Introduction:
Why Should I Confess from My Heart? (Psalm 51)
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Because My God is MERCIFUL AND LOVING (Ps 51:1–2)
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Because My Sin INSULTS GOD (Ps 51:3–6)
2 Samuel 12:9 – “Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in His sight?”
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Because My Heart NEEDS RENOVATION (Ps 51:7–12)
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Because My Worship and Witness is HINDERED BY HIDDEN SIN (Ps 51:13–19)
James 5:16 – Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:47-00:50
Who has ever received a bad haircut?
00:51-00:56
Don't point to the person next to you, I'm asking you personally, that'd be really rude.
00:57-01:03
When I was a kid back in the mid-90s, I got a bad haircut.
01:03-01:07
My barber really messed up my bowl cut.
01:08-01:19
And that may sound like an oxymoron because you think, well, a bowl cut's already kind of messed up, and they're all kind of lame, It might actually look pretty good for bowl cuts, except for this one time.
01:20-01:27
And for the rest of this story, I'm gonna shift to my mom's perspective to give the story some more dramatic weight.
01:27-01:33
So we get home from the haircut, and later on that day, my mom goes into the bathroom to find quite the crime scene.
01:34-01:38
There's hair everywhere, and there are scissors right on the sink.
01:39-01:45
My mom didn't need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out what had happened because there is an abundance of evidence right in front of her face.
01:46-01:52
I had obviously tried to fix my bowl cut and made it way worse in the process.
01:53-01:57
And like any good detective, my mom tried to get me to confess.
01:59-02:11
She came up to me and said, "Taylor, "did you cut your hair?" And I said, "No, I didn't." Even though there was a huge chunk missing right out of the front of my bowl cut.
02:13-02:29
"Why don't you and your mom try a different approach?" "Well, I found hair in the sink, I found scissors, "and there's a huge chunk just gone from your hair." And I kept digging my own grave, "No, that lady messed it up." And my mom tried one last attempt.
02:29-02:40
She said, "Taylor, you're not gonna be in trouble "for cutting your hair, but you will be in trouble "if you keep lying and you don't tell the truth." Well, that was the final straw.
02:40-02:46
I finally broke down and I confessed like in one of those over the top crime dramas on TV.
02:46-02:52
I told my mom everything even though she already knew everything.
02:53-02:56
And I'm sure that many of you have a similar story to tell.
02:58-03:04
Isn't it interesting that no one has to train you to cover up what you're ashamed of?
03:06-03:08
It comes so naturally to you.
03:09-03:12
It started at a young age and even continues to this day.
03:12-03:17
You knock over something very valuable in your house as a kid and it shatters on the ground.
03:18-03:19
What do you do?
03:20-03:22
You pick up all the pieces and you try to hide it somewhere, right?
03:23-03:27
But you're just a kid so your hiding place stinks and your parents find it almost immediately.
03:29-03:32
You hit your brother or sister and they start to weep and to wail.
03:34-03:34
What's your response?
03:35-03:39
You cover their mouth and threaten him or her not tattle, to your parents.
03:41-03:48
You finally get your driver's license and you promised your parents you will take care of their car, but then you immediately scratch it.
03:50-03:50
What do you do?
03:51-03:56
You try to buff out that scratch and try to cover it up with the cheapest paint you can find?
03:57-03:58
Or how about now?
03:59-04:03
At work, you make a very serious and embarrassing mistake.
04:04-04:06
What's your first blush response?
04:07-04:12
to say nothing and hope that no one notices what you did.
04:14-04:16
Hiding is easy.
04:17-04:19
Coming clean is hard.
04:20-04:31
You and I struggle to confess our sins to other people, and we also struggle to tell God everything that we have done, even though he already knows what we have done.
04:33-04:42
This reluctance to be honest about our failures reveals that we have deep issues within our hearts that we cannot ignore.
04:43-04:48
This is the second week of our latest series, Heart Problems, What to Do When You Don't Want God.
04:49-04:56
No matter who you are or how long you've been a Christian, you have a heart problem of some kind right now.
04:57-04:59
Maybe it's spiritual laziness.
