If We Confess

Introduction

Brethren, I am just thrilled to be here. Um, I’m humbled to be here. The confidence that the eldership seems to have in uh this lesson is is a little unnerving. Um I don’t necessarily consider myself the the best um at putting together lessons or anything like that, but at the end of the day, we’re just gonna look at the word of God together. So if you feel any kind of movement, if you feel any call to action, it’s because God’s word is alive and it’s active and it’s sharper than a two-edged sword. Has nothing to do with the speaker, and I can uh very much assure you of that. In a group like this, as I imagine across the country, there are all kinds of people in the audience.

Uh you’re here today, maybe because you belong to this family, you are part of the local work that does uh that that goes on here that is done here, and so you are just going through through the normal routine. But even the fact that you decided to come here is a testament to how much you love God. Uh, I see some single parents out in the audience, and I’ve seen some single parents uh working with their children to get them to services, and you’re blessed because of that. You are trying to do your best to instruct your children in the fear and the admonition of the Lord. Uh I know how hard it is to deal with kids, and I’ve helped. Um and I’m not just talking about Chelsea, like you know, my Tanya, uh and Rihanne, and a few other members, like they help me with my children.

Uh, and yet I know how difficult it is. So you’re blessed for making that effort. And maybe you don’t know anyone here. Uh, maybe this is your first time here, you’ve been visiting. Uh, that speaks again to how much you love God. That you would walk in a place where you don’t know anyone. Maybe you don’t know uh what’s going on, maybe you were expecting some different things at at a worship service this morning. But you love God and you feel like you’re at a place where you need God in your life. You need to draw closer to his word, you need to draw closer to uh a group of people that can help you along the way. Well, thank you for being here as well.

I’m so appreciative of the fact that you are putting forth the effort to get to know the word of God better and to get to know God better. And I’m just grateful to have an opportunity to direct our thoughts in a specific way this morning. I’m gonna confess something to you, and uh, I think it’s only appropriate that I do because the elders know that this is something that I’ve been struggling with, and it’s the way that I started my lesson that they are very well aware of. It’s not the most comfortable or easiest thing to confess, but hopefully this will kind of set the tone for for the lesson. Um I’m not a good basketball player. I spent all last summer playing basketball after evening services to get closer to some of the members uh that we have over at university, and I put up about 12 points.

I got a handful of rebounds, uh, some assists, and that wasn’t my average. That was like for the whole summer, I scored maybe 12 points. Three months of basketball. But man, I ran more miles than anybody else because I I’m a tryhard. So after the summer, you know, I’m a little competitive. I was like, okay, how can I get better at this? And I thought about spending all of fall and all of winter at the YMCA just so I could get better at basketball, spending hours dribbling, spending hours shooting, finding a way to improve my skills as an individual. And then before I jumped into that, I realized, truthfully, if I even did that, that wouldn’t be that helpful. Because when I finally got onto a court the next summer, I wouldn’t have any idea how to play with four other individuals.

Not only that, but shooting in an empty gym is very different than having someone stand in front of you trying to block every single shot you’re making. So even though I know personally I would never be great at basketball, I could improve as a player. But I want you to take that concept and think about how this correlates to Christianity. Christianity and your faith should be a lot like playing basketball. It’s about giving up yourself and working together with other individuals to accomplish a goal.

That you are given gifts, you’re given strengths, and you’re given those things to bless others. Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4. And the wonderful thing about that is for all the strengths that you have, I have weaknesses. And your strengths can help me overcome my weaknesses. God has blessed us with such an amazing family who can build us up, who can strengthen us. But what does that have to do with confession? Well, I want to turn your attention to this verse that stood out to me and really caught my attention when I was reading through scripture, because it’s a verse that for many years I think I just glossed over. The passages that we’re going to read together, all except for one, are going to be up on the PowerPoint.

Galatians chapter 6, verses 1 and 2, brethren. So this is speaking to all of us that have put on Christ. Brethren, even if anyone is caught up in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, each one looking to yourself so that you two will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. That’s a powerful verse. And again, it’s a verse for many years, I glossed over. What is the law of Christ? And I hope that your wheels are kind of turning. You’re trying to answer that question. Well, that’s a good question. What is the law of Christ? And we’re not going to talk about that necessarily this morning, but this is the point that I want to mention.

