What Will You Do With Jesus? Turn To Him! Series

What will you do with Jesus?

Turn to Him Acts 3:17-22

Focus: Hearing the good news of Jesus demands a response¡K will it be to turn to him?

Function: To call hearers to turn their lives away from sin and back towards Him.

Sunday mornings at our house are crazy¡Xas you might imagine! I have to hand it to my wife, though. She orchestrates all the things which have to be done with amazing grace and efficiency as she does everything else¡K but its crazy nonetheless! She gets up first and begins getting herself ready. The boys and I usually get up about the same time and while I¡¦m getting myself ready, she fixes breakfast, dresses the boys, helps them eat, brushes their teeth, combs their hair ¡V usually has a couple of suggestions as to what I should wear (or NOT wear), fixes the coffee and finishes getting herself ready. Well, when I began thinking about an illustration to begin this morning¡¦s lesson, I didn¡¦t have to look any farther than last Sunday morning. It was a typical Sunday morning and since I had gotten ready a little early I was given the task of dressing one of the boys. That¡¦s all I had to do! While Andy was finishing breakfast, I had left the room for just a second¡XI promise, that¡¦s all it was! Suddenly, I heard a crash and the sound of breaking glass! I ran into the kitchen where Andy was standing screaming over a broken glass candle stick. The cabinet it came from was off limits- and he knew that. That¡¦s probably why he was screaming. He had been caught and knew he was in trouble. The floor of our kitchen is tile, so glass doesn¡¦t just break¡Xit shatters all over the place! I picked him up, as lovingly as I could told him that¡¦s why he wasn¡¦t to play in that cabinet, and began cleaning up the mess. Well, Celeste came down¡Xall ready herself¡Xand bailed me out. After it was all cleaned up, Andy looked at me and said, ¡§I¡¦m sorry I broke your thing, I¡¦ll never do it again.¡¨

The Bible says that God rejoices at one sinner who repents! Luke 15:7

7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. NIV

„X There was a party going on in Heaven; the angels were rejoicing with Andy last week¡K (& he hasn¡¦t done it again!)

„X ¡§I¡¦m sorry, I¡¦ll never do it again!¡¨

How many times had I heard that one? How many times have I used that one?

How many times have YOU told that one to God?

„X ¡§God, I¡¦m sorry¡K I won¡¦t ever do it again!¡¨

„X Then inevitably we find ourselves right back there, saying the same prayer because we¡¦ve done it again.

Of course, I don¡¦t mean to make light of it¡K we know the truth of the matter is that we have ¡§all sinned and fallen short of God¡¦s glory.¡¨ (Rom. 3:23)

„X We have all messed up in much bigger ways than breaking Mom¡¦s candle stick!

„X We have ALL literally ¡¥missed the mark¡¦ haven¡¦t we? The very definition of sin is that God has set his standard and we have failed to hit it¡Xwe¡¦ve ¡¥missed the mark¡¦!

„X Part of what it means to be human is to struggle with sin¡K the Apostle Paul did. In Romans 7 he talks about his own inner struggle and describes it as a war going on inside him.

Romans 7:15-23

15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God¡¦s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. NIV