Kindling Afresh Confession

This afternoon we begin an eagerly anticipated renewal series, looking forward to discovering how the Lord will answer our prayers for revival.  I wonder what we do expect.  What will it be like?  Three of my kids graduated from CHS (Clinton), where before the football games there was often a pep rally.  It helped get everyone excited and cheering loudly, all fired up about the game.  It wouldn’t hurt if the church in our community got that fired up over the war between heaven and hell.  Some revivals have been that way, but most have been initially more like funerals with lots of mourning.  Why would that be?  When the glories of God and the gospel of His grace are proclaimed, the stark contrast between His greatness and our meanness produces tears of mourning and a godly sorrow that leads to humble repentance of sin.  But those tears can become tears of exuberant joy as we realize the extent of God’s compassion and love for us.

We have been exhorted to kindle afresh the gift of God in us these past weeks, and end today calling for a kindling afresh confession.  The greatest result that could come through renewal services would be to lead us to confession of sin and renewal in God’s grace.  We will not do an exposition of Ps. 51, but instead  ask of it two questions:

(a) How are we to confess our sin? (b) What happens when we confess our sins?