Searching and Fearless

In one paragraph

This message was the fourth installment in Pastor Ray's series walking through the 12 steps of recovery as a framework for spiritual health. After briefly reviewing steps one through three from previous weeks, he turned to step four: making a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. He used the story of David and Bathsheba, a roadside breakdown on the way home from a funeral, and a...

Read together

1. John 16:7-13 Jesus in the upper room telling disciples the Holy Spirit would convict of sin, convince of righteousness, and guide into truth
2. Galatians 5:19-23 vice list including sexual immorality, fits of anger, drunkenness contrasted with the fruit of the Spirit
3. 1 Thessalonians 5 what God's will looks like: being grateful, encouraging one another
4. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 vice list including sexual immorality, adultery, homosexual activity, thievery, greed, drunkenness, reviling, swindling
5. Colossians 3 take off certain vices and put on their opposites
6. James 1:13-14 God is not the author of sin and does not tempt anyone
7. James 4:17 to know to do right and not do it is sin, used to illustrate disobedience
8. Psalm 139:23-24 David's prayer: search me oh God and know my heart, cleanse me from sin
9. Psalm 51 David's prayer of repentance after Nathan confronted him
10. 2 Samuel 11-12 David and Bathsheba, Uriah the Hittite, Nathan's parable confronting David's sin
11. Romans 1:29-31 vice list including wickedness, covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, gossip, slander, God-haters, insolent, haughty
12. 2 Timothy 3:2-5 vice list including lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy
13. 1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us
14. Ephesians 1:19-20 the incredible greatness of God's power for believers is the same power that raised Christ from the dead

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray described the Holy Spirit's role as convicting of sin, convincing of God's righteousness, and guiding us into truth. Where have you noticed any of those three at work in your own life recently?
2. Step four calls for a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. What makes it easier to spot flaws in others than in ourselves, and what gets in the way of honest self-examination?
3. Pastor Ray told the story of Nathan coming to David with a parable before saying 'you are that man.' Have you ever had someone help you see something in yourself that you could not see on your own? What made you able to receive it, or not?
4. Working through the vice lists from Galatians and Corinthians, Pastor Ray said pride shows up behind a lot of the other items on the list. Do you agree with that? Where do you see it at work in your own life?
5. The sermon closed with the hymn 'Search Me, O God,' noting how the verse moves from asking God to reveal sin, to praising Him for already cleansing it. What would it look like practically for you to pray that prayer and mean it this week?