Invitation: Repent & Believe, 14 May 2017
Invitation: Repent & Believe
Series— Mark’s Gospel: The Real Jesus
Mark 1:14-20
Series Big Idea: The shortest gospel is filled with good news about Jesus!
Big Idea: Jesus invites us to repent, believe, and follow Him.
Invitation
What’s the greatest invitation you’ve ever received?
It’s usually nice to receive an invitation, though some are better than others. My Facebook account is often filled with invitations from people I barely know for events I know next to nothing about. Contrast that with an elegant, “snail-mail” wedding invitation. Yes, some people still use paper!
Often we don’t know what we’re getting ourselves into when we accept an invitation. Agreeing to stand up in that wedding means I have to shell out a hundred bucks for a tuxedo rental? Joining that board requires ten hours a week of volunteer team outside of the monthly meetings? Taking the job involves several weeks a year of travel? Marrying that person means…?!?!?!
We’re in the middle of a series from the gospel or “good news” of Mark in our pursuit of knowing “The Real Jesus.” In the first verse of the book we see Jesus introduced as the Messiah and Son of God. Then we examined John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin who prepared the way for His arrival. Last week we discussed Jesus’ preparation for public ministry through baptism and temptation. Today we look at an invitation from Jesus, an invitation He is still making to us thousands of years later.
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. (Mark 1:14)
Mark is our “headline” gospel. He gets right to the point. John’s in prison. Jesus is in Galilee.
Why was John put in prison? See John 1:19-4:54.
What is the good news of God? It’s the gospel. What’s the gospel? In a word, Jesus. In three words, Jesus is LORD.
The gospel is not you’re bad, Jesus is good, He died, pray a prayer, and go to heaven when you die. That might be a part of the gospel, but the gospel is so much more than life after death.
It’s about life before death.
It’s about faith, hope and love.
It’s about loving God and neighbor.
It’s about knowing and being known by your Creator.
It’s about being a part of an eternal family.
It’s about coming home.
Can I preach for just a moment?
There are too many people loved by God that don’t know it because they aren’t being loved by us.
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
This verse summarizes the teaching of Jesus. God’s kingdom is near. What is the kingdom of God? This was the focus of Jesus’ proclamation. It wasn’t about dying and going to heaven, it was about heaven coming down to earth, heaven kissing earth, God’s kingdom coming near. First-century Jews would have understood the kingdom of God to mean “the day of the Lord.”
To enter the kingdom, we must repent and believe. This is easier said than done. It means laying down our lives and picking up the cross.
Repent is from the Greek metanoia. Like metamorphisis, it means to change…one’s mind. Repent is not about condemnation or shame, just a change of mind and heart that results in a change of behavior and lifestyle. All of our actions begin in our mind. Repent means to change, to do a 180. It’s not optional for followers of Jesus. We are to turn from our selfish, sinful ways and turn to God’s generous, perfect ways.
Repentance does not mean we change. It simply means to change one’s mind. Then the fun begins!
Jesus said repent and believe.
The most famous verse in the Bible is…John 3:16. It says
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, NIV)
The Greek word for believe is “pisteuo.” The English translation, believe, frustrates me because many “believe” if they agree with the historical notion Jesus died and rose again they are, therefore, going to heaven when they die and can continue in their sinful, God-dishonoring ways. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Believe is a verb. The noun form means faith. Believe means to commit or to trust. That’s action. In this context it means to trust in Jesus, to commit to the charge of Jesus. It means to surrender and follow Jesus. Here’s how one writer put it:
It is the act whereby a person lays hold of God's resources, becomes obedient to what He has prescribed and putting aside all self interest and self-reliance, trusts Him completely. It is an unqualified surrender of the whole of one's being in dependence upon Him. It is wholly trusting and relying upon Him for all things. It is not just mental assent to the facts and realities of truth, it must come from a deep inner conviction.
Believing that there is a God is no big deal. Even the demons believe that, we’re told in James 2:19!
This kind of belief is trust. Surrender. Dying to yourself and becoming a new creation, resurrected with Jesus. This is the image of baptism we’ll all witness shortly.
