Seven Deadly Sins Series Overview
In 2025-2026, our teaching theme as a church is “Pursue the Good Life.” Each sermon series shows us how the good life promised by the world falls short of the good life offered by Jesus.
We begin with Seven Deadly Sins because the good life is found in repenting from what kills and destroys, and pursuing godly virtue.
This page provides some resources to help you get familiar with the series and dig deeper.
Recommended Books & Resources
The teaching team has found the following books helpful in preparing for the series.
Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies, by Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung
The Death of the Deadly Sins: Embracing the Virtues That Transform Lives, edited by Dan Doriani
Killjoys: The Seven Deadly Sins, edited by Marshall Segal
Series Schedule
8/3/25 Pride (vs. Humility)
8/10/25 Lust (vs. Chastity)
8/17/25 Greed (vs. Generosity)
8/24/25 Envy (vs. Kindness)
8/31/25 Sloth (vs. Diligence)
9/7/25 Wrath (vs. Patience)
9/14/25 Gluttony (vs. Temperance)
Frequently Asked Questions
[For in-depth exploration of these questions, listen to the above King & Culture podcast episode]
Where did the “seven deadly sins” come from?
Evagrius of Pontus (346-399 AD) was living in a monastic community and observed that even devoted believers were consistently tempted by eight “thoughts”: gluttony, impurity (lust), avarice (greed), sadness, anger, acedia (sloth), vainglory, and pride. This list was further developed by John Cassian (360-430 AD), one of Evagrius’s disciples.
The eight categories eventually became seven through the writings of Pope Gregory I (540-604 AD). Gregory saw the seven sins as branches growing on a tree that had pride as the root.
This categorization was a helpful and transferable discipleship tool, especially in a church where many Christians were illiterate.
Is this a Roman Catholic thing?
At the time Evagrius and Gregory developed their lists, there were not Orthodox, Protestant, or Roman Catholic churches. These divides had not yet taken place. While modern-day Catholics may place greater emphasis on the seven deadly sins, this categorization dates early in church history.
Isn’t all sin “deadly”? What’s so special (or bad) about these?
Yes. All sin is deadly and separates us from God (Romans 3:23). Whoever fails to perfectly keep any part of God’s law has become guilty of all of it (James 2:10).
These sins were originally thought of as “principle” or “capital” vices, meaning that they were the sources of other more specific sins. All other sins flow from these seven, which makes them especially dangerous.
According to Gregory, for instance, the branch of envy bore the fruit of “hatred, whispering, detraction, exultation at the misfortune of a neighbor, and affliction at his prosperity.”
Wouldn’t it be better to think of these as seven principle vices?
Probably. Though a sin can occur once, a vice is a pattern of sin that emerges frequently in our lives. In that sense, a vice is even worse than a sin. Conversely, obedience can be a one-time occurrence, but virtue is the pattern of consistent obedience. Therefore, we should not only aim to be obedient, but virtuous (i.e. consistently obedient).
