Gospel Sexuality

Welcome again, if you don't know me, my name is Chris, I'm one of the leaders here, and

we're starting in a new series which is like a time bomb.

It's the kind of issue that churches divide over, people leave the faith over, it's an

issue which both scares and excites us, because if you start talking about sex, the room is

usually full.

But it's a very challenging topic, I think, for many of us, and we want to start in this

series because if you look at the world that we live in, the world we live in is very different

from the world 20 or 30 years ago, right?

Just our culture is sex-saturated, right?

You just go down to Causeway Bay, look at the billboards there, you think about music videos,

you think about online porn.

Sex is big business, sex sells pretty much most things, right?

And it's not just the kind of, the fact that it's everywhere, it deeply impacts us in every

area of our lives, some very personal ways.

Whether that's from the gay rights to transgender to broken marriages to women complaining about

not having adequate quality guys in Hong Kong to men despairing that no money, no honey.

And then we have the selfie culture, which, you know, if you're walking along the road, you

just see everyone trying to look as sexy as possible because it's all, we all judge each

other based on our appearance and what and sexy counts.

And then we have cohabitation and divorce on the rise and we have compensated dating, we have

consumer sex, we have online hookup websites, we have apps like Tinder, and then we haven't

even begun to start talking about Me Too campaigns, the sexual bullying and pressure at schools, and

you could go on and on and on, okay?

Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Right?

It's everywhere.

Everywhere.

And in churches, whether you're married or you're single, the shame of sexual sin or the

longing for intimacy is very prevalent.

And the church has often seemed to come across very harsh and often even hypocritical because

it's often married pastors like me who are even failing in their own marriages, just tell

everybody else, just don't do it.

And they just say, don't, just say no.

That's the message you get.

And it all seems very unfair and even harmful to people.

And I don't know where you personally are up to with this area.

But my prayer is, the reason we want to go through this as a series is because we want to have an

open conversation and for us to hear from God rather than just hearing from the culture of what

he wants to say to us.

So that I, my prayer is that your heart would be open for him to speak to you wherever you

are right now.

Because, you know, we've, we've seen even in the, we deliberately did the series in one

Peter first because we wanted us to see the calling that God has on us as a community to be a distinctive

community in a tough world.

And we're living in a city which we need to have a different, more beautiful story than the story our

culture is telling us.

And we need to know the story that the Bible gives of sexuality, not just up here, but deep

in here.

We need to know it inside out so that our lives are shaped by this story because we find it

attractive and compelling.

That's what God wants to do in us as a community.

And so the same kind of situation we face in Paul's day, their young church that he's talking

to in 1 Corinthians was also surrounded by a sex-saturated culture.

And Paul speaks to two views of sex that were very prevalent as they are today in his world.

And he's going to show us actually the Christian view was totally radically unique than any other

view that was there.

And so the first view is actually found in chapter 7, verse 1.

First view is, it's not good for a man, sorry, it's good for a man not to have sex with a woman.

So traditional Chinese culture, often traditional church culture, the message is sex

and sexual desire is necessary, but it's really unclean.

You know, it's taboo.

You just don't talk about it, okay?

Because it's a little bit dirty.

You know, I'm from UK and they used to have this film which used to say, no sex please,

we're British.

And I think we have this kind of, no sex please, we're Christian.

You know, that's kind of what we come across.

Like, how many of you, did your parents talk openly to you about sex and sexuality, boundaries

in dating, all those kind of things?

How many of us in church have ever heard people talk about how to have good sex within marriage?

Anyone?

Like, if the only time that we talk about sex is usually, don't do it until you're married,

and then we condemn and shame anyone who doesn't fall in line, that's generally the impression

we give.

Someone, I was reading this the other day, someone said this, religion has only ever made

us feel bad about sex as if it's shameful and dirty.

Everything fun is a sin.

Again, when I abandoned religion, I gave myself permission to have a healthy sex life with

all that guilt and shame attached.

That's so common.

And which is why many people go to the other view of sex, and in Corinth, they had this other

view of sex, which is found in chapter 6, verse 12.

It says, the second view is this, all things are lawful for me.

As long as it doesn't harm anyone, what you do or your neighbors do in the bedroom isn't

my issue.

You can do whatever you like.

You should be free to express yourself.

It's your body.

Sex is the way to have happiness.

So you don't want to restrict anyone from finding happiness in life, do you?

That's repressive.

That's what these conservative religious people do.

Set yourself free.

