Confession

Agree with God

Define

Our tendency is to hide our sin... From each other and from God. In fact, that is the very first thing Adam and Eve did when they sinned in the garden. They hid from God. 

Hiding is a fear reaction. We do it to protect ourselves from what we are afraid might happen. 

The good news is that if we are in Christ, we have nothing to fear, because all of God's anger against our sin has already been exhausted at the cross! He already knows all past, present, and future sin... And Jesus has already done the work to pay for all of it.

Our confession does not reveal something about you to God that he didn't already know. You won't surprise God, even with you deepest untold secret. When we confess, we are simply agreeing with God about our sin, acknowledging that his is, in fact, right... And that we have been wrong. It is a re-alignment of our hearts with his.

Read

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
James 5:16

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
1 John 1:8-9

People who conceal their sins will not prosper,
but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.
Proverbs 28:13

Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the LORD has cleared of guilt,
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
Interlude

5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
Psalm 32:1-5

Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
James 4:8-10

Confess

We need to purify our hearts, and we should "let there be tears" for what our nation has done. Maybe we should take this corporate confession time to confess broad, national sin. Here are a few examples, in no specific order.

Racial injustice

abortion

materialism

selfish focus

politics over KINGDOM

passionless for the purposes of God

moral relativism

secular humanism

We will sing here, before moving on to Thanksgiving