Good morning, happy Mother's Day.
Today is part five and our series Grace is Greater Than.
And anything that you can put in that blank, God's grace is greater.
Some of our life groups are also doing this study and so I've been making discussion questions.
You can download those on our website at argile.church or you can pick up a copy each week in our
welcome center.
Our mission at the church at argile is to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus.
That means it's about a relationship, not about religion.
Our calling as a church is for people who don't like church.
That means that our heart is for people who have been hurt by church and say that they're
never coming back.
Our heart is for people who have a negative stereotype about what church is all about.
That means that this is a place where people can feel like they belong even before they
believe.
Our vision is to equip a thousand strong on Sunday to be the church during the week wherever
they are.
We want to encourage you to take four next steps to connect, to serve, to give, and to
invest and invite.
That's what the church at argile is all about.
Grace is greater than.
Each week I've been introducing you to some funny words that have been added to the Urban
Dictionary and here are a few more new words.
Maybe if you can guess the definition, selfish, selfish.
Here's the definition.
Someone who talks way too loud on their cell phone in public places.
Someone who does that is selfish.
Here's another one.
Chiptese.
Chiptese.
Here's the definition, opening a new bag of chips and discovering that it's mostly full
of air.
All right, one more.
Angry.
Angry.
Here's the definition.
When you're hungry and mad at the same time, you are, you are angry.
You angry?
We'll try not to be too long here today.
These words are interesting to us because they're new, but at the same time, they feel familiar.
And there's a word that we've been talking about for several weeks now that is not new
and I hope it has not become too familiar.
And that word is grace.
Grace.
And here's the definition, a radical gift from God that we can never deserve.
God's gift of grace to us is so amazing and so awesome that we should never, ever take
it for granted.
Your grace still amazes me.
Last week we talked about how important it is for us to forgive others who have hurt us.
Forgiveness is when we decide to cancel the debt.
In other words, we decide that they don't owe us anymore.
Since Jesus washed the feet of those who hurt him, those who denied him, those who deserted
him, those who betrayed him, as I example that we should also wash the feet of those
who have hurt us, we should forgive.
Since we have been graced by God, that we should grace others.
But what if we are the offender?
What if we are the one who needs forgiveness?
And by the way, we all do.
And even though we may be in a growing relationship with Jesus, we will all make mistakes.
We will all make wrong choices.
We will all sin.
Here is a promise of God's grace for us that we can all claim.
First John chapter 1 verse 9, but if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins because
we can trust God to do what is right.
He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.
So when we sin, when we choose against God, we need to confess what we have done.
So what is confession?
Confession is agreeing with God about our sin.
Sin is when we choose against God.
It's when we miss God's best for our life.
It's when we give in to the power of evil instead of following God.
When we sin, we choose against the ways of God.
When I confess my sin, that means I agree with God that I was wrong and I take responsibility
for my choices.
Confession requires humility in the story of the prodigal son.
He had to humble himself when he confessed.
Luke chapter 15 and verse 18, Father, I have sinned against God and against you.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Confession is trusting that God's grace covers me.
I agree with God that Christ died on the cross for my sin and it was forgiven at the cross.
Confession is putting my faith in the promises of God.
Confession is to repent, which means I turn away from my sin and I trust in God's power
over temptation.
Here's another promise that all of us can claim in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13.
The only temptation that has come to you is that which everyone has.
But you can trust God who will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand.
But when you are tempted, he will also give you a way to escape so that you will be able
to stand it.
A growing relationship with Jesus is an eternal friendship.
Like any healthy friendship, honesty is very important.
Confession is you being honest with God.
It says to God that you value your relationship with him, that you want to protect that relationship
by being honest with God.
First John 1-9, if we confess our sin, the word if tells us that confession is a choice
that we have decided to make and that we have decided we don't want anything between our
relationship between us and God.
If we confess, the word we tells us that we're in this together and we all need to confess
of the wrong that we have done.
Now here we are on Mother's Day preaching a sermon about sin.
I apologize to you mothers.
Don and I were talking this morning about how blessed we were with the awesome mothers
that we both had.
I can remember as a child sitting in church and the preacher up here saying that all had
sinned and I can remember thinking, well, you hadn't met my mother because I thought
she was perfect.
But First John 1-8 tells us if we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves and the truth
is not in us.
If we confess our sin, to confess means to admit that we've done wrong.
