Transformed in the Nick of Time
Transformed in the Nick of Time
In Transformed in the Nick of Time, Pastor Adrian delivers a heartfelt sermon centred on the transforming power of Jesus, as illustrated through the story of the repentant criminal crucified beside Him (Luke 23:39–43). The message opens with 2 Corinthians 3:18, emphasising that we are continually being changed into Christ’s image through the Spirit. Pastor Adrian shares personal experiences of physical transformation to illustrate the challenges of sustained change, contrasting them with the spiritual transformation that Christ offers—one that is immediate, lasting, and rooted in grace.
He outlines four key elements for transformation: a catalyst for change, often sparked by crisis; closeness to Jesus, which brings revelation; a repentant heart, defined not just by sorrow but by a change in mindset (metanoia); and a lasting relationship with Christ. These themes are woven together with compassion and clarity, urging believers to stop striving and instead surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Adrian reminds us that even at our lowest, Christ invites us into relationship. Transformation, he says, isn’t earned—it’s received. This sermon calls believers to embrace grace, draw near to Jesus, and allow His love to do what self-effort cannot: bring true, lasting change.
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Transformed in the Nick of Time: Finding Real Change Through Jesus
Have you ever felt like transformation is just too hard? Like no matter how much you try to change, you keep falling back into old patterns? The story of the criminal on the cross beside Jesus offers us a powerful perspective on how transformation can happen quickly and genuinely when the right ingredients are present.
Why is spiritual transformation so difficult for many of us?
Many of us approach transformation like a crash diet - we try really hard for a while, see some results, but then struggle to maintain the change. We get on the spiritual scales, feel bad when we've "gained weight," try harder, fail again, and repeat the cycle.
But what if transformation isn't supposed to be that hard? What if Jesus has a better way?
The criminal who was transformed in minutes
In Luke 23:39-43, we find a remarkable story of instant transformation:
"One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, 'So you're the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself and us too, while you're at it!' But the other criminal protested, 'Don't you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong.' Then he said to Jesus, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' And Jesus replied, 'I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.'"
This criminal gets just three verses in the entire Bible, yet his transformation was complete. He went from being crucified for his crimes to being in paradise with Jesus - all in a matter of hours. How did this happen?
What are the key ingredients for real transformation?
There are four key ingredients we can identify in this criminal's transformation that can help us experience the same in our lives:
1. A Catalyst for Change
The criminal had a pretty intense catalyst - he was being crucified! This crisis caused him to reflect deeply on his life and recognize his need for change. He looked at his life and acknowledged, "We deserve to die for our crimes."
God often uses crises in our lives as catalysts for transformation. When we face difficult circumstances, we're forced to consider what really matters. Don't waste your crises! They can be the very thing God uses to bring about transformation in your life.
2. Closeness to Jesus
The criminal was physically close to Jesus on the cross, but more importantly, he allowed that proximity to impact him. While others mocked Jesus or simply walked by, this man saw something different in Jesus that drew him in.
Many people were physically close to Jesus that day but missed the opportunity for transformation. Similarly, we can attend church regularly but never allow Jesus to truly impact our hearts.
The people who experience real transformation are those who draw close to Jesus - not to earn brownie points with God, but because they recognize their need for Him. As we spend time in prayer, worship, and reading God's Word, we naturally become more like Him.
3. A Repentant Heart
The criminal demonstrated true repentance. But what does repentance really mean?
Many of us misunderstand repentance as feeling terrible about ourselves and our sins. We think God wants us to grovel before He'll accept us. But the Greek word for repentance, "metanoia," actually means "a change of mind" or "a change of mindset."
True repentance isn't about staying stuck in regret and self-condemnation. It's about acknowledging you've been on the wrong track and then turning toward the better way Jesus offers. It's not just about looking at your sin - it's about looking to your Savior.
The criminal said, "We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong." He acknowledged his wrongdoing but then immediately turned his focus to Jesus.
4. A Relationship That Lasts Forever
When the criminal asked Jesus to remember him, Jesus didn't just say "I'll remember you" or "Your sins are forgiven." He said, "Today you will be with me in paradise." Jesus offered him relationship - eternal relationship.
The key to transformation isn't trying harder - it's entering into and maintaining a relationship with Jesus. When we truly grasp that Jesus loves us unconditionally, it changes everything.
What can we learn from Jesus' response to Peter's failure?
Consider how Jesus treated Peter after Peter denied him three times. Did Jesus demand that Peter prove his repentance? Did he make Peter do penance?
No - Jesus made him breakfast! And then he simply asked, "Do you love me?" Jesus wasn't interested in Peter's failures or whether he had "made up for them." He wanted relationship.
Jesus doesn't want your penance or your self-condemnation. He wants you to realize you need Him and to enter into relationship with Him. Then He says, "Go and do what I've called you to do."
Is this message too simplistic?