In order to fulfill the law of Christ, we have to do what? Bear one another’s burdens. But here’s the difficulty with that. How do I bear your burden if I don’t know what your burden is? Hebrews chapter 3. Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God, but encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Do you realize that we need each other? I need you. You need me. Y’all need each other. And so maybe throughout the course of your faith, you’ve come across passages like this. They’re typically referenced as the one another passages.

What does it really mean when we say one another? Truthfully, that’s often seen as like a generic phrase to just talk about anybody around us. But God often uses that phrase in reference to the family that He’s created, a group of people who are going to be controlled by the love of Christ to care for others and be cared for by others. So then we get to a verse like this. And I will tell you, I am very passionate about this verse. I’m very passionate about the book of 1 Peter. And I know that for many of you, you won’t believe me when I say this, but 1 Peter is my favorite evangelistic book. It is the book that I study with nearly every single person that I meet.

And it has been a very powerful book. But look at this verse in 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 22. Since you have, in obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart. When did you stop doing that? This is a difficult verse, isn’t it? Because what this verse is saying is the salvation that you and I experienced was in part, not fully, in part, so that we could do what? Sincerely love the brethren. Do I really have to sincerely love all the brethren? And that’s not all it says. It says you sincerely love the brethren fervently. Do I really have to be active in my love for one another? And what if I do all that?

What if I try to be sincere? What if I try to be fervent? What should the motivation be? Peter says it ought to be from the heart. You could go through the actions of calling these people your family. You could go through the motions of serving the people that are gathered together in your local body. But if you don’t do it sincerely, fervently, and from the heart, you’ve missed such a vital part of what God had hoped for when he saved you. When God commands us to love one another, he’s expecting that we come to love each other more than we love ourselves. And that’s difficult because we’re expecting that others will do the same for us. It’s this picture of putting our time, our money, our preferences, and our self-preserved image on the line because God is surrounding us with people who He’s saying they will do the same for you.

I like the Christian standard version of this passage. First Thessalonians 4 is a passage that talks about holiness. But it also goes on to talk about love. And this is the challenge for us this morning about brotherly love. You don’t need me to write to you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. In fact, you are doing this towards all the brothers and sisters in the entire region of, and I’m gonna, if you’ll allow me, change Macedonia to Orlando. I know this congregation, not because I’ve been here before, I’ve never been here. But I know this congregation because of what I’ve heard of the South Bumbi group. And I know that you all are loving group. I know that you are striving to grow in your love.

I know that the elders are striving to take the flock here to better love one another as the family of God. So listen to the words of Paul. But we encourage you, brothers and sisters to do this even more. Some of your translations say to excel still more.

I spent some time reading it this morning. Don’t read it now, please, because like I’m trying to you know preach. But read that article. I have another question to add to that article, though. Um what would it look like if Jesus Christ were a church member like you and I are? Have you ever thought about that? What would it look like if Jesus was on the duty roster? What would it look like if Jesus was in charge of teaching the Bible classes? What would it look like if Jesus was a member of this congregation? What would his weekly involvement look like? What do you think he would do when he was trying to connect with his church family? And think about your group here at South Bumbi.

What would South Bumbi look like if it was filled with just people that looked and talked and acted and loved like Jesus? But isn’t that the crux of the matter? That if discipleship means becoming like Jesus, shouldn’t we all be trying to exemplify the things that we think Jesus would be doing in a group like this? And what was Jesus’ walk like? Did Jesus only focus on his private personal relationship with God? Was Jesus just in his own little bubble saying, Look, I’m gonna go, I’m gonna worship God by myself. If y’all want to come, that’s great, but I’m really just focused on me and God. Or did Jesus spend time going out and seeking lost sheep? Did uh Jesus spend time calling men to come and follow him?

Did Jesus spend time talking to women that said, Hey, I know you don’t have a lot of hope. Let me offer you hope. Let me put aside my sleep. You ever thought about that? I was reading Mark chapter one, and I never realized that in Mark chapter one, you basically have 24 hours covered. One day in the life of Jesus, and in one day of the life of Jesus, not only does he call disciples, not only does he do uh traveling from city to city, but then Mark says that all the country came out to see him? You don’t think Jesus was tired? You don’t think that maybe it was like nine o’clock at night, and Jesus is like, Man, I can’t wait to get home and to lay my head down.