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
Repent and believe.
Turn and follow.
This is how we change to become like Jesus.
This is how we grow in our faith.
This is discipleship.
People have wrongly said repentance is about changing your outer behavior and belief is something that is inward and private. Jesus says to transform the inside first and then the outside follows.
I want to introduce you to the Learning Circle, one of the most valuable tools I’ve encountered in following Jesus.
LifeShape: circle video, https://vimeo.com/101761387
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
The Learning Circle is based upon this verse. We can’t change alone. We need others to help us observe, reflect, and act as we repent. We need others to help us plan, account, and act in order to truly become like Jesus.
The Learning Circle shows us:
•what it means to live a lifestyle of learning as a disciple of Christ;
•how to recognize important events as opportunities for growth; and
•how to process these events.
The Learning Circle—which is just a tool you can use with others—is based on two questions:
What is God saying to me? (This will help change the inner parts of me)
What am I going to do about it? (The inner change has to produce an action)
Now we turn to two sets of brothers who chose to repent and believe.
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1:16-18)
The gospel of John tells us this is not their first encounter with Jesus. Notice He didn’t say join a cult or help Him start a religion. He offered an invitation of relationship. They responded. He didn’t say, “Follow God.” He said, “Follow me,” which was the same thing.
These brothers are fishermen. They were not religious scholars, gifted speakers, or special leaders. They were ordinary people like you and me. They may have been to poor to afford a boat, casting their nets from shore. Jesus does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called. His invitation is simple: follow Me.
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. (Mark 1:19-20)
Simon and Andrew were fishing brothers. James and John were, too.
They left their nets. They left their boat. They even left their father to follow Jesus.
What do you need to leave behind to follow Jesus? What will it cost you?
Following Jesus…
It’s more than a prayer you pray.
It’s more than knowledge you believe.
It’s more than sin you avoid.
It requires trust and action.
What is God saying to you?
What are you going to do about it?
Credits: some ideas from Mike Breen, NT Wright, J. Vernon McGee, and David Garland.
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
Series— Mark’s Gospel: The Real Jesus
Mark 1:14-20
Series Big Idea: The shortest gospel is filled with good news about Jesus!
Big Idea: Jesus invites us to repent, believe, and follow Him.
Invitation
What’s the greatest invitation you’ve ever received?
- - Attend a birthday party
- - Sit with someone in the school cafeteria
- - Join a sports team
- - Participate on a ministry team
- - Graduation celebration
- - Wedding proposal
- - Job opportunity
It’s usually nice to receive an invitation, though some are better than others. My Facebook account is often filled with invitations from people I barely know for events I know next to nothing about. Contrast that with an elegant, “snail-mail” wedding invitation. Yes, some people still use paper!
Often we don’t know what we’re getting ourselves into when we accept an invitation. Agreeing to stand up in that wedding means I have to shell out a hundred bucks for a tuxedo rental? Joining that board requires ten hours a week of volunteer team outside of the monthly meetings? Taking the job involves several weeks a year of travel? Marrying that person means…?!?!?!
We’re in the middle of a series from the gospel or “good news” of Mark in our pursuit of knowing “The Real Jesus.” In the first verse of the book we see Jesus introduced as the Messiah and Son of God. Then we examined John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin who prepared the way for His arrival. Last week we discussed Jesus’ preparation for public ministry through baptism and temptation. Today we look at an invitation from Jesus, an invitation He is still making to us thousands of years later.
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. (Mark 1:14)
Mark is our “headline” gospel. He gets right to the point. John’s in prison. Jesus is in Galilee.
Why was John put in prison? See John 1:19-4:54.
What is the good news of God? It’s the gospel. What’s the gospel? In a word, Jesus. In three words, Jesus is LORD.
The gospel is not you’re bad, Jesus is good, He died, pray a prayer, and go to heaven when you die. That might be a part of the gospel, but the gospel is so much more than life after death.
It’s about life before death.
It’s about faith, hope and love.
It’s about loving God and neighbor.
It’s about knowing and being known by your Creator.
It’s about being a part of an eternal family.
It’s about coming home.
Can I preach for just a moment?
