Sermon passage: Colossians 3:10-17
Matt Dirks
If the sin in your life was as obvious as a coffee stain on your shirt, you’d probably do something about it quick. But since we can keep things pretty well hidden in our anonymous society, our spiritual clothes tend to stay dirty for a while. Christ has given you an expensive new outfit – your new self – which was designed to be continually “renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Col 3:10). Want a dry-cleaning for your soul? It starts with an honest evaluation of the dirt you’ve accumulated.
I ran across this confession that Philip Ryken, the pastor of 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, made along with his congregation a few weeks ago. Take time to pray through each part, asking God to point out the specific ways you’ve failed in that area.
Father, we have sinned.
We confess that we do not listen to your Word. We read it and hear it, but we do not obey it. We say, “That was a great sermon!” but it doesn’t make a difference, because we are not willing to change.
We confess that we do not worship you the way you deserve to be worshiped. We are more concerned about what we get out of it than what we put it into it. We are often distracted. Our lips keep moving, but our hearts are cold and still.
We confess that we do not love one another very much. We do not want to be bothered with other people’s problems. We think the worst about others, rather than the best.
We confess that we do not always fulfill our responsibilities to one another. We are harsh when we should be gentle, and when we need to be firm, we lack the courage to say or do what is right.
We confess that we are not willing to pay the high cost of discipleship. We try to be as worldly as we think we can get away with. We prefer to squeeze our faith in around the edges of life, rather than to let you stand at the center to control everything we are and have.
We confess that we lack passion for evangelism. We think of missions as something someone else does, somewhere else, rather than something you have called us to do right here and now. We lack the courage to proclaim the gospel. We are afraid to talk about spiritual things, for fear of what others will think.
We confess that we lack compassion. We think it is important to help the poor, provided that someone else actually does the helping.
In the name of Jesus, we ask forgiveness for these and all our sins.