Greater Things: For a Broken Church

Sermon Quick Summary
            God has a mission for God’s Church with the world in turmoil; the absolute truth is that God is in control. In praying like Daniel:  (1) begin with who God is (Daniel 9:4-5); (2) confess honestly and specifically (Daniel 9:5-10); (3) acknowledge God’s mercy (Daniel 9:9-10). Daniel owned his confession. Real confession requires real honesty. Honest confession is about health, wholeness, and God’s mercy not condemnation. God forgives us so that we may be free. Corporate confession is a calling to intercede for the Church. We acknowledge the challenge that intercession is hard. Throughout history, there have been those who have stood in the gap with prophetic truth actively interceding for a broken people and a broken Church. You are invited now to stand in the gap with a prayer of confession and responsive reading on behalf of God’s people everywhere which is modeled after Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9:4-19. God responds and we must keep praying. We have a challenge to continue standing in the gap trusting God for greater things and a hope that calls us to lift our voices in faith, not defeat, because of the God we serve who keeps God’s promises for greater things.
 
God has a mission for God’s Church with the world in turmoil; the absolute truth is that God is in control.
            There’s so much happening in the world today; it is dizzying. It’s hard to know how to respond. However, the reliable truth is that God is in control. God has a mission for the church for such a time as this. But here is a challenging thought. Are we ready and up to the task? I’m talking about the big C Church the people of God at large. We talk about revival. We pray for God to move. We look around and see a world in turmoil with wars, injustice, division, and corruption. The question becomes - where are the people of God in the larger scheme of things?
            We say we want greater things, but the church seems so anemic. We are supposed to be salt and light, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. Too often, the Church itself is divided, distracted, and silent. Instead of leading the world toward healing, too often the people of God appear to be caught in the same struggles.
            Could it be that the reason we are not seeing greater things is because we have strayed from God’s vision and intention for God’s people? Have we strayed and gone our own way?
            Hold those thoughts as we go to God’s Word. This month we have been in the book of Daniel, a book that reminds us that no matter how uncertain or chaotic life becomes, God is in control. God in control is a perfect reminder for such a time as this.
            What’s interesting about the book of Daniel is that it is divided into two major sections. The first half, chapters 1 – 6, tells stories of life in the king’s court and faithfulness to God in exile—Daniel and his friends refusing the king’s food, surviving the fiery furnace, and Daniel trusting God in the lion’s den. Through it all, we see God’s protection and sovereignty. The second half, chapters 7-12, contains Daniel’s prophetic visions. In these visions, Daniel sees the rise and fall of various world empires culminating with the Kingdom of God which will endure forever.

In praying like Daniel:  (1) begin with who God is (Daniel 9:4-5); (2) confess honestly and specifically (Daniel 9:5-10); (3) acknowledge God’s mercy (Daniel 9:9-10).
            In Daniel 9 we come to an interesting part of the book. Daniel records a prayer in the middle of his dreams and visions. We will be reading selected verses from Daniel chapter 9 beginning with the first verse. Read the Word of the Lord.
            Daniel 9:1-3 declares, “It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.”
            Daniel 9:4-6 says, “I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: ‘O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands. But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations.” Daniel 9:6b and 9: 9-10 continue, “We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land. But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him. We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets.” Daniel 9:17-19 says, “O our God, hear your servant’s prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary. O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city—the city that bears your name—lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy. O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name.”
            We heard in the passage that Daniel was reading the writings of Jeremiah and becomes aware that according to God’s promise, Daniel and Israel’s time of captivity is coming to an end. He would have been reading the words in Jeremiah 29:10 declaring, “This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised and I will bring you home again.” God has promised greater things would come. But upon reflecting on these words, what does Daniel do? We don’t see him shouting for joy. We don’t see him preparing for victory. He didn’t “name it and claim it” and demand that God fulfill His promise.
            Instead, Daniel goes to God in prayer. He prepares for what’s coming by getting on his knees before God. Why? Daniel understood something we often miss. Before there can be true deliverance, there must be a confession that we have gone our own way and gotten off track. That’s why we need to be delivered in the first place – we need to acknowledge that we need help! In the same way, before there can be a revival, there must be repentance to turn from our ways. We must invite God’s Holy Spirit to fill us again and to revive us. This means that we were languishing or even worse near death!
            As Daniel goes to God in prayer he recognizes that sin is what led Israel into exile in the first place. When they return home, it’s not just about returning to their land, but primarily returning to God. Friends and family, confession and repentance are so important, not only for the Israelites, but also for us.
            When we want to see greater things and when we want to see God move in our lives and in God’s Church, we cannot simply ask for blessings while ignoring the ways we have strayed from God. We need to confess and repent wherever we have strayed from God. Let’s briefly break down Daniel’s prayer and see how to confess and repent.
            First, Daniel begins with who God is. "I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: ‘O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands. But we have sinned and done wrong.’"(Daniel 9: 4-5).
            Before Daniel talks about sin, or asks for anything, he begins by acknowledging who God is. God is great and awesome. God keeps His covenant. God is faithful, even when God’s people are not.
Why is it important to start with acknowledging who God is? Biblical confession in humility begins with God’s character, not our failures. If we start with ourselves, we can be too ashamed to go to God or too proud to admit our faults.
            When we start with God, we are reminded that God is merciful, God is faithful, and God is always ready to forgive. Biblical confession is not about us fixing or healing ourselves. It is about bringing us back to God, the One who can, which begins with who God is.
            Next, Daniel confesses sin honestly and specifically. Daniel 9: 5 – 6 says," But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. We have refused to listen to your servants, the prophets, who spoke on your authority."

