Sermon

Confession: The Key to Breakthrough and Healing

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  1. Welcome to the Illuminate Church podcast.

  2. We hope today's message is encouraging to you.

  3. I want to ask you as we begin if you've ever had any dreams like

  4. the ones I'm about to describe, two of them that are similar in

  5. nature but different experiences, and I have these

  6. dreams recurring. That doesn't mean I have them

  7. like every night, but like it seems like two or three times a

  8. year I have these kind of dreams.

  9. To this fact that I've. Taken note of them.

  10. Like wow, I have that dream quite often.

  11. One of them. Is me trying to get.

  12. Dressed and I can't get the clothes on just right.

  13. I don't know if this ever happened to you.

  14. I can't get my arm through the. Armhole.

  15. It's like. Struggling to get through or I

  16. can't get my. Foot through the pant hole.

  17. If you want to call it that. My shoe doesn't fit right on my

  18. foot. I have problems tying to tie.

  19. I can't get the button like in my dream I'm doing.

  20. Like get through the hole. Right in anyone and whatever I'm

  21. doing to. Try to get dressed.

  22. It's. Frustrating.

  23. It is slow. It is agonizingly, painfully,

  24. frustratingly I can't get done what I want to get done.

  25. I know you are psychoanalyzing me right now.

  26. I wonder what this dream means about our pastor.

  27. It means I looked it up myself, that I will marry a beautiful

  28. woman, and that's what's happened.

  29. Hey. Yeah, the other.

  30. Dream, which is similar but different, is that I'm trying to

  31. get someplace I have somewhere I need to be and I cannot get

  32. there. Like I.

  33. Don't know if you've ever done this.

  34. You're trying to run in your dreams and your feet feel like

  35. they're concreted to the ground. You're like running in.

  36. Super, super slow. Motion anybody anyway Yep Yep,

  37. Yep Or you make the turn that you think is the final turn, or

  38. open the door that you think is the final door to your arrival

  39. and you find out you got many more ways to go the.

  40. Closer you get, the farther. You are, and when I'm in my

  41. sleep it's just frustrating. I can't get to where I want to

  42. get to. And I feel myself frustrated in

  43. the middle of my sleep now. I'm wondering if you've ever had

  44. a dream like this where you have something, where you have

  45. somewhere to go or something? To do essentially this you're

  46. trying to accomplish. Something and you can't get it

  47. done. If you've ever had a dream like

  48. that on your hand, on, on on your hand, on the count of

  49. three, raise your hand 123. OK.

  50. You like raising your hand in church?

  51. Where's my people who like raising their hands in church?

  52. Yep. Where's my people who don't like

  53. raising their hands in church? Got them.

  54. Yeah, maybe these aren't dreams at all.

  55. Is what I was really. Pondering this week, what if

  56. what I'm experiencing in my dream and what you've

  57. experienced in your dream is? Actually real life for you.

  58. And if we were being honest with each other, being candid here in

  59. the House of the Lord. You would say I can't.

  60. Seem to accomplish the very thing in my life that I've set.

  61. Out to do the goal. That I'm trying to reach the

  62. peace, that I'm trying to experience the breakthrough that

  63. you've been waiting for, the reconciliation in a

  64. relationship, that all sorts of things where you could.

  65. Feel like there's this this. Block going on all these years,

  66. so many attempts, this thing. Just out of reach.

  67. It feels stuck like. It's never going to happen and

  68. for each person in the room it might be different, but you know

  69. what it is. Even as I'm talking about it,

  70. maybe something is bubbling to your mind.

  71. That man, I just can't seem to win in this.

  72. I can't ever finish that. Well, I believe I have good news

  73. for you today. In Jesus name according to the

  74. glory. Of God, I believe that.

  75. God wants to unlock for you the very thing in your.

  76. Life that's locked up today, whatever is.

  77. Stuck, he wants to unstuck, if you will.

  78. Unstick today that if you've been wanting victory in an area.

  79. Of your life where? You keep feeling defeated that

  80. God can and will bring victory for you.

  81. Today. Today is Victory Day.

  82. In Jesus name, somebody say in Jesus name, it's Victory Day.

  83. Yeah, look at your neighbor. And say it's Victory Day.

  84. Believe it. And every human being, I would

  85. assume. I don't know you, but you know

  86. you. There are things.

