Week 32: Repentant heart - Zacchaeus
Pardon the Mess with Scarlet Hiltibidal - Christian Motherhood, Biblical Parenting, Raising Christian Kids
Scarlet Hiltibidal and Christian Parenting
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🗓️ 13 April 2026
⏱️ 10 minutes
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Summary
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
Zacchaeus was a very rich and corrupt tax collector who was disliked by the Jewish people. One day, Jesus was passing through town and Zacchaeus decided he wanted to see him! But as you may know, Zacchaeus was a “wee little man,” so he had to climb a tree to get a good view. Much to everyone’s surprise and dismay, Jesus pointed him out, spoke to him, and invited himself over.
At that moment, Zacchaeus’s heart changed. He felt guilty, but he also acted on his guilt and repented. He vowed to give half his possessions to the poor and to pay back four times the amount to anyone he had cheated. This wasn’t just a small apology—it was a complete turnaround; salvation came to his house and his faith was real because it moved him to action.
We all have a barrier to genuinely meeting and following Jesus. For Zacchaeus, it was his corrupt values and his size. But Jesus broke through those barriers, and when he did, Zacchaeus repented. For our kids, those barriers might be life situations, friends, or even distractions. But no barrier is too big for Christ to reach us. Jesus sees each of us and knows us personally. He invited himself into Zacchaeus’s life, though Zacchaeus was a known sinner, and he invites himself into our kids’ hearts too.
But responding to Jesus isn’t just about hearing his call; it’s about repentance. Zacchaeus didn’t just listen, he changed. As parents, we want our kids to truly follow Jesus, and that means turning away from sin and choosing a new way of life with him.
This week, let’s pray that our kids recognize the sin in their lives and repent of that sin, feeling confident that Jesus forgives them.
Jesus, thank you for forgiving our sins. Help __________ to see the sin in their life and to feel convicted. Take away all their guilt and shame in a way that only you can as they experience your perfect forgiveness. And may they live their life in a way that reflects your grace. Amen.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Christian Parenting. |
| 0:03.0 | Hey, friends. Welcome back to Pardon the Mess. I'm your host, Courtney Defeo, and this is week 32. |
| 0:19.0 | We are going to talk about Zacchaeus and a repentant |
| 0:22.8 | heart. But first, I want to go back to Easter Sunday. Do y'all just love Easter Sunday? The more |
| 0:27.8 | I grow and the more I age, I'm like, oh, I just crave Easter Sunday because it's everything in our |
| 0:32.8 | faith walk to talk about the resurrection and what happened from Friday when Jesus died on the cross for our sins |
| 0:39.3 | and then the waiting on Saturday and then the hope that we have. And actually, factually, |
| 0:45.0 | what happened on Sunday that he did, in fact, rose from the dead. And so I was working in |
| 0:51.6 | guest gathering at our church. And if you ever need a church, come to Compass |
| 0:54.2 | Church. Come to Coveeville. But I love working guest gathering because you get such an interesting |
| 0:59.4 | view of people that are coming out and have just heard a sermon. And they're either looking |
| 1:03.1 | to connect with a pastor or looking to come for prayer. And Easter Sunday was so special because |
| 1:08.0 | a lot of people were leaving in tears, just a remembrance of what God |
| 1:11.6 | has done. And one of the things that our pastor said, Drew Sherman, who I just adore, but he had said, |
| 1:16.9 | some of you are in this room today because your parents have prayed that you would be in this room |
| 1:21.2 | for a very long time, that you would get to know Jesus at a very real level. And then he reversed |
| 1:26.5 | it and said, some of you parents are in the room because your student has been just taken with the love of Jesus. And they have actually prayed for you that you would be in this room and get to know Jesus. And it was so powerful. And so you saw lots of tears coming out. And just two stories I want to tell you because you just, I want you to be a part of the local church. Like, I just forget if I'm gone too long, we've missed too many Sundays, like getting back |
| 1:48.4 | and there and worshiping with my family and worshiping with my church family and then hearing |
| 1:53.0 | truth from the stage is just, it's just where it's at. |
| 1:55.8 | And so make sure you get around a Bible-believing, gospel preaching church that just is all about navigating. This is what our church is about, navigating people to Jesus. And so two stories. I was sitting there, and this guy comes out. He's an older gentleman, probably in his 70s, and he's crying, and he's with his wife, and he comes straight up to the pastor, and I'm standing next to the pastor, and he said, I'm 101 day sober. |
| 2:18.2 | And I think this message was for me today. And he was so sweet and kind. And we talked about |
| 2:24.4 | AA, and we talked about just how Compass could become a family, and then we want him to come back. |
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