In this series of posts we discuss the format and vibe of our gathered Sunday worship at Foundation Church.

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Confession of Sin

We always carve out space in our worship services to come to God and confess our sins. This most naturally happens after we have spent time adoring God and praising him for who he is. In confession we turn to look at ourselves and how we have lived our lives in light of all he is.

Confession is simply being honest before God. It is admitting the reality of sin in our lives and the specific ways we have veered from God’s perfect standards. This applies to all of us, whether long time followers of Christ, new to the faith, or just looking in from outside.

Here’s why we confess our sin in worship.

The Apostle John puts it like this:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)

Or James:

Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:16)

It’s important to note that both of these instructions were written in letters to the Church. So confession is an important practice for the church. But confession is also a gift, pointing beyond us and our sin to what Jesus achieved for us at the cross!

How it works out at Foundation Church

At Foundation Church, we use various tools to help us as we confess our sin. We may read scripture aloud together, taking biblical confessions as our own words (Psalm 51 for example). Sometimes we have scripture read to us, or we may use beautiful prayers of confession from church history (such as Puritan prayers or the Book of Common Prayer). We also use silence to help us reflect and pray silent prayers of confession ourselves.

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Foundation Church meets every Sunday 10:30am at Wandsworth Community Centre, 26A Belmont Church Road, Belfast, BT4 3FF