Turning away

01 · GATHER ROUND

Start with a question.

“How does it feel when you’re talking to someone and they act like they can’t hear you?”

Keep it light. Everyone has been ignored—and has done some ignoring, too.

03 · OPEN THE BIBLE

Dinner’s ready!

“Dinner’s ready!” someone calls from the kitchen. You hear it. You definitely hear it. But your game is almost at the next level, so you pretend you didn’t. The call comes again. You keep playing. Nobody said a mean word. Nobody broke anything. But something is still wrong, isn’t it?

When we think of sin, we often picture big, obvious things: hitting, stealing, lying. Those are sins. But the Bible shows us that sin is bigger than bad actions. At its heart, sin is turning away from God—either pushing him away or acting as if he isn’t there. It’s living in God’s world as if it belonged to us.

John puts it simply: sin is lawlessness. That means living as if God’s law doesn’t apply to us. Sometimes we sin by doing what God says not to do. Sometimes we sin by not doing what God asks—like walking past someone who needs help, or staying quiet when we should speak up. And sin isn’t only about what we do. It’s also about who we are inside. God wants us to be loving, thankful, and humble, and sometimes our hearts just aren’t.

Think about the dinner call again. Ignoring it hurt the relationship, even though nothing looked terrible. Sin is like that with God. Every sin, big or small, says, “I’d rather do my own thing than listen to you.” And that hurts our friendship with the God who made us and loves us.

This can feel heavy. But there’s a reason we can talk about sin honestly: God has already made a way back through Jesus, who died for our sins. The Bible promises that if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us. Turning away from God is sin. Turning back to him is called repentance, and he always welcomes us home.

So this week, notice the moments you turn away—and practice turning back. You don’t have to wait until you’ve become better. You can turn around right now.

04 · WONDER TOGETHER

Let’s talk about it.

1. Why do you think ignoring God is still sin, even when we aren’t doing anything that looks bad?
2. What’s an example of sinning by not doing something good?
3. What does it feel like to turn back to God after you’ve sinned?

Try answering one yourself first. “I don’t know yet” is a fine place to start a conversation.

06 · TALK TO GOD

Let’s pray.

Father, we’re sorry for the times we ignore you and live as if your world belonged to us. We’re sorry for the wrong things we do and the good things we leave undone. Thank you that because of Jesus you are faithful to forgive us when we confess. Help us turn back to you quickly and gladly, knowing you always welcome us home. Amen.

Then invite everyone to add one thing they want to tell God.

07 · MAKE IT STICK

A little truth to learn by heart.

Stand up and act it out as you say the answer. Turn your back for “rejecting,” cover your ears for “ignoring,” and spread your arms wide for “the world he created.” When you finish, turn all the way back around—that’s what repentance looks like.