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.