Advent Week 2: The Way of the Wilderness, Day 3

REPENTANCE

MATTHEW 3:1-12

In every spiritual journey there is grace and truth, liberation and law, freedom and accountability. When the first people of God were rescued from slavery and set free, the first order of business was a trip to Sinai for the giving of the law. The law shows that we cannot truly be free unless we are holy, and it makes plain that grace and liberation were not a reward for our worthiness because there remains a huge gap between God's will and our lives. That is why John and Jesus called for repentance, an admission that we are fundamentally on the wrong road and need to be forgiven and shown the way forward. It is also why John and Jesus both preached judgment. No one lives well, on God's terms, without God's forgiveness and help. It is, in fact, ungracious to hide the truth that God hates sin and that we are all sinners. Wrath is part of reality and only God's grace in Christ can overcome it. 

Which of Brian McLaren's pictures of sin do you identify with? (Sin 101)

"If Life is a machine, sin is a bad gear that makes a malfunction.
If Life is a Kingdom, sin is a terrorist movement in the Kingdom.
If Life is a family, sin is a feud.
If Life is a body, sin is an untreated disease.
If Life is a river, sin is mercury and pollutes it.
If Life is a garden, sin is an army of slugs that eat your tomatoes.
If Life is a computer, sin is a virus that destroys your hard drive."

What do you need to repent from right now?

FAMILY TIME: What is your family definition of sin?

Tags: advent, wilderness