Transformative Power of Praise and Confession
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"And it's just weird for folks to stand up and raise their hands and clap at certain points, and you're like, you know, there wasn't a great guitar solo or anything. What are they clapping about? And I just, quickly, I just, praise is a natural thing when someone has done something incredible for you." [00:09:34] (27 seconds)
"Not only did he pay my debt, but because of that debt that was paid, he raised my life up from the dead. My life was changed. My life was changed because of him. An example I share in the first service, it would be like back in the 40s, and the Gestapo banging on the door of Mr. Schwartz, a Jew, and a friend being over there answering the door and understanding, when they ask for Mr. Schwartz, that they are on their way to the gas chamber. And his friend saying, I'm Mr. Schwartz." [00:43:54] (43 seconds)
"and yet it was the road to destruction and no matter how hard we tried no matter what we did we could not change until we found a power greater than ourselves and so what we're doing in this time is we're looking at there's a there's a 100 year old program if you would that has helped people find this power to change it's called a 12 -step program but here's the thing the 12 steps weren't just originated with a couple guys who sat down said hey let's come up with 12 steps to do this actually the 12 steps started in a bible study look this up called the oxford group and it was a group of people who studied god's word together because they were desperate people who who the greatest uh psychiatrist of the day could not help and and one particular famous counselor actually told a person that's how this whole thing got started i i can't do any more the only only time i've ever seen anybody get over the situation you're in is when they had a religious experience" [00:209:11] (68 seconds)
"The first principle is this. We admitted that we were powerless and that our lives had become unmanageable. There's a guy who wrote a lot of what we call the New Testament. He told a lot of folks about Christ. He's kind of a giant in the Christian faith. This is what he writes about himself in the book of Romans. He's writing to a church in Rome. He says this in chapter 7, verse 15. I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do, I do not do." [00:299:34] (30 seconds)
"Step 3 step 4 we made a searching and fearless both by the way scary words searching a fearless moral inventory of ourselves we looked inside of the deepest pockets of our soul of our hearts of our minds of our experience we went to the deepest corners and did an import inventory we just said what was there we didn't do anything else with it we just submitted it was there first John 1 9 says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and pure us from our unrighteous but here's the key he'll forgive us our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and pure us forgive but we must confess and we kind of talked about this principle last week in step 4 you have to name the chain because we're not free we're chained you have to name the chain in order to experience change you can't be released from the chain if you don't acknowledge that it's there you got to name it you gotta be clear about what it is in order for change to happen" [00:416:55]
"That's what step five is, and here it is. We admit it to God, we admit it to ourselves, sometimes by the way that's the toughest one, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. So it's not just this is what I did, but this is kind of what I see is behind what I did, or behind what I thought, or behind the way I've lived." [00:567:67] (29 seconds)
"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other and you will be healed there's something about going to another person and saying I messed up and that person going welcome to the club aren't we both glad that Jesus did what Jesus can only do aren't we both glad that we can go before him and receive forgiveness because here's the thing about the cross it wasn't just that Jesus did this act for the forgiveness of our sins it's that that that very thing that weighs us down requires and we understand this requires if you would punishment and some of us the issue isn't whether or not God forgives us it's the issue is that we know that what we did can't just be left undone we don't want God's forgiveness because it's unforgivable we can't forgive ourselves and so we spend a lifetime punishing ourselves at the same time blaming God we punish ourselves but the thing about the cross is is that not only did Jesus die on the cross physically die but it says that the wrath of God the wrath of God is his righteousness and his mercy and his mercy and his mercy and his mercy and his righteous anger the things that we do make him mad see a lot of us we complain about this lightning bolt God but the reason we had complained about lightning with God says we have this picture in our head because we believe we deserve a lightning bolt for what we've done and God says guess what I'm a just God my lightning bolt struck but I struck Jesus on your behalf" [01:116:19] (111 seconds)