05:01-05:03
Maybe it's indifference to the things of God.
05:03-05:14
Maybe it's a lack of connection with the Lord in prayer, or maybe it's serious doubts that you have about the Christian faith, or a habitual sin that is hidden.
05:17-05:22
All of these problems require a surgical solution and not a quick fix.
05:24-05:33
Last week we studied the parable of the sower and unpacked the importance of evaluating our hearts to see how serious of a heart surgery the Lord needs to give us.
05:34-05:46
This morning we will dig into Psalm 51 as the Lord lays out the importance of another surgical solution that we must cooperate with and participate in, confession of sin.
05:48-05:51
Is this the most popular of topics in the church today?
05:53-05:58
Sin is often affirmed and accepted rather than confessed.
05:59-06:03
And this is why there are so many unhealthy and dying churches.
06:04-06:12
This is why there are so many unhealthy human hearts within those churches that are spiritually withering away.
06:14-06:26
For you to get better, the infection of hidden sin needs to be pulled out by the root, and the method of that extraction is heartfelt confession to the Lord.
06:28-06:36
And your natural response to a message like this, A passage like this will be to inwardly cross your arms and dig in your heels.
06:37-06:40
And I wanna plead with you not to do that.
06:41-06:47
Lower your defenses and prepare your heart for what God is going to command you to do.
06:48-06:52
So let's go to the Lord and ask for his help because we certainly need it.
06:54-06:58
Father, we come to you and we admit that we so often hide from you.
06:58-07:03
We're like Adam and Eve, foolishly hiding in the garden You can see them right there.
07:06-07:10
Lord, there are people in this room who have others fooled, but they do not have you fooled.
07:12-07:22
I pray that today would be the day of revealing what has been hidden to others, of confessing to you what you already know.
07:22-07:28
And we thank you for the healing, we thank you for the change that you will bring through this genuine confession.
07:30-07:32
I ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen.
07:34-07:38
Now turn your Bibles to Psalm 51, Psalm 51.
07:42-07:52
It's important to note that you should never skip the descriptions at the beginning of many of the Psalms because these descriptions give you helpful background information.
07:53-08:06
Skipping these descriptions would be like fast-forwarding through the first two minutes of Star Wars as the music blasts, the logo appears, and the background text of the story scrolls on the screen in front of you.
08:06-08:15
If you fast forward through that, you're gonna miss a lot of helpful background information that will really lead you to not fully understand the story.
08:15-08:18
And the same is true for this description at the beginning of Psalm 51.
08:18-08:24
If you skip it, you're not gonna understand why David wrote it in the first place.
08:24-08:26
So let's see what he says.
08:26-08:34
with the choir master a psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
08:36-08:44
David may have been a great king of Israel and a man after God's own heart, but he was not free from sin and heart problems.
08:45-08:45
Far from it.
08:46-08:48
He committed adultery and murder.
08:50-08:53
He had sex with a woman who was not his wife.
08:54-08:56
and he thought everything was under wraps.
08:57-08:58
And no one knew.
08:59-09:02
But then Bathsheba gets pregnant.
09:02-09:06
And the problem is, she's married to a man named Uriah.
09:07-09:13
Instead of confessing what he had done, David decides to have Uriah killed in battle.
09:14-09:19
Then he moves Bathsheba into his house, they get married, and they have their child.
09:21-09:25
It seems once again that David got away with these things, got free.
09:26-09:27
But he hadn't.
09:28-09:31
Who was the one who saw what David had done?
09:33-09:36
God himself, the one who sees all things.
09:37-09:40
We are told this in 2 Samuel 11, 27.
09:40-09:45
But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
09:46-09:59
And God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David in his sin, and thankfully David doesn't cross his arms and dig in his heels, no, he confesses, and he acknowledges what he had done.
10:00-10:11
And he accepts the consequences for his sin, which is the death of his son, who was a result of this affair, and violent division within his own family moving forward.
10:13-10:21
And after this confrontation, David writes one of the rawest, most hard-hitting songs in the entire Bible in Psalm 51.
10:22-10:26
David honestly confessed his sin from the heart.
