What is repentance?
a change of thought to correct a wrong
and gain forgiveness from a person who
is wronged
 a confession to God and stopping the
sin against God
 includes an admission of guilt
 a promise or resolve not to repeat the
offense

Looking for a sign?
 Why
should we wait for a sign?
We aren’t supposed to wait for a
sign but rather we need to see
what we’re doing and not get
ourselves too deep into sin that
it would be harder to get out.
A Simplified Story of Jonah
 God
told Jonah to go to the great city
of Nineveh to preach, but Jonah didn't
want to go. He tried to run away from
God by going in the opposite
direction.
1
2
He got on a ship.
 God caused a storm to come. It nearly
sank the ship.
 Jonah went into a deep sleep (we
sometimes do this to escape our
problems)
 When the men on the ship discovered
that it was Jonah's fault, they threw him
overboard into the sea, and the sea
became calm.

3
God had provided a large fish that
swallowed Jonah. Jonah prayed to God
from inside the fish and God heard him.
He was in the fish for three days and
three nights. The fish spit him out onto
dry land.
 Jonah 2

4
God again told him to go and preach to
the people of Nineveh, and this time he
obeyed. It was a very large city.
 Jonah told the people that they must
repent or they would be destroyed. The
people listened and believed.
 They were sorry for their sins and God
forgave them.

5

Jonah was angry. He didn't really care
about the people of the city, but God loved
them.
 WHY DIDN’T HE CARE?!
○ Jonah = Israelite
○ Ninevites = Assyrians
○ ISRAELITES  ASSYRIANS
○ He didn’t want to see his enemy saved!
 Even after they repented, Jonah waited
outside the city and waited for the city to
be destroyed and when it wasn't, he was
angry.
From the Bible
1) Jonah 1:2-3

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry
out against it; for their wickedness has come
up before Me.” “But Jonah arose to flee to
Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He
went down to Joppa, and found a ship going
to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went
down into it, to go with them to Tarshish
from the presence of the LORD.”
God is:
Omnipotent (all-powerful)
 Omniscient (all- knowing)
 Omnipresent (everywhere)


Jonah thought he
could hide from
God…
2) Jonah 1:12
 “And
he said to them, ‘Pick me up
and throw me into the sea; then
the sea will become calm for you.
For I know that this great
tempest is because of me.’”
3) Jonah 3:1-3
 “Now
the word of the LORD came to
Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise,
go to Nineveh, that great city, and
preach to it the message that I tell
you.’ So Jonah arose and went to
Nineveh, according to the word of the
LORD.”
4) Jonah 3:5,10
“So the people of Nineveh believed God,
proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth,
from the greatest to the least of them.”
 “Then God saw their works, that they
turned from their evil way; and God
relented from the disaster that He had
said He would bring upon them, and He
did not do it.”

5) Jonah 4:1-2

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,
and he became angry. So he prayed to
the LORD, and said, ‘Ah, LORD, was
not this what I said when I was still in my
country? Therefore I fled previously to
Tarshish; for I know that You are a
gracious and merciful God, slow to
anger and abundant in lovingkindness,
One who relents from doing harm.’”
6) Jonah 4:10-11

“But the LORD said, ‘You have had pity
on the plant for which you have not
labored, nor made it grow, which came
up in a night and perished in a
night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that
great city, in which are more than one
hundred and twenty thousand persons
who cannot discern between their right
hand and their left—and much
livestock?’”
OK…SO WHAT??



God’s character
God answers prayers
God gives us a second chance
We need to…
Listen
1)

Will I listen to God and see what HIS WILL is for my life?
Obey
2)


Will I commit to obedience
Obedience to God is our repentance to sin
Act
3)

Repentance should be a regular thing; whenever we sin,
we should know that we did something wrong and should
then follow the steps of repentance
6 Steps of Repentance
R- E-P-E-N-T
Realize your mistakes
 Recognize
that you’ve committed a
sin against God himself.
 Feel true sorrow for what you’ve done
 Feel sorrow for any pain you may
have caused to others
Express yourself to God
Pray to God and tell him your sins on a
REGULAR basis
 This step also includes confession of
your sins to a priest

Pray for forgiveness
Ask God to forgive you your sins
 Forgive others
 “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us”
 God will forgive you when you repent
with an honest heart

End problems that were caused
Fix any problems caused by your sin
 Show a change of heart

Never go back
Make a promise to yourself and to God
that you will try your best to not repeat
the same sin
 Continue to repent and confess if you
sin again
 QUIT doing what did not honour God

Teach Yourself

Don’t hold onto your sin and any sorrow
that you felt. Let it go by forgiving
yourself and learn from your mistakes
Verse of the Lesson
“‘Now, therefore,’ says the LORD, ‘Turn
to Me with all your heart, With fasting,
with weeping, and with mourning.’”
(Joel 2:12)
 a call to repentance
Homework
FASTING FOR THE
NEXT 3 DAYS