During one part of our Good Friday service, the congregants were asked to write their sins on a little red sticky note and place that on a big red paper banner. I secretly wrestled over whether to be truthfully transparent or safely sanitized. Then a thought hit me. Which offenses do I want forgiven? What sinful bondage do I want freedom from?
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When I returned on Easter Sunday, I was a little stunned to see that all the little red sticky notes were still on the wall, but relieved when, as part of the morning message, our pastor tore down the whole red banner at once.
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If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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So were people reading the sticky note banner before the church service? Whew...glad I was out of town that weekend! ;-)
But seriously -- God's grace is beyond my comprehension, but I'm so grateful for it.
I like what your church did.
Here's something I've been doing for nearly a year. I use a prayer journal to write down my sins along with my prayer requests. I do this weekly. I pray for forgiveness and pray that God will continue to teach me. I can be honest and not be afraid to put it all down. My journal, somehow, keeps me accountable and it helps me to remember to pray for the change that is needed in me.
Although I don't deserve it, it's very comforting to know that I have a forgiving God.
Side note, my prayer journal is deep red - a big red sticky note ;-)
Craver,
if it were me, I'd be hesitant to write much that would be revealing. Why? 'Cause many people out there would use that info against you. Discretion is wise.
Yet, we should always be "soul-naked" before God. The only way to grow.
as someone involved in the planning of that service, let me clarify that no one's names were on the sticky notes. people placed their notes up their at different times and then went and were seated. and then on easter sunday, we were given a white sticky note, and after our sins were "torn down", we then wrote out our new name in christ and placed it up on a white sheet of paper. (i.e, holy vessel, child of god, heir, etc.)
i must say though, as i was setting up for easter and we were determining what do with the red sheet, i read a few of the anonymous posts and i just wept. i was so moved not only by people's honesty but by the specific picture i was given of what the cross had done for people in our church body. i was overwhelmed by the things god had freed us from and the things he was continuing to free us from, it was very powerful.
anonymous- i found your journal exercise to be very interesting. francis shaeffer used to do the same thing. he wrote down on a pad of paper that he kept in his pocket every sinful action, sinful thought that he had committed that day. however, at the end of the day he would tear up the paper and throw it out and declare the finished work of christ at the cross over his sin as he repented. that story has stuck with me. all that to say that some of the great christian practicioners of our time have found your activity to be effective!
I like that. Almost every year at Good Friday at my church, we nail pieces of paper to a cross, but the idea of red (and maybe even sticky--I think there's something very sticky about sin) and then tearing it all down is a great visual.
Amen and amen - forgiven and cleansed
Craver - wish I'd been there to see them taken down. I need that reminder. I walked around yesterday berating myself for a mistake I'd made the day before. Finally I realized I needed to confess it and consider it gone. Still it was hard to do.
My fear in putting up the red sticky? The fact that my list was so long! It seems the longer I walk with Jesus the more I see that He still needs to do in me(yet how awesome it is what He's already done!).
AMM, I have to laugh, because these new sanctified eyes let me see many things clearer, including my own sinfulness. But I remember using these confessional booths as a child and trying hard to remember the few ramblings I confessed, even though it might have been two months since my last confession! My, my, how blessed we are to be able to go before the Lord daily and come clean.
Hey, we had a banner too. But it was brown. And I was SO relieved when they lowered it, to reveal an empty cross and two silken white banners.
A powerful illustration of our Lord's work on the cross! Maybe our folks at Shiloh would appreciate something like that next Holy Week. Thanks!
Hey Shiloh Guy, you know what I would like to see some time? A really well done Passover Seder. I was at one a few years ago, and WOW that has a big impact on how I understand the events of Holy Week, especially the Last Supper.
Next year, we will probably bring back an interactive program we do called Experience the Passion-- an Interactive Stations of the Cross.
Uh, hmmm... what happened to you HC work post? Did the cybermonsters eat it?
that would be your HC work post... I didn't mean to make it sound like you'd morphed into a disappearing post
It wasn't ready yet, sorry. I'll put it back up right after work.
Craveman,
The last couple of years we have done a Stations of the Cross-Tenebrae service that I wrote and it has provided meaningful times of worship for us.
At my last church we did the Seder on Maundy Thursday. But we had a huge kitchen there whereas Shiloh meets in an elementary school. I look forward to resuming the Seder when we get into our own building, DV!
Dave
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