally,
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Transcript
July 16th, 2020 Repentance II
As noted last week, repentance
involves both the desire for
repentance and actual repentance.
The desire for repentance is
connected most closely to the
notion of experiencing sorrow
over our sin, and wishing things could be different. Actual repentance is the act
of making a change in one’s life. It is changing from one way of living to a new
or different way of living. As this discussion relates to Christian faith, repentance
is turning from our old way to the Way of Christ.
It is tempting to think of repentance as an act of the will. That is, “I will decide to do this new thing in my life,”
and then set about making it happen. An example of such thinking could follow along these lines: A person
comes to the realization that his life is a mess. His marriage is in trouble. He drinks too much. Furthermore, he
is not a good father. The plan, he thinks, is to get himself and his family back in church; he will decide to live
right! This is noble, but it is as likely to fail as succeed. He may go to church for a while. Then he may lose
interest, and little by little drift back to where he started.
He may blame his lack of interest in church on the preacher, or on the congregation. The excuses vary widely.
The preacher is boring, not on fire enough, on fire too much, or so on. The congregation is not active enough,
too active, not friendly, too meddlesome, and on this list goes. Actually, the man loses interest because actual
repentance never took place. Repentance is not something we make happen through our will; it is something
we allow God to do by surrendering our will.
You see, the power to change me does not reside within me! The power to change me resides only with
God! Therefore, if real change is to take place in my life, I must give my will over to God. The Holy Spirit at
work in a person’s heart brings about real and lasting change. You and I can make changes in our life for a time,
but we run out of interest or energy after a while. When this happens, life goes back to the way it was. However,
the Holy Spirit does not lose interest, or energy.
Next week I will talk more about surrender to God, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the joy of real change.
-God bless! Pastor Rick
Please note: We will continue to send out a weekly newsletter through the month of July.