But then the whole country keeps coming out, they keep bringing the sick, the demon possessed. And what does the text say Jesus did? He served them. And then he didn’t sleep in the next morning, he woke up early to go be with his father. And then the disciples came to look for him, interrupted his maybe momentary peace, and he continued serving them. His life is marked by denying himself and loving others, serving others. Because he knew that he was coming to save others. For many of us, I think we’ve lost that sense of discipleship. Discipleship has become nothing more than just me and my walk with God. It’s become such an individualistic thing. As long as I read, as long as I pray, as long as I’ve answered my calling, as long as I walk worthy of my calling, as long as I’m faithful in my struggle against sin, as long as I focus on the me and the God dynamic.

That’s all that’s important. And then we get into this mindset where our coming together is, well, how can I help you as I help myself? And we’ve heard phrases like, we don’t go to church, we are the church. And that’s usually used in a sense to convey the importance of attendance or doctrinal issues. We say things like, well, we’re to be in the world but not of the world. But I I can probably guarantee you, the early Christians didn’t have the same mindset that you and I did when they were coming together as the church. When they were coming together as the church, I guarantee you that they thought, I’m going to go see my family. Let’s go back to that sports analogy. Is Christianity all about putting up great individual statistics?

Or is it about working together for a common goal? After the 3,000 souls were added in Acts chapter 2, after they were baptized, did they start behaving like a family? What did they do? They worship. Do you worship? Man, I worship. They pray. Do you pray? Yeah, I pray. They learned from the apostles’ feet. Yeah, that’s what we did this morning. We learned from the feet of an apostle Paul. But what else did they do? They ate together. They shared their possessions. They were in one another’s homes. They gathered together. There wasn’t the sense of, all right, brother, go live your best Christian life this week. I’ll see you on Sunday. There was this mindset of man, you are my family, and we are going to come together.

And if I have to be with you every day, I’m going to do that. Because this relationship that we share together is the most important relationship that I can possibly have on this earth. The apostles and those around them understood church as a family, not a location, not an event, not an organization. But most importantly, their behavior matched this belief. We can spend all day calling one another brother and sister. We can say this is our spiritual family. But our love, our service, our encouragement will be incomplete if we don’t actually begin to act like a family. And we will reap what we sow. And that is the purpose of this lesson is to focus on the benefits of what it means to live like a family, to love and to sacrifice for the good of others.

1. Why Confession Is Important

And we’re going to do so this morning by specifically studying this topic of confession, understanding the why confession is important, the what confession is, and the blessings that come from confession. The why, the what, and the blessings. So when Josh asks you, how did the sermon go? You say, Man, he did three points, okay? Because Josh gets on to me for not preaching three-point sermons sometimes. The why, the what, and the blessings that come from confession. First John chapter one. First John chapter one. This is the message we have heard from him and announced to you that God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. You know what I’ve come to realize about Satan? Satan loves darkness. Satan loves secrecy. And John often points these things out by showing that God is the exact opposite. God loves holiness. God loves light. God loves truth.

Satan wants us to keep things hidden in shame, like sin. He wants you to bottle your sin up inside and to not let it see the light of day. God says, look, I’m going to tell you something that sounds backwards. I want you to be completely open and honest with your sin. I want you to speak the truthfulness of your sin, because that’s in line with my uh my character. God’s will is that we walk in the light, and as we walk in the light, we have fellowship with him and with his people. But we are warned that sin is going to continue to be a problem for us. So you know what sometimes we do with sin? We just ignore it. And we try to keep it in the darkness or sweep it under the rock.

And this text is really powerful because it says if you try to ignore your sin, or you try to act like it’s not a big deal, or you try to keep it in the darkness, you make God a liar. You make God a liar. So John says, confess your sins and be cleansed in Christ. This is one of the biggest differences between the way I think man would do things and the way I know God does things. Our brother Sean talked about the uh clubs that he’s a part of, right? Sam’s, BJ’s, Costco. You know, there’s a lot of unity in those kind of clubs, right? Like the Sam’s people are like, yeah, I love other Sam’s people, right? I’m a Sam’s person myself. Um, the BJ’s people feel that way, the Costco people feel that way.

Uh, think about how you use the term family. And I’m willing to bet that some of you have a work family, right? I’m willing to bet that some of you have a gym family. Some of you have a basketball family, some of you have whatever family you can insert in. And we are a family, but we’re like your church family, and we’re not really that different than your work family or your Sam’s family or whatever other families you have. Brethren, a lot of social clubs can boast about unity. So, what’s the difference? The difference is that biblical spirit-driven unity isn’t based on something superficial, it’s based on our common dependence on God. You might love your church family, you might even be close to some people in your church family.

