Repentance
August 10, 2025
What if the one word that could save your life is the same word most people refuse to hear? When Tiger Woods held his first professional press conference in 1996, he spoke two words that changed golf forever: “Hello World!” But what if they had press conferences back in Jesus’ day? What would be His first words? Well, we don’t have to wonder. The Gospel of Matthew tells us, and it was a shocker. He did have a word for the world, but it wasn’t “Hello.” Here is the very first word that He publicly uttered: “From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’” (Matthew 4:17, NIV). This forgotten and forsaken word appears 969 times in Scripture, yet today it’s rarely heard from pulpits across America because it implies people have something they need to repent of—and no one wants to hear that. But certain words, doctrines, and beliefs are at the core of the Christian faith, and it is imperative that unbelievers hear these truths and that believers truly understand them.
In this series
Lost in Translation
I don’t believe there has ever been a time that the church needs to hear more sound theology than today. There is no more important doctrine to discuss than what the entire Bible is all about. But sometimes, what the Bible says can get lost in translation, and that’s what I want to make sure doesn’t keep happening as we dive into this series. As you read about salvation in the Bible, salvation seems a lot like a kaleidoscope. When you begin to turn it, you see different aspects, different virtues, different qualities, and different colors. There are various words that are used to describe the whole process of salvation from beginning to end and that is what we’re going to look at in this series. As we do, I pray that together we will gain a better understanding of God’s Word and His definitions and descriptions of salvation.
