Confession
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here. We are continuing our Abide series. We've got two weeks left. And then we start the Gospel of Matthew.
Get excited. So we're going to be in there for a while. So we are continuing our series in Abiding where we are seeking to grow in abiding in Jesus. That we would use the ancient practices and disciplines that He's given us. We walk through abiding through His Word, through prayer, through feasting, through fasting. Today we're going to be abiding through confession.
So my wife and I, Anna, we were very different students growing up. She made lots of A's and some B's. And I made grades. They got degrees. So we learn differently.
We have different learning styles. My wife, one time, I remember in college, she called me super upset. She was upset. She was crying. She said, I'm going to fail this test. And it's going to be awful.
And, you know, I was like, well, you came the right person. If anyone knows how to fail tests and get through it, it's this guy. But I was like, it's probably fine. You know, you probably made an A or a B. And, of course, she made like a low A. And some of you were like that in school growing up.
There's a term for that. It's called annoying. But she just, she, most of our marriage is the two of us staring at something. She learns very quickly. She picks it up like that. And then I kind of sit in silence.
And then finally like, hmm. And then I figured out like, oh, I've got it. That's just, I'm a little bit slower. It takes me time. I'm in school. I had to study a whole lot.
Whether it was high school or college or seminary. I had to spend a lot of time rehearsing, reciting the same things over and over again. I just, that's how I learn. I'm a little bit slower learner. But I realized the thing a few years back.
My wife and I, we were talking. I was taking some counseling classes in seminary. And I referenced some psychology. My wife was a psych major. So I referenced some basics of psychology, some Freudian psychology, some Skinner.
And she's like, yeah, sure. I'm like, what do you mean, sure? She's like, I just don't, I don't really remember all of that. I was like, you don't remember? You were a psych major. Like, that's what you devoted your time in college to.
And I learned a thing. That she studied to pass the test. That she learns quickly. She aced the test. And that's just, and I, it took a lot longer to learn things. And I do pick up things slower in life.
But y'all, you know, as opposed to learning something quickly and having Freudian psychology is buried deep in your brain. I think I got the upper hand in life. The point is, we all learn differently. That's just a fact. We just, we learn differently. But there is some, there is some wisdom in slowly learning things and spaced repetition.
That's one of the things they've realized in neuroscience. That our brains were hardwired to, if you want to keep things in your memory, to learn it through spaced repetition. That you might be exposed to something over and over again. That it might sink deeply into our memories. And that is by God's design. That we were made to hear truth repeated over and over again.
That it might sink deep into our mind and to our soul. That we were made to slowly chisel truth. Slowly chisel the Bible that it might sink and steep deeply into our souls. That is by God's design. And Christians have understood this over the last 2,000 years. And one of the ways that they have practiced this, that we have practiced this over the last 2,000 years is through confession and creed.
Not that creed. Not the band. That we all, listen, we all love to bang on creed because it's easy. But you know all of us have that Human Clay album. Let's just be honest.
We all listen to some creed. Not that creed. This is confessions and creeds. Which are statements that are formed from the Bible. That help us stand firmly in truth. It's wisdom.
It's the gospel. It's biblical truth. It's formed that we might have a statement. Have a confession. Have a creed that guides us through faithful belief. And that's the goal.
It's the gospel summarized. We verbalize it. We rehearse it. We recite it. And it sinks deeply into our souls. So that is what we're going to take a look at today.
At this idea of confession. Repeated truths that help shape us in our walk with Jesus. And we're going to see three things as we walk through this. We're going to see why we need confessions. Why we need these. Why these are good.
Then we're going to see what confessions are. And what specifically good confessions are. And then lastly we're going to see how we practice confession. And we'll get practical. So let me pray.
And then we will jump in. God thank you so much for your word. That we get to rehearse it. We get to recite it. That we get to use it to confess the gospel. That it would radically change our hearts.
God I pray that you would help us listen today. To what you have to say. In Jesus name. Amen. Alright. So.