Some might think this message is too simple - that we need deeper truths or more complex theology. But remember the Apostle Paul, one of the greatest theologians who ever lived, who said that everything else was rubbish compared to knowing Christ Jesus.
A child can understand this truth, and so can a criminal dying on a cross. It's about relationship with Jesus - nothing more, nothing less.
Life Application
Stop trying so hard to transform yourself and instead focus on these four ingredients:
Recognize the catalysts for change in your life and ask God to use them.
Draw close to Jesus through prayer, worship, and His Word.
Develop a truly repentant heart - acknowledge your wrongs but focus on the Savior, not your sin.
Embrace the relationship Jesus offers you - a relationship that lasts forever.
Ask yourself:
What crisis or challenge in my life might God be using as a catalyst for transformation?
How close am I really allowing myself to get to Jesus? Am I just going through religious motions?
Am I stuck focusing on my failures rather than focusing on my Savior?
Do I truly believe Jesus wants relationship with me, just as I am?
Remember, if a criminal could be transformed and become a brother of Jesus Christ in relationship forever, so can you. You don't need to try harder - you need Jesus.
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A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
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Got a couple of scriptures for you today. I want to start with this one. 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18.
2 Corinthians 3, 18. It says this so all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. Now the version new King James says, as we are transformed into his image, who knows that we are not here on this earth to just stay the same way. We want to be changed, we want to grow, we want to develop.
If you go to the library and you try and get a self help book, psychology book, you have to go on a long waiting list because so many people want these books. It takes sometimes like months and months to get a self help book because people want to change. We love transformation, don't we? And we want to change not just our lives on the outside, but we want to change on the inside. This scripture talks about that, that we are to be changed.
God wants to change us into the image of Christ. That's actually one of the things he wants to do. Transformation is a tough thing, isn't it? It's tough to change. I remember when I was a 16 year old kid, 16, and I decided that I wanted to change and my life growing up, and I blame my mum for this because she was such a good cook.
And my mom used to cook very well, she's Italian. And I used to like eating that food, a lot of that food. And so I grew up most of my life quite overweight. And as you've got these pictures of me, I haven't got them with me, but as a little kid I was like that kid that sat there and had like the tubby rose and had like a triple chin, smiling and I was Like, I was a happy baby, a happy toddler. And I kept like that as I got older and I stayed overweight.
And one day I sort of decided, I said, I'm sick of this. I got to the end of year 11 and I was a teenager. You know, you're dealing with insecurities. You go, I want to be different, I want to change, I want do something about it. And so I went on holidays and I put myself on a crash course diet.
And my mum was like, adrian, you got to be healthy. You shouldn't be doing this. I said, mom, this is how I'm doing it. And I put myself on Special K for lunch, right? Missed breakfast, Special K with low fat milk.
And then I would go on the exercise bike for 30 minutes a day. And then I would have a low fat white sauce with pasta. Because I'm Italian, I had to have my pasta and I'd have this pasta with low fat white sauce. And that's what I had for like three months on end. My mum tried to add extra stuff to it.
She'd try and make the sauce and she'd try and put like oil in there and extra flavors. And I'd stand over and go, no, Mum, no oil. She'd go, adrian, you need to. And I put myself on a crash course diet over the two or so months, two and a bit months. And over that time, I actually ended up losing like 25 plus kilos from what I had been.
And I went back to school. And so you gotta remember, I ended school like this overweight kid whose uniform didn't fit properly and went back to school. This little skinny, tall, skinny kid. People were shocked. They were like, who's this person?
Is that you, Adrian? What's going on? I had a transformation and it was sort of like happened really quite quickly. And it was good. I stayed healthy.
I didn't get too caught up. I ate. And the problem is with a transformation like that is maintaining it. It's one thing to lose the weight, it's another thing to keep it off. And this is the truth of my life.
I don't have the metabolism that some of you have. Some of you that some of you are looking at. You can eat whatever you want. And it doesn't matter me, if I go out for a nice meal, there's a kilo, there's something else. It's like it just changed.
And that's been my metabolism. So the whole of my life I've had to watch what I eat and watch my weight because it's one thing to go through a transformation. It's another thing to keep it off. And when I got together with Narelle, we got married, and you know what? The discipline came off a little bit.
And so I put all my weight back on and we got to Melbourne and I realized and I had to go through another time where I lost a bunch of weight. And that's been the story of my life. It's like monitoring, looking at because transformation is hard, isn't it? To see transformation, to see change that you maintain for the rest of your life is a difficult process. That's why a lot of people give up on it.
That's why a lot of people get discouraged about it. Here's the thing. I want to take you to a passage where someone got changed like that. They got changed like that, and it was because of Jesus Christ. It was a spiritual change.
