Transcript: Confessions of Faith (Henry Reyenga)

Video Transcript: Confessions of Faith (Henry Reyenga)

One of the roles that you have as an ordained officiant is the role of leading someone to become a believer in Jesus Christ. Jesus, after he rose from the dead, said, go make disciples of all nations goes our role that He gave His disciples, the first apostles, the first ministers to go and make disciples. It is an officiant role because there is a certain ceremony. Often, it's a very personal ceremony. Sometimes it's a segment in a worship service where a minister then asks the entire congregation or audience, if they would like to say the sinner's prayer, but it is clearly an officiant role. It could be a role done on the internet, or it could be done with zoom. It has a role of asking someone if they would like to become a follower of Jesus Christ. Explain what that means. Then help them make that step. It is a role for people who are not ordained but for people who are ordained is a beautiful opportunity, because then those who listen to the gospel, know that you have received training, and that you are willing and able and competent, to help them make the most important decision of their life. 

we are going to talk about confession of faith as one of the roles of an officiant. Romans 10:9-10 says, that if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart, that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made under salvation. For Scripture says, whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed. this is an important decision. It's an important little micro ceremony if it's one on one. It's an important church event, or a segment of this. It can be an important video for YouTube or social media. This is something that when people make that decision, when it's done with a feeling, context of official act, it becomes extremely powerful. I want to do a survey of Scripture passages, about confession of faith, just to ground that in all of our minds, that when someone makes a confession of faith, it is something that is deeply important for Christians to do. Hebrews 3:1, therefore holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle in high priest whom we confess, he was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. Here we see that Jesus is the center of all of our aspirations. 

When it comes to Christianity, he is the apostle. There is no group of humans or other apostles that compare to Him. There's no High Priest that compares to Jesus. The confession is a powerful expression. Confession is something that ministers help people to do and to live in. Confessions have fruit, 2 Corinthians 9:12; the service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people, but is also overflowing in many expressions of things to God, because of the service by which you have proved yourself. Men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity and sharing with them and with everyone else. In their prayers for you, their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. In this passion, you see the kinds of obedience that accompanies confession. as an officiant when you help someone confess their faith. You're also helping them lean into the fruits and the obedience, such as giving and tithing and other things like that. As an officiant, you help people hold it to their confession. 

In Hebrews 4:13-15, there is no preacher that is hidden from his sight. But all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Having a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold tightly to our confession. For we don't have a high priest who can't be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. But one who has been in all points tempted, like we are, yet without sin. The officiant helps people see that Jesus totally understands what they're going through. Confession truly is a fruit. Hebrews 13:15. Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offered to God sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips, that confess his name. A lot of times we think of confession as something that you do when you said you confess. In many ways there is a similarity. When you confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, when you confess your sins to Him, what you are doing is you are saying that for your soul, for your future for your life, you are going to acknowledge Jesus as the center of your heart and life. Throughout the Bible, we hear phrases and ways to put this, such as in John three, unless you were born again. 

That's where we have John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Believe. Now, you could just say. you know, believe; I could just have belief. I believe the Green Bay Packers are going to win the Super Bowl. But there's a difference between belief that could just be out there, and confession. Confession is something that comes from the heart. It's something that's deeply connected to your dreams for your future and your destiny. when we see passages about holding on to our confession, we see passages such as the fruit of confession that this confession changes everything so that someone would give to the work of the Lord would not just give to buy things for themselves, but would tithe. A confession, in a lot of ways, is a gateway into Christianity, because it's where you put yourself lower than Jesus Christ. This is even for people who are ordained ministers and ministers of the gospel in 1 Timothy 6:11. But you man of God, flee from these things, and follow after righteousness, Godliness, faith, love, patience and gentlemen, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of the eternal life to which you are called. You can confess in the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. 

I charge you before God who gives life to all things and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate testified, the good confession. 1 Timothy 6:13 That is an action-packed powerful paragraph from Scripture. What you have here is a minister talking to another minister. you have the Apostle Paul, an apostle, a minister who is raising up Timothy, another minister, and he's encouraging Timothy to flee anything that takes away from his heavenly calling. He found that heavenly calling in a confession, in a confession was in a ceremony. There's a ceremony in here, the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. Timothy believes in the heart, confessed with his lips. now he is called he makes that confession that I stand with Jesus Christ. This confession is rooted in how the Lord Jesus made a confession, before Pontius Pilate before him in how he said, I am the Son of God. 

My father is my father. That was the cup, that he would take upon himself, the sins of the world. as officiants we are about helping people and helping them find their way in confession. But you man of God, flee these things and follow righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness, fight the good fight, lay hold of the eternal life for what you are called, and you confess a good confession in the sight of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:11-12. as an officiant, you are involved in a ceremony, or you're involved in ceremonies, of confession of faith. Really, confession of faith is very much connected to confessing your sins. Because you really are saying, I need a savior. My Savior is Jesus Christ. But with one little difference, this confession is that personal, like it's a sin that you confess to one another, which we're going to talk about in another presentation. This confession is a public confession. in the early church, there were people who confessed to Jesus Christ, and they lost their life for it. People who confessed Jesus Christ, not the Emperor. They lost their life. The apostle Paul lost his life confessing Jesus Christ. did Peter. did most of the first ministers. Today, confessing publicly that Jesus your Lord and Savior makes you a Christian. 

as an officiant, a Christian minister, this is something that we take sacred. It's this confession that sets up baptism. For a believer that sets up the Lord supper for a believer is this confession that is foundational for the calling into ministry. there are many people who have considered ministry and career they just want to do good. Some have not made this confession. But this confession is everything to make a connection between a human and Jesus Christ. it is official. That's right. It's official. I'm going to post a video in this class, of a video I made when I was a minister at Eagle Rock Community Church, about bringing someone to Christ, you will see a younger me there. I invite you to look at this video and maybe make your own presentation, your own memorized passages and how you lead someone to Christ. Whether the ceremony is just one on one, call that a micro ceremony, or you're visiting somewhere in the hospital or whether you're online, or whether it's in a small group, or whether it's a church service, or a larger group. with whatever connection it could be in. 

Internalize a ceremony inside of your heart, in your mind, we can just call passages. There's no reason that there has to be some pre-practice one to the point where you don't have a real freedom to say things different. Contextualize it, for instance, if you're with someone and they tell you all about their life, you can maybe add some things out connects to their story. But the key thing is to be able to wherever you are, as a minister and officiant be able to just clearly and succinctly communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ as an officiant. This is one service, one officiating service that you want to feel confident and competent to do. as an officiant a Christian officiant and Minister, leading someone to Jesus Christ is one of those things that is wonderful and enjoyable, and you open the door for people to walk with God forever.