Father, Forgive Us For Our Dry Eyes | Dr. Conway Edwards | Sermon Notes — Hello Pastor

Sermon Notes

Father, Forgive Us For Our Dry Eyes

Dr. Conway Edwards

One Community Church • May 24, 2026 • 40 min

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Take this message with you through a journey of Scripture, reflection, and prayer.

Summary

In this message, Dr. Conway Edwards challenges believers to examine whether they are treating God as a King or as a personal assistant summoned only during inconvenience. True spiritual growth requires developing the skill of godly sorrow—learning to deeply grieve over personal sin and compromise that breaks God's heart. Rather than settling for dry eyes, superficial regret, or cycle-repeating remorse, believers are called to genuine repentance that turns decisively away from sin to experience God's comfort and transformation.

Themes

RepentanceGodly Sorrow vs Worldly SorrowSpiritual PovertyThe Kingdom of GodHeart Transformation

Pastor's Points

1.

Human Sorrow: Caused by pain in a fallen world, focusing on earthly circumstances, resulting in emotional release and healing.

2.

Sinful or Worldly Sorrow: Caused by selfishness, pride, and lust, focusing on self, resulting in death, despair, and bondage.

3.

Godly Sorrow: Caused by sin breaking the heart of God, focusing on repentance, resulting in divine forgiveness, comfort, and lasting joy.

Key Points

1.
Kingdom living requires choosing to bow to God as King rather than treating Him like a personal assistant summoned only during crises.
2.
True spiritual poverty begins by acknowledging complete dependence on God's wisdom, strength, timing, defense, and provision.
3.
Mourning over sin is not an immediate emotion but a intentional spiritual skill that must be practiced and developed over time.
4.
Human sorrow stems from loss in a fallen world and worldly sorrow springs from selfish frustration, but godly sorrow focuses on brokenness over sin.
5.
Genuine repentance is not merely saying 'I'm sorry' while repeating the behavior; it is an absolute U-turn away from sin toward God.
6.
Ignoring conviction is like ignoring a car's check engine light—over time, ignoring the warning desensitizes your heart to spiritual danger.
7.
Holding onto sin while asking for forgiveness is like carrying a foul trash bag with you; true repentance leaves the garbage behind completely.
8.
A hardened heart feels nothing toward spiritual compromise, whereas a transformed heart grieves over sin, longs for holiness, and deeply desires God.

Sermon Moments

“You cannot mourn what you refuse to acknowledge.”

“Mourning over sin is a spiritual skill that you must train and develop long and hard in secret prayer.”

“Ignoring spiritual conviction is like ignoring a check engine light; the longer you leave it unchecked, the more desensitized you become to the danger.”

“True repentance isn't holding onto a foul trash bag of sin while asking God for forgiveness—it's putting it down and letting the dumpster truck take it away forever.”

“Regret rests in the mind, remorse affects the heart, but repentance moves your spirit to make an absolute U-turn in obedience to God.”

“A hardened heart feels nothing about spiritual distance, but a transformed heart grieves over sin, longs for holiness, and hungers for God.”

This Week

Reflect daily on areas of your life where you treat God as an assistant rather than your King, repenting of self-sufficiency.

Write down specific sins or spiritual compromises on an index card or journal to explicitly acknowledge what needs God's forgiveness.

Pray for an increased sensitivity to sin, asking God to help you grieve over what breaks His heart.

Examine your reaction to spiritual 'check engine lights' and stop ignoring or excusing warning signs in your heart.

Evaluate whether your sorrow over wrong actions leads to genuine U-turn repentance rather than brief regret or temporary remorse.

Stop 'dumpster diving' back into discarded sinful habits by putting away past compromises permanently.

Commit to discipling another person or seeking out a discipleship relationship to actively live out Christ's command.

Remember This

True kingdom comfort begins when we cultivate a sensitive heart that grieves deeply over our sin and turns completely toward God in decisive repentance.

A Challenge for You

Will you learn the skill of mourning, falling so deeply in love with God that you hurt over sin as He hurts, and desiring Jesus Himself more than any gift He can give?

These are personal sermon notes shared to help you remember the message — not a replacement for Scripture, your church, or your pastors.