Confession | March 3-9, 2024

Lesson

March 3-9, 2024

Conversation Starter
If you hear the word “confession” what comes to your mind?

Previous Week Review
Review the passages and practices from last week’s lesson. Don’t skip this step even if people are reluctant to respond as it’s vital to see how each week’s topic is being practiced during the week and what obstacles people are facing.

Leader reading and Discussion
Have the group read the following and ask what the core components of confession in these passages are.

Ezra 9:4-9 The remnant of Israel confessing their sin against God.

Psalm 32:1-5 Confession leads to forgiveness.

James 5:16 Confess and pray for each other.

Read the following and then discuss:

“The truth is that we all sin. Sin is anything that breaks relationships. Jesus is totally realistic about broken relationships. He experienced them. He was put to death by them. Yet Jesus taught that the damage done through sin was not the last word on life. Sin could be confessed. Sin could be forgiven. And sinful people could be set free.” 

“True repentance means we open the bad in our lives to God. We invite him to come right in and look at our sin with us. We don’t hide behind being good, moral people or indulge in neurotic self-recriminations. We don’t pretend to be other than we are. We don’t disguise the truth by carting out all the disciplines we practice. We tell it like it is---without rationalization, denial, or blame---to the only person in the universe who will unconditionally love us when we are bad. We hand over the pretense, image management, manipulation, control, and self-obsession. In the presence of the Holy One we give up on appearing good and fixing our sin. We lay down our ability to change by the power of the self. We turn to Jesus and seek forgiveness.” Adele Calhoun

Discuss the following components of a confession:

1)     Examination of our conscience where we take time to examine where we have sinned or been sinned against and have not taken the wound to Jesus for forgiveness or healing. Only when we are specific are we likely to heal.

2)     Sorrow is not primarily an emotion, but an abhorrence at having committed the sin, a deep regret at having offended the heart of the Father.

3)     Determination to avoid sin means we ask God to give us a yearning for holy living and hatred of unholy living.

4)     Confession begins in sorrow, but it ends in joy. There is celebration in the forgiveness of sins because it results in a genuinely changed life.

Discuss the following :

Do you currently have a regular rhythm of reflecting and confessing your sin to God? If so, what does that look like? How has that practice impacted you?

Do you regularly confess sin to another? (James 5) If so, how has this impacted you? If not, what are your obstacles? 

Handout:
Leader passes out the practices for this week and reviews them with the group.

Take 10 minutes to review the handout.
Pray for each other

Handout

March 3-9, 2024

Practice this week

1)     Take ten minutes in quiet and solitude and ask God to show you where you have sinned against someone in the last week. It can be through thoughtlessness, neglect, anger or other emotion or action. Write them down and go through them one at a time and ask for God’s forgiveness. Note the result if any from this activity.

2)     Ask a close friend or family member to help you see your blind spots. Ask them questions like “What do I do that hurts you?”, “How could I better love you?”, “What is it like to be with me?”, “Do my conversations focus on me primarily or on others?” Take notes and then confess your sin as you are ready to release them to God.

3)     With paper and pen, in quiet, ask the Holy Spirit to help you review the last week where you had experiences that resulted in negative emotions and actions. Take time to pray though the list where you felt sin took hold based on your internal and/or external response.

4)     Read through a Psalm or other biblical passage and note where you have fallen short on what is written about in the passage and then confess your sin to God. Look for joy as a result of the prayer time.

Preparation for next week
Come to the community nrext week ready to share something from your practice this week.