We've all got some background in this. Whether you have a lack of background. Or you were like me. Maybe you grew up in high church backgrounds. Where you had liturgy. And confessions.
And creeds. And some of you are like. I didn't even know that kind of church was legal in South Carolina. We just have different backgrounds. Some of you are exposed to it. Some of you enjoyed it.
It's nostalgic to even think that you would read liturgy. That you read confessional statements. Others of you regurgitated it. And you really don't like it. Some of you don't have a background at all. We all bring a little bit of bias to this subject.
So I want as best we can to remove that this morning. And see what confessions are. So. Why we need confessions. 1 John 4.15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God. God abides in him.
And he in God. John is highlighting the power of confession. That as we confess. Which is linked to belief. As we confess what we believe. That there is further abiding in Jesus.
That God abides in us. We abide in him. That they are linked. That confession. That belief. Help shape your identity.
And we need to understand that. We need to believe that. Because the reality is. Is that all of us have confessions. All of us have these internal confessional statements. That are within us.
That we've picked up. That have become our own. Sometimes those come from culture. Culture is consistently drilling things into us. And we pick up confessional statements. Culture will say things like.
You need to be your true self. You need to be how you feel that you are. You hear that over and over and over again. Until it becomes your own. You'll hear things like live your truth. Which is ridiculous.
There's no such thing as your truth. There is objective truth. But you'll hear that. Over and over again. Until you start to think the truth is more subjective. You'll hear the American dream.
That comes at us over and over and over again. That you need money. You need material things to be happy. And it slowly starts to become your own internal confession. Maybe it wasn't culture. Maybe it was mothers or fathers or friends who said things to you growing up.
Maybe you heard some form of you're not smart enough. You're dumb. And that has just been a confession in your head that you've heard over and over again. And that's what you think about yourself. Maybe you heard some form of you're not pretty enough. You're not handsome enough.
You're not tough enough. Maybe some version of you're not trying. You're not working hard enough. And that is what you hear over and over again in your head. Sometimes it comes from punk middle school students that said things to you growing up. I asked my wife permission to share this.
Sometimes I don't do this. And I regret it. But I asked specifically on this one. My wife in middle school was chubbier. And she had a middle school boy that came up to her and called her fat. And it took a sweet middle school girl and completely wrecked her.
To the point where she had to go to the doctor for weigh-ins. And would hide coins in her pockets to pass weight. Now, she's gotten past it. But there's this internal confession that is still there. That shows up every now and then. I want to find this punk middle school kid.
I think he still lives in the area. And harm him. Or forgive him. One of the two. But we have these.
We have these internal statements that come. Maybe they're from your fears. Maybe they're from your flesh. Maybe they're from the devil. Maybe you're hearing stuff like, I'm a bad mom. And you hear that over and over again.
That is how you filter your reality when it comes to raising kids. Maybe it's you'll be just like your father. You are just like your father. Maybe it's you'll always be alone. Maybe it's nobody cares about you. But we hear these.
Y'all feeling this? We hear these statements. Different versions of this. Over and over and over again. Until it becomes our own. We rehearse these confessions over and over again in our head.
Until it really becomes our own language. You don't even know where the source is. Years ago when we started. When I started. Decided that we were going to be one church together. And Chet and I started to build a friendship we did not have in college.
Because we've talked about this. We were not friends in college. We didn't like each other. But one of the things that helped bond us. Was a love for really 2000s comedies. Whether it was movies or TV or YouTube or whatever.
We started realizing that we would quote things. And the other one would pick up exactly what we were saying. And that's just something we love doing. But one of the things I've realized is. Because Chet has a much better memory than me. Is I will say things sometimes.
And he'll say oh yeah that's from that movie. Oh yeah that's from that video. And I'll go really? I completely forgot about that. Because that became so much a part of my language. Throughout that decade.
That it's. I don't even know where the source is. It becomes. It became my own language. And that happens. That we rehearse things over and over again.