  87. Which are yet healed, yet healed the status.

  88. Of those things in the. Folder of your heart that you

  89. have there that you've. Placed these yet healed things

  90. you've written at the top in the notch of that folder, the word

  91. unhealed, which is an important word.

  92. You could have chosen other. Words like broken.

  93. But you chose the word. Unhealed because you are a

  94. positive person. Even more than that, you are a

  95. person of. Faith.

  96. A person of great hope. So you don't write.

  97. Broken at. The top of this file you write

  98. the word unhealed. Because there's potential in

  99. that word. It's.

  100. Going to be healed it's. Just not healed yet.

  101. And so you have this faith, you have this perseverance that the

  102. healing is coming. But here it is, July. 4th 6th

  103. excuse me, 2025 and it's still not healed, The relationship's

  104. not restored. Your Peace of Mind is non

  105. existent, whatever your list is. And so if we were to be honest

  106. here in the House of God, if we were to be candid with one

  107. another, you would say I've been waiting a long time.

  108. I've been trying many things and this still still feels.

  109. Broken, it still feels. Stuck.

  110. Your relationships, your body, your Peace of Mind, your

  111. circumstances, your secret sin, all of these things unhealed so

  112. long that you wonder. If they will ever get.

  113. Healed and the enemy starts telling you it won't ever.

  114. Change that ain't. Never going to get fixed.

  115. You're going to. Die with this problem if I were

  116. to. Have you raise your hand and say

  117. has the enemy? Whispered this to you before.

  118. A lot of hands. Maybe every hand.

  119. Would go up. And because of it, things like

  120. faith and perseverance that we have them, they are weakening.

  121. Yes, I believe in God, but I'm starting to believe that this

  122. won't. Get better, this won't change.

  123. This is the human experience. We're stuck.

  124. We're broken and the way we now. Live our lives because.

  125. Of our stuckness. Our brokenness impacts greatly

  126. the way that we think, the way that we behave, and especially

  127. the way that we interact with one another.

  128. We live from our brokenness. We live from what stuck within

  129. us. We live from our wounds.

  130. They become our constant. They become our identity.

  131. They become our excuse. Nobody's smiling as we're

  132. talking in this series about becoming Jesus.

  133. People, The Seven Habits. Of Jesus, people, we're talking.

  134. About adhering to a life that causes us to think and behave

  135. like Philippians. Chapter 2 verse 15 says that we

    Philippians 2:15

  136. will shine like stars in the darkness.

  137. We were going to be particularly different than the rest of the

  138. world and how we think and how we behave.

  139. And all of it is. Based and shaped by our faith

  140. and devotion in Jesus. Christ the issue I believe.

  141. That God wants us to. Address today is this why do

  142. people. In the church look as unhealthy.

  143. As people outside the church, nothing is peculiar.

  144. About the people who attend the church in the areas of health,

  145. when we think about mental. Physical.

  146. Spiritual. Relational, emotional, and I

  147. believe and I know that. You would believe that the

  148. Church should be peculiarly healthy.

  149. If the living God in this. Power to.

  150. Heal are among us then why is there so much sickness of body,

  151. soul, mind and spirit inside the household of.

  152. Faith. If you want to open your bibles.

  153. To Luke chapter 4. I want to.

    Luke 4 chapter mention

  154. Show you Jesus's job description.

  155. What he came to earth to accomplish.

  156. If you need a Bible, raise your hand and 1:00 will be brought to

  157. you. Jesus has just begun his.

  158. Public ministry he was. 30 years old, he got.

  159. Baptized by John and began his ministry.

  160. Publicly, I just said that twice.

  161. For your benefit, no. Because I just repeated it Luke

  162. chapter. 4 verse 16 Jesus goes back to his hometown where he

  163. was raised in Nazareth and we get this incredible scene where

  164. Jesus reveals what he's come to the.

  165. Earth to do, verse 16. Says he, Jesus went to Nazareth

  166. where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went

  167. into the synagogue as was his custom.

  168. He stood up to read. And the.

  169. Scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Was handed to him.

  170. Unfolding it, unrolling it, he found the.

  171. Place where it is written. Here's his job.

  172. Description Verse 18 The spirit of the Lord is on me, because he

  173. has anointed me to proclaim good news.

  174. To the poor he has. Sent me to proclaim freedom for

  175. the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind.