And I want to look at this passage because I want to talk to you about the idea here that maybe transformation isn't supposed to be as hard. Maybe the transformation in your life, the spiritual transformation that God wants to do in your life isn't supposed to be as hard and as difficult as you trying and putting all your effort in and having to watch it and having to get on the spiritual scales and look at yourself and go, where am I at? Oh, no, I've messed up. And then I'll go back and then you feel bad. Maybe actually Jesus has a better way, and maybe there are some things we can do and be aware of that allow us to go through an easier change.
So I want us to go to Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23. I've titled today's message Transformed in the Nick of Time. Transformed in the Nick of Time. And I want to take you to when Jesus on the cross.
And we meet someone on the cross that had a transformation, and they didn't seem to do that much, and it seemed to happen quickly. But there's some things we can learn about this. In Luke 23:39, it says this Jesus on the cross with two criminals either side, it says. One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, so you're the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself and us too, while you're at it.
But the other criminal protested, don't you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Then he said, jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus replied, I assure you today you will Be with me in paradise. I want to talk about that criminal today.
He gets about three verses in the entire Bible. Luke's the only one that mentions him in three verses. There's some things we can learn about transformation. Because I want to tell you this transformation isn't supposed to be something that you try and try and try and try and fail and try. It's supposed to be something that God does in you that you allow it to happen.
And there's four keys, there's four ingredients here that this criminal encountered that if you allow these things to be in your life, you will be transformed. Who wants to be transformed here? All of us. All of us, if you're honest. You want to become a better person.
You want to be a more loving person. You want to be a better husband to your wife and to a father to your children, a better wife and mother to your kids. You want to be a better person in society that makes a difference and shows the love of God. If you're a Christian here today, it should be important to you to say, Lord Jesus, I want to be more like you. I want to show your love and your grace.
I want to make a difference. I want to be like you, Jesus, and be confident and have faith. Don't you want that? I want to talk to you today about transformed in the nick of time and what the ingredients were in this criminal that he went from someone that was being crucified for his wrongs into someone that ended up in relationship and in the place with Jesus Christ. And it happened like that.
And it can happen like that in our lives. And it doesn't have to be something a little subtitle. This is Stop trying and start transforming. Stop trying to transform and just start. There are things that you can put in your life.
We're going to look at them today. And my prayer for you is that you'd think to yourself, are these ingredients in my life? Am I allowing them to be in my life? Because if they are, I promise you, you'll become transformed, you'll change, you'll grow. Whether you're a first time Christian, a new Christian, whether you're someone who's been in church your whole life, Jesus Christ will transform you.
The first one is this. If you're going to see transformation happen in your life, you need a catalyst for change. A catalyst for change. This criminal had a pretty full on catalyst, didn't he? He had a pretty full on crisis in his life.
He was being crucified for his crimes and that caused him to reflect and think about the state of his life. He looked at his life and he said, hey, we have committed crimes. We deserve punishment. That's a sign of someone who's looked at their life and weighed it up and said, this has made me reconsider. Who knows that crisis in your life is.
Can cause you to really think about the deeper things. And I want to tell you this today. In your life, God will use that as a catalyst. He will use that as a. As a sharpening point for you to think about the more important things, the deeper things of your life.
Don't waste a crisis in your life. Yes, they're painful, yes, they're hurtful. But you know what they do? They make us think about what's more important. What's more important.
You know, for me, going in and losing a bunch of weight, I had a crisis moment. I thought at 16 years of age, I went, I want a girlfriend one day. I would like to be in a relationship. And I thought, I want to get myself into a state where that's going to be more possible. Because you know what?
I was sick and tired of being looked at and sort of going, oh, enthusiasm. And thinking about myself in a certain way. I want to do something. It caused me. My crisis, caused me as a catalyst to change something.
I was talking to someone the other day. Mark is sitting on the front row. We were catching up, and he told me a story about his own life where he was running a business. And out of that business, something went wrong. And they lost a bunch.
They lost. A person, lost a bunch of money, and it was a massive crisis in their life. And he said to me, he said, but you know what that caused me to do? I thought about my life, and he goes, it actually drew me towards God. He goes, I went to an Alpha course.
And he goes. Because I went, what's the whole meaning of life? This crisis that I'm. He actually went into an Alpha course, and out of that, he got saved. And now he's come to our church.
Him and Imogen in our church now is helping run an Alpha course and sit in groups and help others because the crisis caused him to consider his life and change. And I want to tell you this, that God will use crisis in your life to bring you to a point of transformation. Don't we know that? We know that in here. It's not easy.
Not going, hey, it's fine. You'll be right. Right? But I do want to tell you it's true. And I want to ask you the issues that you face in life the negatives.
Yes. Sometimes we can get down on ourselves and we can go. It's hard. But I want to ask you, will you bring them to God and say, God, will you use this in my life? How do you want to speak to me about my life?
You know, many times God's done that. When I've gone through dark times and tough times. God's used it and said, actually, Adrian, I want to show you something better. I want to show you something better about your life. Sometimes the dark times in my insecurities and the way I think about myself, even though I changed and lost weight.