Daniel owned his confession 
            Notice how Daniel is specific. (See Daniel 9:5). Daniels declares, “We have sinned. We have done wrong. We have rebelled. We have refused to listen”. Daniel does not sugarcoat the failures. He does not make excuses. He does not blame it on circumstances. Friends and family, this is where we must pause and ask ourselves: “Do we take confession seriously?”
            Too often our prayers sound like: "God, forgive me if I did anything wrong." Or “Lord, you know my heart."
 
Real confession requires real honesty.
            Daniel doesn’t pray, “God, you know, we’re only human.” Instead, Daniel prays, “We have sinned. We have rebelled. God, we have ignored you” (See Daniel 9:5). When was the last time you got real with God about sin you struggle with, choices you’ve made that were not pleasing to him, or thoughts and actions not in alignment with God’s ways and desire for your good?

Honest confession is about health, wholeness, and God’s mercy not condemnation.
            We cannot be healed if we do not first admit we are sick. We cannot be restored if we do not first admit we have fallen. Honesty before God is the path to deliverance and healing because of who God is, not because of who we are. We are broken people, which is why we need God’s mercy.
            Next, Daniel’s prayer acknowledges God’s Mercy. "But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him" (See Daniel 9:9). God is not looking to condemn us; this is the hope of confession and repentance. Jesus said, “I did not come to condemn the world, but to save it” (John 3:17). Jesus is looking to restore us. Daniel does not confess sin and leave it there to wallow in it. Daniel confesses, knowing that God is merciful.
            This is where we struggle. We don’t really fathom the mercy of God. We know we are undeserving. We know we have sinned. We know we have fallen short. Yet God still loves us. Even though we rebel, God forgives. Even though we ignore God, He calls us back. Even though we break our promises, God keeps promises. Even though we turn away, God never stops pursuing us to turn back to God. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
            God does not hesitate to forgive. God does not hold grudges against us. God does not say, “I told you so.” Instead, God runs toward us, arms open, offering grace we do not deserve. We must receive it and repent, accepting God’s grace and mercy. This is why confession is not about fear; it’s about freedom.
 
God forgives us so that we may be free.
            Confession and God’s mercy is not about fear, but it is about freedom from shame and guilt. Family, we are free to walk fully in God’s grace as cleansed to begin anew. Then we are also free for greater things.
            Each of us should take time to be with God. This specific time is not about anyone else right now. It is not about the Church, nor about the world. This is about you and God. This is a moment for God’s Holy Spirit to bring to your mind anything that comes to mind to confess and repent. We trust in God’s mercy and promise of forgiveness, to cleanse us afresh. Let’s view the video,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDwXg7nVIyk&ab_channel=PeculiarPrayze
Friends and family, say this breath prayer silently: Inhale – Thank you, Lord Exhale – For your mercy and forgiveness.