Until it becomes our own language. And it sinks deep within us. Because. A few weeks ago Chet said that. The things you do. Do things to you.
And that is true. I would qualify that statement. That the things that you say. Say things back to you. And when you say it over. And over.
And over again. It starts to shape who you are. It starts to shape your belief. The Greeks had a term for this. Your ethos. It was your.
Who you are. It's what you believe. It's what drives you. That it shapes you. And let me show you how this works. We have.
Bad. Confessional. Cycles. We have these bad. Confessional cycles. Where the confession is linked to our belief.
It's what we believe. And. Our beliefs affect our actions. We operate out. Out of our beliefs. And those actions have results.
And what happens is. Is those results. Will further inform our beliefs. Into a cycle of crazy. Let me show you. I'm going to be transparent for a moment.
I want to show you one of. Two of my deep idols. And how this plays out in my own life. Two of my deep idols are. Approval. And control.
Those are two. The more I. I wade into this. And I discover more of my sin. The more I see it's linked to these two. Deep idols.
Let me show you how this cycle of crazy. Happens in my life. I have a. Pretty much a confession. That's similar to this. My values come from.
Approval of others. And I need to be in control. That's it. Like if I. At my worst. I'm looking for approval in others.
And I. I like to be in control. And this is how it fleshes. Its way out. I have. This.
This. This striving to be the best. That I want to be the best. Not. For the reason. That I.
I want to. Gain approval from others. That I want. To be in control. That I work hard. That's something that I've inherited from my dad.
My dad. He is a hard worker. He's 76. And he still will work 12 hour days. He works hard. And I've picked that up from him.
But my. Reasons for doing it. Is to gain approval. It's to. It's to. Control.
What I've got right in front of me. That what I. One of the things I'll do. Is I'll control perception. And I'll try to leave the best. Impression.
Impression in people. And it's crazy. Because what. What will happen is. Is I'll have a conversation with somebody. And I'll.
I'll say something. That was off. Or I'll say something. That. I think they took the wrong way. And here's what happens.
Is that I will. Think about it. I'll be like. Man. I should have said that differently. And then I'll invent.
This entire narrative. Over what they thought about it. What they now think of me. Where that leads to. And now how their. Whole opinion has changed of me.
It's crazy. But this is the cycle. The bad confessional cycle. Of crazy. That happens. We have these actions.
There's results from these actions. The reality is. Is that no one can ever be the best. For very long. That I. Will fail at being the best.
That my work. Is never enough. That I will strive. That I will work. That I will go for it. And it's never enough.
I always think about. Did I say the wrong thing. Am I getting the respect. And approval. That I crave. And if I don't stop right there.
If I don't stop right there. And intervene with the gospel. And say no. I have a better confession. That says. That I don't have to.
Work for other people's approval. That I'm approved in Jesus. That I don't stop with the gospel. And say no. God is sovereign. I cannot be in control.
I wasn't made to be in control. Then it will continue. And if I didn't work hard enough. I'll try harder. I'll correct my mistakes. My mistakes.
I'll look at the tape. And I'll fix it. And I'll be better. So that I can be one approved. So that I can control things.
Y'all see this. This is what we do. We have these bad. Confessional statements. That shape us. That shape us in profound ways.
That we never thought possible. If we don't intervene. With a better confession. With the gospel. The reality is. Is that we all have these internal.
Confessional statements. That we rehearse these beliefs. Over and over. And over again. And if you let. Bad views of self.
Bad views of Jesus. And bad theology. Shape you. It will take you to places. That you never thought. That you would go.
We have bad. Confessional statements. We need better ones. So. I want to look at some. Good confessions.
Confessions. And kind of where these. Source from. Where this idea really. Source is from. And the earliest confessions.
We have. The earliest. The earliest. Repeated statements. That we have. In the church.
Show up in the New Testament. I want to show you a few of them. The first one. Is from 1st Corinthians. We read it earlier. 1st Corinthians 15.