You know what? One of the things God's shown me in life is, Adrian? I don't judge you based on the way you look. And now when I look at others, I don't judge people based on the way they look because I go, that's not how God sees me. A crisis in my life helped me to transform.
It's helped me to have more empathy. It's helped me to understand. God will use these painful moments in your life to bring change. He did it with this criminal. All of the other ingredients were there, but it took a crisis to change, a catalyst for change.
What catalyst? What crisis in your life does God want to use to bring transformation in your life? The second thing that happened to this criminal that we all need is this a closeness to Jesus. This is very simple truth, but it's probably the most important. This criminal went from being someone.
His mate was mocking Jesus, the other soldiers were mocking him. He was being crucified. And yet something happened to this criminal. What happened? He was close to Jesus Christ and he must have seen something in him.
He saw something in Jesus Christ that caused him to change. That caused him a proximity, a closeness. Isn't it sad? I look at this and it saddens me because have you ever thought about this? The hundreds, maybe thousands of people that day that walked past the Son of God while he was being crucified.
This moment that the world, billions of people in history have celebrated, the moment that Jesus suffered and died, that God himself, like, paid the price for our sin, and they just walked on by. They were close, but they didn't let it impact their life.
This criminal, one criminal on one side, so close to Jesus, but mocked him. This other criminal close to Jesus, but allowed Jesus life, to speak into him and said, something about this man is different. Something about this man is more powerful than I've got. He's got something that I don't have. He's got a truth, he's got a way.
He's got something in his life that I need. And I want to ask you this. If you're here in this church, do you know how often we can walk by Jesus and just take it for granted and go, I've got more important things to do. Generally, people walked past and saw people being crucified on the cross. Didn't care.
Christian, you can be in a church and go, you know what, Adrian, I've got a lunch to do. I've got stuff going on. My life's going well. I don't really need this in my life. You can look like you mean it, but actually, are you coming close to the Lord in your heart?
Because that will bring transformation. The people that I see changed in life are the people that draw close. And guess what? They have a revelation of who Jesus really is. When you draw close to someone and you stay close to them, you start seeing things about them that impact your life.
Jesus is like that. Some people think we need to go to church and read the Bible and pray because God, like, is like, he's got an abacus there and he's like going, yep, bonus points. You've got. You're ahead. Oh, nah, you went on holidays and now taking a few away.
And like, we treat God like he's some kind of mathematician and he's weighing us up, going, not sure. Myrta, did you pray while you're away? Oh, I hope so. Otherwise you're in trouble. You better come to church.
You better come to the more services so you make it up. We treat God like that. God doesn't care about. He's not keeping a thing for his own balance sheet. Do you know why prayer and coming to the house of God and worship and reading His Word is important?
Because we need to get close to Jesus. You need him in your life. The closer you get to the Lord as you open his word and say, lord, speak to me, God, this is important. Your priorities will shift. You'll have a revelation of who he really is.
You'll discover that the things popularity and the things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Says that famous chorus. Draw close to me and I will draw close to you. Draw close to the Lord Jesus Christ and as you do that, you'll discover God. He wants to change me.
He wants to do something in me. We see this in our kids, don't we? Look at kids and their parents and you'll discover often mini me's some of Us as kids, we don't like that. We don't want to be like our parents. I'm my own individual.
Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but the truth of the matter is that the more you hang around someone, you become more like them. The more you're in their presence, the more you watch their idiosyncrasies. I mean, it's scary, isn't it? Parents, do you get scared sometimes when you look at your kid and you're like, that's me. That's what I say.
That's how I react. And sometimes it's really, really good. My daughter's really conscientious. She got up at 7 o' clock this morning to study. I'm like, I didn't do that.
I studied at night. She's like, in the morning, I'd go, conscientious. That's good. And I was a conscientious studier. And sometimes I look at my daughter and I'm like a fired up Italian thing.
That's my mum. I get that from. Yeah. And then I watch my daughter and she gets full on passionate. And sometimes I'm like, whoa, whoa, settle down, settle down.
And then I realized going, ah. That's what I'm like. That's why Narelle tells me to calm down. That's why Narelle tells me to just, like, bring the volume down a little bit. So my daughter has turned out like that.
And that's when I say, go hang out with your mother more. Hang out with your mother more and become, like, softer and kinder. Let's get the balance right. My daughter's a beautiful young lady doing great, but she's become like her parents. This is what happens to us.
I want to tell you. The more you hang around Jesus, the closer you get to the Lord, the more you'll become like Him. Him, his grace, his love, the way he lives, his values, his heart. That's what we need, isn't it? You want to be transformed.
Stop trying to transform and get close to Jesus. It's a key, my friends. Get close to Jesus. Why is it important? Why?
