Turn Turn Turn Acts 3:17-20 Acts 3:26 2 Chronicles 7:14 Numbers 6:22-27 2 Chronicles 6:36-40 Isaiah 44:22 Acts 2:38-39 Matthew 23:37-39 Psalms 51:1 08.27.18

TURN TURN TURN

BREAD

¹⁷ “Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. ¹⁸ But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. ¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, ²⁰ and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus.”  Acts 3:17-20 (NIV)

²⁶ “When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”  Acts 3:26 (NIV)

¹⁴ “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

²² The LORD said to Moses, ²³ “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: ²⁴ The LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵ the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.’ ²⁷ So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”  Numbers 6:22-27 (NIV)

³⁶ “When they sin against you--for there is no one who does not sin--and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; ³⁷ and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; ³⁸ and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; ³⁹ then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you. ⁴⁰ Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”  2 Chronicles 6:36-40 (NIV)

²² I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.  Isaiah 44:22 (NIV)

³⁸  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call.”  Acts 2:38-39 (NIV)

³⁷ “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  Matthew 23:37-39 (NIV)

¹Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  Psalm 51:1 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way.  There is a better way.  It is to repudiate our own and take instead the infinite wisdom of God…..God has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him.”   A. W. Tozer

“God's mercy is vast and beyond our comprehension. He will never reject anyone who turns to Him for mercy. Nor will He force Himself on anyone who chooses to live without Him.” Michael Youssef

“Oh! that I had a trumpet voice to warn you.  Oh! while you are dying, while you are sinking into perdition, may I not cry to you; may not these eyes weep for you!  Take to heart, I beseech you, the realities of eternity.  Oh, turn, turn!  Why will you die?  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye shall be saved.”   Charles H. Spurgeon at Exeter Hall on Sunday morning, February 26, 1869

“All heaven’s glory is within, and so is hell’s fierce burning.  You must yourself decide in which direction you are turning.”   Angelus Silesius

“Grace and love must come before ethics.  No-condemnation must come before the morality discussion.  Because it is God’s kindness that leads to repentance, not our repentance that leads God to be kind.  Love – the broad embrace of the narrow path – will trigger some of the most life-giving experiences you’ll ever be part of.  In the end, the more conservative we are in our beliefs about the Bible – the more we truly believe every single word of it – the more liberal our loving will be. Because the narrow path of Jesus? It always leads to a broad embrace.”   Scott Sauls

“Legalistic remorse says I broke God's rules. Real repentance says I broke God's heart.”   Tim Keller

“It is rare that Christians earnestly seek the Lord’s face when things are going swimmingly, when material blessings abound and we seem to be protected from the vicissitudes faced by others.  But in the blackness of discouragement, when we are harassed and downcast, we may indeed turn to the Lord and acknowledge our helplessness apart from his grace; we may do so knowing that God is a compassionate God and that Jesus’ compassion was particularly directed toward the harassed and the helpless.”  D A Carson

“God became man to turn creatures into sons.”  C. S. Lewis

“From God’s perspective, one hidden act of repentance, one little gesture of selfless love, one moment of true forgiveness is all that is needed to bring God from His throne to run to His returning son and to fill the heavens with sounds of divine joy.”  Henri J. M. Nouwen

“To every toiling, heavy-laden sinner, Jesus says, ‘Come to me and rest’. But there are many toiling, heavy-laden believers, too. For them this same invitation is meant. Note well the words of Jesus, if you are heavy-laden with your service, and do not mistake it. It is not, ‘Go, labor on,’ as perhaps you imagine. On the contrary, it is stop, turn back, ‘Come to me and rest.’ Never, never did Christ send a heavy laden one to work; never, never did He send a hungry one, a weary one, a sick or sorrowing one, away on any service. For such the Bible only says, ‘Come, come, come.’   Hudson Taylor

“The act of faith is more than a bare statement of belief, it is a turning to the face of the living God.”   Christopher Bryant

“Contentment isn’t a state of organization, a weight on the scale, a state of better: better kids, better marriage, better health, better house. Contentment is never a matter of circumstances; contentment is always a state of communion — a daily embracing of God.  A thankfulness for all the gifts – and moments and life, just as He gives it.  Trying harder may only bring harder trials and contentment, it won’t be found in the resolutions, but in the revolutions – in the turning round to God.”   Ann Voskamp

“The risk of grace is that we turn our lives over to God. Abandoned. Surrendered. We no longer have to defend ourselves because we are convinced that he loves us so much, but we no longer try to run our own lives. He is our Lord, our master, and the one we follow. We don't know where he will lead, but we are willing to go there because we are convinced that life in him is truly the Grand Adventure. We don’t know what he will ask us to do, but we’re willing to do it because we’re sure he knows best. We respond to him like a loved child responds to his mother [or his Grammy I would add].  We may not understand everything, and we may ask a million questions, but when we don’t get answers, we still trust our Heavenly Father because he has proven himself to us. . . The deeper we press into the price Christ paid to rescue us, the more we’ll be amazed by his love, and we’ll delight in honoring him all day, every day.” Tim Clinton & Josh Straub, God Attachment.

“Sin is real rebellion against the good Creator of all things and the final judge of all people. In the end, we are all guilty of rebellion against God.  Not just the pimp in northern Nepal, but you and me.  All of us have turned from God, all of us are guilty before God, and all of us know it.  We feel this guilt, and although we inevitable deny it, we instinctively experience it…Yet guilt remains.  No matter how hard we try, we can’t successfully erase the sense of ‘ought’ that God has written on the human soul.  One need only look in the eyes of a little girl being sold into sex slavery to know that this ‘ought’ not to be, for right and wrong do exist as objective standards for all people in all places at all times.  We cannot remove the reality of guilt before God, and this is why we need Jesus.”  David Platt

“We don’t normally like being on the bottom.  It’s just not the position we generally pick.  It goes against our flesh.  Yet, in the Bible’s economy you stoop to rise, you lower and God elevates.  Therefore, rock bottom appears the perfect place to simply look up and the perfect time to begin building upon the solid foundation of the Rock of Christ.  Often stripped of our dearest Delilah’s we are not too dissimilar to the returning prodigal.  We have nothing but our will to bring – do we really ever have anything else?  And Jesus says tenderly, ‘Come’.  On Him you can depend.  On Him you can count.  On Him you can trust.  He turns away no one.  He will never let the righteous fall or blow away for that matter.  His grip is firm and secure.  Much akin to a young mother grabbing her two-year-old in busy traffic and yet so infinitely more.  He dearly loves His children and He always causes them to stand because He is faithful and able to cause us to stand – no matter what wind blows.”   BHY

“If you’re turned the wrong way, you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.”   Ann Voskamp

HEART SAVOR

• ·         God desires for us to turn our hearts towards Him in sincere repentance then He will turn us back from our point of departure.
• ·         Sadly, God wants to save us more than we desire to be saved.
• ·         True contentment is found only in God.  He never gives sparingly and in Him we will never be found wanting.