The setup is. Paul's writing to the church at Corinth. He says. Now I would remind you. Brothers of the gospel. I preach to you.
Which you received. And which you stand. And by which. You are being saved. If you hold fast to the word. I preach to you.
Unless you believe it in vain. And here it comes. For I delivered you. As of first importance. What I also received. That Christ died for our sins.
In accordance with the scriptures. That he was buried. That he was raised in the third day. In accordance with. The scriptures. That he appeared to Cephas.
Which is Peter. And the twelve. That he appeared to more than 500 brothers. At one time. Most of whom are still alive. Though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James. Then the apostles. Last of all. As the one untimely born. He appeared to me. Now.
We can look at this. And look at church history. And it. It seems like the early church. Used that statement. Over and over again.
To solidify. The truth of the gospel. To solidify the record. Of what happened. This is the truth. That is in verse one and two.
Says. They stood in. That they received. And believed. And they now stand in. And they needed them.
Because early on. In the church. There were already heresies. False teachings. That were arising. One of them.
Was Gnosticism. Gnosticism. Just generally. Is the idea. That the material world. Is in and of itself.
Bad. Therefore. The way that gets fleshed out. Is that Jesus actually. Wasn't a real person. He was just.
Spirit. And that gets. You play that logic out. And you lose the gospel. And they had statements like this. That said.
No. Jesus died. He was buried. He did reigns. He was a real. Person.
They had other statements. I'll give you one more. From 2nd Timothy. Chapter 2. Verse 11 through 13. Says this.
The saying is trustworthy. For. If we have died with him. We will also live with him. If we endure. We will also reign with him.
If we deny him. He will also deny us. If we are faithless. He remains faithful. It's almost a little bit of call and response there. That they would rehearse.
There are statements like this. Where he says. The saying is trustworthy. That we see in the New Testament. These are statements. That they would have rehearsed.
Over. And over again. They were popular sayings. That the church used. To guide them in faith. And the tradition.
Of creeds. And confessional statements. Was birthed out of the church. One of the most popular. Confessional statements. In the history of the church.
Is the apostles creed. Or the. Niocene creed. It was a creed. That was formed. In the face of one of the most destructive heresies.
In the third and fourth century. Called Arianism. Arianism was the idea. That Jesus was created. And that he was not God. So.
I know. You are like. Man. There is a lot of church history here. This is. This is a little bit nerdy.
It is. But y'all. This almost ripped the church apart. They almost stopped believing. In the trinity. That God is father.
God is son. God is holy spirit. That three in one. They almost stopped believing this. And the church came together and said. No.
We have to have a creed. That we stand in. That we have received. That will guide us. So. I want to read.
From the apostles creed. The song that we sang earlier. This I believe. Is directly based on this. So. So.
The creed says. I believe. In God the father. Maker of heaven and earth. That's. Father.
And in Jesus Christ. His only son. Our Lord. Who is conceived by the Holy Spirit. Born. Born.
Of the Virgin Mary. Suffered. Under Pontius Pilate. Was crucified. Dead. And buried.
Now. I'm ahead. I have to readjust. Because. The. The tradition I grew up in.
Added an extra statement. That wasn't. Very helpful. Y'all remember. The. The ten of you.
That have high church background. Y'all remember. Going to another church. And hearing a different. Confessional statement. A different Lord's Prayer.
And you just sat in judgment. Like. Oh. They do it wrong. Y'all know. Was crucified.
Dead. Then buried. The third day. He rose again from the dead. He descended into heaven. And he sitteth at the right hand of God.
The Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge. The quick. And the dead. Quick being living. I believe in the Holy Spirit.
The holy Catholic Church. That's little c. Catholic. Which means universal. The communion of saints. The forgiveness of sins.
The resurrection of the body. And the life everlasting. Amen. Amen. Guys. That statement.
Guided the church. For the next 1700 years. It's settled. This is who we believe in. And it has guided us. In the midst of all.