If we confess our sin, the words our sin tell us that we have chosen against God and it's
our sin and that we have taken personal responsibility for our sin.
Instead of taking personal responsibility, many times we try to blame others for what
we do and that's no new concept.
It's been around for a long time.
Genesis chapter 3 verse 12, the man said, you gave this woman to me and she gave me
fruit from the tree so I ate it.
Many times we try to say it's not my fault, but true confession requires us to stop making
excuses and take responsibility for our actions.
Pride is the enemy of confession.
David said in Psalm 19-13, keep me from the sins of pride.
Don't let them rule me.
Then I can be pure and innocent of the greatest of sins.
Confession will help us to grow in humility.
Confession will shrink our pride because it causes us to rely on the grace of God.
Jesus told this story to some people who really thought too highly of themselves in Luke
chapter 18 verse 9, a Pharisee and a tax collector both went to the temple to pray.
The Pharisees stood alone and prayed, God, I thank you that I am not like other people
who steal and cheat or take part in adultery or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week.
I give one-tenth of everything I get.
The tax collector standing at a distance would not even look up to heaven, but he beat on
his chest because he was so sad.
He said, God, have mercy on me a sinner.
I tell you, when this man went home, he was right with God, but the Pharisee was not.
You see, confession shows us who we really are and it shows us who God really is being
compared to a holy God should humble us.
It helps us understand that we are all sinners and then we are able to confess that to God.
We tend to think that if we confess that confession will get us into trouble when the truth is
confession sets us free.
When visiting his grandparents, Johnny was given his first slingshot.
He practiced in the woods, but he was never able to hit anything.
As he came back into his grandmother's backyard, he saw her pet duck.
He took aim and he fired a shot and he finally hit his target.
Johnny panicked.
Desperately, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile.
He looked around to see if anybody was watching and his little sister was watching.
Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.
After lunch that day, Grandma said, Sally, let's wash the dishes.
But Sally said, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today, didn't you, Johnny?
And she whispered to him, remember the duck.
So Johnny did the dishes.
Later, Grandpa asked if the kids wanted to go fishing, but Grandma said, well, I need
Sally to help me prepare supper.
But Sally said, I think Johnny wants to help in the kitchen, don't you, Johnny?
And she whispered, remember the duck.
Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing.
After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's chores, he couldn't stand
it anymore.
So he confessed to Grandma that he killed her duck.
I know, Johnny, she said, and gave him a big hug.
I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing because I love you.
I already forgave you.
But I was wondering just how long you were going to let Sally make you her slave.
You see, the purpose of guilt is not to condemn us.
The purpose of guilt is to lead us to God and His forgiveness and His grace.
You see, confession always sets us free, but unconfessed sin will always keep us in bondage.
It hurts us spiritually.
It hurts us emotionally, and it even hurts us physically.
David said this in Psalm 38.
My guilt has overwhelmed me.
Like a load, it weighs me down.
My sores stink and become infected because I was foolish.
I am bent over and bowed down.
I am sad all day long.
I am burning with fever and my whole body is sore.
I am weak and faint.
I am moaned from the pain I feel.
I am about to die.
I cannot forget my pain.
I confess my guilt.
I am troubled by my sin.
Psalm 32.5.
Then I confessed my sins to you, and I didn't hide my guilt.
And I said, I will confess my sins to the Lord, and you forgave my guilt.
For this reason, all who obey you should pray to you while they still can.
There are some things we don't want to put off, and confession is one of them.
The time to confess to God is now while we still can.
1 John 1-9.
But if we confess our sins, you see, to confess is our part,
then He will forgive our sins, then He steps in.
The power of confession is not in us, but it's in God.
That's His part.
He will forgive our sins, not maybe, but He will.
In other words, God has the power and the authority to offer you mercy,
not getting what you deserve and grace, getting what you do not deserve.
Even people who don't believe in God understand the power of confession.
They confess to psychiatrists, they confess to counselors, to family members, to friends,
anybody who will listen, trying to get rid of the guilt of sin.
But we need to confess to the one we have offended, and if we've sinned,
we need to confess to God.
1 John 1-9.
But if we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins,
because we can trust God to do what is right.
He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.
You see, trust is the key to every healthy relationship.
God has proven through the ages that He is trustworthy.
With confidence, we can trust God to do what is right.
He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.
He not only forgives our sins, He cleans us up.
