Forgiveness / Confession
Notes
Transcript
Announcements
Alabaster offering is in 2 weeks (September 6th)
Fish Fry and Pie Auction is September 19th
Back to Church Sunday is September 20th
Mission/ Vision
How many of you have ever seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail?
There is a character called the Black knight
This guy keeps loosing limb after limb only to minimize the damage
the famous line is “tis but a scratch”
We all know someone… maybe its you… that downplays everything.
My dad is like this… and stereotypically so are a lot of men… they could have pnumonia and sware it’s allergies
A lot of the time it’s this pride… this not wanting to admit that you are broken that keeps you sick.
Its the lack of admitting there’s an issue that allows the issue to rule and reign in your life
Lets go to our texts
1 John 1:5-10
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
As we continue in our pasture of prayer we are simply seeking God and listening to his voice
Seeking the kingdom first and listening to Jesus our Good shepherd
And even though he is the Good Shepherd, and he is there to protect… there are still times in this world when we sheep will get injured
Either we walk away from the shepherds protection and we strike out on our own and end up getting injured
But here’s the crazy thing about both sheep and us … we will avoid the very thing that can heal us
In order for the sheep to be healed he has to allow the shepherd to fully examine the sheep
Stick with me yall
The shepherd needs to get up close and personal and see what exactly is going on in the nature of the wound and make sure there’s no infection.
But the sheep will not come willingly to the shepherd in those moments
Why?
Because they are hurt. They don’t want the sensitive parts of them examined… even if it means healing
If you guys don’t see the connection… let me help you
Confession, repentance, and forgiveness
We love to be forgiven… we hate to confess, repent, and then have to forgive others
The Holy Spirit through John is giving us solid truth in our passage today
He gives us the fact that God is light and in him there is no darkness… then we get this conditional conjunction IF
If is the language of covenant
If is the language of freedom in Christ
If means that you have a choice to make… but know there are some expectations to live into
He says if we Say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie
but if we walk in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin
IF we say we have no sin… we deceive ourselves
God isn’t deceived by our attempts to justify our sin
We are only deceiving ourselves
Verse 9… if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins anc to cleanse us form all unrighteousness
So what is confession
THis confession just means to say the same…meaning If God says its bad for you, you are confessing or saying the same
This must be accompanied by repentance which is not just saying the same bur changing your actions because of what you just professed
that’s confession
you have to acknowledge your stuff
When we confess it is an act of bringing our mess out of the darkness and letting it be exposed to light
It’s us not hiding our wounds and our infections.. .and letting the good shepherd mend us
Our tendency is to guard the sore spots right?
If you are sitting there now and thinking that this sermon isn’t for you… i want you to do some self evaluation
ARe there tender spots in your life?
Are there areas that you avoid accountability?
Are there areas that you immediately get defensive about?
Are there parts of your heart that you keep especially for yourself and that you try to keep Jesus out of
These are the areas where the sin is where we are walking in the darkness
Scripture tells us that fear has to do with punishment
A lot of us hide our tender spots because we are afraid of being judged and being punished
The fear of rejection the fear of punishment causes us to run from the light of God
I want to tell you today, Christian that this is a lie from the enemy of your soul
Telling you that if you confess, if you allow the Lord into all these areas of your heart that you will be further hurt
Our God never hurts to harm
God is a surgeon… not a butcher
When we go to God with our wounds he will do the surgery needed to mend our broken hearts, To bring wholeness into the missing places of our sanctification
he doesn’t see blood and go on a rampage to tear you apart
If we are harboring this infection
We can’t be healed of the injury
Its going to be really difficult for you to walk in the pasture of prayer when you are on the fringe trying not to be seen by the shepherd
When you are, as John tells us, saying that you are in the light but you are not willing to bring your all to the Lord
you are not willing to own your sin without trying to compare yourself to another
You are not willing to confess without defending yourself
James tells us in James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Not only do we need to bring our confession to the Lord, but we need someone in our corner who can be praying for us in our mess
James tells us to confess your sins to each other and pray for each other… so that you may be healed
It’s in that vulnerable spot where you allow the light and love of Jesus to seep in that you are able to experience true freedom from these dark places
I’m not saying you go around and tell your deepest darkest secrets to everyone… but you need someone
You need a person who you can be real with who will pray for you and hold you accountable to what you say you want to do… which is walk in the light