  176. To set the oppressed free. To proclaim the year of.

  177. The Lord's favor. When he rolled.

  178. Up the scroll he gave. It back to the attendant and he

  179. sat down. It says that eyes of.

  180. Everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Jesus.

  181. Everyone's. Like.

  182. Looking at him and he began by saying to them today.

  183. This scripture. Is fulfilled in your hearing

  184. Jesus job description it's listed for us he has come to

  185. bring. Breakthrough where there was

  186. none. He has come to bring healing

  187. where only sickness had been. He's come to bring freedom where

  188. they had only been chains. And he ends by saying, y'all,

  189. you don't have to wait anymore. No more waiting.

  190. The hour has arrived. That the fulfillment.

  191. Of these prophecies has. Come, it's me, I'm sitting

  192. right? Here today, right here, right?

  193. Now bondage. Broken bodies healed.

  194. Hearts healed if you said. It and meant it.

  195. Then would you agree and believe with me that he means it?

  196. Still today, July 6th. 2025 South.

  197. Again, I asked the question, why don't we see as much healing in

  198. the? Church, as we should.

  199. Why doesn't the church look? Brilliantly, peculiarly healthy

  200. compared to the rest of the world a few weeks ago.

  201. A friend of mine couldn't drive himself.

  202. To the orthopedic doctor's office because of the procedure

  203. they're. Going to do on him would make

  204. him unable. To drive, so I took.

  205. Him to the. Office.

  206. It was a short. Procedure.

  207. So I'm like, I'm just going to hang out in the car.

  208. And I sat in the car and I parked facing the.

  209. Doors of the orthopedic doctor's office, whatever.

  210. However, you say that the doctor of orthopedics, whatever that

  211. you call that guy. The orthopedic, I don't know

  212. what you call it, not an orthodontist, that's.

  213. Teeth. And I sat there and looked at

  214. the door. About 20 minutes he was in there

  215. and I saw all sorts. Of people all sorts of ages.

  216. Both. Genders, everything walking into

  217. this building kind of the same in one way shape or form or the.

  218. Other got a limp. Bent over, holding thing in a

  219. sling, whatever that somebody Wheeling them in you got.

  220. The the Walker. Things, crutches.

  221. Everyone is walking in with some sort of infirmity.

  222. I'm like, wow, wow, that guy's hurting and the Lord bless them

  223. and all. I'm just thinking all these

  224. things as they're walking in now.

  225. As I sat there. An interesting thing happened

  226. when they walked out. This is what they look like.

  227. And I was thinking to myself, man, if you guys are walking in

  228. to get healing from the sky and you walk out the same way, maybe

  229. you shouldn't be going to this place because there's no healing

  230. in that place. Are you picking up what I'm

  231. putting down? I know.

  232. And I'm so glad that if I were to sit in this parking lot and

  233. watch everybody walk in and we. All war physically.

  234. Our ailments, whatever they are, mental, spiritual, emotional, we

  235. would all walk in with limps. We would all walk in with the I

  236. got a pain into this and my arm and a sling.

  237. But what the world is? Seeing is that we walk out the

  238. same way and they're wondering. Where is the hope of the gospel

  239. if the very people who. Proclaim it are still unhealthy

  240. themselves. I'm not going to go to that

  241. doctor if he ain't healing. I'm not going to that church if

  242. there's no. Healing, I believe you.

  243. Ready. For some good news, almost.

  244. I believe that not yet. I believe God wants to show us

  245. the major. Issue today.

  246. Bring it to mind. I think you.

  247. Already are aware of this. But bring it to mind so that it

  248. can be dealt. With right, it's like.

  249. Oh wow, now I know the. Issue.

  250. Let's deal with it. The single most impactful block

  251. that inhibits our lives from receiving the power of.

  252. God is sin. Yay, it's.

  253. Sin. I want to show you 2 examples in

  254. the scripture of how our SIN inhibits our lives from

  255. receiving the power. Of God first Peter, chapter 3.

    1 Peter 3 chapter mention

  256. Verse 7. Husbands, in the same way be

  257. considered as you live with your wives and treat them with

  258. respect as the weaker partner and as heirs.

  259. With you of the gracious gift of life, so that.

  260. Nothing will hinder your prayers.

  261. Treat your wife as a coheir. She's equal to you.

  262. In the Kingdom. So treat her as such, and when

  263. you don't, you're in sin. And when you're in sin, your

  264. prayers are hindered. What does that mean?

