Everyone say the word, "repent." Ready? Re-pent! What does it mean to repent?

Repent means to turn from sin; to change one's mind. Let's play a little game. I'll need some volunteers. Come up if you want to volunteer (as many as want to participate may come up and line up at the altar area, with some space between them.) What I want you to do is to walk around the sanctuary. Make sure you have plenty of room between you. When I say "repent," you need to turn completely around and start walking the other way. Okay? Ready? Go! Start walking around the pews. March, march! Repent! March, march! Repent! March, march. Repent!

Great! Thank you, volunteers. You may be seated.

So, we learned that to repent is more than just being sorry, right? To repent is to STOP doing bad things, and go THE OTHER WAY by doing good things.

Ralph: "Awww!"
Val: Ralph, is that you? Are you okay? Excuse me kids, I need to check on Ralph. (do Ralph skit here)

Ralph talked a little about John the Baptist. John the Baptist lived a long, long time ago when Jesus was alive. He was a very special person with a mission from God. He was going to "prepare the way" for Jesus to come.

Jesus' mother, Mary, visited John's mother Elizabeth one day before their babies were born. John was so happy, he jumped up and down inside Elizabeth's tummy!

Also, did you know that John and Jesus were cousins?

Raise your hand if you have ever seen a desert.

Raise your hand if you've ever eaten a bug.

We don't usually eat bugs in America, but plenty of people in other countries do it all the time, and they don't think it's weird. God's people, Israel were on a very special diet: they could only eat clean things, and God said that the locust was okay to eat. John was a good Jew; he only ate kosher bugs.

Hey! Locusts are full of protein, and honey has lots of "bee" vitamins. Get it? "Bee vitamins?"

Large crowds came to hear John preach. He even got the attention of King Herod! John was a very famous, very important prophet. Jesus said that there was no prophet greater than John the Baptist.

John said this about Jesus: "He must increase, and I must decrease."

Even though John was a very important prophet that even the king listened to, he said that he was not worthy to take off Jesus' sandals.

Back in the Bible days, people liked to be nice to their guests, and they would welcome their guests and say, "Look how long you've been traveling! Let me have my servant wash your feet, they're all dusty from the road!" Then the lowest servant would wash the guest's feet. John said he wasn't worthy to do even the lowest job for Jesus.

John 1:8 says, "[John] was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light."

That's kind of like the moon. The moon reflects the light of the sun. The moon helps us see at night by sending us a little bit of light from the sun. The moon is just a hunk of rock; it can't make any light by itself. But the sun, on the other hand, is a powerful ball of flaming gas. If you had an enormous empty bag the size of the sun, you could fit 64.3 million moons inside it! Everybody say, "Whoa."

So, to recap, The sun is a mass of incandescent gas; a gigantic nuclear furnace where hydrogen is built into helium at a temperature of millions of degrees. The sun is hot; the sun is not a place where we could live, but here on Earth there'd be no life Without the light it gives!

So, which is bigger and more important? The sun or moon?

Just like the sun is more powerful than the moon, Jesus was more powerful than John. John said that he was not the light; he was not the messiah, but John could show people the light, just like the moon reflects the light of the sun.

Do you think you could show someone the light of Jesus? Raise your hand if you think so.

How? By being kind? Loving someone? Being patient? Being forgiving? Yes, you can show them the light of Jesus when you do these things.

Isaiah 40:1-5 says, "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim . . . that her sin has been paid for, . . . A voice of one CALLING: In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah is talking about John.

[Ralph yells from his chest: "Sis. Val!"
What Ralph?
"Let me out, I want to talk to you."
Not now, I'm trying to teach a lesson.

Like I said, Isaiah prophesied about John and he said, "Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low."
[Ralph yells] "Sis. Val, I don't like this!" [Sis. Val goes and gets Ralph.]
What, Ralph? What could be so important that you had to interrupt during the lesson? You know that's against the rules.
Ralph: (sniff, sniff) "I know, but I LIKE mountains!"
Val: You like mountains? What does that have to do with anything?
Ralph: You said that "every valley shall be raised up, and every mountain and hill made low." I like mountains. They're pretty. Why did John have to knock down the mountains? And how did he do it anyway? Did he have a bulldozer? Now that I think of it, there are mountains outside, so John must have missed some. Did John have a bulldozer, Sis. Val?

No, Ralph, John did not have a bulldozer, and he did not really knock down mountains.
Ralph: "But you said he did!"
Sis. Val: No, John was trying to get people to prepare their hearts for Jesus.
Ralph: But why did it say John was going to knock down mountains? That makes no sense. Nobody knocks down MY purple mountain majesties.
Sis. Val: Chill, Ralph. Let's think about it this way.