So, here was another quote I found in The Guardian from someone sharing about this.

They said, each individual has the right to explore their own sexual or romantic preferences.

Nobody ever wants to be placed in a box.

I never did.

I just wanted to live my life and love whom I wanted to.

Has anyone got any friends who say that?

All of my friends will say that.

And in Corinth, here's how they argued it.

They said, the stomach is for food, and the food and food is for the stomach.

In other words, this is their version of, do you know that, remember that song which

goes, you and me baby are nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do it on the Discovery

Channel.

Does anyone know that song?

Everyone's going to be Googling it now afterwards.

Right?

What they're saying is, since we just evolved animals, mammals, with natural biological desires,

sex isn't a big deal.

Okay?

If some people can have it, why can't everybody have it?

Bonobos do it, so why can't we?

Okay?

You have needs, fulfill them.

That's the idea.

And that's where when people talk about pornography and masturbation and they argue for it, what

they'll say is, it's just fulfilling a need.

And so, like Freud, the psychoanalyst said, he said, it's harmful to repress things, so express

yourself.

That's what the people in Corinth were saying.

And so, if you go into Fifty Shades of Grey, everything is okay, as long as it's just consensual.

Right?

All things are lawful.

But we know everything's not okay, as the Me Too movement and sex trafficking shows us.

We know that if I expressed all my desires, just think of what sometimes you've thought

about your boss, if we actually expressed them, we'd get locked up.

Right?

But in our society, we have no bigger vision and purpose behind sex than our own self-fulfillment.

And what happens is, if you have few boundaries, the vulnerable always get exploited by the

strong.

And so, Paul and Christianity comes with a radically different vision of sexuality, which

is not the first view.

It is not, it is good not to have sex.

It is not, all things are lawful for me.

It is something else.

And now, I want to just share that in three things.

A vision, sexuality, brokenness of sexuality, and a redemption of sexuality.

Okay?

Everyone with me?

Okay.

Okay.

Good.

Okay.

If you have your bulletin with you, I'm going to go through a little bit of the passage.

6, verse 13 says, the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and

the Lord for the body.

What he's saying is, there is a purpose to sexuality.

Sex is not nothing, no big deal.

Sex is not everything that means to happiness.

Sex is not dirty or shameful, but sexuality is a sacred calling.

It is a holy gift because the body, your body, is for the Lord, and the Lord is for your body.

What he's saying is, anything outside of God's design, what is for him, is sexual immorality.

What he calls, that's the word in Greek, porneia, which is where we get pornography from.

Saying anything outside of that is going to miss the purpose for it, of God's design.

So what is God's design, is the question.

If you go to Jesus, Matthew 19.

Jesus is dealing with the kind of hot ethical issue of their day, which was divorce.

Because pretty much everyone got married, but that seemed overly restrictive to people.

And so some people wanted to kind of get easy out divorce, so they could just fulfill themselves.

And they asked Jesus about this, and here's his reply.

He says,

Have you not read that he who created them male and female, and said,

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, and hold fast to his wife,

and the two shall become one flesh?

So they're no longer two, but one flesh.

And whatever God has joined together, let not man separate.

Do you see what Jesus is doing?

He doesn't go, well guys, it's kind of up to you in the debate of what you're wanting to do.

Because the Bible's difficult, and it's open to lots of interpretation.

He doesn't do that.

He says, have you not read?

And then he goes all the way back to the original design in Genesis 1 and 2.

He says, God created humans, male and female, in his image.

Just stop and think about that for a minute.

God created them male and female.

In other words, God created sexuality.

Our sexuality is part of who we are.

It's not all of who we are, but it's part of who we are.

It's part of imaging God and his glory.

You know, he put higher levels of testosterone in men so that they grow beards,

and you know, they get physically stronger.

They get man flu.

And they have a penis.

I can use that word in church.

And the woman has extra estrogen in them,

which is where the breasts develop,

and they get larger hips,

and they get a vagina.

Okay, some of you are getting uncomfortable,

but it's okay, because it's God's idea.

It's God's idea.

And God says, it's not good for man to be alone,

and he creates Eve, and he brings him to Adam.

And do you know what the first thing Adam does?

He goes, woo-hoo!

He bursts into song.

It's actually, or it's kind of like a rap.

He goes, hey, at last, flesh of my flesh, bone of my bones.

It's a poem.

Because what is it saying?

And God says about it, it's good.

It's good.

It's very good.

He's not going, oh, man, what are they up to?

