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Repentance resources

By Amber | October 24, 2008

A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Dave talked about the importance of continual cleansing by repentance so that we can walk in fellowship with God. That sermon, out of the three on the Blood of Christ, was the most impacting to me personally, although it took me almost a full week to put it into practice.

I had allowed some changes in my health to come between me and my time with God.  After several weeks of this, during that sermon I was convicted that I needed to get back into fellowship with Him.  But by that time, I was already in the darkness.  To my surprise I found that I really didn’t want to step back into the light. After so many weeks of unconfessed sin, I knew there would need to be a lot of cleansing that I was reluctant to go through.  I didn’t want to see my sin in the light and be broken by it.

With an almost numb heart I went to small group on Thursday night and confessed to my accountability group.  I knew I needed to get right with God, but I didn’t want to.  They encouraged me, prayed for me, and promised to call me the next day to make sure I had taken that time with God.  Putting that out there into the light was the first step. After that, it seemed so much easier to confess to God and let Him cleanse me.  I was reminded of Ephesians 5:13-14:

But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says,

“Awake, sleeper

And arise from the dead,

And Christ will shine on you.”

Daily confession and repentance keeps you in the light, and in fellowship with God and other light-walkers.  Here are a couple of resources to help you and your small group with that goal.

The first is a Confession Guide, which is a list of confession questions extracted from the book How to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life by Gregory Frizzell.  These are intended for use in personal confession time, but a few key ones could be used during group confession time.

The second is a playlist of repentance songs from my favorite bands at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.  Surrounding yourself by light-filled media - like songs, sermons, and the Bible - is a great way to keep your mind filled with the light and your heart wanting to be in the light. Here it is:

Repentance Songs
Song Album Artist Time
Come Ye Sinners Mars Hill Church Music Ex Nihilo 3:41  
We Have Not Known Thee Mars Hill Worship The Parsons 5:09  
What Have We Done Mars Hill Church Music Northern Conspiracy 6:00  
With Broken Heart and Contrite Sigh Mars Hill Church Music Northern Conspiracy 4:20  
Give Me a New Heart Mars Hill Church Music Team Strike Force 4:30  
Surrender Mars Hill Church Music E-Pop 3:19  
I’ve Been Crucified Mars Hill Church Music E-Pop 2:42  
Oh My God Mars Hill Church Music E-Pop 4:37  
Love Lifted Me Mars Hill Church Music Red Letter 5:28  
He Speaks Mars Hill Church Music Sons of Thunder 2:11  
Blessed are the Forgiven Mars Hill Church Music BET 4:26  


11 songs

Topics: Small Groups, resources |

3 Responses to “Repentance resources”

  1. Dave Stone Says:
    October 28th, 2008 at 6:41 am

    Great thoughts, Amber. I appreciate the songs you shared.

  2. Yolanda Says:
    October 31st, 2008 at 11:52 pm

    Amber, thanks for sharing your heart with us! I love the resources that you give, especially the Confession Guide. By the way, our small group is studying the Core Disciple Curriculum and we loved the first Lesson on the authority of God’s word. We had a really good discussion on how His word is living and active and that its purpose is to make us wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

  3. Amber Says:
    November 3rd, 2008 at 8:40 pm

    Thanks, Yolanda! I’m glad to hear that the first lesson went so well. Keep me updated as the lessons go on!

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