Zion East Prospect Church
Ash Wednesday
  • O Sacred Head Now Wounded

      • Joel 2:1–17ESV

  • Title:Call of repentance
    Theme: God is looking for repentance. A a call to the heart of each individual.
    Text:Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
    Goal:Return to me with your hearts
    : ORIENTATION: FIND COMMON GROUND WITH THE AUDIENCE
    Every year we come to Ash Wednesday with a heart of repentance.
    We look back over our lives with a desire to draw close to Christ and then we move on.
    I remember this past summer where people gathered in Washington DC for prayer and repentance.
    WE: IDENTIFICATION (MAKE IT CLEAR THAT YOU STRUGGLE)
    Individuals are called this evening to a time of repentance.
    Churches are called to a time of repentance.
    Denominations are called to a time of repentance.
    Nations are called to a time of repentance.
    God is looking for repentance. A call to the heart of each individual.
    Return to me with your hearts
    GOD: ILLUMINATION (THE GOAL IS TO RESOLVE THE TENSION

    I. Enemy brings judgement

    Joel 2:1-2 (NLT)
    Sound the trumpet in Jerusalem[a]!
        Raise the alarm on my holy mountain!
    Let everyone tremble in fear
        because the day of the Lord is upon us.
    2 
    It is a day of darkness and gloom,
        a day of thick clouds and deep blackness.
    Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains,
        a great and mighty army appears.
    Nothing like it has been seen before
        or will ever be seen again.

    A. Judgement has come

    A. Have you ever thought about God’s judgement?

    ( Blasphemy attributing the things of God tp Satan) What are we as Christians judged for?

    Salvation

    Lordship

    Follow

    Grow

    Obey

    Share

    Who is Christ to us?
    What we have done with Christ?

    B. The judgement according to Joel

    Joel 1:3-4 (NLT)
    3 Tell your children about it in the years to come,
        and let your children tell their children.
        Pass the story down from generation to generation.
    4 
    After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops,
        the swarming locusts took what was left!
    After them came the hopping locusts,
        and then the stripping locusts,[a] too!
    a. This is devastating to Israel and Joel calls it judgement.
    b. Do we face the judgment of God today?
    a. Do we heed it?
    b. How do we invest in Lent?
    c. It is hard for you to repent.

    C. The call of Lent

    Preparation for resurrection
    God is the God of pilgrim people, transition people.
    What is Lent, and how will this help us in our faith journey?
    Lent latin for fortieth
    Begins on Ash Wednesday and ends six weeks later before Easter. The purpose of Lent is to prepare the believer for Easter.
    This happens through prayer, repentance of sins., Almsgiving and self denial. The last week of Lent is Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday.
    Many Christians fast and give up certain luxuries in order to replicate the account of Jesus sacrifice’s of Jesus Christ journey into the desert for 40 days, and many add to the this journey a spiritual disciple, praying a lenten calendar. Something that draws them near to God.

    II. Get to the Heart of the matter

    A. I do not believe Covid is a judgement, I do believe it can calls us to repentance just the same.

    a.I just read Joel 1 and 2:1-17
    There is an emotional feel of judgement and total destruction. The next verses call for repentance.
    Can there be a call against those who have done nothing?
    Can there be a call against sin?
    Can we run toward grace, with a heart of repentance?
    We will be judged?
    Will those who do not believe in God be judged?
    Will saints who did not live the life be judged?
    Communities who’s way of life does not hear the cry of the needy?
    Church who did not carry the mission of Christ?
    Denominations who have taken wrong turns? Leadership who have mislead them?
    Pastors who did not live out the Gospel nor lead their flock?
    Covid has swept across the land like Locust who devour the land. In its venomous stages it has consumed humanity.
    sickness and death of people in various stages of life
    Job loss and the economy Fear and anger of peopleRiots and rage among others
    Injustice to Americans Corruption in the government.
    Greed and a quest for power
    Our way instead of God’s way.
    Apathy
    We have fought against it with science and yet it grows. The one thing we have not done is put on sack cloth and repented.
    While I am not saying this is a judgment, I am saying we need to repent and open are lives to a deeper relationship with Christ..

    B. Joel opens our Hearts

    Joel 2:12-17 (NLT)
    12 That is why the Lord says,
    “Turn to me now, while there is time.
    Give me your hearts.
    But they must be sincere. It’s easy to participate in a religious ceremony, tear your garments, and lament, but quite something else to humbly confess your sins and bring to God a repentant heart (Matt. 15:8–9).
    “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise” (Ps. 51:17, nkjv).
    Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be amazed (p. 55). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
    Matthew 15:8-9 (ESV)
    8  “ ‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;
    ​
    9  in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
    The one thing that encourages us to repent and return to the Lord is the character of God. Knowing that He is indeed “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love (Joel 2:13, niv) (Ex. 34:6–7).
    Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
    13 
    Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
    but tear your hearts instead.”
    Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is merciful and compassionate,
    slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
    He is eager to relent and not punish
    14 
    Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve,
    sending you a blessing instead of this curse.
    Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine
    to the Lord your God as before.
    15 
    Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem!
    Announce a time of fasting;
    call the people together
    for a solemn meeting.
    16 
    Gather all the people—
    the elders, the children, and even the babies.
    Call the bridegroom from his quarters
    and the bride from her private room.
    17 
    Let the priests, who minister in the Lord’s presence,
    stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar.
    Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord!
    Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery.
    Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,
    ‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”

    III. Transformation begins with you and me

    Salvation

    Lordship.

    Following

    Growing

    Obeying

    Sharing

    YOU: APPLICATION (TELL PEOPLE WHAT TO DO AND WHAT THEY HAVE HEARD)
    Conclusion:

    God is looking for repentance.

    A call to the heart of each individual.

    Return to me with your heart.

  • Jesus Paid It All
Zion East Prospect Church
zionep@comcast.net
717-252-1800
https://zep-8.faithlifesites.com
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