Now, I'm a car guy. I can't explain this, but I know it's true.
A clean car drives better than a dirty car.
How? I don't know. Why? I don't know.
I can't explain it. I just know it's true.
God has promised that He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.
A clean life lives better than a dirty life.
The promise comes with confession, is that He will make us clean.
Last week, we talked about Jesus washing the disciples' feet.
This was a picture of His forgiveness and His amazing grace.
And when it was Peter's turn to have his feet washed, listen to what he said.
John 13, verse 8,
No, you will never wash my feet.
Jesus answered, If I don't wash your feet, you are not one of my people.
Simon Peter answered, Lord, then wash not only my feet, but wash my hands and my head, too.
God's amazing grace cleans us up from the inside out.
It gives us a clean heart.
The Pharisees apparently didn't understand this.
Matthew chapter 23, verse 25.
How terrible for you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you are hypocrites.
You wash the outside of your cups and dishes.
But inside, they are full of things that you got by cheating others.
And by pleasing only yourselves.
Pharisees, you are blind.
First make the inside of the cup clean, and then the outside of the cup can be truly clean.
Confession cleans us up from the inside out.
Our relationship with God and our relationship with each other is inseparable.
To be right with God means that we must be right with each other.
If we have hurt others, we need to confess that also and ask for their forgiveness.
James chapter 5, verse 16, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God
can heal you.
Acts 1918, many of the believers began to confess openly and tell all the evil things
they had done.
So in a powerful way, the Word of the Lord kept spreading and growing.
You don't have to live a life of guilt.
You don't have to live a life with that whisper in your ear.
Remember the duck.
We can't hide anything from God.
He's always watching from the kitchen window.
How long will we allow guilt to make us its slave?
So here's the bottom line.
Confession is agreeing with God about our sin.
Unconfessed sin hurts our relationship with God and with each other.
Confession brings healing and unity, not judgment.
But if we confess our sin, He will forgive our sins because we can trust God to do what
is right.
He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.
It's time for us to come clean.
Will you risk being honest with God today?
Can you find a quiet place alone, confess your sins to God, and ask His forgiveness?
Do you need to ask forgiveness from someone else?
And if you do, it will set you free.
Hebrews 12.15, see to it that no one misses the grace of God.
God's grace is greater than anything, and His grace still amazes me.
Just a moment, Leroy is going to sing a song that really just wraps up this whole talk
today about God's amazing grace, but before He does, let's pray.
God for your grace, we thank you.
For your amazing forgiveness that we do not deserve, we thank you.
So God help us as we confess our sin to you in humility, in honesty, just between us and
you.
Thank you God that you forgive us, and that you clean us up.
Thank you for the new heart.
Thank you for the forgiveness.
Thank you for your amazing grace that you offer to every one of us today.
God we love you.
Thank you for loving us.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
My faithful Father, Enduring friend, Your tender mercies like a river, with no wind, it
overwells me, covers my skin, each time I come into Your presence, I stand and wonder
what's again, Your grace still amazes me, Your love is still a mystery each day.
I fall on my knees, Your grace still amazes me, Your grace still amazes me.
O patient Savior, You make me whole, You are the author and the healer of my soul.
What can I give You, Lord, what can I say, I know there's no way to repay You, only to
offer You my praise, Your grace still amazes me, Your love is still a mystery each day.
I fall on my knees, Your grace still amazes me, Your grace still amazes me, is deeper,
is wider, is stronger, is higher, is deeper, is wider, is stronger, is higher than anything
my eyes can see, Your grace still amazes me, Your love is still a mystery each day.
I fall on my knees, Cause Your grace still amazes me, Your grace still amazes me.
Almighty God, today we are grateful, grateful for Your goodness in creating mothers.
You gave them eyes to watch over us, and ears to listen to our joys and struggles, our laughter
and tears.
You gave them legs to run to us when we fall, and arms to pick us up again, to hold us as
we cry, or cradle us while we sleep.
You gave them hands to wipe away the tears, to brush the hair from our eyes, and dirt
from our faces, to hold when we're scared, or when we want to dance, or when we just
need a little help.
You gave them mouths to kiss away the pain, and voices to encourage and comfort, to pray
with us and for us.
You gave them minds full of ideas and wisdom, and hearts full of love.
God, on this Mother's Day, bless our mothers.
Give them Your strength, peace, and love, so they may continue to give it away to all
those around them.
Amen.