  265. Well, let's talk about it in a minute.

  266. Let me show you another scripture.

  267. Matthew chapter 5 May be more familiar to you, verse 23.

    Matthew 5 chapter mention

  268. Therefore, if you are. Offering your.

  269. Gift at the altar I've. Come to worship and remember

  270. that. Your brother or sister has.

  271. Something against you, which means I've sinned against my.

  272. Brother or sister, look what Jesus says.

  273. Leave. Your gift there in front of the.

  274. Altar first before you worship. And make offering go and be

  275. reconciled to them. Then come and offer your gift.

  276. Before you make your offering. Go and make it right.

  277. Both of these verses are. Indicating to us that our sin

  278. has an impact on our connection to the.

  279. Power of God, Yes, let it be stated.

  280. Clearly that faith in Jesus. Has granted to us.

  281. Forgiveness from the Father removing from us the penalty of

  282. sin, but that does not mean that the consequences of our sin

  283. don't have an effect on the way. That we relate to the.

  284. Power of God, prayers hindered, worship delayed.

  285. I need to clear. Up a lot of theological.

  286. Things here because. This could get really

  287. legalistic. And really overburdened with

  288. what is not truth. So I want to make it as clear as

  289. I can. If you have questions, Info at

  290. Illuminate dot church. I will respond to you.

  291. Info at Illuminate. Dot church the.

  292. Hindrance that is spoken about in First Peter chapter 3 is not

    1 Peter 3 chapter mention

  293. on the. Power of God.

  294. God's power. Cannot be diminished.

  295. He's omnipotent. Rather, what is hindered is our.

  296. Ability to agree with to. Partner with the power of God

  297. and so the effects. Of the.

  298. Power of God are diminished in us as we do not receive them as

  299. they're meant to be. Received How does this work?

  300. Well, Prayer. Is an activity of faith.

  301. It's by faith that we pray. We pray.

  302. To that which is unseen, it's. Faith.

  303. It's belief. God, I'm.

  304. Trusting your word. It's faith.

  305. Prayer is also the. Exchange of wills the most.

  306. Beautiful prayer ever, Jesus says.

  307. Not my will be done. But your will.

  308. Be done, and when we sin, we're in the.

  309. Opposite of faith. And when we sin, we're in the

  310. opposite of exchanging wills. Faith.

  311. Says God I trust. In you and all of your ways.

  312. Sin says I trust. In myself and in all of my ways.

  313. Faith says I agree with you God. Sin says I don't agree.

  314. With you, and in this way, our prayers are hindered and our

  315. offerings are. Delayed.

  316. To be clear, theologically. Get this right?

  317. Does this mean when we sin that God doesn't hear?

  318. Our prayers, Yeah, if you. Say no.

  319. Say it no with some authority. Absolutely not.

  320. Does this mean that? God isn't attentive.

  321. To me, when I sin again, the answer is thank you wife.

  322. I don't think it'll surprise. You that God hears every.

  323. Prayer, and every prayer is uttered from the lips of

  324. sinners. He hears them all.

  325. The sin hinders our ability to partner.

  326. With the work of God. Hindered in the Bible literally

  327. means to impede a moving. Object.

  328. So God's activity. Is moving.

  329. The Bible says that it the word. Of God is alive and active.

  330. This thing is moving. The Word is moving the.

  331. Spirit of God is. Moving the healing of God is

  332. moving the. Power of God is upon.

  333. Us, and we hinder it, we impede that which is moving by our sin.

  334. If you want to think of it this way, you got a hose the water.

  335. Is the power of God. And we take our hands and sin,

  336. and we go kink, and we block what God is trying to do and

  337. move in our lives. And thus even in the.

  338. Church unhealth abides. Unhealth persists.

  339. Now Are you ready for some good news?

  340. Don't shoot the messenger. What's the?

  341. Solution as I said. Last week, Week 2 or week 3.

  342. But habit 2 Jesus people apply the word of God.

  343. If you have a question, ask the Bible.

  344. And you'll find your answers. So let's.

  345. Ask the Bible this question how do I unkink unleash the power of

  346. God's healing in my life so that I am peculiarly.

  347. Healthy. My marriage is healthy, my

  348. mental state is healthy, my finances are healthy, my.

  349. Body is healthy 2 scriptures. One from the old, one from the

  350. new. Which means this is a theme, a

  351. banner in Christianity. Proverbs chapter 28, verse 13.

