Gretchen's Talk: Sin

A follow up to tonight's talk at club, written by your favorite N'dud YL leader, Gretchen Bennett.

Tonight at club we talked about Sin. Hearing about sin is not easy because the truth about Sin is that we cannot escape it. We were born into this disease of sin and it makes a mess inside our hearts and in our world. 

So what is sin? Often we complicate it and try to measure it, but really Sin, simply put, is turning your back on God. Sin is choosing what you want over what God wants. Just like I shared tonight in my story, I chose the way of this world, and I still fall short, continuing to choose other “things” rather than Jesus. I am not exempt from this. None of your YL leaders are. 


Romans 3:23 
“ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” 
None of us can become “good” enough to get to Jesus. We fall short every single time and we cannot do anything to earn him.


John 14:15 
“If you love me, keep my commands."
If we love Jesus, we will draw near to him. If not, we choose the world over an intimate relationship with him. And there are SO many things that we love more than our creator.

Sin kills. Sin tears apart. It is all around us and fills our world.

So You may be thinking, how do I get better, what do I need to do to be good and avoid this? WHAT CAN I DO? Because I don’t want to deal with this.

Romans 6:23 
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ.” Only through Jesus can we have a relationship with God. He is the only one that is worthy. In our sin we are dead. Through Jesus there IS life with God.


John 14:6 
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus offers a way for us that still brings life, even in our sin. Only through Jesus are we able to get to God.


John 15:5 
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

REMAIN IN JESUS. Jesus gives life. We have to be connected to him to receive the living water. The closer we are to Jesus, the more we know him, and the more we receive from him. It is only through him that we can be made alive. He is THE source.

John 15:6 
“If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is wasted away.”

APART FROM JESUS ”You can do nothing.” On our own, we are dead in our sin. When we are spiritually dead, we waste away. There is absolutely no living water flowing inside of us. We were
created to NEED Jesus to give us life.”

Questions 
Consider these tonight. Call/Text your leaders to chat about them.

1. What is your source for life today? What are you looking to fill your broken cup? Is it 'the living water' of Jesus, or something else?
2. Do you think Paul was accurate when he wrote in Romans 3:23 that 'all people have sinned?"
3. Do you have any different ideas about sin after the talk tonight?
4. Why can't we be 'good enough' for God? 
5. Here's some more verses to read if you want to think more about this: 
1.  Hebrews 4:15: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
2. Mark 10:17-30
3. Isaiah 53:6: We all, like sheep, have gone astray,each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.     
4. 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Spend some time tonight confessing your sin to the Lord.