There have been other. Neo-Aryan type religions. Like Mormonism. And Jehovah's Witness. That have popped up. That deny the deity of Jesus.
And we stand at this. No. Jesus is God. We worship a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So this was important.
This helped guide the church. I'll give you one more confessional statement. This showed up. In the Protestant Reformation. In the 1500s and 1600s. It is called.
The Westminster Confession of Faith. Or it's also. A shorter version. The Westminster Shorter Catechism. Some of you are like. Catechism.
What? Is that what they bury dead people? No. That's catechomes. This is a catechism. If you're not familiar with them.
They're like. Time tables. For Christians. You know. You learn. Question.
Answer. Question. Answer. My daughter gets a little bit older. We're going to start doing some of these. To help her understand this.
But. The Westminster Confession of Faith. And Shorter Catechism. Helps shape. Not only the church. The Protestant church.
But y'all. It also shapes some of American culture. The first. Question and answer. From the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Is what is the chief end of man?
Is to glorify God. And enjoy him forever. That the glory of God. So fused. Into the Protestant church. And also fused into American culture.
So much so. That you can. I remember back in the day. I watch award shows. And you have. Like a hip hop artist.
Who came up. And the song. That he got the award for. Was absolutely horrible. But he'd say.
To God be the glory. You hear professional athletes. Whose life. Models nothing about Jesus. And they'll say. To God be the glory.
It's so infused into our culture. And this goes back. All the way. The Westminster Confession. That helped guide. The Protestant church.
Some of what we teach. In our own church. We teach about submitting. To the authority. Of scripture. That shows up.
In our membership covenant. That goes back. To the Westminster Confession. Where we get our. Our love for God's grace. Is highlighted.
In the Westminster Confession. Where we get the language. Of Jesus. As prophet. Priest. And king.
Which we've used. In our church. Goes back. To the Westminster Confession. There are confessions. Like this.
Statements. Like this. That the church rehearsed. Over and over again. Over the last 2,000 years. And I know.
I know that five of you. Got really geeked out. About this. And the rest of you. Are like. I don't know if I'm going to go home.
And google confessions. This sounds really cool. What's the point? The point is. The principle. The principle is.
Is that these confessions. Us. Rehearsing truth. Over and over again. That it might sink deep. Within our soul.
That is what guides us. That's what helps guide us. In faith. So we need to grow. In rehearsing. In reciting truth.
That it might sink. Deep within our soul. And one of the ways. We can actually do this. Is through song. Is through music.
That music. Is a type of. Confession. You see. For. Millennium.
Cultures have understood. The power of music. The Greeks. Understood the power of music. How it could influence. Culture.
They had this Greek. Mythological figure. Called Orpheus. Orpheus. Orpheus. Orpheus.
Was like a super musician. So think. As far as super musicians go. Think like. The voice of Freddie Mercury. The guitar ability of Prince.
The stage presence of Springsteen. Which I don't even like. Bruce Springsteen. But. When he plays. Born to run.
Live. It lures you in. This is. Orpheus. And in that story. He would go around.
And he'd play. Before the gods. And before. People. And. They would all be.
Emotionally influenced. He would reel them in. And that shaped. Greek. Western understanding. That music.
Has power. To influence. Now. They tapped into something. That is actually understood. They just didn't get the.
That is understood universally. They didn't understand. The back story. That God. Has given us music. He's given us.
Song. That it might. Take. Truth. And sink it. Deeply.
Into our souls. We see this in the Psalms. That God gave us the Psalms. To sing. That it might sink. The truth of.
God. And his sovereignty. And all the things. That we learn from the Psalms. Deeply. Into our soul.
Into our souls. We see it. In Colossians 3. 16. In the New Testament. It says.
Let the word of Christ. Dwell in you richly. Teaching. And admonishing one another. In all wisdom. Singing Psalms.
And hymns. And spiritual songs. That we see this ancient truth. That music. Helps us. Remember.
The gospel. It helps us. Remember truth. That from King David. All the way to. The Gettys.
