Repent for the kingdom of God is near

Repent for the kingdom of God is nearInvitations • April 3, 2022Teacher: Dave Brown--Mark 1:14-15 NIVAfter John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!"1. Good News2. Kingdom of God3. Repentance1. Good NewsN.T. Wright"In many churches, the good news has subtly changed into good advice: Here's how to live, they say. Here's how to pray. Here are better techniques for helping you become a better Christian, a better person, a better wife or husband. And in particular, here's how to make sure you're on the right track for what happens after death... Take this advice: say this prayer and you'll me saved. You won't go to hell; you'll go to heaven. Here's how to do it."C.S. LewisI am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher.2. The Kingdom of GodJob 13:3, 19, 20-21 NIVBut I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God... Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated. Can anyone bring charges against me?... Only grant me these two things God... withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors."Job 38:4-21 NLT"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?"Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, 'This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!' "Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night's wickedness? As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors. The light The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence. "Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths? Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom? Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know! "Where does light come from, and where does darkness go? Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there? But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!3. RepentanceRepentance is more than simply saying, "I'm sorry." It's an active dethronement of ourselves.Steps for Repentance1. Acquire Sin Awareness2. Feel Remorse for Sin3. Confess Your Sin to God4. Discover Root Causes5. Establish Clear Boundaries6. Create Accountability7. Embrace RestorationJ.I. PackerThe idea that there can be saving faith without repentance, and that one can be justified by embracing Christ as savior while refusing him as Lord, is a destructive delusion.God is King, but He is also our Father.Jesus is the Son of God, but He is also our friend.