Why a Weekend on Repentance?

I am planning a men's retreat in June to be held at Restoration Farm.

So why focus on repentance?


Most of us when thinking of repenting have images of standing before a pastor who is larger than us or sitting in a booth with a priest sitting on the other side of the curtain. Either or both glaring at us with disapproval. But what I want to do is for us to look at it from God's perspective.

Let's answer these questions:

When one repents how is God viewing that person?

What is real repentance?

What does repenting look like?

Where do we have to repent?

What do we need to repent of?

I will try to keep each answer as brief as possible.

When one repents how is God viewing the person repenting?
Maybe what we should do is first answer the question of What Real Repentance is?
      
Acts 26:20New International Version (NIV)
²⁰ First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.
So repentance is an act of turning back to God.

What is that we should turn from? We can answer that in just one little word, SIN. Sin is anything that turns us from God. It can be different for each person. During the weekend we will discuss some of the sins we could have in our lives.

So now we know that we are to repent from sin let's answer how God views us as we do this act.

I believe most people have this image of God.

But what does the Bible say about what is going on when we repent?

Luke 15:7New International Version (NIV)

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.

That makes me think that when we repent and turn back to God there is a party taking place with God hosting it. 


What does repenting look like?
People fall on their face before the Lord, they might cry or they might just sit n awe that our God wants to restore relationship with us. Repentance can take many forms but almost every time it involves a person having a broken heart from the way they have been living.

Where do we have to repent?
In simple terms "Before the Lord". There is no certain place that we have to confess our sins. There is no certain person or group of people we need to confess in front of. What we need to do is confess to our Father that we have strayed from Him.

What do we need to repent of?
We have already determined we need to repent of sin. What sin? Well it is different for each of us. Some of our sins are hidden and we do not even recognize them as sin. This is why I want to hold a weekend of Repentance. For some of us we need to have the Holy Spirit convict us of what we need to repent of.

During this weekend we will invite the Holy Spirit to come and convict us of our sins.

John 16:8The Message (MSG)

^8-11 “When he comes, he’ll expose the error of the godless world’s view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He’ll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted.

I believe the men who attend this weekend event will go home changed men. They will be changed because they were willing to go before God and ask to be shown their sin and having been shown they knell before him asking for his forgiveness and blessing of strength to overcome.

Here is my vision for this weekend:

1. Arrive at the farm Saturday morning.
2. At 11am have a short meeting about the farm.
3. At noon have a meal.
4. After lunch begin the event with worship (15-20 minutes).
5. After worship have a short message. (15-20 minutes).
6. After the message men can partner up or go by themselves to various locations on the farm to sit and seek an encounter with the Holy Spirit and be convicted of their sin(s).
7. Come back together and discuss (those that are open to talking) our experiences.
8. Worship and ending message for the day. (30-40 minutes).
9. Free time
10. Evening meal and camp fire.

Sunday
8am Breakfast
9am Worship and short message
10am Another trip to the woods or other areas to encounter the Holy Spirit
11am End with a Blessing