Because the holy God who created us to worship him

created everything for his glory and our good,

created sex and sexual desire for his glory and our good.

So finding someone physically attractive is not wrong.

It's meant to lead you to worship God,

not to a self-indulgent stare.

You know, I've got friends that go,

God, I love the summer because everyone's wearing so little.

That's not worship.

That's self-indulgence.

But enjoying the body of your spouse is meant to lead you to say,

God, you're so good, and to praise him

because you're goodness.

But you know when we stay silent and we get embarrassed in church

in talking about this or as parents,

maybe because of our upbringing,

do you know what we're actually saying?

The message we come across is it isn't good

because we don't want to talk about it.

Just thinking that if you're married,

when was the last time you actually had a conversation as a couple

about how you can make your sex life better for the glory of God?

Because it's good.

But what we do is we end up twisting this.

And no wonder people go from,

it's not good for a man to have sex with a woman,

to everything is lawful very quickly

because we have desires that God has made.

And this is why we need to be talking about this

and get beyond the fear and the shame that we held.

It is good.

But the design is not just it is good.

He then says, Jesus then says,

since God made us sexual beings,

therefore, therefore,

just have sex with whoever you want as long as it's fulfilling.

No, he doesn't say that.

He says, therefore,

a man leaves his father and mother,

one man, one woman,

entering into a covenant relationship of commitment with her.

He holds fast to her.

That word hold fast means to be glued together,

to become one flesh.

And one flesh doesn't just mean physical sex.

As a society, we're generally fixated on the act of sexual intercourse.

But the Bible says sexuality is more like what somebody called the mingling of souls.

It actually embraces the intimacy,

the vulnerability of being naked and unashamed physically,

emotionally, relationally before another,

which includes sexual intercourse,

but is not only restricted to that.

It is far bigger.

You know, chemically,

when you have sex,

it releases oxytocin,

which is the same chemical

which actually helps a mother bond with her child.

Because sex is not merely an act.

It's a whole life,

whole person bonding experience.

I don't know if you've seen the movie Vanilla Sky,

but Cameron Diaz says this,

When you slept with me,

your body made a promise,

though you did not know it.

Your body made a promise.

Our society increasingly says,

sex is for recreation and self-fulfillment,

but we don't know that we're making a whole life promise when we do it.

You see,

some of my friends,

they say,

don't commit to someone

until you know you're sexually compatible.

But it's really surprising how no one says,

well, it was good for me,

but not for you,

therefore we should break up.

Because we've actually made it all about ourselves.

But the scripture says,

the only place that self should come

is before giving,

donation,

denial.

And so if someone is not willing to give you their whole life,

their whole person to you,

which means legally,

socially,

economically,

spiritually,

which is what the marriage covenant is about,

then sex outside of that

always cheapens the act away from whole person,

whole self-giving experience to the other

for the glory and worship of God.

You know,

it's like taking diamonds and using them as toilet paper,

and that always hurts.

So in our marriages,

guys,

we need to be taking the initiative to say,

how can I develop deeper intimacy,

relational intimacy in my marriage?

To be asking our partners,

what do you find sexually arousing?

So that I can serve you better.

It's not just about me.

And if you're single and you're going,

well,

what do I do?

I've got these desires and I can't do anything with them.

It's time to say,

well,

my body is a gift for the Lord.

How can I use my singleness to develop greater relational intimacy

and vulnerability within his church,

within the community,

particularly with people of the same gender?

How can I learn not to indulge myself by just going on 50 holidays,

but actually learn self-sacrifice on his mission?

Because I'm learning that true sexuality of self-giving.

Does that make sense?

Sex is good.

It's about a whole person thing.

It's about a self-giving thing.

But secondly,

sex is broken.

He says the body is meant for the Lord

and the Lord for the body.

But then he has to go on and he says,

you know,

guys,

you were bought with a price.

He says that down in verse 20.

You were bought with a price.

Why does he have to say that?

Why does he have to say that?

Paul is saying our sexuality and our desires were made for Jesus.

But the reason Jesus died and rose again for you and for me,

and including our bodies to raise them again,

was because we've become enslaved and kidnapped by our own desires.

And Jesus pays a ransom on our cross to set us free.

He's bought us.

You know,

I've shared before,

but I had a former colleague who we got talking,

and I started sharing to him that Fiona and I were not going to sleep together before we got married.

And his response to me was,

I wish I was like you,

but whenever I see a hot woman,

I have to sleep with her

because I'm a slave to my desires.

