A Fresh Start....with God - A Message Of Repentance Series

TEXT: The anointing of Jesus’ Feet - Luke 7:36-50

TITLE: Fresh Start: With God - a Message on Repentance

SERIES: Fresh Start

TOPIC: Repentance

OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, January 11, 2009

PROP.: When we feel like failures, a fresh start with God is right around the corner!

INTRODUCTION: Who DOESN’T love FRESH things? Subway has made a killing on emphasizing the ‘freshness’ of their ingredients as all of their sandwiches are made right before your eyes! And we all know that produce that is picked right out of the garden tastes so much better than produce that has been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long. I must be getting old. Because I LOVE a brand new pair of socks! Socks that have never known a foot. I love Sheets that have never been slept in. I think that is why a hotel is so much fun to stay at. I just wish they wouldn’t tuck the sheets in so hard. Think back to when you were in school…you loved a fresh pencil! I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s easier to start the day after I’ve had a shower! Why? Because I’ve washed away the grime and grit to become FRESH!

Today we begin a series of sermons I’ve entitled: FRESH START!

During the course of this series, we are going to look at getting a Fresh Start. A “DO-OVER” if you will. An opportunity to start again in some areas of our life!

Today, I want to encourage you to get a FRESH START with God. How do you get a fresh start with God?

The text I’ve selected for today’s message is Luke 7:36-50.

Today’s scripture tells us that a fresh start with God happens when we repent. How do you repent? What does it look like? Luke records this story to show us what repentance looks like.

Luke is the only Gospel author to record the events we are going to read.

Luke 7:36-50

36Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him (let‘s stop right there. Aren‘t the Pharisees the guys that Jesus is constantly doing battle with? What is he doing being invited to eat dinner there? This Pharisee, was curious about who Jesus was and whether he was a prophet so he invites Jesus to a dinner party) so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table (This phrase tells us much about Simon the Pharisee. I had time this week to study a little bit about the manners and customs of food in Bible times. I don’t have the time this morning to tell you everything I’ve learned! But I will tell you, that in a simple home, there was merely a pot placed on a rug or a small table on the floor. Guests would sit around the pot cross-legged. No untensils. They would eat with their hands that would be washed before eating. Each guest would use their bread as a dipping utensil to dip out the contents of what was in the pot. For meals of those who were well off, they would have tables and “chairs” or couches as we would understand them. For formal meals such as this one, there would be three tables placed in a square with one open side to the square. The center of the square would remain open allowing the servants to come and bring in food and to take away food. Couches would be placed around the outside of the square (around the three tables) close to one another, so that the guest could recline to eat. The guest was given a cushion nad lay on his left arm with his head towards the table, leaving his right arm free to take what was served. This made it possible for servants to rinse the feet while the guests continued the banquet. And so this simple phrase tells us that Simon was well off and here he was having a dinner party! Let’s continue reading our scripture) . 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, (alabaster was marble used in ancient days to make jars that held ointment and perfume. Generally, alabaster jars were white in color and quite costly.)) 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."

40Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."