And John Martin Millen. And other songwriters. That we have now. We have a long tradition. Of taking the Bible. And using songs.
To help sink. Help chisel truth. Into our souls. So. This is huge. It's huge for us to understand.
So let me address. Kind of the elephant in the room. When it comes to this. How about secular music. There is music. That was written.
Explicitly. To glorify God. God. Some people call that Christian music. And there is other music. That wasn't.
It was written for various reasons. And people will call that secular music. And people will ask. Well if music is so influential. Can you actually listen to music. That was not written.
To glorify God. Let me say. Absolutely. Yes. Secular music. Is not.
In and of itself. Evil. I love some of the music. That comes out. Of people that don't believe in Jesus. Bon Iver.
And Jason Isbell. And Chris Stapleton. Those are my people. I have some. Some. Some.
Their artistry. Is. Is. The way they understand the world. The way they even understand sin. Sometimes it's very helpful.
But we cannot be so foolish to think. That we are just a hundred percent objective. That all. We can listen to anything. And just filter it out. No.
That's not how that works. Some of you have to do the work of. Is there a thing. Are there things that I listen to. That actually don't inspire goodness. That don't inspire.
Anything that resembles good. As the Bible outlines it. There's stuff that when I became a Christian. I finally had to give up. Because it didn't inspire. Anything that was good.
It didn't inspire me to. Have a better understanding of the world. Or of God. It was just. Pagan. It was outside of.
Christianity. All together. There's other stuff that I've listened to. That's good in some seasons. And it's just. It's not in others.
That doesn't inspire goodness in certain seasons. So. We have to do the work of that. And deciding what we can and cannot listen to. This is something that made. Becoming a Christian.
In the 2000s. So. Painful. Because in the 2000s. When I became a Christian. I was like.
I guess I have to listen to Christian music now. So I went on the internet. And found the top 10. Christian songs on Christian radio. And I burned it. Right off LimeWire.
Because I wasn't yet convinced. That LimeWire was stealing music. But I listened to it. And I was like. Man. This is something.
It is cheesy. And painful. And y'all. Some of it is not family friendly. I don't care what Caleb says. Some of it is bad theology.
I would not let my kids listen to it. I do not want them to have that understanding of God. Some of it is deeply painful. So it. It took over the last decade plus. Of understanding a few things.
The first thing I understood. And when it comes to Christian music. Is that hymns. Are a gift. To the church. They are a gift.
I mean. If you just. Take some of the music aside. Just read hymns. Read it as well with our soul. Read some of these hymns.
And just look at the truth. That comes out of them. There is so much depth. And beauty. Such a profound understanding. Of the gospel.
That we see in these songs. And when they are done. For our purposes. And they are arranged. Helpfully. And beautifully.
And are true to the original version. Which. I won't get on that tangent. There are some hymns. That have been poorly redone. But the ones that we have redone.
The ones that we sing so often. In our church. I started to understand. Man. These are good. These help guide me.
In understanding. In this. Understanding of confession. Rehearsing these truths. Over and over again. So hymns.
Are a gift. That we have been given. The second thing happened. Really over the last. 10-15 years. Christian songwriters.
Have gotten better. Man. There are some really good songs. That have come out. The last 10-15 years. If you are a recent Christian.
You are blessed. Man. Songs like Death in His Grave. Songs like Made Alive. Death Was Arrested. Wonders Cross.
Like these songs. Are powerful. They are profound. They teach deep truths. And they are done. Well.
So right now. This moment. In the Western American church. We are blessed. Because we have the hymns. That some of us have rediscovered.
And modern songs. That help. Sink these truths. Deeper into our soul. That we would chisel these truths. Through music.
Through actually. Singing. So there is a different. A few different styles of confession. Saying it. Singing it.
So how do we. Make the shift. Practically as a church. How do we practice. Confession. We practice it.
Through a few different ways. The first category is personal. Confession. Personal confession. We need to go to work. On the.
First. First part. Internal. Personal confessions. That we have. Because we need better.