"Now, many of us are lost in the ocean of our own despair, especially when we get honest with ourselves about our chains. We have taken an inventory of ourselves, and at times we feel overwhelmed with what we see. We are parched. We are tired. We are weary. We are sick. And the irony of the situation is that the means of our salvation is close at hand. It's right there. We need only to lower a bucket." [01:551:38] (36 seconds)
"God. The 12 by 12 says it this way. At this stage, the difficulties of trying to deal rightly with God by ourselves are twofold. There's two problems with just doing this between you and God. Which, by the way, step four needs to be between you and God. You will not be ruthlessly honest if you don't do step four as if you'll never do step five. Worry only about step five once step four is completed, meaning once you get everything out. Now, though we may at first be startled to realize that God knows all about us, we are apt to get used to that quite quickly, right? If you never believe in God, you never think about it. Then once you understand he's there, you're like, oh, well, he's seen it all. And at first it might be shocking, but you get used to that. Somehow being alone with God doesn't seem as embarrassing as facing up to another person. And I'll tell you that is true in my life." [01:672:57]
"People who have done this, whether it's just a weekly kind of check -in thing or especially those who have done the longer fourth step that we talked about last week, they feel relief. They feel forgiveness. They feel healing. They're just delighted. The big book says that they can look the world in the eye for the first time. They can be alone and at perfect peace." [02:069:90] (24 seconds)
"Because they were specific and they understood. It wasn't just some general idea. Oh, Jesus died on a cross some years back, so all the thing I did, so now I got fire insurance and I get to go to heaven. It's not theological, it's not an idea. It's these specific things are real in my life. I named them. They were, I was chained by them. I confessed and I heard from another person what God has been saying to me all along, you are forgiven. Because here's the issue. The issue is not God and His righteousness and that you failed. It's not from God's side. Because He already bridged the gap. He already said, I'll take care of that. The problem is ours." [02:156:62] (40 seconds)
"Jesus said the harvest is great, but the laborers are few. Pray for more harvesters. Pray for more laborers. And then what he didn't mean is pray for more people who know the four spiritual laws. What he's saying is pray for more people who've experienced the spiritual laws, who have been freed, who will just go out in excitement that they are free. Free indeed." [02:578:09] (24 seconds)
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"Not only did he pay my debt, but because of that debt that was paid, he raised my life up from the dead. My life was changed. My life was changed because of him. An example I share in the first service, it would be like back in the 40s, and the Gestapo banging on the door of Mr. Schwartz, a Jew, and a friend being over there answering the door and understanding, when they ask for Mr. Schwartz, that they are on their way to the gas chamber. And his friend saying, I'm Mr. Schwartz." [00:43:54] (43 seconds)
"and yet it was the road to destruction and no matter how hard we tried no matter what we did we could not change until we found a power greater than ourselves and so what we're doing in this time is we're looking at there's a there's a 100 year old program if you would that has helped people find this power to change it's called a 12 -step program but here's the thing the 12 steps weren't just originated with a couple guys who sat down said hey let's come up with 12 steps to do this actually the 12 steps started in a bible study look this up called the oxford group and it was a group of people who studied god's word together because they were desperate people who who the greatest uh psychiatrist of the day could not help and and one particular famous counselor actually told a person that's how this whole thing got started i i can't do any more the only only time i've ever seen anybody get over the situation you're in is when they had a religious experience" [00:209:11] (68 seconds)
"The first principle is this. We admitted that we were powerless and that our lives had become unmanageable. There's a guy who wrote a lot of what we call the New Testament. He told a lot of folks about Christ. He's kind of a giant in the Christian faith. This is what he writes about himself in the book of Romans. He's writing to a church in Rome. He says this in chapter 7, verse 15. I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do, I do not do." [00:299:34] (30 seconds)