Sometimes people say they're "on top of the mountain" when they have success, or they are proud of themselves. What would you think if someone would say, "I'm the best! I'm better than you! I'm king of the world, and you are a worthless squirmy worm-person! My awesomeness could sear the retinas out of your eye-balls! Bask in the wonder that is me! Bwah-ha-ha!"
Ralph: Sis. Val, you're starting to scare me.
Sis. Val: Okay, you could say that person was "on top of the mountain," right?
Ralph: Definitely.
Sis. Val: Do you think that that person is ready for Jesus to come in their heart?
Ralph: No, they have too much pride.
Sis. Val: Right. John was going to help people take down the mountains of pride in their heart.

Let's read the screen.

GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. JAMES 4:6

Ralph: "Oh, so if people repent and take down the mountain of pride in their heart, then Jesus can come in!"

Sis. Val: Yes, Ralph, that's exactly it.

Ralph: Okay, what about when Isaiah said, "Every valley shall be raised up." I guess John didn't need a bulldozer to do that either.

Sis. Val: No. There are no bulldozers in the Bible at all.

So, what if someone were to say, "I'm awful! Everyone thinks I'm awful! I stink at life, and I just wanna crawl in a hole! Poor, poor, pitiful me! Nobody likes me; everybody hates me!"

Ralph: Are you schizophrenic or something?

Sis. Val: Ralph, I don't really feel that way, I just wanted to know what you would think if someone had that attitude? Would they be ready for Jesus to come in their heart?

Ralph: No, they need to have faith that God can make things better.

Sis. Val: That's right, Ralph.

Ralph: Oh, and they should be happy that they are a special creation made in the image of God.

Sis. Val: I agree with you.

So, if we have a mountain of pride in our heart, or if we are stuck in a valley of self-pity, we need to repent, and make a road ready for Jesus to come. John said, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth." This is what they used to do in Bible times when kings used to travel through.

The Bible says "Seek, and you will find."

If you look for people to be mean to you and teachers to be mean to you and people to misunderstand you, YOU'RE GOING TO FIND THAT!

Ralph: Oh, so we should REPENT and stop seeking bad things.

Sis. Val: Yes. Seek for people to be good to you and teachers to give you the thumbs up, and people to think you're a good kid. IF YOU DO, YOU'RE GOING TO FIND THAT!

Be careful what you look for!

Look for good things.

Look for God.

Repent and ask Him to guide you.

Don't "follow your heart." Never do that. What a terrible idea!

Ralph: "But that's what the cartoons tell me, is to follow my heart."

Sis. Val: The Bible says, "The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it?." Follow Jesus! Do like John said, and prepare the way for the Lord. Back in Bible times, when a king was coming into town, the people would fix the road and get all the rocks out of the way.

Ralph: Did they use a bulldozer?
Val: No, Ralph, I told you, no bulldozers.
Ralph: A backhoe?
Val: No.
Ralph: A dumptruck?
Val: No.
Ralph: An excavator?
Val: No.
Ralph: How about a grader?
Val: No.
Ralph: Did they at least have one of those little Bobcats to push dirt around?
Val: No.
Ralph: Those still make that little noise when they scoot around: beep, beep, beep, beep!
Val: Ralph! No Bobcats!
Ralph: Then how did they prepare the road for the king?
Val: They used shovels. And their hands.
Ralph: You're kidding me.
Val: Nope. It was hard work. And sometimes it's hard work to prepare our hearts for King Jesus, too. We might have to work hard at breaking old habits, or work hard at being nice to someone, but we have to clear the way for the King to come.

We have to smooth the rough parts of us and get ready for King Jesus!

Ralph: Yeah. Hey, Sis. Val, I need to work on that. I need to think about what's in my heart.

Val: Good, Ralph. Listen, could you think about it in your trunk, I need to finish up this lesson.

Ralph: Oh, sure. Sorry to slow you down.

[puts Ralph away]

John said that before Jesus comes into our hearts, we have to repent

John baptized people in the Jordan River. The Jordan River has always represented death. There are many songs about "crossing the river Jordan," and maybe you've heard a grandma say "after I cross Jordan, I'm gonna see Jesus." Crossing Jordan represents dying. The Bible says that we need to be dead to our sins. Do dead people steal things? No. Do dead people tell lies? No. Do dead people punch other people? No. We need to be baptized and ask God to wash away our sins, "calling on the name of the Lord," and then we can be dead to our sins even when we are still alive. Then, Jesus can come into our hearts.

John said that Jesus was coming to baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He did not mean a fire that would hurt us, but he meant that we would have a happy, exciting glow in our hearts that makes us smile and get excited about Jesus. That is what the Holy Ghost does. It makes you hug people! When you get the Holy Ghost, you will speak in a language you haven't learned; that is called "speaking in tongues."

Let's pray at the altar. Everyone come up front, and we will close our eyes. You can raise your hands up, or fold your hands. Let's pray: Jesus we repent of our sins. We ask you to forgive us. Help us to turn away from sin, and start doing good things. If we've stolen something, we are sorry, God. If we have disobeyed our parents, we repent. If we have a mountain of pride, if we think we are better than someone else, we repent.