    Proverbs 28:13

  352. We begin to see the solution through the word.

  353. Of God, whoever. Conceals their sins, does not.

  354. Prosper. But the one who confesses and

  355. renounces them finds mercy. James chapter 5, verse 16

    James 5:16

  356. you'll. See a word repeated therefore.

  357. Confess. There's the repeated word in

  358. both verses, your sins to each other, and pray for each other

  359. so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous

  360. person. Is powerful and effective habit

  361. three of the. 7 Habits of Jesus people.

  362. Jesus. People use confession to unleash

  363. the power of God in their lives. Is this a habit of yours?

  364. Confession. We value right relationship with

  365. God. We value His power in our life.

  366. Therefore, we will practice. Confession if you're putting

  367. together a rule of life value and.

  368. Practice value the. Power of God in our lives.

  369. Practice confession. Let's talk about Catholicism for

  370. a second. I have never been in a

  371. confessional booth, but I've seen one on TV.

  372. I've seen them in the movies. Quite honestly, they scare me to

  373. death. I don't like small spaces and

  374. that little curtain and talking to somebody.

  375. I don't know how it works and I'm not making fun.

  376. It sounds like I'm making fun. I shouldn't make fun.

  377. Forgive. Me But when James says confess

  378. your sins one to another, and never says confess your sins

  379. only to a priest. And so when you hear the word

  380. confession, don't put a stereotype or an old practice

  381. from another denomination in your mind.

  382. Let's let the Lord reset that. And speak to us.

  383. Clearly, what this powerful gift.

  384. That he commands us to do invites.

  385. Us to do. Can bring about in our lives

  386. confession. What does it even mean?

  387. Confession means to acknowledge full agreement.

  388. Openly acknowledge. That means mental awareness that

  389. I'm coming into full agreement. I'm 100% convinced I'm bought

  390. in. But the key to confession is the

  391. openly part. Publicly to speak about that

  392. which you have. Believed internally last.

  393. Week we had 62. People make confession when they

  394. went in the waters of baptism, was it?

  395. Wait, I hope you got to see it. Look at that.

  396. And look at that and look at that and look at that.

  397. I only have 4 pictures. We could have taken 6200

  398. pictures. There's.

  399. Always tears of joy, Sweet. Surrender.

  400. Just incredible healing going on in the.

  401. Waters of Christ, Jesus, beautiful, all of these.

  402. People are making a confession. I acknowledge that I have come

  403. into full agreement with Jesus as my Savior and Jesus as my

  404. Lord, and I'm now publicly making that declaration.

  405. Baptism is a confession. Powerful.

  406. Beautiful. If you're waiting to get

  407. baptized in here next time, don't.

  408. Delay it any longer next. Time we do this like 3 or 4 * a

  409. year I can't even remember. 62 people.

  410. Praise God, Amen. In terms of sin, when we

  411. confess, we are agreeing with God that our ways are not.

  412. His ways that his ways are perfect.

  413. In design for us to have the most abundant life possible.

  414. And I'm coming into agreement. God, your ways are right.

  415. And my ways lead to death. I'm out of alignment.

  416. To kill your people, confess Jesus, People who are light.

  417. In the darkness. Confess and as they confess.

  418. The Word of God promises this mercy and healing.

  419. Apply that to wherever you're locked.

  420. Up in your life, mercy and healing.

  421. And it comes via confession. Let's again talk theology.

  422. When you put your faith in Jesus, you are forgiven of your

  423. sins, but you might not be. Healed of them you are.

  424. Forgiven of the penalty. Do you?

  425. Which is death. Do me?

  426. Which is death, because Jesus took our place on the cross,

  427. paid the ultimate sacrifice. Once and.

  428. For all that, whoever. Believes in Him will not perish

  429. but have everlasting life. Our we, We won't die because of

  430. our sin. However, the power of.

  431. Sin and its consequences still is on the earth.

  432. And how do we overcome those? By healing.

  433. And how do we heal? Confession.

  434. Faith helps us with our forgiveness.

  435. Confession helps us with healing from the power and the

  436. consequences of sin. Thank God.

  437. So how does it work? How does confession work?

  438. How does confession unkink the hose and allow healing and

  439. breakthrough to come to your life?

  440. 4 things I want to share. With you briefly 4 healing.