10:30-10:35
I know you may be wondering after all this setup, Taylor, I'm certainly not a perfect person.
10:36-10:40
I've made mistakes in the past, but I've never done anything as bad as David.
10:40-10:42
I'm actually a pretty good person.
10:42-10:43
I'm nice to other people.
10:44-10:47
Why should I confess from my heart?
10:49-10:53
Some of you have a different thought that ends with the same exact question.
10:54-10:57
I see why David should confess his sin.
10:57-11:02
He lived in the Old Testament, but I'm a Christian living after the New Testament.
11:02-11:04
I'm covered by the grace of Jesus Christ.
11:04-11:06
All of my sin has been forgiven.
11:07-11:11
Why should I confess from my heart?
11:13-11:16
Well, that is a great question that we're gonna spend the rest of this message answering.
11:17-11:20
Why should I confess from my heart?
11:20-11:26
Reason number one, because my God is merciful and loving.
11:27-11:31
My God is merciful and loving.
11:35-11:39
David kicks off this psalm by getting as low as he can as fast as he can.
11:40-11:45
He humbles himself before his maker and admits his need for compassion.
11:46-11:48
In verses one through two, let's read that together.
11:49-11:55
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, "according to your abundant mercy.
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"Blot out my transgressions.
11:57-12:09
"Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity "and cleanse me from my sin." David makes zero excuses for his sin.
12:10-12:19
He doesn't try to minimize what he has done or try to lessen its seriousness, like celebrities and politicians who get caught in underhanded scandals.
12:20-12:21
You know what I'm talking about, right?
12:22-12:29
You ever seen those press conferences or statements from famous people that are non-apologetic apologies?
12:30-12:32
Oh, what I did was unfortunate.
12:32-12:34
I got caught up in a moment of weakness.
12:35-12:41
I'm sorry if what I did offended anyone, aka what I did wasn't that bad, so lighten up.
12:42-12:45
David doesn't do any of this soft peddling nonsense.
12:46-12:49
He describes his affair in three different ways.
12:50-12:54
As transgression, as iniquity, and as sin.
12:56-13:03
And these three words cross over with one another but communicate different aspects of the same concept.
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Transgression is purposeful rebellion.
13:08-13:19
Iniquity is perversion, a twisting of God's ways and intentions, sin is falling short and missing the mark of God's holy standard.
13:21-13:29
David is brutally honest here because he knows that he has abused his role as king to satisfy his own evil desires.
13:30-13:33
David knows that he deserves nothing good from God.
13:34-13:44
But David also knows that he serves a God who is willing to forgive anyone of anything if that person comes to him in repentance and faith.
13:46-13:51
David knows that he shouldn't run away from the one who is ready to embrace him.
13:54-13:59
If you have not yet turned from your sin and trusted in Christ, what are you waiting for?
14:01-14:03
I have to be honest with you.
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You are not a good person.
14:06-14:09
I am not a good person.
14:10-14:20
You may not have ordered a hit on someone else like David, but you are just as guilty as him of transgression, iniquity, and sin.
14:20-14:24
You have rebelled against God's rightful rule and authority.
14:25-14:28
You have perverted how life should be lived.
14:28-14:32
You have fallen way short of God's perfect and holy standard.
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You are far more wicked than you could possibly understand, but God is far more gracious than you could ever imagine.
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God wants to show you mercy.
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He doesn't want to give you what you deserve, which is eternal punishment in hell.
14:53-15:00
God wants to give you what you don't deserve, which is grace, eternal joy in heaven.
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God wants to show you his steadfast love and his abundant mercy.
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He wants to blot out your transgressions and erase all record of your evil deeds.
15:13-15:18
He wants to wash you thoroughly of your iniquity and cleanse you of all your sin.
15:19-15:23
But God will only do those things if you ask him to.
15:25-15:33
If you humble yourself before him like David and make no excuses for your evil desires and decisions.
15:35-15:42
your heart problem may be that your heart is spiritually dead and needs to be brought to new life in Christ.
15:44-15:52
If that's the case, confess your sin for the very first time and plead for Christ's forgiveness and he will give it to you.
15:53-15:55
He will fix your heart problem.
