Practice: Confession & Forgiveness

Each Saturday during Lent, we will take some time as a church family to practice a different spiritual discipline or spiritual practice together. Today, we are practicing confession & forgiveness with Student Ministry Pastor Nic Fridenmaker. 

What is confession? Confession involves us naming wrong as wrong, sin as sin, and encountering the forgiveness and healing of God through Christ. Confession frees us from the shackles of shame and guilt, and it can even bring healing in our relationships with each other.

How to practice confession & Forgiveness: 

There are many ways to confess, but for this practice, we want to bring in a tangible element. Begin by finding a paper, pen/pencil, and a way to make a fire. Please practice caution around the fire.

• Awareness— God already knows those areas in our lives that we need to confess to Him, but there is power in naming aloud what is true. Reflect on the thoughts, people, and regrets that come to mind. Pray for God to show you areas of unconfessed sins. Name them and write them out on your paper.
• Talk to God and Take Action—Take your list to God in prayer, confess everything, and ask for forgiveness.
• Experience Grace in a Tangible Way— You may want to mark this practice of confession and forgiveness in a tangible way. If so, we invite you to burn the paper that you wrote on earlier as a reminder that just as the paper vanishes in the fire, your sins are gone in the sight of the Lord. Like Psalm 103:12 says, “…as far as the east is from the west, so far he has removed our transgressions from us…”