Corporate confession is a calling to intercede for the Church. 
            Why does the Church at large feels so anemic? Revival begins with a revival in us. Greater things in the Big C Church begin with greater surrender in our own hearts. First, we take time to confess personally, not just because we as individuals have sinned, but because we all have sinned. When we pray for the people of God, we are stronger, more faithful, and more aligned with God’s will. Prayer and longing begins with God’s work in each of us in our time of personal confession and repentance. That was Daniel’s practice, too. We know from the bible that Daniel prayed three times a day. Prayer would have included confessions, repentance, adoration, and praise.
            As Daniel prayed, did you notice the language? His confession language included "we." Daniel was standing in the gap interceding for the people. We not only stand before God as individuals, we are also part of a larger whole. The Bible calls us the bride and the body of Christ. We are the representatives of Christ in the world, but throughout history, we have fallen gravely short.
            Similarly as Daniel did in his prayer about God’s people, we must be honest about the ways the Church has strayed from God today and throughout human history and today. The list of the church straying from God is long and painful. There were the Crusade wars fought in the name of Christ, driven by conquest rather than love. The Inquisition misused Christian faith to persecute and terrorize rather than to redeem. Manifest Destiny and the Doctrine of Discovery were used to justify colonization, slavery, and the displacement of indigenous peoples in the name of God. The Church has been silent during injustice. In these moments the Church could have spoken but remained quiet, whether in the face of slavery, segregation, apartheid, or systemic oppression.
            Today, the Church continues to struggle. We see: division instead of unity, Church splits, denominational battles, racial divides, and political allegiances that have become more defining than our identity in Christ. We see scandals instead of integrity, marked by the failure of leaders meant to shepherd, and leaving behind broken people with wounded faith. In the Church, we see complacency instead of passion; portions of the Church often seek comfort over calling and safety over sacrifice. There’s so much brokenness; God help us.
            Family, we pray for a revival, but have we confessed why we need it? Sometimes, the greatest obstacle to the movement of God is not the world, but God’s own Christian people. As the Big C Church, the people of God, we need to confess and repent.
            It is tempting to separate ourselves, to look at the failures of the Church and say, “That’s not me. That’s them.” However, God doesn’t look to God’s Church as separate factions. God sees God’s body and family.
            God is our Heavenly Parent. As an illustration on earth, if a parent has multiple children and those children refuse to love one another, refuse to take responsibility as family members, misrepresent and harm the family name, how does that parent feel? God, as our Heavenly Parent, is grieved by the brokenness of God’s Church.
            However, sisters and brothers, we can and must stand in the gap for God’s people. As much as we may want to, we cannot look at the brokenness of the Church from a distance. Wherever there is brokenness in God’s people, that brokenness is our brokenness. We are the body of Christ. Remember that, like Daniel, confession, repentance, and interceding on behalf of God’s people is about healing, not blame. God’s Church needs healing today.

We acknowledge the challenge that intercession is hard.
            For some of us, the idea of standing in the gap to intercede and confess for the Big C Church may feel too hard. How do we intercede for a Church that has wounded so many? How do we confess on behalf of a people that has sometimes ignored, excluded, or even harmed people like us?
            We cannot ignore the painful truth that the Ku Klux Klan marched under a Christian banner. Christian nationalism has demonized and criminalized God’s beloved.
            The Church has too often been complicit in oppression rather than confronting it. We may even be tempted to say, “Those people” aren’t truly the church. They aren’t true followers of Christ.” However, that does not get us off the hook to pray. Jesus told us to pray for our enemies and to pray for the lost. However we may try to categorize them, the hard truth is that we are still called to pray. To pray on behalf of the church when you have been on the receiving end of its failures is an act of deep faith. It is not easy, but it is Christ like. Jesus stood in the gap In His final hours, as He hung on a cross mocked, beaten, and betrayed. Jesus could have condemned those who crucified Him. Instead, Jesus interceded for them when he said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). This is God’s call to stand in the gap for intercessory prayer with confession and repentance.  It is not to excuse sin, but to bring it before God and ask for mercy. We must engage in intercessory prayer not because it is easy, but because it is necessary. If want to see God move for greater things, we must be willing to pray as Daniel prayed, and as Jesus prayed including standing in the gap for confession and repentance.

