Call to repentance
Christian Religious Studies JSS1 Second Term
Sub-theme: Call to repentance
Week 1
Call to repentance
Performance objectives:
Students should be able to:
- The meaning of repentance
- Describe how David and Zacchaeus responded to the call of repentance
- Give an account of the act of repentance of the Ninevites
Content
1. Meaning of repentance
Repentance means to feel sorry for and be ashamed of the bad things you have done to people or God. It is the first step in restoring the broken relationship between two people.
Repentance is accompanied by a sincere feeling of remorse and the determination not to repeat such offensive actions.
2. King David obeys God’s call to repentance 2Sam 12:7-13
In this chapter David killed Uriah in order to marry his wife; it was an attempt to cover up what he did with Uriah’s wife. God sent Prophet Nathan who used the parables of the rich man was not willing to take one of his own flocks to entertain his guest; instead, he took the only lamb the poor has to prepare a meal for his guest. As the prophet finished the parable, King David reacted with anger and said that the person should be killed; the prophet then told him that he (David) was the person.
David admitted his guilt, he was sober and showed remorse in the presence of the prophet, David repented of his sin right there. Evidence... of his sincere repentance is in Psalm51 David acknowledged his guilt and asked God to forgive him, he also prays for the restoration of their relationship. This made God love David so much and forgave him.
3. The people of Nineveh repented of their sins Jonah 3:1-10
The people of Nineveh sinned against God. God told Jonah to go and warn them and told him twice to tell them of his coming judgment but Jonah refused to tell them and ran away. God arrested Jonah by raising a storm on the sea and allowing a big fish to swallow Jonah; this made Jonah obey God and delivered the message of God to the people. He told the people about God’s judgment that would be released in forty days.
On hearing this, the king of Nineveh removed his royal clothes, out on sack clothes, sat in the ashes and ordered that everyone should put on sack clothes and begin to pray to God for mercy. When God saw what they did and how they had turned from their old ways, God changed his mind about judging them.
Moral lesson: whenever we sin we should always ask for forgiveness because God has the power to forgive for our sins.