But let me ask you this: who knows your struggles? And let’s invert that question. Whose struggles do you know? Because man, I love my Sam’s Club people. I don’t really know what they’re going through in their day-to-day life. Whose struggles, whose burdens are you carrying right now? You know what’s interesting? Who’s writing first John? That’s an it’s an old guy, it’s an older man named John. And the pronouns that he uses are interesting. He doesn’t say if you. He says, even in his aged state, if we confess our sins. John, as an older, faithful disciple, does not exclude himself from the need to confess his sins. Do we do that very often? Do we confess our sins? And if your answer is no, here’s another question for you to consider.

Do you feel like you can confess your sins to your family here? Unfortunately, confession and confessing our sins has become regulated to a one-time event. So after the lesson is done, when we give the invitation, whether Ken or someone else gives the invitation, we say, if you have anything to confess, come forward as we stand and as we sing. Confession wasn’t intended to be a one-time big event. Confession wasn’t intended to only happen when you had some of the big sins, and I’m trying to use error quotes there, big sins in your life. But because of the format we’ve accepted as confession, confession isn’t something we do regularly. And hear me, brethren, as long as confession is regulated to the invitation, as long as confession is regulated to an event, that’s all it’s ever going to be.

One singular organized event. But if we strive to develop the kind of spiritual relationships God expected for his family to have, then we can begin to open ourselves up to the gift that God wants to give us. So think back to this. When was the last time that you personally confess your sins to God? What was that like?

Was it quick? Was it emotional? And most importantly, did it actually change your behavior? Think back to the last time you confessed your sins, not to God, but to someone else in this local body. This local body. Was it quick? Was it emotional? And did it change your behavior? And if you’re thinking, man, I have never confessed my sins to anyone here. That’s a problem. Confession that doesn’t change behavior isn’t a good confession. Confession that doesn’t change behavior isn’t a good confession. And for those of us that have been Christians for a while now, I’ve been a Christian for 16 years now. That’s a hard concept to grapple with. If we confess our sins, if we don’t learn how to confess our sins, what’s the impression that we give off?

Well, I don’t really have sin. I remember being 16. I’m 32 now. I remember being 16, and I remember being at a worship service, and I had been going for a while, and I remember seeing one of the elders come up, and I whispered over to my friend, man, I can’t wait till I get to be that guy’s age, and I don’t have to sin anymore. Like I that was a genuine thought I had in my mind. And here’s what’s amazing. That same man, his name is Robert Smith. I know that in class we said names are irrelevant. That guy’s name is Robert Smith. He is still today one of the best Christians I’ve ever met. It wasn’t a few months later. This guy is an elder at where I was worshiping at the time.

It wasn’t but a few months later, Robert Smith came forward. And I thought he was just gonna make some kind of announcement to the congregation or something like that, but he came forward, and he said, Brethren, I have something to tell you. He was a salesman. That’s what he did for a living. He was a salesman. He said, I lied to a client today. I told them that if they ordered this quantity of supplies, the price would be this.

No one knows that you lied to someone. That is such an internal thing. No one would ever find out. Why are you even bringing this to our attention? I’ve been a Christian now for 16 years. In 16 years, I’ve had one elder ever confess a sin publicly. And that guy’s name was Robert Smith. I hear a lot of praise that happens with my kids, and I’m very grateful for that because it speaks highly of my wife. I often ask parents of children that we love, that we respect, what’s the secret to parenting? From the really good parents, you know what I hear? Tell your kids when you mess up. Apologize to your kids. Because what that does is that creates a relationship of trust. When you are willing to say, hey, I yelled at you out of unrighteous anger because I was annoyed or frustrated, I’m sorry, that allows your child to not flee from you when they do something wrong but come to you.

Who do you confess your sins to here? And if you don’t confess any sin and you have never confessed sins to anyone, and I’m not talking about publicly, but just confess your sins to anyone. Perhaps you might be given the impression, I don’t have sin. And if that’s your mindset or that’s what you’re putting out, what does John say? The truth is not in us, and God is not in us. Brethren, I’m here this morning because I want God to be in me. And I hope you’re here this morning because you want God to be in you too. And even if you’re visiting here this morning, I hope you know that this congregation desires to know the truth. They desire to grow in holiness. They desire to grow in love.