Throughout history, there have been those who have stood in the gap with prophetic truth actively interceding for a broken people and a broken Church.
            The Civil Rights Movement was not just about changing laws; it was about praying for a nation to follow God’s arc of a moral universe.
            Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. prayed not only for justice but for the hearts of the oppressors to change. Dr. King interceded for a Church that had remained silent and for a nation that had lost its way.           Fannie Lou Hamer, even after suffering brutal oppression, continued to pray, not only for freedom, but for those who persecuted her. She interceded for the transformation of individuals and systems alike. Bishop Desmond Tutu and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission modeled what it means to stand in the gap for a nation. They not only exposed injustice; they also prayed for the healing of both the wounded and the ones who had done harm, seeking God's mercy on all. Each of these leaders understood that real change requires both prophetic truth and intercessory prayer.
            It is one thing to call people to repent; it is another to stand in the gap and pray on their behalf. That is what Daniel does in this passage. Daniel does not just say, "They have sinned." He says, "We have sinned," "We have fallen short. "We need God’s mercy."
            Friends, if we want to see greater things in the Church, in our country, and in our world, we must be willing to pray like Daniel and intercede. We must go before God with heavy hearts as we connect with God’s heavy heart and intercede on behalf of the brokenness of God’s people. We ask for God’s mercy and forgiveness.
    
You are invited now to stand in the gap with a prayer of confession and responsive reading on behalf of God’s people everywhere which is modeled after Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9:4-19.
Leader: O Lord, You are great and awesome, faithful to your promises and abounding in love.
People: But we have sinned and turned from Your ways. We have not always obeyed Your voice or followed Your commands.
Leader: You have called us to be light in the world, but we have been silent when we should have spoken.
People: We have chosen comfort over courage, self-interest over sacrifice.
Leader: You have commanded us to love one another, yet we have allowed division and pride to take root.
People: We have not pursued unity, nor loved as You have loved us.
Leader: Yet, O Lord, You are merciful and forgiving, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
People: We do not deserve Your grace, but You are faithful to restore.
Leader: So now, O God, we turn back to You. Hear our prayer and heal Your Church.
People: O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, restore us for the sake of Your name. Amen.

God responds and we must keep praying.
            Family, that prayer has allowed us to confess personally, intercede on behalf of the Church, and stand in the gap.  We have courageous, confident hope because our God is a God of restoration. God hears our prayers.
            As Daniel was still praying, the angel Gabriel came to him with this message in Daniel 9:23, “The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God.”  Did you catch that as soon as Daniel began praying, God responded. Before Daniel finished and before he could even say "Amen," heaven was already in motion. This is the power of prayer. This is the power of confession and repentance. This is the power of intercession. God is not waiting on our prayers to decide if God will act. God is already moving.
            Prayer does not just change our circumstances. Prayer changes us, humbles us, and aligns our hearts with God’s will. It opens us to hear what God is already speaking. We pray not to convince God to move, but to align and be ready for what God is already doing.
            Now we do not go on wondering if God heard us. God did hear us. We confessed; we are forgiven. God has already responded, even though we don’t see or know that God is doing. Family, we must keep praying. We do not stop praying just because we have prayed today. Daniel was persistent in prayer. Daniel did not pray once and then stop. Jesus did not just pray for Himself; he prayed for His people. We must do the same.  We must keep praying for the healing of the Church. We must keep praying for the restoration of what is broken. We must keep praying for revival, We must keep praying because prayer prepares us for greater things.
            Family, we have the opportunity to keep praying as a church family this coming Friday, February 28, 2025 on the church zoom at 7 pm. You can also login to the livestream at Gather25.com for 25 hours across 7 continents. The Gather 25 Global Prayer Experience is inviting believers across the world to pray, repent, worship, seek God’s heart together, and discover how the love of Jesus is transforming the world through everyday people.
            Just as Daniel prayed on behalf of his people, we will also pray.  Just as Gabriel assured Daniel that his prayer was heard, we must trust that God is hearing us as we pray and will continue to hear our prayers. Therein lays our confident hope in God who keeps promises for greater things.

