Adult Confirmation - Session 5: Sin and the Problem of Evil

An important component to offering any sort of reoccurring study opportunity is providing time and space for feedback. At the beginning of our last session, I did just that, and one of the items which came up was a desire to post the handouts used each week in preparation for the upcoming lesson. Below is the handout from the session we just covered:

Prayer for the Week:

Lord, everywhere we look, everywhere we turn we see violence, chaos, infirmity, and injustice. Give us the will, heart, and mind to be agents of Your grace in this world, to be vessels of hope filled with Your Holy Spirit, Your love, and Your peace. Calm the restless and troubled, heal the broken and the sick, bring to justice those who oppress and abuse. You are our King, let us be a people of mercy. Amen.

Opening Thoughts:

We can turn on the television and within five minutes, we will be inundated with images that remind us of the broken world in which we live. Some of these scenes can be directly attributed to the evil doings of wretched men and women; others seem simply to occur because of the way in which nature has been ordered. Each of us had had a time in our lives when we've asked, "Why?!" We've inquired, time and time again, of a problem whose origins begin with our own narrative, and whose solution we ourselves cannot bring to bear.

We cannot share in the Easter resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, unless we are first willing to come to terms with the fact that the wages of our sin are death, and that price had to be paid. Our call to be agents of God's grace in the world necessarily means that we must confront the reality of sin on a regular basis. The focus for this week of study, discussion, and exercise is to explore how sin shapes our lives, the lives of those around us, and our world-view. We do this in an effort to understand the costly call of our discipleship, and the charge for us to be ministers of hope, healing, and grace.

Suggested Scripture Readings:

• Genesis 3 - "The First Sin and Its Punishment"
• Genesis 6:5-8 - "The Wickedness of Humankind"
• Leviticus 4 - "Sin Offerings"
• Psalm 50 - "The Acceptable Sacrifice"
• Luke 23:26-43 - "The Crucifixion of Jesus"
• Romans 6:15-23 - "Slaves of Righteousness"
• 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 - "The Ministry of Reconciliation"

Reflection Questions:

• Is there a difference between "evil" and "sin?" If so, what is it?
• Nowhere in Genesis 3-11 is the word "sin" used. What is sin?
• What purpose do you find in the sin offering being both precise and gruesome?
• There are many examples in Scripture and in our own lives of our actions causing calamity, disorder, and hurt to one another. How then are we to understand natural events (hurricanes, famine, floods, etc.) which cause the same thing?
• Practically, how can you be engaged in the ministry of reconciliation?

Yours,

Michael C. Andres

Director of Discipleship