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Beauty for Ashes — 3/17/2026 10:00 AM
Today's speaker is Andrea Griffith, author, podcaster, and mentor to women in ministry with The Church Hub. Mrs. Griffith shares her personal testimony, and states that when we confess and forsake our sin, God pours His mercy into our lives.
Notes
This morning in chapel, Andrea Griffith shared her powerful testimony of breaking free from sin and bitterness.
Griffith was raised in a very Christian environment. She looked like a good follower of Jesus on the outside, but she was a totally different person away from her family and church. When she ended up pregnant, desperate to keep her secret, she got an abortion, even though she knew it was wrong. Because of this, Griffith despised herself and went even further down the path of death.
Looking back on this time, Griffith says, “There’s a lot in Scripture where God is telling us, ‘Don’t.’ And so many times, we think that He’s trying to keep something good from us, but every time God is saying, ‘Don’t,’ He’s saying, ‘Don’t hurt yourself.’” She explains that He made us and therefore knows better than anyone else what will keep us from flourishing.
Lordship
After college, Andrea became a travelling singer with a Christian group and met true believers who looked so different from her. God opened her eyes to the depth of her sin. For the first time, she saw her heart the way a holy God had seen it the whole time, and she grieved. Although Griffith had called Jesus her Lord for years, she had never obeyed Him or turned from her sin until that day. She realized she needed to submit to Jesus’s authority. Afterward, her life totally changed, and she couldn’t get enough of reading God’s Word.
Confession
Griffith met and fell in love with a young man named Trent. As their relationship became serious, she realized she needed to confess her past sins to him. To confess is to say the same thing God says about our sin. When we confess, God floods our lives with His mercy. He loves to put the broken things back together.
Freedom
Although she had been saved, Griffith realized she was bitter at herself because of her past. She struggled with accepting God’s forgiveness. In the story of Lazarus, he was alive but bound with grave clothes that smelled of death. Jesus didn’t want him to stay bound. Jesus says the same of us: “Unbind them and let them go.” Rather than staring at our sin, we need to grab the grace that God offers us.
Gospel
The Gospel says something about our past: that our sin has been paid for. It also says something about our present: that we are being transformed into God’s image. Finally, it says something about our future: that we will spend eternity with God. Isaiah 61 talks about how God wants to exchange our ashes and mourning for beauty and healing. This is His heart for you. There is a God who came to redeem you, and He doesn’t want you to stay in your sin. If you’re wrapped up in sin, there is hope. Talk to someone. Bring your secret into the light. It is so worth it.