Seeking Path · Lesson 5: What Is Wrong with Us?
This lesson in one sentence: Sin is first of all not breaking the law but a broken relationship between people and God; the sickness is named so that it can be healed.
Timing (about 55 minutes)
- Food and catching up10 min
- Read Together10 min
- Discussion25 min
- To take home and think about5 min
- Closing (prayer optional)5 min
Read aloud at the start: you don’t have to speak · you can ask anything · no pressure
Opening
Do you think the saying ‘At birth, human nature is good’ is right?
Read Together
Behold, I have only found this: that God made mankind upright; but they search for many inventions.
Ecclesiastes 7:29 · WEB
Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die, for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too.
Genesis 3:1-6 · WEB
Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death passed to all men because all sinned.
Romans 5:12 · WEB
Discussion
- Have you ever ‘known what you should do, but been unable to do it’? (No need to say what it was.)
- The Bible says “God made mankind upright; but they search for many inventions.” (Ecclesiastes 7:29) How do you think people go astray step by step?
- “your iniquities have separated you and your God” (Isaiah 59:2)—how is understanding sin as ‘a broken relationship’ different from how you understood ‘sin’ before?
- Where do you think the root lies of so many problems between people, and within ourselves?
To take home and think about
This week, notice one moment when you ‘knew but couldn’t do it’. Just notice; don’t blame yourself.
Closing
The leader prays briefly (optional), or simply thanks everyone for coming and agrees the time for next session.
Tips for the leader
- This session is the one most likely to make people uncomfortable. Explain first: today nobody is being asked to confess; no names, and no one will be asked to share specifics.
- The leader can admit first that they are no different—the Bible says “because all sinned,” (Romans 5:12) and that includes the leader.
- If someone asks, ‘What about my family members who don’t believe?’ don’t rush to a conclusion; it is a very real concern, and you can talk one-to-one afterwards.
General principles for leaders
- The leader is not a teacher but someone who walks alongside everyone.
- Give everyone a chance to speak; with someone who talks a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s also hear from friends who haven’t spoken yet.’
- Don’t rush to give answers. If someone is silent, wait a few more seconds.
- For a question you can’t answer, you can say, ‘I don’t know either; let’s look it up together,’ and note it down for next time.
- What is said in the group stays in the group.
- At the opening, the leader can give their own answer first, showing that it can be simple and honest.