"Step 3 step 4 we made a searching and fearless both by the way scary words searching a fearless moral inventory of ourselves we looked inside of the deepest pockets of our soul of our hearts of our minds of our experience we went to the deepest corners and did an import inventory we just said what was there we didn't do anything else with it we just submitted it was there first John 1 9 says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and pure us from our unrighteous but here's the key he'll forgive us our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and pure us forgive but we must confess and we kind of talked about this principle last week in step 4 you have to name the chain because we're not free we're chained you have to name the chain in order to experience change you can't be released from the chain if you don't acknowledge that it's there you got to name it you gotta be clear about what it is in order for change to happen" [00:416:55]
"That's what step five is, and here it is. We admit it to God, we admit it to ourselves, sometimes by the way that's the toughest one, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. So it's not just this is what I did, but this is kind of what I see is behind what I did, or behind what I thought, or behind the way I've lived." [00:567:67] (29 seconds)
"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other and you will be healed there's something about going to another person and saying I messed up and that person going welcome to the club aren't we both glad that Jesus did what Jesus can only do aren't we both glad that we can go before him and receive forgiveness because here's the thing about the cross it wasn't just that Jesus did this act for the forgiveness of our sins it's that that that very thing that weighs us down requires and we understand this requires if you would punishment and some of us the issue isn't whether or not God forgives us it's the issue is that we know that what we did can't just be left undone we don't want God's forgiveness because it's unforgivable we can't forgive ourselves and so we spend a lifetime punishing ourselves at the same time blaming God we punish ourselves but the thing about the cross is is that not only did Jesus die on the cross physically die but it says that the wrath of God the wrath of God is his righteousness and his mercy and his mercy and his mercy and his mercy and his righteous anger the things that we do make him mad see a lot of us we complain about this lightning bolt God but the reason we had complained about lightning with God says we have this picture in our head because we believe we deserve a lightning bolt for what we've done and God says guess what I'm a just God my lightning bolt struck but I struck Jesus on your behalf" [01:116:19] (111 seconds)
"Now, many of us are lost in the ocean of our own despair, especially when we get honest with ourselves about our chains. We have taken an inventory of ourselves, and at times we feel overwhelmed with what we see. We are parched. We are tired. We are weary. We are sick. And the irony of the situation is that the means of our salvation is close at hand. It's right there. We need only to lower a bucket." [01:551:38] (36 seconds)
"God. The 12 by 12 says it this way. At this stage, the difficulties of trying to deal rightly with God by ourselves are twofold. There's two problems with just doing this between you and God. Which, by the way, step four needs to be between you and God. You will not be ruthlessly honest if you don't do step four as if you'll never do step five. Worry only about step five once step four is completed, meaning once you get everything out. Now, though we may at first be startled to realize that God knows all about us, we are apt to get used to that quite quickly, right? If you never believe in God, you never think about it. Then once you understand he's there, you're like, oh, well, he's seen it all. And at first it might be shocking, but you get used to that. Somehow being alone with God doesn't seem as embarrassing as facing up to another person. And I'll tell you that is true in my life." [01:672:57]
"People who have done this, whether it's just a weekly kind of check -in thing or especially those who have done the longer fourth step that we talked about last week, they feel relief. They feel forgiveness. They feel healing. They're just delighted. The big book says that they can look the world in the eye for the first time. They can be alone and at perfect peace." [02:069:90] (24 seconds)
"Because they were specific and they understood. It wasn't just some general idea. Oh, Jesus died on a cross some years back, so all the thing I did, so now I got fire insurance and I get to go to heaven. It's not theological, it's not an idea. It's these specific things are real in my life. I named them. They were, I was chained by them. I confessed and I heard from another person what God has been saying to me all along, you are forgiven. Because here's the issue. The issue is not God and His righteousness and that you failed. It's not from God's side. Because He already bridged the gap. He already said, I'll take care of that. The problem is ours." [02:156:62] (40 seconds)
"Jesus said the harvest is great, but the laborers are few. Pray for more harvesters. Pray for more laborers. And then what he didn't mean is pray for more people who know the four spiritual laws. What he's saying is pray for more people who've experienced the spiritual laws, who have been freed, who will just go out in excitement that they are free. Free indeed." [02:578:09] (24 seconds)
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