I had the honor of exploring confession with at Bethany Community Church. Click on the link below to listen in. The sermons notes are included below.
I have a confession to make
Sharon Collignon
There confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)
Confession is communal and contagious.
• Because of this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins. (Lev 16:30)
• Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. (Matt 3:6)
• Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. (Acts 19:18)
What keeps me from confessing my faults and weaknesses?
• Pride -- Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. (Prov 16:18)
• Fear -- Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. (Pro 29:25)
• Unwillingness to Change -- They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who love the wages of wickedness. (2 Pet 2:15)
What are the benefits of confessing my faults and weaknesses?
• Humility -- Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the word to save sinners -- of whom I am the worst. (1 Tim 1:15)
• Fellowship -- If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out 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, purifies us from all sin. If we say we have not sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:6-7)
• Healing -- Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3:20-21)
How do I receive the confession of my friend?
• Know your own need for God.
• Allow yourself to be quiet.
• Speak forgiveness and pray.
