"Our Greatest Need: The Reality of Sin and Separation"

This blog is a follow-up to the sermon "Our Greatest Need: The Reality of Sin and Separation", preached by Rev Susan Salo on Sunday, December 7th, 2025.

READ Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-13, 3:22-24
1. If someone tells us to do something, why then do we want to not do it?  For instance, if our doctor tells us to cut down on cholesterol, why do we want to eat French fries?
2. How does sin appeal to our lower human nature, the “flesh”? What leads us to rebel against God’s authority over us? Why do we want our own way, even when we know the consequences are bad?

READ Matthew 18:1-9
3. Why is it a blessing that the Gospel writers portray the disciples in all their messiness? They are not “plaster saints.”  Why is that a help to us?
4. Why did Jesus put a little child among them after they argued about who will be the greatest in the kingdom of God?  Why does Jesus tell us to change and be like children?
5. Child rearing was much, much stricter then than nowadays.  Obedience to parents was unquestioned.  Was that part of what Jesus meant by becoming like children?
6. There is a myth in some people’s minds that once one becomes a Christian, we become obedient and stop sinning.  But if we fall into sin, as even wonderful Christians do, we can then hide our sin both from God and ourselves, with drastic consequences.  What are some of the steps to turning this around? READ I John 2:1-2