  441. Benefits of confession if you're.

  442. Ready to say yes? First, confession heals pride.

  443. And by the way, when you see these 4.

  444. All four, Well, the. Three of the first ones, I

  445. should say. The three first ones are weapons

  446. of the enemy. Their attempts to have

  447. brokenness reside in your home for you to remain in bondage

  448. though. Christ has set you free.

  449. Pride, everyone say pride. Pride is the basis.

  450. Of all sin. If you're to build a.

  451. House called Sin. The foundation would be called

  452. Pride. If you're to bake bread.

  453. Called sin, the flour is pride. It's the center.

  454. Of it all and. It's the genesis of the very

  455. first sin ever created, which was when Lucifer decided that he

  456. wanted to be God in heaven. God kicked him out of heaven and

  457. then he used the same tactic, he being the devil on us in the

  458. garden and says, you know, maybe you should eat from this tree

  459. that God told you not to eat from it because when you do eat

  460. from it, you will be like him. Don't you want to be like?

  461. Him. Don't you want to be God?

  462. That's not what it says, but. That's what it says.

  463. And Adam. And Eve.

  464. And Tim. And Christine.

  465. Whoever was there would have. Eaten because that's our nature.

  466. Confession heals pride. Because if you were build a

  467. house called. Confession The foundation is

  468. called humility. When you confess, what you're

  469. doing is taking yourself from your.

  470. Lofty place where you thought you were right.

  471. And you're lowering yourself and confessing to the Lord.

  472. Your ways are right. And I was wrong or you're

  473. confessing to somebody else, human to human.

  474. I was wrong and I am apologizing.

  475. You're lowering yourself and in humility, pride begins to erode

  476. in your life. And the more you confess, the

  477. more that pride is eroded, and the more that.

  478. Pride is eroded. The less you sin because pride

  479. is the foundation of sin. Humility can wipe it out, and

  480. that happens via confession. I have to humble myself.

  481. I'm going to tell you this now for later.

  482. Today for the victory. To come to you, it's going to

  483. take some humility. You're going to have to not

  484. worry about what other people think and just.

  485. Do what? God's.

  486. Asking you to do humbly. Just seating that in now #2

  487. Confession heals isolation, another tactic of the enemy.

  488. Sin seeks to draw a person away from community in two ways.

  489. Maybe three. The first is.

  490. I've sinned. I'm such a terrible human being.

  491. I am not worth love or being loving somebody else.

  492. I'm just. An awful, terrible, guilty,

  493. yucky man. So I isolate that's.

  494. One way. The other way is.

  495. I'm enjoying my sin, but I don't want to be.

  496. Caught because that would be. Embarrassing.

  497. So I'm going to hide in the darkness away from everybody so

  498. they don't see my sin. And then I become a fraud.

  499. So I'm going to hide. I'm drawing away from community

  500. in my sin. The third way is the enemy

  501. telling you you're the only one who's got this problem.

  502. You're all alone. Ain't nobody.

  503. But you? That's as terrible as you.

  504. A sack of potatoes. Confession, as James has taught

  505. us, to another human being, takes me from isolation back

  506. into community. I've got to confess to a human.

  507. That's what James is telling us. I can't hide in the corners over

  508. here. I'm going to come forward and

  509. confess to you. Couple notes.

  510. By the way, if you're the one receiving a confession, receive

  511. it in the same manner that. You hope that you are.

  512. Received in When You Confess, Gracious, compassionate, knowing

  513. that I am no better than the one confessing.

  514. And secondarily, when we confess, we realize we're not

  515. alone. There's been times you've heard

  516. me from this platform say, hey, I got anxiety.

  517. Which is hard to say because the preach is supposed to have it

  518. all together. Guess what?

  519. I'm looking at Pastor Voldemear Preach.

  520. You don't have it all together. One time I punched a hole

  521. through my wall and I confessed that in front of the church and

  522. I had so many people come up to me like you're not alone.

  523. I'm like let's journey. This Let's get Better Together.

  524. Sin wants to. Isolate you, the devil.

  525. Wants to isolate you. Confession draws you into

  526. community and heals you of isolation #3 Confession.

  527. Heals you of this secret tactic. Of the enemy Denial Denial is a

  528. weapon of the enemy. Alcoholics Anonymous was formed

  529. in 1930 by two guys named Bill Wilson and Bob Smith.