I've grown up in the house of God my whole life, mostly. Never missed a Sunday in my life in church. And that doesn't get me brownie points. That doesn't make me a better Christian than anyone. Of course it doesn't.
You know what it does do? Brings me. Keeps bringing me back to be close to the Lord. I mean, worship. And I might be distracted, but then Moses is Singing, my wife saying, someone's leading worship.
And I'm like, oh, yes, Lord, I need you close to the Lord. We all need it. How close are you getting to the Lord in your heart?
That's why that Passage says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, all of us who've had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. How are you going to be transformed in your life? You want to be a better husband? You want to be a better Christian?
Get close to Jesus and it will happen. I promise you it'll happen in your life. The third thing that we see in this criminal, he had a crisis. He had a catalyst that brought change in his life. He had a closeness to Jesus Christ that he allowed to bring a revelation in him about who Jesus was.
And then he had a repentant heart. He had a repentant heart.
One criminal scoffing and carrying on, the other criminal protests. Don't you fear God even when you've been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes. But this man hasn't done anything wrong. A repentant heart.
He had a revelation. He had an understanding that he wasn't on the right track. Said, can't you see that this man's done nothing wrong? We're the ones that have gone astray. We're the ones that have gone wrong.
One of our biggest problems in life is to be stubbornly convinced of our own rightness not budging. You know, go into a marriage, and I'm telling you, Narelle will never, ever budge. I'm like, narelle, I'll do anything. She's like, I'm right. You're wrong.
Admit. No, she doesn't do that. She's very kind and care. But in a marriage, isn't it funny when you clash and you just get stubbornly convinced I'm right, you've wronged me, you've done the wrong thing. And actually, that never resolves anything.
And the best way to resolve a relationship and to bring transformation, if you want a better marriage, if you want a better, is to come in and try and understand their side and say, hey, hang on. Where did I go astray? How have I hurt you? What have I done? And to look and see.
And we need to do that in our relationship with God. We need to do that in our own lives. Saying a repentant heart is a humble heart is to come and say, you Know what? I'm doing my best, but you know what? I'm not perfect and I haven't got it all well.
I'm not going to try and defend myself all the time. This criminal and the difference between the other one was he looked at his life and said, you know what? I've gone astray. I'm not protesting my innocence. I've mucked up.
I've mucked up. And he said, we deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong. I want to talk to you a bit about this word repentance because we get it wrong. We muck it up because we think the word repentance means to be really, really sorry for your badness. And you have mucked up and you have a deep sorrow about it.
And it's like that's what God wants. He wants you to be so desperately sorry for how bad you've been. And sometimes we turn repentance into actually a works where we're trying to get God's acceptance because we feel so bad. You get what I'm saying? I feel so bad about what I've done.
Now God will accept. He goes, now do you really know how bad you are? Admit it. And like, yes, God, I'm terrible. Okay, now I'm gonna love you, right?
We actually get this mucked up, right? Because the word repentance doesn't mean that. It doesn't mean that, right? The word repentance actually means. It comes from the word metanoia in the Greek is the word that's used to repent in the Bible, which means a change of mind, a change of mindset.
What it actually means is that you recognize that you were on the wrong track or that you had the wrong idea that you didn't have it all worked out. And you've seen a different way and you've seen a way that's better. You've seen a way. That's why John the Baptist comes out and says, repent and be baptized. Realize that you've been on the wrong track and that there's a new way, there's a better way.
And that way is Jesus. Repentance is not supposed to be caught up in all the negative. It does realize that you're on the wrong track. It needs that. You can't just stay stubborn in it, but it doesn't get stuck there.
God's not the way. It's actually more about the change of mind. Now here's what's interesting. Why do we get so caught up in that repentance as the negative side of feeling bad, it's because giving you a bit of a history thing for those of you this is. For much of our history in the Western world, the Bible got translated into Latin and it used a Latin interpretation.
And so what the word in Latin that is used for repentance is, where is it the word penitentia, right? Penitentia, which means to regret or be sorry. It's where we get the word penance from. And so this word in Latin, in the Bible, every time the word repent is like, be sorry, be regretful, do penance, and if you do penance enough, then God will accept you. And so we have this Latin word that got used where that's actually not the meaning in the Greek.
And so we have come from this Western culture where we get caught up with this penance word rather than the actual word for repentance, which means to change your mind. To change your mind. So let me read you this because this is. I thought it was interesting. It says the primary Latin word commonly associated with repentance is penitentia, which derives from the verb meaning to regret or be sorry.
However, it's important to note that the Greek word metanoia, often translated as repent in the Bible, more accurately means to change one's mind or change your mindset. The translation of metanoi into Latin, as St. Jerome did many years ago, shifted the emphasis from a profound mental transformation to a focus on regret and penance or acts of atonement. So here's the thing. God wants you to have a repentant heart. He doesn't want you to have a heart that's so caught in regret and sorrow over how bad you've been that that's repentant.
