“People are getting beat up all week long by the stress and pressure of daily life and so when they come to church on Sunday mornings, the last thing they need is to get beat up some more by the preacher telling them they’re bad and going to hell. What people need is to leave church feeling good.”
There is some truth to the above statement. People do feel that daily life is very often overwhelming. Mental health studies show many are dissatisfied with their jobs, their families and even themselves. Life is challenging and it may well become even more challenging in the coming year. The real question is, “How does the preacher make people feel good on Sunday”?
The most common “feel good” message in not only churches but also our news media is that each one of us has the conditions to make our lives better. With the right thinking and the right doing and the right people and the right timing – things can become significantly better for us and we can have the life we’ve always dreamed of. Well…maybe and maybe not. And, how long will the good times last?
The word “repentance” is not high on the list of “feel good” preaching topics. The interesting thing is, somebody forgot to mention that to John the Baptist and Jesus. They both talk a whole lot about recognizing our problem with God as the essential piece in turning our lives around. Somebody described the importance of repentance in these terms: “The way up begins on our knees.” The best way to understand the necessity of repentance in human life is to see it as the recognition of our real problem. We don’t need more money. We don’t need more stuff. We don’t need more recognition. We don’t even need more love. We need forgiveness—the forgiveness of the God who created us and from whom we have declared independence.
Far from being a retrograde form of repression, repentance is the opportunity to see life from a perspective far above our own, and more than that, the opportunity to be rescued from what we could never save ourselves. Whether people think it or not, repentance is the true path to feeling good. Join us this Sunday. Repentance might be just what you’ve been looking for!
Sunday Morning Worship: 10:00 am