Internal. Confessions. We say. Often times. Confess your sin. And confess your.
Savior. Part of that. For us. Is. Understanding. That we have.
Bad. Confessional. Statements. They are not. Of the gospel. They are not.
Of Jesus. They are sinful. And we have given them. Power. So I want to walk through.
Some of this. Some of the bad confessions. That we have been carrying. How many of you. Have. Really some negative.
Image statements. That you rehearse. Over and over again. To yourself. How many of you say. I am.
I am a failure. All I do. Is. Fail. Or. Alongside that.
I am. I am a. I am a loser. How many of you. Are rehearsing. Some form of.
I am ugly. I am not beautiful. How many of you. Are rehearsing. Some form of. I am unloved.
That nobody really. Loves me. Or some version of. I am gross. Who could ever possibly. Want me.
We rehearse these. Over and over again. And we have to stop. They are not. Rooted in truth. They are not.
Rooted in the gospel. The gospel. Gives us a different. Confession. You are not a failure. In Christ.
You stand. Victoriously. You are not. Ugly. Because. Beauty is not.
Bound up. In the material. It is bound up. In the perfection. Of beauty. And God.
That we get to. Bear his fruit. That is where true. Beauty is found. That you are not. Unloved.
The God of the universe. Loved you so much. That he sent his son. To be. Slain for you. That's how much.
He loves you. That you are not. Gross. You do not bear. Shame. That shame.
Was put on. Jesus at the cross. We have to. Replace. These negative. Confession.
Statements. With a better one. We have to replace it. With the gospel. How many of you. Are believing lies.
Lies. That you hear. Over and over again. In your head. Lies. That we.
As we talk about. Deep idols. Lies. Like I need to be in control. Like I need to be. The person.
In power. The man. Or the woman. In power. That I need to be approved. By others.
To be okay. That the good life. Is found to being. Comfortable. In the comforts. Of this world.
How many of us. Are believing lies. They have to be. Replaced. With. Truth.
Y'all. And we got to rehearse this. That Jesus. Is the sovereign king. He's the one in control. He's the one in power.
That God has approval. In us. Because of what Jesus. Has done. That the comfort. That we should find.
Is not in this world. But in. Jesus. How many of us. Are believing lies. How many of us.
Are. Hearing these prophecies. Of failure. That circulate. In our head. Over and over again.
It's just projecting. Failure. You'll never get over. Your porn addiction. Now. No matter how hard.
You try. You're never going to get past it. You're always going to be. An anxious. Person. Always.
That you can't control. Your anger. You're always going to be. Angry. You're always going to push. People away.
How many of us. Are hearing these. Prophecies. Of failure. We have to step. In with.
The gospel. And preach. A better. Message. To ourselves. That we have.
Victory. Over. Sin. Because of Jesus. That we have. The hope.
Of. The gospel. That gives us. Freedom. That we're not. Slaves.
Y'all. This is what. When I counsel people. This is a lot of. What I'm trying to get at. I'm trying to get at.
These internal. Confessional statements. So much so. That I want people. To say them out loud. And oftentimes.
What I will hear is. I know this is going to sound stupid. This is going to sound silly. This is going to sound. Crazy. And I'm like.
Yes. It is. Bring it out. It is crazy. It is silly. Because it is not true.
And I know that we've. Rehearsed it so often. In our head. That we think. It is true. Because it sounds like us.
It is not of us. We've got to get it out. In the open. That we might be able to. Expose. Light to it.
And live. In a better confession. That's what we're actually going to do. In groups this week. Is we're going to get some of these. Bad confessions out.
And we're going to replace them. With the gospel. We've got to go to work. On our personal. Internal confessions. And replace them with better ones.
We also need a better. Personal. External. Confession. That we are literally. Out loud.
Rehearsing things. Over and over again. We talked about this. In the. Abiding in the bible. That we need to be growing.
In memorizing scripture. And we should do this. Out loud. That transition slide. That shows up before and after. Is still going to be there.
