Today we see John the Baptist come on the scene – a very strange man who dresses funny and eats locusts in the desert. But his message is shocking to the religious people of the day – the people who thought they knew God because of their religious background. But then they hear of someone out in the wilderness calling people to repentance – calling people to turn from their sin and turn to God. We will learn that repentance begins with us – with looking within and asking – “is there anything I am doing that goes against what God asks of me?” And with John the Baptist comes a new era – not religion but a relationship with Jesus that begins with repentance.