The Gospel Project: A Confessing Community

Intro

People apologize for a lot of different reasons (eg. Jacob and Sarah)

Main Idea: We confess our sin to be restored with God.

3 Things that Confession Does

Confession expresses a right view of God

Nehemiah 9:1 (ESV)

1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.

Nehemiah 9:5–8 (ESV)

5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. 7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

V. 1: Sackcloth

Worn when someone dies

Made of goat or camel hair

Uncomfortable

Mourning and humility

Sin = a death has taken place

They think about God before they think about themselves.

How does thinking about God help us see ourselves rightly?

In His flawlessness, they saw their filthiness.

But they not only saw their sin; they confessed it and sought forgiveness

What is it about God that provokes us to confess sin and seek forgiveness?

Our defaults: self-pity or self-righteousness

Self-pity: “I can’t be forgiven”

Self-righteousness “I don’t need to be forgiven.”

Focus on God

“I need to be forgiven and God is willing to forgive me”

We know this because of what God has done in the past.

What has God done in the past that convinces us He will be faithful now?

Strong enough to create… strong enough to forgive

Faithful to Abraham… Faithful to us...

Transition: It is only through having a right view of God that we can acknowledge the reality of Sin.

Main Idea: We confess our sin to be restored with God.

3 Things that Confession Does

Confession expresses a right view of God

2. Confession acknowledges the reality of sin

Nehemiah 9:16–21 (ESV)

16 “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. 18 Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, 19 you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21 Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

Suddenly, they get clear and honest with God about their sin

Why is it important to be clear and honest with God about our sin when we pray?

We can’t change what we don’t acknowledge

1 John 1:9.

Confession = say the same thing that God says

Easier said than done

Why might we be tempted to avoid clearly communicating our sin to God in prayer?

Generalities

“The real us”

But when we do it, it helps our relationship with God and others

How does confessing sin help our relationship with God and others?

Before salvation: Confession is salvational

After salvation: Confession is relational

Transition Statement: We don’t just see our sin; we try to do something about it.

Main Idea: We confess our sin to be restored with God.

3 Things that Confession Does

Confession expresses a right view of God

2. Confession acknowledges the reality of sin

3. Confession asks for forgiveness and restoration

Nehemiah 9:32–35 (ESV)

32 “Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works.

On the path of confession

What is the end goal of confession to God? Explain.

Restoration

We can be restored because God didn’t give up on us.

Why didn’t God give up His people? Why is this good news for us?

“Awesome” = “Awe-inspiring”

God delights in restoring.

Why do you think it brings God joy to forgive us? How should this bring us joy?

Not a “have to” but a “get to”

He loves us

Christ Connection:

God’s people confessed their sins, trusting the Lord to respond according to His righteousness and faithful love.

When we confess our sins and trust in Jesus, we have confidence that God responds by providing forgiveness and eternal life with Him.

What all of this shows us is that we need to confess our sin.

But when?

Head: How do we know when we need to confess sin?

Sins of commission and sins of omission

When it comes to our attention

But it is also important to make sure you have the right motivation

Heart: What is our motivation for confessing sin?

Cleanness and closeness with Christ

Giving Jesus what He paid for

Removing barriers

Removing these barriers should change the way that you do life.

Hands: What can we do differently as a result of what we’ve studied in this session?

Confess sin quickly & daily (Matt 6:12)