What it actually is is a shift of mindset. This is what happened to this criminal. Have a look what happened to the criminal. He says, don't you fear God even when you've been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong.
He says, yeah, I've done wrong. I was on the wrong track. But then he goes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong. And then he says these words to him, jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. I want to tell you what repentance is.
Repentance is a realization that you've been on the wrong track. It's not being stubborn, saying I was right, or I'm doing the right thing all the time. It's realizing you Know what? I got it wrong. We've all sinned.
We've all done wrong. We've all made mistakes. Sometimes I'm not the best father. I'm not the best husband. Repent.
I realize I'm on the wrong track, but don't stay there. Don't focus on that. Look at what I can be. Look at the positive. Jesus, you've provided a way out.
Jesus, you're the better way. Jesus, your grace is there for me. You're enough for me. Lord, your forgiveness is what I need. I'm going to follow you.
Repentance is about looking to the positive, not the negative. Stop looking at the sin and start looking to the Savior.
Stop looking at all the pain that you've caused and all the regret, the pain and start looking at the promise that Jesus gives you. That's repentance. A repentant heart is saying, you know what? I got it wrong, but I've got it right now because I found Jesus. Repentance is a positive.
Repentance is a beautiful change of mindset. I want to ask you, do you have a repentant heart? A repentant heart needs a humble heart because you don't get the credit for the change. You said I once. That's why I love hearing testimonies.
You're hearing repentant hearts when we do baptisms. I once was lost, but now I'm found. I mucked up. But thank you, Jesus. I want to ask you, are you living like that, or are you stuck in the pain of your negativity and the things you don't measure up in because that's not where God wants you.
Sometimes we get taught. I did for years of my life. I was trying so hard to transform that I got stuck in the negative. But Jesus is saying, you know what? He already knows and you already know.
So move on, please. Can you move on from the negative? I'm not saying try and pretend like it doesn't exist. No. Admit it and then say, jesus, you've got a better way.
I'm looking to the Savior. You got a better hope for me, Lord? You're going to help me restore my marriage, Lord. You're going to help me be a more loving person. You're going to help me overcome that temptation, Lord God, because I need you.
I've changed my mind. I need you. I don't have what it takes. You do. A repentant heart.
Remember me, Jesus, you're the king, you're the Savior. Do you have a repentant heart?
This is the last thing that happens, because this is a beautiful thing that Jesus does, right? These are the ingredients. You need a catalyst for change.
You need. What was my second point? You need a closeness. It's very important. You need a closeness to Jesus.
A closeness. Come alongside him. Are you bringing yourself close to the Lord. You need a repentant heart that says, lord, I'm going to have a change of mind. I'm going to look at the positive that you've done for me.
I'm going to move from my old life into a new, beautiful life. And the third thing is this.
A relationship that lasts forever.
These are simple things, but they are ingredients that will transform your life. Because look what Jesus says to this man. He says, lord, remember me. Remember me, please, Lord, I'm not worthy, but please remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus says this to him, a man he didn't even know except on the road to the cross.
And Jesus replied, I assure you today you will be with me in paradise. Can you see? It's a profound statement Jesus makes in his pain. He didn't say, I will remember you. Your sins are forgiven.
He said, today you're going to be with me. You're going to be with me in what? In relationship. In a loving embrace as someone that's forgiven, someone that's accepted, someone that's restored. I want to tell you, you want to be transformed.
The key to transformation is being in a relationship with Jesus Christ that lasts forever. You know, that's the most beautiful thing that you'll ever have is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's interesting to me that the Gospel of Luke, I said this before. He's the only author that mentions this criminal. The only one. The rest talk about criminals on the cross mocking Jesus. They don't talk about the one that got saved.
Luke does. Why? One of the reasons I think Luke does it is because Luke had an emphasis on the grace, the mercy, and the love of God. For the outsider, for the person who's not normally accepted, for the one who doesn't measure up, for the one who society looks at and says, nah, you don't fit. You're not good enough.
Matthew talks about Jesus as king and Messiah, King of the Jews.
But Luke talks about the Jesus that comes to those who are lost and hurting and rejected and says, I'm here for you. And this story should tell every single one of us. If Jesus treats a criminal on the cross, dying as his brother, what does he do for you? What's he going to do for you. You want to be transformed.
Get a revelation that Jesus Christ loves you.
I'm just going to start handing out communion.
Just hold it in your hand for the moment.
Relationship that lasts forever. You want to be transformed. That is the key. Stop trying to transform. Stop trying.
Stop trying and get into relationship with the loving Savior. You need to get to the heart. Some of us have got rejection issues. We don't think we're worthy of the Lord. It's time to get over it.
It's time to get over feeling rejected, feeling like you're not good enough, questioning God's love for you. A criminal on the cross who a few moments before had been cursing him, suddenly says, today you'll be with me in paradise forever.