2. What Confession Is

Confession is used in so many ways, but I want to stress to you this morning that the point of confession is to free yourself from that burden that you’ve been carrying around. And ultimately, the way that we’re going to talk about confession this morning, but what is confession? It’s just to be in agreement with God. To say the same things that God is saying, to declare openly and fully to speak out freely the things that God has spoken out against. So, with that in mind, what is confession not? Confession is not telling someone every single time you sin and having a log book that you hand over to some kind of authority figure. It doesn’t mean that you have some kind of authority to report to.

What does confession mean? It means building a relationship with your brothers and sisters, a fellow disciple of Jesus who can offer up a safe place to talk about your sins and your struggles and your lives together. It means building relationships with one another. It means having teammates. It means having spiritual siblings that you can trust and you can offer them a safe place in return. Confession is the ability to have day in and day out conversations. Instead of just ignoring sin or having silent struggles. Confession sounds like this. Look, John, I have really been hard on my spouse and my kids lately. Steve, you know, I can’t seem to stop struggling with lust. Tom, gossip is a big challenge in my life right now. Walk on, I’ve really drifted from God, and I’m not praying and studying and reading the way that I should.

Sean, you know what? My pride won’t let me apologize for the wrong things that I’ve done. And I just can’t seem to get over this speed bump in my life. And some of us have the opportunity to have those conversations. Some of us have spouses that we can talk to. Some of us have kids we can talk to. But the one another element that God envisioned in the church is that we would all be able to share that with someone here in this building, someone that understands us, someone who’s pursuing a culture of holiness and a culture of confession. That we can practice these things on not extreme occasions. And again, if we regulate confession to a singular, one time event, what are we really saying?

We’re saying, God, I’m okay with the shortcut. God, I think that I have a better way figured out. Like I know you talked about the one another’s, and I know you said I need to bear one another’s burdens to fulfill the law of Christ, but that’s really inconvenient to my life, God. You know what’s a lot easier? Let’s just get people that come forward on Sunday mornings, and if they’re willing to come forward and share our thoughts, we’ll line up, we’ll hug them, we’ll pray for them, and we think that’s a better method than you have to offer for what confession in a family should look like. Who shares your struggles? Who are you receiving help from?

3. The Blessings That Come From Confession

We’re going to close with the three blessings that come from confession. One of the greatest, if not the greatest, blessing that confession brings. It is one of the ways to defeat sin and bring us closer to holiness. What did John say? Confession gets it out of the darkness and into the light. When you confess your sins to your family, you expose those sins and those temptations to prayer, to wisdom, and to accountability of the brethren. But not only does confession bring us closer to holiness, it also brings us closer to God through humility. We stop trying to rely on our goodness and we start relying on God’s. Through confession, we remind ourselves of God’s goodness towards us. And I intentionally didn’t put this verse on the PowerPoint because I wanted it, I wanted it to be read together.

So I’m going to encourage you to open up to Psalm 51. Psalm 51. If you want some practical lessons on what confession can look like, you can go out to the Lindell Church of Christ website. They’re a congregation based in somewhere in Texas. Type in Psalm 51. There are many lessons on there. You can go out to the Embry Hills Church of Christ website, type in Psalm 51. You’re going to hear some amazing lessons. You can go to the North West Church of Christ website. They’re based out in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And here are some amazing lessons on Psalm 51. Most church websites, if you just type in Psalm 51, you’re gonna hear an amazing lesson on confession. Because it is an amazing passage of scripture. Psalm 51.

I want to start in verse 7. And as we read this, I want you to ask yourself does my confession sound like this? Does my confession sound like this? Some of you are like, yeah, nothing in my life ever sounds like the Psalms. So like I just already know. But but listen to this. Verse 7, Psalm 51, 7, purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness. Let the bones which you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. So this is David writing to God. Why didn’t he just say, God, please forgive me? Wouldn’t that have worked? God, please forgive me of my sins, but every line he is asking for something. Cleanse me, purify me, fix me, erase, renew, draw near, restore, joy. Well, why does he do this? Because David knows what you and I know that we do not deserve God’s forgiveness. But David wants to be right with God. And so he expresses his sin and the restoration that he desires very clearly. Get real with God about your confession, and I guarantee you will feel that restoration. I got lots of stories I want to share, but I have to preach the lesson that I think they heard online.

If you want to hear some of these stories of the way brethren have helped me come to terms with confession, I want to share them with you. See me after. Again, this has been such a helpful topic to have experience in my life. Confession brings us closer to God. And this is ties into the last point. Confession brings us closer to one another. It allows us to be real with one another and build real relationships. Many of us are used to the veneer that we put before people, our social media, the kind of things that we want people to see in us. We get to stop being fake and we get to start being real. It is very difficult to stand over a person with pride when they’re pouring their heart out to you.

