Hey guys... I'm still a little unsure about what this message will look like, but I wanted to give you a sense of what I'll be talking about, and I'm interested to hear your feedback.
The topic of this message in the simplest sense is sex/sexual immorality. Obviously it's kind of a touchy subject, but I think it's something that we should address from time to time. It's also an important theme in 1 Corinthians.
Here's what I have so far:
Intro: The danger of culture - influence of Corinthian culture on the church, similarities with American culture - moral relativism
a. Corinthian attitude: the soul is saved, but the body perishes, so what I do with my body doesn't matter. THis allows for sexual indulgence based on the belief that it has no bearing on one's spiritual state. The bottom line is that they believed that what I do with my body isn't a big deal.
b. Our attitude: different from the Corinthians, but similar bottom line: not that big of a deal. We live in a culture that says that sex is no big deal. Our culture says that sex is fun and a good way for two people to express their affection for one another. It doesn't have to be that big of a deal.
Main text: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
I don't want to dive too deeply into the resurrection of the body. But I want to make a couple things very clear:
1. You will never find what you are looking for in sexual sin. The body was meant to be united with Christ and with one's partner in marriage. Anything short of that will bring about pain and problems. (I also might touch on the idea that sex is better when you wait for marriage, but we'll see)
Culture associates sex with love, so people often go looking for love through sex. At the core of sexual sin is a desire to be loved, especially for girls.
2. Sex is an act of selfishness. It's seeking after pleasure at the expense of God and brothers and sisters. Paul makes this point clearly: "you are not your own." Your body belongs to God and sexual sin is a slap in the face. Further, you are a part of the body of Christ, and your sin affects the rest of the body, whether you like it or not.
3. Sex is a sin against oneself. Sex is unique not because it is worse than other sins, but it affects us in a different way. It damages our capacity to be a temple of the Holy Spirit. It weakens the Spirit's impact on our live. Often you see that people who sin sexually are more likely to turn away from God and the church than people who struggle with other sins. Sexual sin cuts us off from the Spirit - we struggle more with guilt, and we struggle more to connect with God. That's not a coincidence.
The bottom line is: sex matters. It's not "no big deal." Don't buy into the cultural idea that sex is an acceptable and normal form of expression. Sex is important. It's important to God and it's important to your future spouse. When you make the choice to be abstinent, you honor God, your future spouse, your brothers and sisters in Christ, and yourself.
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looks good to me, It doesn't ring of legalism but tries to tackle the issue for what it is. Confrontive but also tells why.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if it'll help (or confuse) or if you feel like I'm imposing anything, but the way my theology of sex works right now is, in a nutshell, sex is such a big thing, such a giving of oneself, such a big moment of intimacy, it can/should only happen with ones spouse. This is because it is in the context of a loving and most of all COMMITTED relationship. The giving of oneself in love is a very big deal, and thus is only appropriate when that relationship has been established.
Something else I might think about is letting the kids be honest about it. I don't know how much voice they have one way or the other, but I do know that honest conversation, including the questioning, lamenting, frustration, etc needs to be heard, else they think that we're afraid of it. Small group time would be crucial here...
I'm really sad I won't get to hear this one and see what happens... In terms of message flow though, it looks fine to me. And props for taking such a touchy subject. I'm not sure but at the end, I might try and emphasize that it's a big deal, but in a good way too. You've touched upon how its a sin a lot, not balance it, but make sure it isn't just "don't do it, now be quiet" kinda thing
hey brandon.
ReplyDeleteculture is such a big influence, so its good that you address the cultural attitudes and compare it to our own. its important for us to break down the typical cultural attitudes because they're so prevalent.
i really like the 2nd point. we always think that we're our own master so we just do what we want and what feels good, but it's really not true. i think it's key to emphasize, in particular how sin affects the rest of the body as well.
the topic is definitely a touchy one and is going to make some kids feel uncomfortable, but it's good to be uncomfortable every now and then, so don't shy away in making your points. its something that needs to be addressed and better you doing it than us, haha.
what do you mean eugene? that brandon knows more about it than we do?!?!?! :P
ReplyDeleteexactly, haha
ReplyDelete