Repent!

18 Feb Repent!

18 February 2026

Repent!

What a strange word…originally a seafaring expression of alarm…shouted from the lookout on a vessel to signal approaching danger…It simply means “go the other way or else!” On a ship that was usually a signal that rocks, floating debris, another vessel or suddenly shallow water was in the ship’s path & disaster was imminent.

Brought into the language of the Bible it means exactly the same thing but on a deeper more personal & significant level. It means your life is off course & must be redirected by God toward God’s presence, purposes, & protection and away from self-directed self-chosen dangerous ways of living. It certainly implies acknowledgement of the “wrongness” of one’s current direction in life…but more than a simple “I’m sorry” it carries the weight of a dedication to live differently and a sense of relief that it is God alone who can affect the transformation required to draw you closer to his heart.

Luther’s 1^st of the 95 Theses that sparked the Reformation was about just that: Repentance, not as an act of contrition & self-abasement that it had become in the church of his day, but a daily turn of course toward Christ & his grace that saves & secures & satisfies our hearts & lives in him. “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent” (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance…” Our entire life is meant to be a constant course correction toward the way of & into the likeness of Jesus.

Here are some ways we’ll be working on that in the coming days…

1. Ash Wednesday Worship – TONIGHT @ 7:00 p.m.

2. Sunday 22^nd February – We continue our Lent worship & teaching series: Closer to Jesus: From Complacency to Conviction. Complacency anywhere from behind the steering wheel to the family home to the workplace is dangerous. How do we rest securely in Christ’s love without becoming lazy in our relationship to him? Christ has us & a way of remaining alert to his life shaping ours…join us and grow in him.
3. Please remember the financial need we’ve lifted up a couple of times… We’re trending fairly well on a week-by-week basis, but the quarterly large commitments to the Tax Office, Super entitlements, & regular insurance premiums always land heavy. So…bless you for meeting this special request & bless you for raising the bar of your giving to make sure we don’t need to make more special requests like this one.
4. The Season of Lent is at hand…so let me put this out there again so you can invite someone who might otherwise miss out…and we’ll have some handy flyers for you to give to your friends so they can have the details…
   1. Ash Wednesday Worship – TONIGHT @ 7:00 p.m.
   1. Maundy Thursday – 2^nd April @ 7:00 p.m.
   1. Good Friday – 3^rd April @ 9:00 a.m.
   2. Easter Sunday – 5^th April @ 10:00 a.m.

God bless you with a joyful repentance & freedom in him! Let me leave you with one of my favourite Old Testament Bible passages…God’s promise to his people as they live in responsive obedience in relationship with him: “I will live among you, and I will not despise you. I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high.” – Leviticus 26:11-13

John