Water for The Way Discussion Questions

By way of review I wanted to remind you the the sermon last week started off with a discussion about the difference between reality and annoyance, where reality is an aspect of the world that cannot be changed, while an annoyance is a temporary and changeable inconvenience. It was suggested that Sin is a reality to deal with not an annoyance to ignore and If we treat Sin as an annoyance we allow Satan to keep us in a state of shame, guilt and loneliness.

We explored the idea that sin is a reality that exists in the world, evidenced by the presence of greed, violence, and turmoil. However, people tend to label sin as an annoyance and ignore it, leading to shame, guilt, and loneliness.

The messaged suggests that admitting and confronting one's sin can lead to an awakening or revival both personally and with the world around us. The message also talked about how until there is an admission of the hold that sin has had on one's life there is no positive path forward spiritually.

Using the story of fall, where humanity chose their desires over the desires of God, leading to the fall of humankind it is suggested that the fall was more about a lack of trust in God's goodness to us than disobedience to God.

With this in mind lets read the Scriptures together and discuss these ideas further.

Genesis 2:15–17 “15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.””

Genesis3:1–7 “1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”

1)  Is sin something you have to convince others or yourself of, or does it feel obvious that sin exists? Why or why not?

2)  Is it easier or harder to confront and admit to your own sin, than the sin of others?

3)  Why do we so often seek to blame others for our own sin?

4)  How do you think the story of Adam and Eve might have ended differently if they didn’t hide from their sin but admitted it to God immediately?

5)  Are there sins in your life that you try to blame others for, or hide from God? What might your life look like if you confront, confess, and repent of those sins during this season of Lent?