He was honest.

That's it.

Captivity to your own desires.

Because you see,

when Adam and Eve turned away from God,

they still had those desires for intimacy and fulfillment,

which were meant to be found in him,

in God,

but so they had to start looking elsewhere.

So you think,

why does our culture,

more than any other culture in history,

like look to romance and sex to be the ultimate fulfillment?

Why?

Because we've removed God from our sexuality,

and so we're now trying to make finding the one,

our new God.

You know,

someone said this,

every man who rings the brothel bell

is unconsciously looking for God.

Here's what somebody else said.

This guy,

Ernest Becker,

he actually was a prize-winning author.

He said,

after all,

what is it that we want

when we elevate the love partner

to the position of God?

We want redemption,

nothing less.

We want to be rid of our faults,

of our feeling of nothingness.

We want to be justified,

to know that our creation

has not been in vain.

That's what we're looking for

from somebody else.

He actually says,

and no human being can take that weight.

One more quote.

Somebody else said this,

ironically,

one of the reasons our society

is so sex-saturated

is because we're so transcendence-starved.

Unable to reach the heavens,

we go under the bedsheets.

It's because our society senses

that there must be something more to life,

something more to sex

than casual encounters,

that people continue to ramp up the experience,

trying new methods,

new partners,

new medicines,

staking their identity

in their sexuality,

whatever it takes

to achieve sexual satisfaction.

Do you see what he's saying?

He's saying,

that one,

or that,

in that marriage partner,

that you either wish you had,

or that you have,

and you wish you had another one,

that is a desire,

because you're ultimately longing fulfillment

that only God can provide.

I mean,

just ask anyone who's married

if your spouse fulfills you fully.

But how many of us,

if you're married as spouses,

particularly after an argument

or you've seen all the faults in your spouse,

sometimes secretly wish

that you were married to somebody else?

Anybody?

Okay, I've got some nods,

so we're getting honest now.

This is good.

Just look at your partner

and say,

I'm sorry.

But why do we do that?

It's because at that moment,

we're looking to a human

to fulfill that deep longing and desire

that only God can fulfill.

And this is so important for us

as a church to get.

In a church community like ours,

when we hear about marriages breaking down,

when we hear about adulting,

when we hear about sexual sin

or someone coming out as gay

or transgender,

whatever,

our natural tendency

is often to go into shock

or to go,

how could they?

And then we begin to judge

or get scared

and withdraw.

Because in our hearts,

we believe the lie

that if we're married or single

and we're not sleeping around,

we're sexual saints

and everyone else is a sexual deviant.

But Jesus said,

out of the hearts

comes porneia,

lust, envy, greed.

You see what Jesus is saying

when he says that?

And this is what the gospel says.

Our greatest problem

in the area of sexuality

is not our sexual orientation

or what we do with our genitals.

It's our heart orientation.

It's because we are self-centered,

self-gratifying,

self-pleasing

instead of God-glorifying,

self-giving,

self-denying,

intimate relationships.

You know,

that's the issue with masturbation.

It's actually

not about self-giving.

It's about self-taking

for me.

If I can be real now,

which means

every single one of us

in this room

is a sexual sinner.

Do you know that?

Every one of us.

Because every one of us

is living in a way

of our heart orientation

which is not fully

seeking to glorify God

and self-give to others.

You see,

some of us are into porn.

Some of us have sex

outside of that

full body,

mind,

soul commitment.

Some of us actually believe

our value and our worth

is found in finding

a partner for us

or whether we're

in a relationship or not.

Do you know that's idolatry?

You know,

some of us,

because in marriage

we've been withholding,

not self-giving.

Some of us,

our marriages are functional

and we just kind of

do the tasks,

kids,

other stuff,

but we're devoid

of passion and intimacy

and love

and we've taken

no steps to remedy it

and it doesn't glorify God.

We're all in the same boat,

guys.

I am,

we all are.

We're all broken

in this area

in some ways or other.

And we all have

not just sexual sin,

we also have

sexual sufferers.

Like,

just think,

how many of you

had parents

whose marriage

was emotionally

dysfunctional?

Many of us.

How many of us

have desires

for that whole life

bonding with someone

and we're going,

will I ever find someone?

And there is a suffering

involved in that.

And sometimes

that suffering

makes us doubt

the goodness

of God's design.

you know,

but if we get

that reality

that we're both

sexual sinners

and sexual sufferers,

then we'll not be

a church

when somebody

comes in

and comes up to you.

