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Basic Christianity

Dive deep into the concept of sin and its consequences in Christianity through a structured book study led by Bishop Mike Lowry. Explore the nature of sin, the Ten Commandments, and the impact of sin on relationships and spirituality.

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Basic Christianity

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  1. Basic Christianity Brown Bag Book Study 2016 Bishop Mike Lowry March 3 What We Need: The Fact, Nature and Consequences of Sin

  2. Class Requirements: • Open participation and a prayerful willingnesstochallenge your own perceptions • An attitude of grace and respectful learning with regard to fellow classmates • Read the chapter(s) before you attend. (No exceptions!) • Brown bag your lunch and be on time. We will finish by 12:50 p.m.

  3. The Fact of Sin “But in order to appreciate what exactly it was that Jesus achieved, we need to understand who we are as well as who he was.” (p. 29) Considerations on Evil: • An ever present reality in human life. • Both personal and social! • “A hard core of selfishness” • Ultimately a violation of the First Commandment – “Thou shall have no other gods before me.”

  4. Facing the Truth • To miss the mark • Facing the Truth  At the heart of the challenge of brokenness lies the recovery of a doctrine of original sin. Engage in a quick spiritual examination -- Interlude One: • When is the last time you heard a sermon on original sin? When have you last heard a sermon on sin that made you squirm? • How frequent and how real is your own sense of confession? To whom do you confess? • How often do you consider sin to be something that applies mostly to others (and only in a mild sense touches upon your own person, group, nation, ideology, and culture?) • Sin as a Disease or Corruption of Creation  Wesley

  5. The Universality of Sin • The Biblical witness (statement of fact!) • Psalm 14 • Romans 3:23 • Life under the power of sin (think of addictions) • Interlude Two: What “power of sin” most affects your life? List some common sins you face. • “We all stand self condemned.” (by our own standards, p. 79) • “Like sheep we had all wandered away, each going its own way.” (Isaiah 53:6)

  6. One Witness (or lack thereof) Culturally we are not far from the Duchess of Buckingham’s famous complaint to the Countess of Huntingdon on Methodist preachers and their understanding of sin. I thank your ladyship for the information concerning the Methodist preachers. Their doctrines are most repulsive and strongly tinctured with impertinence and disrespect towards their superiors, in perpetually endeavoring to level all ranks and do away with all distinctions. It is monstrous to be told that you have a heart as sinful as the common wretches that crawl on the earth. (Letter from the Duchess of Buckingham to the Countess of Huntingdon in the early days of Wesley’s ministry.) It may be monstrous, but it is also true.

  7. The Ten Commandments: An Exercise in the Fact and Nature of Sin [First: An important precursor  Exodus 20:1-2] • You shall have no other gods before me. • You shall not make for yourself an image. • You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. • Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. • Honor your father and mother.

  8. The Ten Commandments Exercise (continued) 6. You shall not murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal. 9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 10. You shall not covet. Interlude Three: Which of the Ten Commandments vexes you the most? Which do you wrestle with?

  9. The Consequences of Sin “We must grasp what the results of sin are before we can fully appreciate what God has done for us.” (p.89) • Alienation from God: • “The most terrible result of sin is that it cuts us off from God.” (p. 89) • Separation is death. • Bondage to Self: • Interior enslavement • The failure of will • Conflict with Others: • The reversal of the First Commandment • A basic self-centeredness affects all relationships.

  10. Concluding Reflections “While sin draws in to itself, love spends itself for others. The characteristic of sin is the desire to get; the character of love is the desire to give.” (p. 96) “Faith is born out of need. We shall never put our trust in Christ until we have first despaired of ourselves.… Only when we have realized and faced up to the seriousness of what we are suffering from will we admit our urgent need for a cure.” (p. 97)

  11. Q & A

  12. Next Week Part Three: What Christ Has Done The Death of Christ The Salvation of Christ

  13. Basic Christianity Brown Bag Book Study 2016 Bishop Mike Lowry March 3 A replay of the webcast will be available later this afternoon. ctcumc.org/BBBBS16-replay An edited version of today’s discussion with slides will be available for viewing, downloading and sharing by 5 p.m. Friday, March 4 Please go to ctcumc.org/BBBBS16 to access all media downloads.

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