Last night we started on the most controversial series that we've ever done. Topics that, a lot of the time, churches want to brush on the rug and pretend they don't exist: Homosexuality, Transsexuality, Bullying, Suicide, etc. We believe that if the world is speaking up for these things then the church needs to speak up for them. The world should never be louder than the Church.
Saying all of that, I do believe that the church has failed to some extent. I believe that IF these topics have been addressed, that a lot of times, it's not out of love but out of hate. No one has ever come to Jesus through hate. I love what my husband said to open up last night:
"Too many have WON arguments & LOST relationships!"This is not about winning an argument. This is about acknowledging what God has to say about it. I'm going to post the video of the service at the end of this because I feel like a lot of the time things that are typed from behind a computer screen get misconstrued. But I wanted to leave you with some points from last night for those of you who don't have the time to watch.
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Satan always tries to convince us that we are the only one in the world dealing with something. However, we are never alone in anything.
Just as appliances come with an owner's manual, we come with an owner's manual - The Bible. If we want to know how we were created, why we were created, or who we were created for, we have to seek the creator.
The only one who can label you is the one who created you and the only one who can define you is the one who designed you.
In order to know WHO we are, we have to know WHOSE we are.
"So God created mankind [your name] in his own image, in the image of God he created them [your name]; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27
"Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3
"everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Isaiah 43:7God spent a lot of TIME on us! No one was born with the wrong body. God, being a perfect creator, spent time knitting us together. To say that we were born with the wrong body would be saying that God made a mistake. God doesn't make mistakes, he makes masterpieces.
"My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:15-16
"For we are God’s handiwork [masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10A lot of us feel like we were meant to be someone we weren't. We feel as though God created us to be a different sex. It shouldn't be, "I feel. Therefore I am." but "God says Therefore I am." We would always be in trouble if we all acted upon how we felt. We would be living immoral and unbiblical lifestyles if we acted upon every feeling we had. We should always listen to God's truth above our feelings. God's word isn't A truth it's THE truth.
A lot of the time, we feel as if we can't change. We were born this way. Yes, we were born sinners. And no, WE can't change...on our own. The sin in my life that I used to deal with was changed because of Jesus, not because of my efforts. We can't go around committing crimes and claim that it's because we were born that way.
Homosexuality and Transsexuality didn't just appear. It's been going on since day 1.
"A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lordyour God detests anyone who does this." Deuteronomy 22:5
A lot of times, we claim that we just want people to be happy. But we can't live for what makes us happy. We have to live for what makes God happy!
Gods word is never meant to tear us down but to set us FREE
"They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. Romans 1:25-27
Anatomically speaking, a man was designed for a woman. In order to be fruitful and multiply according to scripture, you need a man & a woman.
“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Matthew 19:4-6
"Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed,you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Here's the bottom line. I may not struggle with homosexuality but it's just the same as my greed, pride, and anger. We are all in the SAME BOAT. We are all sinners in need of God's grace, daily. The bible doesn't call homosexuals to heterosexuality but to holiness and holiness will lead to heterosexuality. He calls us all of us to holiness!
Jesus was the epitome of love. We are to love - not hate. People will know we are His disciples by how we LOVE one another. Jesus has shown us all love still not approving of our sin. The greatest love we can offer each other is the truth. The most loving thing Jesus ever did was not ignore our sin but die for them.
"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. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:15-16Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted. There is never anything that tempts us that didn't tempt Him first. However, he did not ACT on his temptations or feelings. Jesus' invitation to us is always to come as we are but not stay as we are.
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