15:56-16:04
He will give you the solution which is faith in Jesus Christ and what he achieved by dying on the cross and rising again.
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Please don't let your pride keep you from the abundant mercy and steadfast love of God.
16:15-16:17
Why should I confess from my heart?
16:18-16:21
Reason number two, because my sin insults God.
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Because my sin insults God.
16:30-16:38
David goes even deeper in verses three through six to reveal why his sin and your sin is such a big deal.
16:38-16:39
Let's read that together.
16:40-16:44
For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
16:44-16:52
Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgments.
16:53-16:58
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
16:58-17:04
Behold, you delight in truth and the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
17:06-17:15
David has a constant reminder of his affair and murder right in front of him all the time in the form of Bathsheba.
17:15-17:20
I think that's one of the reasons why he says my sin is ever before me.
17:21-17:27
Every single time he sees Bathsheba, he remembers that he took her when she didn't belong to him.
17:27-17:33
And he ended the life of her first husband, Uriah, He was a man of great integrity.
17:34-17:36
Yes, he wronged this woman.
17:36-17:38
Yes, he wronged her husband.
17:38-17:41
But they're not the ones that David is most concerned about wronging.
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Listen again to verse four.
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"Against you, you only have I sinned "and done what is evil in your sight." Who is David most concerned about wronging?
17:55-17:56
The Lord.
17:57-18:02
No one matters more than God, So offending him matters more than offending anyone else.
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Every sinful thought, every sinful word, action, inaction, reaction is an insult to God.
18:13-18:15
It is a slap in his face.
18:17-18:26
And this inescapable reality is highlighted when the Lord asks a direct question to David through the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 12, 9.
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Why have you despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his sight?
18:34-18:40
In the following verse, God says that David didn't just despise his word, he despised him.
18:43-18:47
When you take the word lightly, you take God lightly.
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When you disobey God's word, you disobey the one who spoke it into existence.
18:59-19:00
(congregation laughing)
19:00-19:12
Christians in the room and watching online, I want you to understand what you communicate to God when you choose to do something that you know you shouldn't or you fail to do something that you know you should.
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You are telling God, I love this sin more than I love you.
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When you click that link and watch that pornographic video, you are telling God, I'd rather look at this than behold you in your word.
19:30-19:37
When you gossip and slander, you are telling God, I care more about what other people think about me than what you think about me.
19:38-19:45
When you lie and cover your tracks, you are telling God, I care way more about my comfort than honoring you.
19:48-20:00
When you intentionally disrespect your husband or selflessly dishonor your wife, You are telling God, I'd rather do things my way than your way in this marriage.
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In those moments, you dismiss God and act like he is worth nothing to you.
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How insulting is that?
20:11-20:15
If that view of your sin doesn't make you wanna confess, I don't know what else to tell you.
20:19-20:23
When I am rude and disrespectful to my wife, we are still married.
20:24-20:32
My bad behavior doesn't divorce or separate me from her in that moment, but it does affect how close I feel to her.
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And I can't enjoy that closeness, that fellowship again, until I confess to her how I have wronged her.
20:41-20:55
If you are a true believer in Jesus Christ, you confess to draw near to the Lord in fellowship, to enjoy a closeness with him that you cannot enjoy when you were holding on to sin and refusing to let it go.
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You confess because you're already forgiven.
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You confess because you love God and are loved by God.
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So often we feel like God forsakes us.
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But he's not the one who forsakes you.
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You are the one who forsakes him.
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The hymn, Come Thou Fount, nails this on the head.
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Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.
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Prone to leave the God I love.
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Does that describe anyone else besides me this morning?
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Is your heart problem that you feel distant from the Lord because you've been wandering off the path of his word?
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If that's you, admit that you've strayed because he already knows that you have.
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Confess that you need his help because God is well aware that you already need his help.
21:55-22:00
Draw near to God and scripture promises that he will draw near to you.
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Why should I confess from my heart?
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Third reason, because my heart needs renovation.
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Because my heart needs renovation.
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In verses seven through 12, David continues on with more pleas for God to wash him of what he has done, and then he pops the hood, so to speak, and asks God to work on the engine of his heart.