There are too many people loved by God that don’t know it because they aren’t being loved by us.
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
This verse summarizes the teaching of Jesus. God’s kingdom is near. What is the kingdom of God? This was the focus of Jesus’ proclamation. It wasn’t about dying and going to heaven, it was about heaven coming down to earth, heaven kissing earth, God’s kingdom coming near. First-century Jews would have understood the kingdom of God to mean “the day of the Lord.”
To enter the kingdom, we must repent and believe. This is easier said than done. It means laying down our lives and picking up the cross.
Repent is from the Greek metanoia. Like metamorphisis, it means to change…one’s mind. Repent is not about condemnation or shame, just a change of mind and heart that results in a change of behavior and lifestyle. All of our actions begin in our mind. Repent means to change, to do a 180. It’s not optional for followers of Jesus. We are to turn from our selfish, sinful ways and turn to God’s generous, perfect ways.
Repentance does not mean we change. It simply means to change one’s mind. Then the fun begins!
Jesus said repent and believe.
The most famous verse in the Bible is…John 3:16. It says
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, NIV)
The Greek word for believe is “pisteuo.” The English translation, believe, frustrates me because many “believe” if they agree with the historical notion Jesus died and rose again they are, therefore, going to heaven when they die and can continue in their sinful, God-dishonoring ways. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Believe is a verb. The noun form means faith. Believe means to commit or to trust. That’s action. In this context it means to trust in Jesus, to commit to the charge of Jesus. It means to surrender and follow Jesus. Here’s how one writer put it:
It is the act whereby a person lays hold of God's resources, becomes obedient to what He has prescribed and putting aside all self interest and self-reliance, trusts Him completely. It is an unqualified surrender of the whole of one's being in dependence upon Him. It is wholly trusting and relying upon Him for all things. It is not just mental assent to the facts and realities of truth, it must come from a deep inner conviction.
Believing that there is a God is no big deal. Even the demons believe that, we’re told in James 2:19!
This kind of belief is trust. Surrender. Dying to yourself and becoming a new creation, resurrected with Jesus. This is the image of baptism we’ll all witness shortly.
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
Repent and believe.
Turn and follow.
This is how we change to become like Jesus.
This is how we grow in our faith.
This is discipleship.
People have wrongly said repentance is about changing your outer behavior and belief is something that is inward and private. Jesus says to transform the inside first and then the outside follows.
I want to introduce you to the Learning Circle, one of the most valuable tools I’ve encountered in following Jesus.
LifeShape: circle video, https://vimeo.com/101761387
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
The Learning Circle is based upon this verse. We can’t change alone. We need others to help us observe, reflect, and act as we repent. We need others to help us plan, account, and act in order to truly become like Jesus.
The Learning Circle shows us:
•what it means to live a lifestyle of learning as a disciple of Christ;
•how to recognize important events as opportunities for growth; and
•how to process these events.
The Learning Circle—which is just a tool you can use with others—is based on two questions:
What is God saying to me? (This will help change the inner parts of me)
What am I going to do about it? (The inner change has to produce an action)
Now we turn to two sets of brothers who chose to repent and believe.
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1:16-18)
The gospel of John tells us this is not their first encounter with Jesus. Notice He didn’t say join a cult or help Him start a religion. He offered an invitation of relationship. They responded. He didn’t say, “Follow God.” He said, “Follow me,” which was the same thing.
These brothers are fishermen. They were not religious scholars, gifted speakers, or special leaders. They were ordinary people like you and me. They may have been to poor to afford a boat, casting their nets from shore. Jesus does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called. His invitation is simple: follow Me.
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. (Mark 1:19-20)
Simon and Andrew were fishing brothers. James and John were, too.
They left their nets. They left their boat. They even left their father to follow Jesus.
What do you need to leave behind to follow Jesus? What will it cost you?
Following Jesus…
It’s more than a prayer you pray.
It’s more than knowledge you believe.
It’s more than sin you avoid.
It requires trust and action.
What is God saying to you?
What are you going to do about it?
Credits: some ideas from Mike Breen, NT Wright, J. Vernon McGee, and David Garland.