7 Powerful Sermons You Need to Hear on Repentance
REMEDIAL LIVING
Topic: Repentance
The following previews are 7 powerful sermons you need to hear on repentance.
Isaiah 8:23-9:3; Psalm 27:1,4,13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13,17; Matthew 4:12-23
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, A
“The time has come and the Kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News” (Mark 1:15).
Benjamin Franklin coined a proverb for the world when he told of his visit to a store at age seven to make a purchase. Franklin gave the merchant a whole fistful of coins for a child’s toy whistle. He wrote, “I then came home and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family. My brothers, sisters, and cousins, understanding the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times as much for it as it was worth. Clearly, Franklin had been cheated. And over the years, he would often look at something a friend was doing and say to himself, “That fellow paid too much for his whistle.”
In today’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus withdraws from the desert ….
THE 7-DAY FORGIVENESS CHALLENGE
Topic: Repentance
Sirach 15:15-20; Psalm 119:1-2,4-5,17-18,33-34; I Corinthians 2:6-10; Matthew 5:17-37
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, A
“… go and be reconciled with your brother first” (Matthew 5:24).
It is reported that once, when Thomas Edison stood on the beach and looked out at the ocean’s incoming waves, he literally wept because, as he saw it, such vast amounts of pulsing energy were going to waste. It also has been said that a waste far more worthy of our tears “is the enormous energy within us that never gets channeled: the love that is never expressed; the kindness that never surfaces; the compassion and tenderness that are never awakened; the forgiveness that is suppressed.” -1
In today’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus says to His followers: “So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering” (Mt. 5:23-24).
Later in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus reveals God’s Will for your life …
7 powerful sermons you need to hear on repentance, continued
FRAYING EDGES, RAVELING THREADS
Topic: Repentance
Isaiah 8:23-9:3; Psalms 27:1,4,13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13,17; Matthew 4:12-23
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, A
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand” (Matthew 4:17)|.
There once was a very learned professor who had earned a wall full of honors and degrees. His head was crammed full of just about everything philosophers of every Age had to say about happiness. Still, he pondered the subject incessantly. In fact, he was so obsessed with the question that he decided to set out in search of the wisest and happiest person in the world — wherever it took him and at whatever cost. After years of travel to distant places, he finally was told of a woman who fit the description. And so he set out on a rugged journey to the top of a mountain where this wisest and happiest of all persons lived.
The woman greeted him with a warm smile and a sympathetic ear. She listened patiently…
RISKY BUSINESS!
Topic: Repentance
Isaiah 8:23-9:3; Psalm 27:1,4,13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13,17; Matthew 4:12-23
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, A
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand” (Matthew 4:17).
“Repentance” is the title of a short story by the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. It’s the tale of a repentant sinner and the difficulties he encounters as he attempts to enter Heaven. Having never done a good deed in his entire life, the old man’s last words are an appeal to God as he begs, “Lord forgive me!” The man dies and arrives at the gates of Heaven, only to find they are locked. He knocks repeatedly in a futile attempt to gain entry, but his knocks go unanswered. And then a voice speaks to him from within the gate: “Who is this man that knocks at the gates of Paradise, and what deeds did he do during his life?”
The voice of his Accuser answers, reciting all of the man’s evil deeds and not even a single good one. And the voice from within the gates replies, “Sinners cannot enter into the kingdom of Heaven.” So the man says, “Lord, I hear your voice but I cannot see your face, nor do I know your name.” And the voice answers …
7 powerful sermons you need to hear on repentance, continued
MR. APOLOGY
Topic: Repentance
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand” (Matthew 3:2).
Second Sunday of Advent, A
Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-2,7-8,12-13,17; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12
The British-American poet W.H. Auden wrote an extended musical work based on the story of the Three Wise Men. In it, each man tells why he is following the star. The first says, “To discover how to be truthful now is why I follow the star.” The second one says, “To discover how to live now is why I follow the star.” The third says, “To discover how to be loving now is why I follow the star.” The moving and beautiful climax occurs when the three strong voices sing together, “To discover how to be human now is the reason we follow the star.” We are here today to celebrate this same message of truth, life, and love. That is what the Advent and the Christmas story are all about — to discover how to be human!
The Advent Message directs us to turn off the TikTok, Twitter, and TV distractions. It calls us to program some serious, quiet time to shift our focus to what is most important in life. It moves us to discover our true feelings about life — who we are and where we’re going in a joyous …
SILENCE OF SPACE
Topic: Repentance
Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-2,7-8,12-13,17; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12
“The Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand” (Matthew 3:2).
Paul Claudel (1868–1955), the French dramatist and poet, is perhaps best known as the author of the play “The Satin Slipper.” As a young man, Claudel experienced a private revelation while attending services on Christmas Day in the famous Notre Dame Cathedral. He wrote that in a single moment that day, he realized, “God exists; He is there. He is someone; He is a being as personal as I am! He loves me; He calls me.” His conversion, though, was not immediate or simple; he struggled mightily with doubts and fears. Nevertheless, he eventually entered the Church — dedicating himself to writing about the drama of salvation, the struggle of faith in a faithless world, and the intimate love God has for his creatures.
Among Claudel’s most significant influences was the 17th-century philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal, who wrote: “The Pensées” (Thoughts), which is a collection of fragments on theology and philosophy. In one of the reflections, He writes, “When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in eternity before and after, the little space I fill engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces …
THE FACE OF OUR WORLD
Topic: Repentance
Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalms 72:1-2,7-8,12-13,17; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand” (Matthew 3:2).
The story is told that an advisor to President Lincoln once suggested a certain candidate as a nominee for the President’s cabinet. Lincoln refused, saying, “I don’t like the man’s face.” “But, sir, he can’t be responsible for his face,” insisted the president’s advisor. “Every man over forty is responsible for his face,” replied Lincoln.
In Lincoln’s case, historians have noted how dramatically his face changed while he was in office, as the weight of the job and the horrors of the Civil War weighed heavily on him. Noah Brooks, a journalist of the era wrote that “few persons would recognize the hearty, blithesome, genial, and wiry Abraham Lincoln of earlier days” if they were to meet him again during his presidency.
I suppose it’s true. In our own lifetimes, we have seen how the demands of the office have quickly …