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Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.
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Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
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Let me hear joy and gladness.
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Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
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Hide your face from my sins, and blot out my iniquities.
22:45-22:50
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, "and renew a right spirit within me.
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"Restore to me the joy of your salvation "and uphold me with a willing spirit." David asked God to create in him a clean heart.
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And that Hebrew word for create is the same word used in Genesis 1-1, when God made everything.
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In the beginning, God created things that were not there to begin with.
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He did something brand new.
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And David is asking him, God, do something brand new in me.
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Create in me something that doesn't exist.
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A heart that desires you.
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A heart that would rather choose you than sin.
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And David doesn't want this change to be a passing fad or a flash in the pan.
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He wants it to last.
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That's why he says, "Renew a right spirit within me.
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"Uphold me with a willing spirit." In other words, God, don't let me be lazy.
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Don't let me go back to business as usual.
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Let this change last for the rest of my days.
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Help me to step into who you've created me to be instead of sliding back into who I used to be.
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David understands that his life is a marathon, not a sprint.
24:10-24:13
He needs to focus on the long term, not just the short term.
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And David says something in verse 11 that may have surprised you.
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"Cast me not away from your presence "and take not your Holy Spirit from me." Maybe that verse unlocked a new fear within you and you're starting to wonder, wait, can that actually happen?
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Can God take his spirit away from his people?
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You just said that God doesn't forsake his people.
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Aren't you contradicting yourself?
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Well, I don't have the time to fully explain the theology of this verse, so let me try to do my best in 90 seconds.
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You can even time me if you really want to.
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In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not live within God's people as he does today.
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Instead, he would rush upon people and anoint them for specific tasks and roles.
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He would empower the prophets, the kings, judges, and others to say and do what God told them to say and do.
25:12-25:17
And one such man was King Saul, the first king of Israel.
25:17-25:18
He certainly looked the part.
25:18-25:22
He was tall, dark, and handsome, but the problem was his heart.
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He had a heart problem that was never resolved.
25:27-25:32
He sinned, he disobeyed, but he didn't truly confess and repent as David would.
25:33-25:39
So God took away his Holy Spirit from Saul, which also meant that he took away the throne from Saul as well.
25:40-25:43
And that's what David is thinking about in this verse.
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God, don't let me be another Saul.
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Don't take the throne away from me.
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Don't take your Holy Spirit and his help away from me.
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But if you are a follower of Christ, this side of the cross and the empty tomb, You don't need to share this fear of David's because you are sealed and indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
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He has made you into a new creation and given you a changed heart.
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The Holy Spirit can never be taken away from you just as your salvation can never be taken away from you.
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How amazing it is to enjoy the blessings that David longed for.
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a brand new heart and the constant presence, the constant indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
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But you and I often take these blessings for granted, don't we?
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We often take advantage of these blessings and act as if we don't need to do anything in our personal journey of holiness.
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Like David, ask God to uphold you with a willing spirit to maintain this heart that has been given to you.
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Who likes new stuff?
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A new car with a new car smell, new shoes that don't stink like a gym locker room, a new phone that can do stuff that your old one could not, a new car, how about a new house that doesn't have the issues that your last one did?
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And I think one of the reasons we like new stuff is that we think we can enjoy a break from maintenance and upkeep.
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Is that true?
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That's a really false hope that really goes away very quickly.
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A new car can be trashed in a few days if you're not diligent in cleaning it out.
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A new phone can be broken and shattered if you don't have a protective case and screen shield.
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New shoes will look very old and gross if you don't spray them out every once in a while and clean the dust and the grime that accumulates.
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I want you to imagine that a wealthy friend has a brand new house built for you, free of charge.
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This house is state of the art.
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Everything inside and outside the house looks fantastic.
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How fantastic would that house look if you never cut the grass?
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If you never do any upkeep of any kind, if you never keep up with ongoing renovations as the years pass by, that new house will not look new for very long.
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The same goes to the new heart that God has gifted to you.
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It needs ongoing maintenance and renovation.
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This isn't a task you can do once a year really quickly.
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This is a 24/7 project.
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project.
