Hazmat (Week 1)
This week as we kick off our new series on the toxicity of sin, we’ll examine sin’s pervasiveness, and how it separates us from each other, ourselves, and our experience of God’s love. Though we cannot overcome sin on our own, in the following weeks we’ll lean into how Christ has freed us from its grip.
1. If you were raised in church, what are your earliest memories of how sin was talked about? If you weren’t raised in church, what were your first impressions about what sin was?
2. In what ways has sin created the experience or feeling of separation from God and/or God’s plan for your life?
3. How has sin—yours or another’s—created separation between you and that person?
Read Genesis 3:16-19 and discuss the next question.
4. Have you understood this “curse” as a punishment from God, or as a natural consequence of Adam and Eve’s disobedience? How does this interpretation affect our understanding, or misunderstanding, of God’s character?
Read Romans 7:7-11 and discuss:
5. How do you understand Paul’s words about the relationship between sin and the law? What in the world is Paul saying here?
6. Discuss your observations about the widespread, far-reaching nature of sin. Why is recognizing sin’s “pandemic” (as Pete said in his sermon) quality important?
7. How does it help to understand sin as an underlying condition of humanity, rather than a set of individual behaviors?
(*Video available after Sunday services)
