This week our sermon series The Gospel of Luke, Part I: The Arrival of the King captures the message of repentance preached by John the Baptist. In preparing the way for Jesus, John exposed the Jews’ low view of God and distorted view of themselves. The right response for John’s audience, as well as us today, is to respond to sin with sincere repentance and rely on Christ in true faith.

Newley’s Main Points

• True repentance requires us to resolve that we need to make a change because we have sinned against God.
• A truly repentant person will respond with real life change.
• Believers report the action of repentance until they are in glory with God.

Key Takeaways

• Biblical repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action.

• Right repentance requires right motives.

• Faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin.

• Worldly sorrow is merely mourning getting caught or the consequences of our sin, rationing our sin, or manipulating our situation, rather than godly sorrow which grieves our sin against God and others.

• What we think about we develop emotions for and our emotions drive our will (head, heart, hands – Romans 8:5-6, Proverbs 4:23).

• Turning from sin and turning to Christ is God’s design not only for salvation but our day-to-day sanctification.

• As A.W. Tower famously declared, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

• Bearing fruit reflects true repentance of the the heart as a witness to ourselves and others.

• As Christians, we are to acknowledge our sins (Ps. 139:23), confess our sins openly and honestly to God and others (1 John 1:9, Jam. 5:16), cut off access to our struggles (Rom. 13:14), and change our playground, change our playmates (Ps. 1:1).

• The Holy Spirit helps us flee from our temptations from sin and confess them when we do.

• A low view of God and a love for our sin can keep us from repentance.

Discussion Questions/Application

Personal application:

• What does it look like to actively turn from sin and turn to Christ this week?

• Spend time intentionally praying for the Holy Spirit’s help to flee from sin and follow Christ.

Discuss with your community group:

• When you sin, do you respond with confession and repentance? What most often keeps you from responding to sin with repentance?

• Do you have any unconfessed sins you need to confess today? How can you intentionally cut off access to your struggles? What does it look like to change your playground, change your playmates in this area?
  

Passages Referenced
Luke 3:1-20; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:16; John 4:1-26; Psalm 139:23; 1 John 1:9; James 5:16; Romans 13:14; Psalm 1:1; Revelation 2:4-5; James 1:14-15; 1 John 2:23; Psalm 37:4.

Worship Set List

Oh But God, God So Loved, Yes I Will, At The Cross (Love Ran Red), You Are The Lord