"Confession: The Inbreak of Light"

These are my notes from Apex. We are still in the series Repentance

Psalm 51:1-13

Sorrow for sin is not the same as repentance
Religious repentance vs gospel repentance

Religious repentance..got caught..I messed up with God. I'll do better
Need to pay a debt because I've messed up...despair
Gospel centered...Jesus as the centerpiece
Getting the poison out is biblical
Confession(one voice) Agreeing with God about my sin
We all need a Nathan in our life..love us by encouraging but not afraid to confront us with our sin
Godward confession involves an appeal to God's love and mercy while also acknowledging his pure justice
When you have nothing to stand on..incriminating..you can only ask for mercy
We are clothed in Christ
When we sin we try to make God our getaway driver..trying to make God complicit with our crime
If God practiced his wrath, David wouldn't have a place to stand on. God practiced mercy.
We want to self justify when we sin

Six desires of Godward confession

1. Desire to be clean
Sin leaves a stain.
Hebrews 9 The blood of Christ cleans us.
Memories we have are used to remind us of our need for Christ

2. A desire to recognize the pollution of our sin
Sin never just impacts you. It affects family,friends,Psalm 40:12

3. Desire for a changed heart
You can't just change outward things around you

4. A desire for true joy

5. A desire for spiritual intimacy
Holy Spirit in the New Testament
The wheels come off the wagon when you aren't communing with God

6. A desire to be on mission
Followers of Christ are in war..If you aren't on mission, sin creeps in.

Tim Keller "All of Life is Repentance"..info on "The City"

The What and Why of Repentance

These are my notes from the sermon at Apex 11/14

Acts 17:29-31

Once Jesus saves you..you can't be snatched. Once you are sealed in Christ..you persevere to produce fruit.

Sometimes when disciples live their lives, they minimize the importance of the day to day walk in holiness.
We think our behavior from day to day doesn't matter....BUT IT DOES.

Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ willed that the whole liffe of believers should be repentance..Martin Luther

Repentance is not a one time occurence

Repentance is a school from which we should never graduate

Repentance ..heartfelt sorrow for sin..a renouncing of it

True repentance will entirely change you

Some see repentance as feeling bad about consequences ...this is not true biblical repentance.
Change needs to happen at the root..the heart

Mars Hill in Athens..an area where people would debate ideas. Paul goes and share the gospel and builds trust with them.
He acknowledges they are religious. To be human is to be religious
God has sovereignly placed us where we are to be.
God is not a statue
God is living..pulsating..full of life

1. Our entire existence is dependent on the providence of God
Job 12:10
Psalm 36:9
Colossians 1:17
Hebrews 1:3

Why do we need repentance?

1. We are natural born idolaters (v29)
Idolatry is fought hardest in the mind
Faulty thoughts in the person of Christ

2. Universal human need(v 30)
From Genesis to Christ's birth God restrained over and over his judgment
With the cross, judgment has a sharper point

3. There is impending judgment (v 31a)
He has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness
What about Gandhi? This is often asked
We don't judge each other by each others righteousness. You will always find someone worse than you. We will be judged by His righteousness which means no hope for eternity or in His righteousness

4. Jesus is the prosecutor. (31b)
We all like him to be our savior but He is also the judge and prosecutor
James 5:9

Repentance is a grace.
Faith is turning to Christ and repentance is turning from sin...
How did we get repentance? By Jesus dying on the Christ
Have you asked God to forgive you for your thoughts about Him?

"Adoption"

These are my notes from Apex this morning.
Romans 8: 12-17

This is Orphan Sunday.
Every disciple needs to be involved in orphan care.
Most cultures value widows and widowers but not orphans.
There are orphans all over the world. In the United States we have 150,000.
Nov 15th is a day in Washington to support a bill for legislation to stop Child Trafficking. 30 million children are forced into sex slavery.
Mentoring project...Big brother/Big Sister
SAYF..Special alternatives for youth and family. Apex holds a Christmas Party every year for these kids and it's a great way to become involved.
God has given us the spirit of adoption.

The spirit of adoption transforms our relationship with God by changing our identity toward God.

You are sons/daughters of God or you are an enemy.

The spirit of adoption:

1 Gives God's children a killer instinct toward sin

2 Frees his children from living out of devastating fear

3 Provides his children confidence of who they are. We are loved and honored like Christ is.

4 Infuses his children with blood bought tenacity.

Literal adoption is not for the faint of heart. It's not just the "cool and in thing to do" For some it is a long and expensive process.

Phil and Amber Wing talked about what they went through in order to adopt Silas from Ethiopia. Their testimony is a beautiful story of how when you are obedient to God, it may not be easy but it's a blessing. Phil wrote a song called "To Find You" about that journey..beautiful song..makes me tear up when I hear it.

So many ways to help the orphan,fatherless, and lonely...you just need to go out and get involved.