Like,

so many of my friends

say,

I don't want to go

to church

because I know

what I'm going to get

from church people.

So many of us

don't actually want

to admit the things

which are going on

in our lives

because we're afraid

that we're going

to be judged

and condemned.

But if you see

that actually

all of us

are in the same boat,

what that does,

that liberates us

to say,

this is the areas

where I have messed up.

These are the areas

where I'm struggling

and we begin

to walk alongside

each other.

And like Jesus,

you know,

with the woman

who was caught

in adultery,

he was brought to her.

She'd come out

of a hot,

steamy affair.

It was not good.

And yet Jesus says

to her,

I don't condemn you.

I don't condemn you.

But he says,

don't go and sin

any longer.

As a church,

we're not about

judging people

who sin,

but we're also not

about people

just saying,

hey, it's okay.

It's just your choice.

We're going to say,

hey, it's okay

not to be okay.

But we're going

to walk alongside

each other

to not stay there,

but to come into

God's design

for what he's

called us to be.

That's the brokenness

that we experience.

Sexuality's good,

but we all suffer

from ourselves,

from other people,

but the third thing

is the redemption

of sexuality.

I've got three things

from the passage

which it shows us

of how the gospel

reshapes our sexuality.

First thing,

you're already taken.

It says here,

for he who is joined

to the Lord,

this verse 17,

becomes one spirit

with him.

And then verse 19,

it says this,

or do you not know

that your body

is a temple

of the Holy Spirit

within you

whom you have

from God?

You are not your own.

You were bought

with a price,

so glorify God

in your body.

You know that word

joined?

It's the same word

that Jesus used

for what happens

when a husband

holds fast,

joins,

same word,

to his wife.

He's saying,

do you know,

the Bible starts

with a wedding

and it ends

with a wedding,

and our sexuality

now is a trailer

for that final day

when we will see

our great lover,

the one that we

are joined to.

because that whole

Bible story

is about a story

as God is a

passionate lover

seeking a rebellious

people as his bride.

And his greatest

demonstration

of sexuality

in the way

that God has

demanded it

and called for it

is a love

which is self-giving,

self-sacrificial,

dying on a cross

so that he could

hold you fast.

All sexuality

is providing you

a taste,

starter,

the appetizer

for the main meal

which is God himself.

And so that means

if you've,

we come to God

with nothing in our hands

but sin and shame.

If we repent

and come to him,

if we've turned to him

as a believer

and said,

God,

I need you

to shape

and to heal me.

To do what only God

you can provide.

Do you know what it says

in verse 9 and 11

which we didn't read?

It says,

he says to the Corinthians,

some of you guys

were just messed up

in so many ways

sexually.

But that is who you,

that is not who you are.

That is not who you are.

That is who you were.

Some of you right now,

you have a lot of shame

in your life.

You have a lot of things

that actually you don't

want to share

because you know,

you know some of the things

and it still weighs on you.

But this passage says,

that is who you were,

that is not who you are now.

Because you were washed,

you were sanctified,

you were justified

by God,

you are his.

Your body is no longer

yours to do as you please.

Just as a married guy,

I can't do what I want.

But that is not restriction,

that is freedom

to focus my attention

on the intimacy

and longing

that I have

and want to develop

with my true love

of God himself.

You know,

he says,

you are a temple

of the Holy Spirit,

of his presence.

Do you know in Hong Kong,

what's the temple

in Hong Kong

where people go to worship?

Well,

there's a few little ones,

but actually the biggest temple

is the shopping mall.

Right?

That's the temple of worship

in Hong Kong.

And actually,

it's the temple

where we often go

and trade our bodies

in for somebody else

making us feel good.

Or we withhold intimacy

and love

when our desires

are not satisfied.

But the gospel says

you're not a good

to trade.

You're not damaged goods

because you've abused

your body.

You're not leftover goods

because you're not

in a relationship.

You're not soon

to expire goods

because your sexual desire

is waning.

You are the temple

of the living God.

That means

your sacred space.

You're defined

by the Spirit of God

living in you,

not by anything else

or what anyone says

about you.

So don't cheapen yourself

for anything less

than what honors

and glorifies God

with your body

because he selflessly

gave himself for you.

And we're to reflect

that love

in the way we use

our own bodies.

You're already taken.

Second thing,

your sexuality

is a community thing.

He says,

do you not know

that your bodies

are members of Christ?