He wants relationship with you. If he accepts him, he will accept you. Come to the Lord and say, lord, I'm drawing close to you, Lord, I need you. I need to change course, God, and say, lord, your relationship with you is the thing that I hold onto deep within my heart. Deep within my heart.
You know what I love about these communion things.
Everyone's like, very carefully trying to. I'm gonna give us all a hint. I'm gonna give us all permission today. Don't try and be quiet. Just, just do it.
Let's do it.
Well, don't fling your, your wafer away and, and let all the juice go everywhere, but just let's. Let's rip. Get it ready. Let it rip. They're a pain, those things.
We did them over Covid, but they're, you know, it's hygienic. I like good hygiene.
A relationship that lasts forever. I want to take you to a thought. Another story, Peter, if you question whether God accepts you, what's the most important thing? Peter denied Jesus three times. He failed him.
He did it pretty violently. He probably swore in front of Christ saying, I don't know that. So and so to prove that he didn't have anything to do with Jesus. This is when Jesus was being arrested and eventually got crucified. Peter, one of his closest, the one he said, I'll follow you anywhere.
I'll die with you. Denied him three times. And Jesus knew that he had. And Peter felt terrible and he said, I'm not worthy of you. I'm not worthy of you.
And we have a few things that Jesus could do in that situation. Demand that Peter comes to him and apologises, do some penance. Show me your repentance, Peter. Show me that you're really sorry. Make it up to me.
We treat God like that. I've treated God like that. What does Jesus do? You know what Jesus does? He appears.
He rises from the dead and he appears to his disciples. You know what he does? Makes them breakfast. Cooks him some fish, tells him to come on in. There's Peter sort of sheepishly going, oh, I haven't made up with Jesus.
I feel really bad. What do I do? There's Jesus. Here you go, Peter, I've made you breakfast. He doesn't raise all the things Peter's done wrong.
He doesn't say, hey, have you learnt your lesson, Peter? Sometimes we do that to our kid. They do something wrong. Have you learnt your lesson? Jesus didn't do that.
He is, I've cooked you a meal, Peter. And then you know what he asks him about? He asks him this. He says, do you love me, Peter? Do you love me?
It's all about relationship. Jesus isn't interested in all your wrongdoing and whether you've made it up to him enough and whether you can never make it up to him. You can never do enough to get in the good books with God. He loves you just as you are. All he wants for you to realize is that you need him.
You know what Jesus wants from you? He doesn't want all your penance and all your ah. He wants you to realize, I need you, Lord, without you, I've got no one. Without you I'm lost. Without you I'm on the wrong track.
Jesus, would you love me? Do you love me, Peter? You know I love you. Peter said, do you love me? You know I love you.
And then he says, so go feed my sheep. That's what he says to Peter. He doesn't say, right, go do some Bible study, go to the pastor and do you Hail Marys. Doesn't give him any of that. He says, peter, if you love me, I love you.
I want you to know that I love you. Go and do what I called you to do. Go and do what I told you. Go and do what I prepared you for. Go and help others know the Lord.
Go and do that. That's what Jesus wants. He wants relationship. And he forgives you and he loves you and embraces you forever. And then he says, now go change the world, brothers and sisters.
Some of you do in Bible college, don't go change the world because that's going to get in the good books with God. He doesn't care about that. You think God gives a rip about how well I preach? He wants. He wants me to do.
He wants me to do what he's called me to do, to be a blessing. But that doesn't make him love me any more or less. That doesn't make it. He's not interested in that. He says, adrian, you're my son.
I love you. I stuff up. I do well. He goes, I don't care. I love you.
I want relationship. Come back to me. Come back to me. Come back to me. Some of us are trying so hard to change.
We're going backwards.
Stop trying so hard. Stop trying and start transforming. Let these ingredients be the key to your life.
Three verses can change your life. If a criminal can be transformed and become a brother of Jesus Christ in relationship forever, why not me? Why not you? You want to change relationship.
It's the key. Brothers and sisters. It can sound bit simple and sound a bit weak. You may be I need more. I need to go deeper.
Deeper truths. I'll tell you this. Paul the apostle had some of the deepest truths ever known. He'd been into. He'd seen the heavens, he'd had visions he couldn't even discuss.
He had greater teaching than anyone. He's one of the greatest scholars the world's ever known, greatest theologians the world's ever known. Do you know what he said? He said, jesus, if anyone gives you anyone else but Jesus, tell him to get lost. He says, I just want Jesus.
I've got all the learning of the world, but my Jesus is. Everything else is rubbish. To my relationship with Jesus. You think I'm being too simplistic? I'm giving you the core heart of God.
A child can understand it. That's what Martin was saying. He goes, is that what Jesus was talking about when he said, unless you understand like a child, unless you have faith like a child. Isn't that true? A child can understand.