We have a challenge to continue standing in the gap trusting God for greater things and a hope that calls us to lift our voices in faith, not defeat, because of the God we serve who keeps God’s promises for greater things.
            At the beginning of this message, a question was, "Why does the church seem so anemic?" Perhaps the better question is, “Are we willing to rise up and pray for it?” Are we willing to lift our voices, not just in song, but in intercession, confession, repentance, and in expectation for greater things? 
            As we close, you are invited to read the lyrics of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a song that carries the weight of history and also lifts the banner of hope. This hope is not just for African Americans, but the hope is for all people and especially the people of God. Just as Daniel prayed on behalf of Israel, the lyrics are a prayer of confession, intercession, and expectation. This song is a collective cry naming our history, acknowledging God’s faithfulness, and asking god to lead us forward in truth and righteousness. This song must not just be a song we sing, but a prayer we live.  Amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS INCLUDING FAMILY GROUPS
God has a mission for God’s Church with the world in turmoil; the absolute truth is that God is in control.
- No matter how uncertain or chaotic life becomes, God is in control. We see a world in turmoil. What is the mission God has for you as part of God’s Church? Could it be that the reason we are not seeing greater things is because we have strayed from God’s vision and intention for God’s people? How has the Church strayed and gone our own way?
In praying like Daniel:  (1) begin with who God is (Daniel 9:4-5); (2) confess honestly and specifically (Daniel 9:5-10); (3) acknowledge God’s mercy (Daniel 9:9-10).
-Before there can be true deliverance, there must be a confession that we have gone our own way, gotten off track. We need to confess and repent wherever we have strayed from God. Why is it important to begin biblical confession in humility with God’s character, not our own failures (Daniel 9:4-5)?
Daniel owned his confession. Real confession requires real honesty.
-Why is it important to confess openly and honestly including the sins of the Church (Daniel 9:5-10)?
Honest confession is about health, wholeness, and God’s mercy not condemnation.
-With the acknowledgement that we are broken people, why is God’s mercy and forgiveness so important (Daniel 9:9-10)?
God forgives us so that we may be free.
-Why is confession and God’s mercy the path to freedom from shame and guilt for greater things, not fear and condemnation?
Corporate confession is a calling to intercede for the Church. 
-How has the Church been straying from unity as the body of Christ both historically and today?
- Sometimes, the greatest obstacle to the movement of God is not the world, but God’s own Christian people. What instances have you seen where the obstacle to the movement of God is the mental refusal of oppressed people to be the hands and feet of God will and ways on earth, as modeled by Jesus?
-God is our Heavenly Parent grieved by the brokenness of the Church. How would you feel as a parent whose children refuse to love one another, refuse to take responsibility as family members, misrepresent, and harm the family name?
We acknowledge the challenge that intercession is hard.
-How must we engage in intercessory prayer for people who have ignored, harmed, or excluded people like us while confronting oppression rather than being complicit in the oppression?
Throughout history, there have been those who have stood in the gap with prophetic truth actively interceding for a broken people and a broken Church. 
-Leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Fannie Lou Hammer, and Desmond Tutu each understood that real change requires prophetic truth and intercessory prayer. What do you see in the responses of these leaders that resonate with you for application in your life journey?
You are invited now to stand in the gap with a prayer of confession and responsive reading on behalf of God’s people everywhere which is modeled after Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9:4-19.
-Read Daniel 9:4-19.  What points from Daniel’s prayer most resonate with you for application in your life journey?
God responds and we must keep praying.
-Why must we keep on praying even after God hears our prayer, and God responds even before our prayer is completed?
We have a challenge to continue standing in the gap trusting God for greater things and a hope that calls us to lift our voices in faith, not defeat, because of the God we serve who keeps God’s promises for greater things.
-Review the lyrics of the song, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” The lyrics carry the weight of history and the banner of hope, not just for African Americans but for all people, especially the people of God.  How are we willing to lift our voices, not just in song, but in intercession, confession, repentance, and in expectation for greater things?