Modern society

has privatized

our sexuality

to be all about

the individual.

It's all about

my desires,

my identity,

my choice,

as long as it doesn't

harm anyone.

But Paul is now saying,

as a church,

your bodies

now belong to Christ.

You are members of him.

And that word member

is the same word

that he later uses

for being members

of the church body

where Christ is ahead

and we're interconnected

together.

And he's saying,

your sexuality

doesn't just affect you,

it affects

your relationship

with God

and your relationships

with others.

You know,

I once got on a plane

and we're flying

at 38,000 feet.

And you know

on the door

there are those levers,

those red levers

which have

do not pull

while flying.

Have you seen those?

And there's this little kid

who started walking up

and started playing

with the lever.

Now I know

there's probably

some extra security measures

but just think,

if I at that point

said,

well it's okay,

you just follow

what your heart

desires to do

at the moment.

Like,

it's okay,

I don't want to restrict

you in any way.

That's scary,

right?

I mean,

he's not just

going to take himself

down,

he's going to take

the plane down.

And actually,

that's the same thing.

Sin is never individual.

It always has

communal effects

on other people.

You know,

I was in one church,

one of the leaders

had a fair.

It devastated

the community.

Another time,

I was talking to

a non-believer

and they said to me,

the reason I don't

believe in Christianity

is I see no difference

between the way

you Christians do sex

than anybody else does.

He says,

the only difference is

you guys get more

guilt put on you.

You see,

our sexuality

impacts others

and impacts

the gospel,

which is why

we need to be real

with each other,

with the struggles

we go through.

It's why

if you know

your marriage

is just functional

with no passion,

you need to start

talking about that

with other brothers

and sisters here.

It's why

we need to start

openly confessing

and repenting

where the areas

we've not lived up

to God's design

and receive

the grace

from the community

around us.

It's why

if you're married,

you should be engaging

with singles

in your life

to help them

both experience

their intimate family

but also give

realistic expectations

that a marriage partner

is not going to be

the ultimate one.

Your sexuality,

you're already taken.

You're God's.

It's a community thing.

Last thing,

your happiness

is in your holiness.

He says this,

verse 18,

flee from sexual immorality.

He says,

every other sin

a person commits

is outside the body

but the sexually immoral

person sins

against the body.

He says,

flee it.

Don't just kind of

dabble with it.

Flee

because you're sinning

against your own body.

He means

because sex

is a whole body,

whole soul,

whole mind thing

unlike other sins,

it's a sin

which is going to

defile and tear

off a part of your soul.

It's not going to

give you life.

You know,

traditional Chinese society

cared little

for the afterlife

but said sex

is essential

for you to have

a family

which is the essence

of life and happiness.

That's why

if you're single

and approaching 30

or over 30

all your relatives

are coming up to you

seeing whether you've

found a partner

or not yet

because they're worried

that you might

list out on life

if you don't have one.

It's FOMO,

right?

Our culture says

there's no afterlife

but YOLO,

get maximum happiness now.

Now,

you see,

our society believes

sex is essential

for your happiness.

I read a BBC article

it said,

it was entitled

The Sadness of Living

Without Sex.

That's the idea.

So to restrain yourself

now is to just say

kiss goodbye to happiness.

That's what we believe

in the culture.

And the church

has often said

no,

life is not about happiness

it's about holiness

so just cut off

your desires

and hold on

until Jesus returns

and then you'll get life.

But the gospel says

your happiness

is found

in your holiness.

Because Jesus himself

the epitome

of the man

Christians

we believe

lived the most

fulfilling life

how great

was his sex life?

He was single.

He didn't date.

He wasn't playing around.

He never acted out

on his sexual desires.

Instead he gave himself

out of love for us.

Jesus said

if anyone wants

to follow me

he must deny himself

take up his cross

and follow me.

For whoever

wants to follow me

sorry

whoever wants to find

his life

will lose it

but whoever loses it

for my sake

will find it.

That means

even if

you're following

Jesus in his design

and it will sometimes

feel like dying.

It will sometimes

feel painful.

But Jesus is saying

if you choose me

and to find

your glory

and your satisfaction

in me

whether in marriage

or in singleness

you will find life

in finding

the one

that you were

truly made for.

Jesus Christ himself.

So let's be a church

which celebrates sex

that delights

in the good gift

but let's be real

about the brokenness

of it

and let's be

walking with each other

to point each other

to the only one

who will truly

satisfy and fulfill us.

cool comments.

Thank you.