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And we'll talk about this heart maintenance in even greater detail in two weeks.
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But for the time being, I want you to understand that this heart maintenance includes personal time with the Lord in prayer and in his word.
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Participation in the life of the church, not just attendance, participation in the life of the church.
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And yes, ongoing confession and repenting of sin.
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It's hard to maintain a car and keep it running.
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It's hard to maintain a house and keep it looking presentable.
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It's way harder to maintain your heart and keep it dialed in to the Lord.
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What's the motivation for this difficult project?
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What keeps you on task, on schedule, on mission?
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Well, David gives us the answer in verse 12.
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"Restore to me the joy of your salvation." You will not continually maintain your heart if you are not continually blown away that you are saved in the first place.
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You will not constantly confess to your father if you are not thrilled that you belong to him and you are a part of his family.
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The moment you take your salvation for granted is the moment you stop growing, is the moment you stop making progress.
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It's like all the gas is siphoned out of your tank.
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Are you running on empty in this current season of life?
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If so, ask the Lord to fill your tank.
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Ask him to restore to you the joy of your salvation.
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Ask that you would once again celebrate that your name is written in heaven and nothing and no one can scratch it out.
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Do you know what the best thing about me is?
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That I belong to Jesus.
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And if you're a Christian, the best thing about you is that you belong to Jesus.
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Do you truly believe that this morning?
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Is that a truth that's on the forefront of your mind and fills your heart?
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If not, ask God that it would.
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'Cause otherwise you're not gonna grow your heart problem will not be solved.
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Why should I confess from my heart final reason?
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Because my worship and witness is hindered by hidden sin.
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Because my worship and witness is hindered by hidden sin.
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Let's wrap up with verses 13 through 19.
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"Then I will teach transgressors your ways, "and sinners will return to you.
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"Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God.
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"Oh God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud "of your righteousness.
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"Oh Lord, open my lips and my mouth "will declare your praise.
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"For you will not delight in sacrifice, "or I would give it.
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"You will not be pleased with the burnt offering.
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"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, "a broken and contrite heart, oh God, "you will not despise.
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"Do good to Zion in your good pleasure.
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"Build up the walls of Jerusalem." "Then will you delight in right sacrifices "and burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
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"Then bulls will be offered on your altar." David's heart is broken and contrite.
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As we studied a few months ago in the Beatitudes, David is poor in spirit and one who mourns over his sin.
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David understands that his sin doesn't just affect him, It affects everyone in positions underneath of him.
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It affects everyone in Israel.
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As the nation goes, as the king goes, so goes the nation.
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In this section, David isn't me focused.
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He is others focused.
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He asks to be used for God's purposes.
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Listen again to verse 13.
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"That I will teach transgressors your ways, "and sinners will return to you." David wants to be a living testimony of God's grace and kindness.
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Verses 14 through 15, "Deliver me from blood guiltiness, "O God, O God of my salvation, "and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness, "O Lord, open my lips, "and my mouth will declare your praise." David wants to demonstrate what it truly looks like to wholly worship God.
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Verse 18, "Do good to Zion in your good pleasure, to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
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David doesn't want to hoard all the blessing for himself.
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He wants Jerusalem and all of Israel to experience the blessing of God as well.
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David isn't interested in keeping his sin a secret any longer.
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He's ready to go public with it.
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And one of the ways he does this is by writing this psalm that we are reading right now.
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Think about it.
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How many transgressors have been taught?
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How many sinners have returned to God because of this psalm?
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How many countless numbers of sins have been confessed because David gave us a clear example of how to do this in a godly way?
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But this wouldn't have happened if David kept his sin a secret and only confessed it to God.
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Confession increased David's worship and strengthened his witness.
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And the same can be true for you as well.
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Confession will increase your worship and strengthen your witness.
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But the problem is you often believe the exact opposite.
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You think to yourself, "I don't want to ruin my testimony, "so I'll just keep my struggles to myself.
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"I won't tell anyone about my failures except God." That is a horrible plan.
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That plan is pride disguised as humility.
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That plan is self-interest disguised as an outward focus.
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Please listen to me.
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There is only one sinless person in all of existence, and this person is without a doubt not you or me.
