Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Door County 316 W Main St, Forestville, WI 54213(920) 856-6420https://doorcounty.church Text: Isaiah 66:18–23Liturgical Date: Pentecost 11, Proper 16 CCalendar Date: August 24, 2025Location: Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Door CountyPreacher: Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Jackson TRANSCRIPT The following transcript was written with the assistance of AI. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today, we’re taking up the theme: Three Reasons to Repent Today. The Case for Procrastination There’s a certain t-shirt that you can see sometimes in the tourist shops at vacation places. You might see someone wearing it out on the street. I love the t-shirt. It’s a slogan t-shirt, and it says something to this nature: “Procrastinators of the world unite… Tomorrow.” I love that t-shirt because I think procrastination is really underrated. Now, certainly, there are some things that you gotta take care of today, you gotta take care of immediately. We’ll be talking about one of those things, but a lot of times, procrastination solves a huge amount of my problems. Dads, you know this, right? When a kid comes to you and says, “Oh, my elbow hurts,” or “Oh, I feel sick, please take me to the hospital,” what do you say? “Just sleep on it. Wait until tomorrow, wait a couple days, and if you still feel bad in a couple days, then we’ll take you to the doctor.” About 99 times out of a hundred, guess what? That solves the problem. Procrastinators of the world unite—tomorrow. I’m holding my hand up for it and saying that it’s a good thing. However, there are things that you ought to take care of today. If your kid comes to you and she’s got a broken arm, you take her to the hospital immediately, right? Well, I’m here to tell you that there are wounds that we all have, which are much more serious than a broken bone. That’s the brokenness of our hearts, our hardness towards God and our hardness towards our neighbor, the brokenness of our souls. We ought not procrastinate about this. Procrastination is oftentimes a good thing, but not when it comes to our sins. So, our theme, as we said, is Three Reasons to Repent Today. Reason One: The End Is Near The first reason for repentance is because the end is near, and the day of judgment is drawing nigh. Many believe they have time. Back in 313 AD, one of the most powerful men the world has ever seen, a man named Constantine the Great, was the emperor of the Roman Empire. He declared in 313 that Christianity was now legal. You didn’t have to be a Christian in secret, but rather, it was legitimate and licit to be a Christian in the Roman Empire. Not only this, but he did a great deal to promote the cause of Christianity. In a few minutes, we’re going to recite the Nicene Creed. We would not have the Nicene Creed if not for Constantine the Great. He convened councils and was influential in those councils that helped to formulate the Nicene Creed. Not only that, but he also helped to build churches all across the Roman Empire. Interestingly enough, his mother was his right-hand woman in building many of these churches. She was right at the center of this church-building effort. All across the Roman Empire, Helena, a wonderful woman in many ways. Constantine was also responsible for helping to distribute the scriptures across the Roman Empire, and we have physical evidence of this to this day. One of the oldest bound copies of the entire Christian Bible is a document called Codex Sinaiticus. Why is it called that? That’s Latin—Codex more or less means books, Sinaiticus means at or from Sinai. So, it was a book, a Bible, that was found at a monastery at Mount Sinai. Many people theorize that this is a copy of a whole set of Bibles that Constantine commissioned to be sent out across the Roman Empire. He was a great promoter of the Christian faith, and yet, there is a peculiar aspect of his life. He wasn’t baptized until 24 years later, 24 years after he decreed that Christianity was now legal. He was only baptized in 337, on his deathbed, and there was all kinds of confusion as to why he did that. There were things that he didn’t exactly have right. But one of those reasons, the key one that we’re going to talk about today, is that Constantine thought he had time. He thought he had time that God had never promised. Throughout history, and even today, many people have delayed repentance, believing that they have time. “I know that I need to address my drinking problem, but let’s leave that for another day.” “I know that I should either marry or get my own living accommodations rather than continuing to live with this man or this woman that I’m not married to. We will worry about that some other time.” “I know that I need to check my anger and my wrath against my family, but it’s the only way I can seem to get through. So, I’m gonna keep on with this way, ...
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22 mins