It's about relationship. Adults, we got to get this as well. It's very simple. A criminal could get it on the cross and be changed like that. And so can you.
So I want to ask you, what transformation do you. Do you need? What do you need to let go of? Transformed in the nick of time? Some of us need God to intervene in our marriages.
Some of us need to intervene in our lives. Some of us are on the wrong track. And you don't need all this other stuff. What you need is this. What you need is Jesus.
What you need is to come and say, jesus, I need to get close to you. Jesus, I need you. I've got a repentant heart and Jesus, I want relationship with you.
If you have that, you'll be changed. So this is what we're going to do.
I'm going to say a prayer right now. I want us to close our eyes and bow our heads. We're going to say a prayer and then we're going to hear a song. Moses is going to sing this song to us. And when you're ready, as he sings his song, I want you to take communion.
Say, lord, I want to be close to you. Lord, I want you to transform me. I want relationship, Lord, I need you. I've got a repentant heart, Lord, I bring it to you. I'm looking to the positive.
You're my hope, you're my future. You take communion, but we're going to say a prayer right now for those who've been away from God. Maybe you feel like the criminal. Maybe you've never given your life to Jesus. You've treated him like he's a criminal yourself.
Maybe you've just been haven't cared about him. Maybe you've been far from God. And you say, lord, I need to come back. I need relationship with you. We're going to say a prayer together right now.
I want you to say this from your heart, dear Lord Jesus, I want relationship with you. I believe you're the Son of God and you died on the cross for my sin and you rose again from the dead.
So forgive me Jesus, come into my heart. Be my Lord and my Saviour. I give my life to you in Jesus name. Amen. We're going to hear this song now.
When you're ready, you take communion.
Riches for us glory for shame 11 carefully strain to my Savior made for me and his was the cross Mine was the blame you were the one the full names change my save your make that he made for me.
I will lift my eyes to Calvary where my Jesus and covered me he gave it all and I was fool Lord, I can't believe you did that for me. I just can't believe you did that for me.
Beauty for as triumph for tears what a wonderful exchange my Savior made for you and his was the lost oh in my what a wonderful holy exchange my Savior made that he made for me.
So I will lift my eyes to Calvary where my Jesus died and comfort me he gave it all now it's faith you did that for me. I just can't believe that you did that for me.
He really did it.
He really did it.
Shame lost the battle to my Savior's love if it comes chasing after under the blood my shame lost the Battle to my Savior's love if it comes chasing after I'm covered under the blood My eyes to Calvary where my Jesus died and comfortable he gave it all now it's paid in full Lord, I can't believe you did that for me. I just can't believe did that for me I will live with my eyes to Calvary where my Jesus died and he covered me he gave it all and I was paid in full But I can't believe you did that for me. I just can't believe you did that for me.
Thank you, Jesus.
So Lord, if you haven't yet, why don't you take a crisp and take the juice his body and his blood shed for you For a relationship that lasts forever, for transformation that lasts. That doesn't come from you, it comes from Him, Lord I'm praying for my brothers and sisters right now, Lord Whatever they're going through, Lord, whatever hardship they're facing, whatever transformation, they need that Lord, you, Holy Spirit would fill and flood their heart. That they would know that it's not on them, Lord that they'd stop trying, Lord God and let the Holy Spirit of God make alive to them the truth of who you are, Lord Jesus that it would captivate our lives. We'd be changed into your image, Lord Jesus transformed into the image of Jesus Jesus from glory to glory Our marriages, our relationships, our workplaces, our inner lives, our temptations, Lord would be pushed aside by the love and the grace and the strength of God.
Jesus name Jesus name Come on, I invite you as we finish today, why don't you stand? We're going to sing the words of that chorus together. And why don't we make this declaration to the Lord that we're thanking the Lord Jesus that we want relationship with him, that we need him that we've got repentant open hungry hearts and Lord we ask Soften us Lord God let us be filled with your Holy Spirit as we remember Jesus who you are. We walk out of this place Lord Jesus in love with you Jesus name I will lift my eyes to Calvary where my Jesus died and cover me he he gave it all now his faith Lord I can't believe he did that for me I can believe he did that Come on one more time. I will live my eyes lives to Calvary where my Jesus died and he covered me he gave it all now it's faithful I just can believe for me I just can't believe did that for me I will live with my eyes to count where my Jesus died and he covered me it she gave it all now it's pain But I can't believe he did that for me I just can't believe and he didn't ask me But I can't believe that you did that for me I just can't believe that you did that for me God's good church.
Amen. Come on, let's walk out let's have morning tea together. Let's praise one another other let's love on each other today. Thank you.
Related Bible Verses
1. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (New King James Version - NKJV)
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
🔗 Read 2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV on Bible.com
2. Luke 23:39–43 (New Living Translation - NLT)
39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”
40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die?
41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
🔗 Read Luke 23:39–43 NLT on Bible.com