And in fact, what it does, it makes you want to do the same. When you share the ugly parts of your life that you prefer to keep hidden, it brings you closer to one another. Because you are saying to this person, I want you to know me at my worst, and I trust that you are going to still love me. Isn’t that what we’re all looking for? This morning, um, I think this Brother John mentioned in his class something that I included in the sermon because I loved it. Weaknesses in others don’t doesn’t diminish our love for them. Weaknesses in others doesn’t diminish our love for them.

Conclusion

We can only get this closeness by confession. So once more, Galatians 6, 1 and 2. Brethren, even if anyone is caught in, and notice what the word is, any trespass. If you’re here this morning and you’ve been struggling with thoughts of homosexuality, confess it. If you’re here this morning and you’ve been struggling with abortion or you’ve had an abortion and you’ve just kept that hidden in your heart, confess it. If you’re here this morning and you are losing a thought of your identity, you don’t know what you are or who you’re supposed to be, confess it. If you’ve had an affair or you are struggling with lust, confess it. Any trespass, confess it. You who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.

Each one looking to yourself so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Brethren, I can’t help you. This group can’t help you bear your burden if they don’t know what your burden is. Ken cannot preach the lessons that he needs to preach if he doesn’t know what the burdens are. The elders cannot help guide the flock here if they don’t know what the flock needs. We have got to know what is going on in one another’s lives. We have got to clear time on our busy schedule. We’ve got to put down our phone. We’ve got to silence our watches. We have got to make ourselves available to one another. Are you going to see someone from this congregation outside of the building this week?

Who are you going to spend time with? When are you going to see the brethren again? If you are regulated to seeing your brethren on Wednesdays and Sundays, you are missing out on a gold mine. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Family is not an event. Family is not an event. I know sometimes it feels like that. You get around the holidays, it feels like that. Family is not an event, it’s a mindset. It’s a mindset where we seek opportunities to support and love one another. So I urge you this morning to shift your understanding of the church. While church remains a collection of individuals trying to get to heaven, that’s all church is ever going to be.

It’s never going to be more than that. We will continue to be then a band of loosely connected individuals who have separate lives, but at least we cross paths in the context of organized worship. But the body of Christ is about giving yourself up to be a part of a family. We should be in one another’s lives. We should be in one another’s homes. We should be in one another’s struggles, sharing the word, praying, and being the church. Because confessing your sins shows how great God is. If I look like I have it all put together, then I look like I don’t need God. And in case I haven’t already shattered the illusion, I do not have it all put together. Sometimes it is easier to talk to a stranger.

And I can be that stranger. If you want to start by talking to me, that’s great. I encourage you to talk to the family here, though. So I know what the temptation is. After you preach a lesson like this, either everyone wants to come forward or no one wants to come forward. And that’s fine. Because truthfully, I don’t want anyone to come forward. Now, if you are wanting to come forward, by all means, please do. Like, I’m just a visitor. What I really want to see, and what I want y’all to experience is after services are over, that there are just pockets of your family gathered together talking to one another. That you guys are outside talking to one another. I preached this lesson a few months ago at university.

That is now my home church down in Tampa. After I preached this lesson, in January, 70, 70, 70, 7-0 men came together on a Saturday to confess and to pray for one another. That was not organized by me. It wasn’t organized by the elders, wasn’t organized by Josh, the other preacher. It was organized by the men of the congregation. It was so great that they’re like, we should do this again. Yesterday, we had 60 men come out again to pray and to confess sins to one another. I hope that that’s what you will experience after hearing a lesson like this. That you will start having pockets where you can pray for one another and encourage one another to build each other up while it is still called today.

If you are here this morning and you have a spiritual need, if you need to confess anything to the family here, anything, I trust that you will find a safe place. I trust that you will find guidance, and I trust that you will find a group and a family that will uplift you. If you’re here this morning, there’s another kind of confession that you can do.

Confessing Jesus as Lord. If you are ready to confess Jesus as the Lord of your life and put him on in baptism, I’m assuming there’s a baptistry back here. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.

But if you’re ready to confess Christ and put him on through baptism, having the remission of your sins to be made whole and cleansed, we want to offer you that opportunity as well. There’s any way that we can serve you this morning, you do have that opportunity to come forward and to speak to me or one of the elders as we stand and as we sing.