We're going to grow in this. As a church. That we will. Rehearse the gospel. Rehearse scripture. Out loud.
We. Need this. We need to. Grow in this. We also need to grow. In confessing Jesus.
Through evangelism. There's a lot of. Good that happens. In evangelism. In reaching the lost. But one thing that happens.
Is. Is the more that you actually. Share. Jesus. He goes to work. On your own soul.
And the gospel. Becomes more true. And it sinks. Deeper. Within you. Need a better.
Personal. Internal confession. A better. Better. Personal. External.
Confession. We also need. To grow. In corporate. Confession. For centuries.
The church. Has read. Scripture. Has read. Credal statements. Have done this.
Together. And if you grew up. Like me. In churches. That did this. Sometimes.
It was really boring. Going through. Confirmation class. With an awkward priest. Or a. Reverend.
Man. And learn. It. It was hard. So. It took years.
Down the road. Of following Jesus. To finally be a part of a church. That actually. Practice. Liturgy.
That practice. Corporate confession. That practice this. Beautifully. That did it. Worshipfully.
So that. As we try this. In our own church. As we are. Doing this. That when you see it.
On the screen. Scripture. That is meant to be read together. That we wouldn't just. Kind of. Go through the motions.
We see this. As a means. To helping us. Cement. This. Into our heart.
That we do this. Worshipfully. Proclaiming truth. Together. That we need to grow in this. In corporate confession.
And we also need to grow in this. Through song. That the people of God. Have sung songs. For. Thousands.
Of years. To help. Sink. And chisel truth. Deeply. Into us.
We need this. We need this. There is this. Theologian. From the 20th century. One of the biggest theologians.
From the 20th century. He. Was once doing. A question and answer session. And someone asked him. They said.
What was the most profound. What's the most profound. Doctrine or theology. That you've ever. Understood. And he paused for a minute.
And he said. Jesus loves me. This I know. For the Bible. Tells me so. And it's just like.
Man that. You learned that. We sing that. With our own kids. So that you.
If you. Had a Christian home. That you got to. Sing that as a kid. And it. Sinks.
Deep. Within us. We need this. We need to sing truth. Deeply. Into our souls.
That it might guide us. In faith. There's a song. That. Shane and Shane. They did.
An adaption of Psalm 34. And in this adaption. They. They took Psalm 34. And some of it's verbatim. Taken from.
Psalm 34. Some of it is. Is summarized. But there are moments. Where I can't. And in.
Seasons of difficulty. I can't really. Picture. The scripture that I need to hear. That I can't. Dwell on the truth.
But there's. Moments. When I can hear it sung. And when I. A few years back. Heard.
This version of Psalm 34. There are moments. When I can't think of Psalm 34. I can't quote it. But I can.
Hear it. Taste. And see. That the Lord. Is good. Oh blessed.
Is he. That hides. In him. Oh fear the Lord. Oh you saints. He'll give you everything.
He'll give you everything. That I can. Hear that. And it is a comfort. And that is because. We sing truth.
Deep into our soul. So we need to actually sing. That men. We need to actually. Sing on. Sunday.
And I know some of you are like. But I don't sing well. Listen. Take it from me. From somebody. Who does not sing well.
At all. The people who sit in front of me. Usually can attest to that. That's okay. We all. We have people that show up here.
Early on Sunday morning. And they do sound. And they do music. And what they do. Is they make sure that the music. Is loud enough.
To where your individual voice. Can't be heard. But quiet enough. To where the collective voice. Can be heard together. Y'all we need to sing.
Sing boldly. Sing joyously. That the truth of the gospel. Would. Grow deeper in us. That we would abide further in Jesus.
Through this. We need to grow in confession. And we need to replace the bad ones. Whether it's through saying it. To ourselves. Whether it's saying it out loud.
Whether it's singing it. Or saying it corporately. We've got to grow. In having a better confession. Because we have. A better savior.
And we remember that.