  530. They're not. Positive because it's.

  531. Hard to count these things, but there are over 2 million people

  532. who have been freed of alcoholism because of the.

  533. Start of this 12 step. Group called Alcoholics

  534. Anonymous. And of course now there's

  535. Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, all sorts of

  536. anonymous things that are helping people break free.

  537. And maybe you're familiar with this, maybe not, but they run

  538. through 12 steps. Do you know what step number one

  539. is? Confession.

  540. Here are the words actually. We admitted we were powerless

  541. over. Alcohol that our lives had.

  542. Become unmanageable. All three that I've talked about

  543. so far this. Takes humility to admit this.

  544. This is drawing them back into community.

  545. They meet in these groups, right?

  546. And then they're breaking this denial.

  547. I am not able to handle alcohol. It's owning me my.

  548. Life, as a result, has. Become unmanageable.

  549. It's part of the healing process in the 12 steps.

  550. The very. First step, it's confession.

  551. Healing takes place because we finally own our ailment.

  552. It happens through something called introspection.

  553. Everyone say introspection. I'm going to look inwardly and

  554. determine what it is in here that's not doing so well.

  555. I'm going to look inwardly and determine what in here is not

  556. behaving so well, not thinking so well.

  557. And then I'm going to be honest about it.

  558. And in terms of confession, I'm not going to be honest about it

  559. privately. I'm going to be honest about it

  560. publicly to heal me of pride, to heal me of isolation, to draw me

  561. into the family. Denial is partnering with the

  562. enemy because to deny the. Truth is to lie.

  563. And the devil. Is the father of lies.

  564. And so when we deny what's going on in here, we're just agreeing

  565. to the darkness. But when we confess, we.

  566. Partner. With and agree with the actual

  567. truth and Jesus. Told us what the truth does, he

  568. says. You will know the truth and.

  569. It will set you free. Confession is bringing to light

  570. what the enemy wants you to keep in darkness.

  571. Denial, denial, denial. Stay in the dark, Stay in the

  572. dark, stay in the dark. Confession.

  573. Light breaks. In and the darkness is repealed.

  574. Confession heals pride, heals Isolation heals denial, and

  575. here's the 4th 1. Confession heals relationships.

  576. When we obey Jesus. And we go and reconcile with

  577. those who have something against us, somebody that we have sinned

  578. against. We are participating in

  579. confession, my friend, my wife, my brother, whoever.

  580. I have sinned against you and I'm acknowledging it.

  581. Publicly, and for that I apologize.

  582. Two quick notes. Note #1 Confession and apology

  583. are not the same thing. We often just do 1.

  584. Do both. I'm sorry.

  585. And when somebody. Apologizes to you.

  586. Maybe, maybe you have the gumption to say this, but

  587. sometimes I'm like. For what?

  588. And do you know what you're apologizing for?

  589. Do you know how you hurt me? I confession is me saying to

  590. you. Exactly what I.

  591. Think I did. That hurt you, that.

  592. Wronged you and then the apologies to say I'm sorry.

  593. Will you forgive? Me and the second note about

  594. this healing relationships. Confession should be made to the

  595. one sinned against. Let me just read what I wrote

  596. here. Most Christians display a

  597. preference for confession in secret before God.

  598. Even concerning matters which involve other people To confess

  599. to God seems to be the easiest. Way out, Jesus says.

  600. Before you bring your offering to me, go and make your

  601. confession. To those that you've hurt.

  602. And then bring your offering to me.

  603. Go and confess 3 words. Introspection, responsibility

  604. and acknowledgement. This is how you confess, if

  605. you're wondering how I'm going to introspect.

  606. I'm. Going to realize where I am out

  607. of alignment with another person, with the Lord my God,

  608. I'm going to acknowledge it. Which is to take.

  609. Personal responsibility for it, and then I'm going to go and

  610. make I said that backwards introspection.

  611. Responsibility and acknowledgement this last part

  612. of. Speaking it out loud, no longer

  613. hiding it in the darkness. Well, I told it to God.

  614. Nobody else needs to know. Well, the healing comes because

  615. your pride needs to go away, which heals you from.

  616. The desire to do. Sin your isolation goes away,

  617. which means you're not out there in the wilderness by yourself.

  618. Easily to be picked off. Goes away.

  619. Your denial goes away, which means you're partnering with the

  620. enemy when you confess to another person in the 1700s.

