Let us Pray…Living God, please prepare our hearts to hear this message. Amen.

Matthew introduces us to one of the fascinating characters of the New Testament. This was John born to Zacharias and Elisabeth, His miraculous birth to this too-old couple was announced, along with his call to be the forerunner of the Messiah, in Luke 1.

John’s message was a call to repentance. Some people think that repentance is mostly about feelings, especially feeling ` for your sin. It is wonderful to feel sorry about your sin, but repent isn’t a “feelings” word. It is an action word. John told his listeners to make a change of their mind, not merely to feel sorry for what they had done. Repentance speaks of a change of direction, not a sorrow in the heart.

My siblings-in-Christ, is repentance something we must do before we can come to God? Yes and no. Repentance does not describe something we must do before we come to God; it describes what coming to God is like…if you are in Kegworth, and I tell you to come to Loughborough. I don’t really need to say “Leave Kegworth and come to Loughborough.” To come to Loughborough is to leave Kegworth, and if you haven’t left Kegworth, you certainly haven’t come to Loughborough. We can’t come to the kingdom of heaven unless we leave our sin and self-centered life.

The call to repentance is important and must not be neglected. It is entirely accurate to say that Repentance is the first word of the gospel.

· Repent was the first word of John the Baptist’s gospel (Matthew 3:1-2).

· Repent was the first word of Jesus’ gospel in Matthew 4:17. Here Matthews reports that Jesus began to preach, and to say, ”Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This verse marks the beginning of Jesus' public ministry after His time in the wilderness, emphasizing the call to repentance and the imminent arrival of God's kingdom.

· Repent was the first word in the preaching ministry of the twelve disciples (Mark 6:12).

In this passage the disciples preached that men and women should repent." … and turn away from their sins.

· Repent was the first word in the preaching instructions Jesus gave to His disciples after His resurrection (Luke 24:46-47).  Here Jesus says " after rising from the dead - repentance and forgiveness of sins would be preached in His name to all nations, starting at Jerusalem.

· Repent was the first word of exhortation in the first Christian sermon (Acts 2:38). Here Peter exerts, “Repent and receive baptism for the forgiveness of sins and the reception of the Holy Spirit.

When you repent, you cross from water-baptism to Spirit-and-fire baptism. You walk in the New Covenant as a new creation., a covenant that even John the Baptist the greatest man born of a woman never experience. My dear siblings-in-Christ, repent and cross from water-baptism to Spirit-and-fire baptism. Repent and be born-again. Amen.

Rev'd Debo Adelaja