Good Friday Confession
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Confession
Confession
You know I am so thankful for the cross and what Jesus did on that cross.
Because I can come to the father and I can lay down my sins, those burdens that are heavy.
I can lay it all down at the foot of the cross.
And I know that it will be covered by the blood of Jesus.
The sacrifice that was given on that day was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.
That veil that use to be only for a select few was now torn allowing us to come to the Lord freely.
As we shift from singing into a time of confession followed by communion we are still worshiping.
I think we at times forget to confess our brokenness, our fleshly desires, our thoughts, and our sin
you see that is still an act of worship.
Worship is not just praises that we get to sing, or hearing of God’s word, or going to Him in prayer but it is also those times of confession.
Where it is just God and you.
And I think sometimes there is this disconnect.
Because who wants to admit they did something wrong?
Nobody.
Maybe we forget— we just forget to bring our sin to God.
Maybe it’s not that we forget maybe it’s something more.
Maybe it is as if we know that we are forgiven so why bother mentioning my sin to a God who forgives.
Maybe we think our sin isn’t that bad.
And if I just have like 3 things i struggle with then I’m not doing too badly.
Maybe we think that God will be disappointed in us.
If you ever had anyone tell you that they aren’t mad they are just disappointed— that hurts worse then them being mad.
But here’s the truth:
God doesn’t get mad.
God’s not disappointed
He doesn’t stop talking to us.
He doesn’t bring it up later.
He doesn’t make you sacrifice a lamb to atone for what you have done.
He doesn’t ground you, curse you, or hurt you.
There is no condemnation from Him.
But what he does offer is something greater.
He offers His grace.
He offers His mercy.
He offers His comfort.
He offers His Peace.
He offers forgiveness.
He offers His love.
So for the next couple of minutes I want to lead us in a time of confession.
And this might make some of us uneasy.
Because we know we haven’t talked to God about some stuff that we need to talk to God about.
Guess what— He already knows.
He already knows and He has already forgiven.
And that could be good enough for some of us.
But coming to the Father in a spirit of confession is an acknowledgement that of our deep need for Christ.
Confession allows us to be honest and real with ourselves.
We don’t have to pretend that we’re good people.
We can admit that we’ve done all sorts of wrong this week, this year, this month, just today alone.
And that means that we only approach the Lord through the forgiveness won by Christ.
So as we go to God in prayer tonight, assume the whatever position of prayer you need.
This means that you can just sit, and bow your head, and close your eyes.
Maybe you need to kneel or get facedown.
Whatever that looks like we welcome that.
And as I pray— feel free to go off script— you don’t have to listen to me— if you have some stuff you need to go to God about— Don’t let me stop you.
Maybe you just want to sit in silence and as sin gets brought up maybe that will spark conviction in your soul.
If that happens I beg for you to give that over to God.
To confess and be forgiven.
So will you join me in prayer:
PRAYER
Father hear our prayers tonight.
Father hear our confession of sin to you.
I am reminded of 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Holy Spirit I ask that you begin to work in each of our lives exposing sin that prevents us from living a life of peace, joy, and of hope.
Holy Spirit begin to bring to light sin that has maybe has been hidden for years.
Bring it put into the light, so that it can be exposed and lose its grip on us.
Here is a list of sins God that we commit against you.
Please forgive the sins of pride and arrogance please humble us daily
God we know that we find ourselves judging others and all of their sin while we sit back and indulge on our own.
forgive us for being Selfish
From arguments to bitterness.
For the grudges we hold even when others say sorry.
Forgive us for with-holding forgiveness because the pain is too deep.
Forgive us for justifying our wrong attitudes.
God we are consistently are mean, ungrateful, and hatred courses through our veins.
God, so many have strife in their marriage because lust continues to run rampant from affairs, to emotional affairs, to indulging in porn and other sexual desires.
Please Father hear our cries tonight.
We know that this sin that is in our lives needs to be dealt with.
Help us to no longer be chained to our sin but grant us freedom over it.
Forgive us for when our feelings get hurt which causes us to lash out at others.
Forgive us for being are annoyed at the success of others.
Forgive us for dishonoring our parents.
Forgive us when we are unloving and rude.
Lord we know at times we enjoy the chaos but forgive us for stirring the pot and causing disunity.
forgive us for desiring what we don’t have.
We talk about how much better we are then everyone else.
We talk about other behind their back and we say we are just concern forgive us of gossip and lying
Lord forgive us for our worry.
For living in fear.
for being a glutton.
for worshiping idols.
Father forgive us for putting others things before You.
Our heart is spilt in two we live in the world and we calm Christ, but a spilt heart is a worthless heart.
Lord as we come to you laying down our sins.
The sins that leave us weeping and apologetic.
God hear our confessions and forgive like only you can.
God take these burden and cast them as far as the east is from the west.
God we lift these up to you because only you can forgive.
We thank you that we can be forgiven because of what Christ did on the cross.
Thank you Jesus for paying the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live in freedom from the bondage of sin.
We are free because your grace and your mercy is more.
We are free because of your love for us outweighs the sin.
We know that we can never out sin your love.
Holy Spirit we ask for peace as we confess tonight.
God we love you and we thank you for who you are.
Amen
On the night that Jesus was betrayed, a few hours before he would be put on the cross, Jesus celebrated one last meal with his disciples.
If you haven’t already gotten the elements of communion please do so now.
Jesus invited all of his disciples to this table including the one who would betray him, Judas.
And here is what is amazing.
God invites you to his table.
And his table is for everyone.
Not just those who go to Bethel but for those who have been saved by the precious blood of Christ.
This is a time of communion but this time is a little different normally we spend some time confessing sin as we take the bread and drink the juice.
But we already did that.
So tonight it is more about remembering what Christ did for us.
In Matthew 26 we read about the night that Jesus change everything and it started with Passover.
Him and his disciples were all enjoying a meal they had every year, the passover but this night was different.
If you have your communion cup take the bread.
You see on this night, Jesus passed the bread and he said this:
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
And on this night that would eventually lead to Judas betraying Jesus, Jesus took the cup, I invite you to take the cup as well.
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,
for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
We eat and drink to remember that Christ went to pay the sacrifice to change the world, to forgive sins.
And we look to the day when we can eat and drink together with him.
We know our sins are many but his grace and his mercy are more.
Worship team lets sing of His mercy.