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No one will benefit from a false image of your fake perfection.
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People will only benefit from a true image of your genuine confession.
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How many unbelievers could you point to the forgiveness of Christ by sharing how you have experienced his forgiveness?
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How many fellow believers can you remind them of that it is a good and godly thing to be transparent in the body of Christ?
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You can model that, because so often we think this isn't a safe place, but this should be the safest place to confess our sins and be honest with one another.
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For the rest of my life, I'll never forget one particular night at Geneva College during my freshman year, when my guy friends and I were completely honest with one another about what we struggled with.
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And to a man, we all admitted that we, at one point, had struggled with pornography use.
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I'll never forget the looks on people's faces.
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Everyone was shocked.
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We were all amazed because each guy thought he was the only one.
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Because that's how Satan wanted us to feel.
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Alone, isolated, self-condemning.
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No one wants you to confess your sin less than Satan.
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He doesn't want you to confess to God.
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He doesn't want you to confess to others because then you will receive love, encouragement, and prayer that will help you to make those needed changes.
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Listen to James 5, 16.
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Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.
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It is so healing to shine a light on what you've kept in the dark.
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It is so freeing to unearth what you've kept covered up.
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It is such a blessing to share what you have done to a person who is ready to build you up with the truths of the gospel.
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You don't need to hide your sins any longer because God himself has already hidden his face from your sin.
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As we close, let me ask you, what sins are you so desperate to keep hidden?
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What are you holding on to and refusing to confess to God and to those who are willing to help you?
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Maybe it's a sexual sin of some kind.
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Maybe it's a substance abuse problem.
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Maybe it's a anger issue or a pattern of lying.
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Maybe you've destroyed someone's reputation and they don't even know it.
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Maybe it's an all-consuming worry that no one knows the full extent of besides you and God.
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Whatever it is, you can and should confess it to the Lord and your loved ones today.
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Not next week when you've had more time to think about it because you're just gonna talk yourself out of it in the meantime.
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Not when it's more easy and convenient.
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No, it's never gonna be easy and convenient to confess your sin.
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Do it today.
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But I know what some of you are thinking.
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Taylor, you just don't get it.
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If I share this secret, my life will be ruined.
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I'm gonna hurt so many people.
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Well, over the past 10 years in ministry, I've had people confess some doozies to me, and then to other people who need to know.
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And guess what?
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It was hard, it was painful, but they survived.
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And most of those people not only survived, they are thriving right now.
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They are closer to God than ever before.
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If you don't plan to confess to God, that tells me that you may not truly understand his saving grace.
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If you don't plan to confess to others, that tells me that you don't actually plan to change.
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You should confess from your heart because God is ready to pour out his love and mercy upon you.
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You should confess from your heart because you shouldn't want to indulge in what insults God.
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You should confess from your heart because you are in desperate need of renovation.
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You should confess from your heart because hidden sin will shipwreck your worship of God and your witness to everyone.
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There is no better place to come and confess our sin than the table of the Lord's Supper.
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This God-given meal reminds you of God's given solution to your heart problem, the sacrifice of his one and only son.
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Jesus Christ came down from heaven so that you could join him there someday.
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His heart was set upon the cross so that your heart could be transformed and set to worship him forever and ever.
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As you come to the Lord in communion, withhold nothing from him because he withholds nothing from you.
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Our servers can now make their way forward as well as the worship team.
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You don't need to belong to this church to take part in the Lord's Supper, but you do need to belong to Jesus Christ.
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If you have not yet confessed your sins and asked Jesus to save you, please remain seated.
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But please don't just tune out.
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Please consider how your sin has offended God, how it has hurt others, and how it has damaged your own soul.
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But also find hope in the fact that you can lay those sinful burdens down at the foot of the cross and receive forgiveness today.
Small Group Discussion
Read Psalm 51
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Why is sin such a big deal in the life of the Christian and why must it be confessed? What happens if you don’t confess sin but keep it hidden?
What often keeps you from confessing your sin to God? What often keeps you from confessing your sin to other believers?
Breakout
Separate by gender and confess your sin to one another. Encourage and pray for one another.