  621. The. Revival swept over the nation of

  622. England and even made its way to the United States of America.

  623. There is this group of people that practiced the habit.

  624. Of confession. It was one of their methods and

  625. this movement began what is today known as the Methodist.

  626. Church say what? You will about the denomination

  627. today, but when it began. It was a wildfire that broke out

  628. of spiritual power. Across two nations, 2 continents

  629. and the root of. It was the habit of public.

  630. Confession. Standing before your brothers

  631. and sisters and saying this is where I'm out of alignment with

  632. the Lord. This is where I'm out of

  633. alignment with you, and I want to come back on a return into

  634. community, into the power of God and the healing is released.

  635. What we're going to do here today is allow you the

  636. opportunity to make your confession in three ways.

  637. On the sides of the platform here are going to be our prayer

  638. altar ministry team. If you all want to come forward

  639. now, you can come now. And in the middle are going to

  640. be three of our elders, Pastor Valdemir, Pastor Kim, Dakota

  641. Page. They'll be here if you.

  642. Want to confess something that's been going on in your life?

  643. You know, say I've been out of alignment with the Lord.

  644. I'm coming into agreement that his ways are better than my

  645. ways, than these prayer altar ministry.

  646. Folks are here to receive. Your confession?

  647. They're not. Judges they are with.

  648. You they're bringing you back into community out of isolation,

  649. helping you to diminish the pride in your life getting rid

  650. of denial these. Folks are here for that.

  651. Why are the elders here? Well, James chapter 5 which says

    James 5 chapter mention

  652. confess your sins one to another and you will be healed is in the

  653. context of physical healing. And right before James chapter 5

    James 5:16

  654. verse 16, it says if any of you is sick, come before the church

  655. and let the elders anoint you with oil and they'll be healing.

  656. And what we find so often in the.

  657. Church. Is that physical?

  658. Elements are tied to spiritual elements.

  659. There's something going on your life, unconfessed sin, a block

  660. of some sort, and so you get to come to an elder and say, hey,

  661. I'm confessing this in my life and then we're going to.

  662. Pray they have oil. They're going to anoint you with

  663. oil because it says that in James Chapter 5.

    James 5 chapter mention

  664. Anointed with oil and pray and there will be healing.

  665. We're believing for that today. As I said, it's going to take

  666. humility because you're going to think, well, if I go up,

  667. everyone's going to think that I've done something wrong.

  668. Guess what we all have? We all have a confession to

  669. make, and so we're going to linger.

  670. Here the third is this. And I'm just going to pray a

  671. prayer real quickly. Maybe not, maybe.

  672. Probably there's somebody you need to go and make confession

  673. to. As Jesus has taught us.

  674. That you have sinned against and you've been for so long holding

  675. on to your pride, saying I'm not going to apologize, I'm not

  676. going to them. Regardless of what they do.

  677. The command of God is upon you to go and make your confession

  678. to them and make it right. Don't just apologize, confess.

  679. So my prayer that I'm going to pray is Lord put a name on my.

  680. Heart of A. Person that I need.

  681. To go to today. And make my confession.

  682. Let's just pray that prayer real quick.

  683. Father you are, you are wise. You know every person in this

  684. room, you know how many hairs are on their head.

  685. I mean, you know. Every detail about us.

  686. So this is easy for you, Lord. To know the situation and the

  687. relationships of our lives and who it is that we need to make

  688. confession. To so Holy Spirit.

  689. Now, right now, would you just fill in the blank for each of

  690. us? A name, a Co worker, a friend, a

  691. family member that I need to make my confession to today and

  692. say I have done this to you and I am wrong and I apologize.

  693. Father, I pray that you would. Back that up now with your.

  694. Spirit, that you would give power to us to do what you have

  695. called us to do. And Lord, now I pray for your

  696. spirit of faith and peace. To rise over the House today.

  697. As you've opened up your altar for anyone to come and make

  698. confession, God and I pray in the name of Jesus that you would

  699. release your healing as we come. We are trusting your word that

  700. as we confess our sins one to another.

  701. We will be healed body. Mind, soul, spirit,

  702. relationships in Jesus name. Thanks for joining us today.

  703. We hope God is speaking to your heart through this message.

  704. If you'd like to connect with us, you can text Connect to 4:07

  705. 588-0115 or visit Illuminate dot Church.

  706. Have a great week.