Status Update | Pastor Chris Kouba

Grab your Bibles, open them up to 1 Corinthians chapter 7.

1 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

First Corinthians chapter 7 is where we're going to spend some time today.

1 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

Let me give my word of greeting to all of those who are joining with us online, those who are joining at our correctional facilities as well.

Let's give them a hand and celebrate all of those folks on the other side of the camera.

Hey, yesterday was an awesome day.

Before we get going, let me just mention a little bit about serve day.

It was an incredible day where we had over 300 people that gathered here early at 8 o'clock and we sang and we worshiped and then we dispersed all over the community and did all kinds of different things, service projects.

We went uh beautified some local schools.

Uh, we had the opportunity to uh go and visit some of our homebound and widowed.

Uh, we had the opportunity to pack some Operation Christmas Child boxes.

Uh, my group, we got to go up to the H Town Dream Center, which is in Splendora, a new ministry that we have started to partner with and are excited about seeing what that looks like even going forward that helps uh with trafficked victims as well as uh be those in domestic violence situations and also just uh help alleviate poverty in our in our community.

It was just an awesome thing to be able to help uh set some things up for them.

But one of the things we also had the opportunity to do was go to Lynchner State Jail, which is uh close by in our community, and we had the opportunity to lead a worship service where we baptized 57 men yesterday, which is just amazing and incredible in of itself.

Um and here's what's really cool about that.

I want you to make sure you know whether it is somebody that we baptize in a prison ministry context or whether it's somebody that we baptize at United City.

That's not the win.

Like that's a part of the journey, but that is not the end game.

It's just that you get baptized and then like you're done.

But instead, we've got guys that go every Tuesday morning and we've got guys that go every Tuesday night to go and disciple those men who just got baptized, right?

Like they meet with them and they walk with them, and that is one of the main primary things that we want to make sure that if you're baptized here at United City, that you're getting connected to a small group, that you're walking in discipleship, that we're seeing you begin to not just uh end a relationship, if you will, by being baptized, but instead you begin a relationship with the Lord as you begin to walk through that.

So I just want to make a plug.

If you're a man here today and you're looking for someplace to serve, uh Lynchner State Jail and talk to David Humphrey.

We'd love to talk to you about how to get involved Tuesday morning or Tuesday night to go and help disciple some of those men.

Uh, everybody that I know that's done it has said that it has been life-changing.

I've had the privilege of going over there as well, and it's been pretty amazing to see what uh has taken place.

First Corinthians 7 is where we're gonna be today.

Let me just make a comment that I believe probably is not gonna be that controversial, but instead probably is gonna be pretty easy to identify with.

Relationships are complicated.

Relationships are messy.

Whether you're single, whether you're married, whether you're engaged, whether you're dating, whether you are widowed or divorced, whatever status you might find yourself in, relationships can be very complicated.

Of course, we know that that got really at a whole new level.

It was already difficult in and of itself, but then in 2007, everything changed.

It all changed because Facebook introduced a new feature to their platform where no longer did you just say who you are and where you're from and where you work, but now you had to identify your relationship status update.

You had to choose between a number of different options.

Somebody mentioned some of the options that were introduced in 2007.

You had the idea of single or dating or engaged or married or separated or divorced or widowed, or my favorite designation of all.

It's complicated.

It wasn't long after that that becoming Facebook official was a key part of the dating process.

Like you weren't actually dating unless everybody on Facebook knew that you were dating and they get to comment on it or they got to like on it or they got to respond to it in some way.

It was literally a chain in the link of a relationship progression.

Things have been a little bit different now these days, but now it's more about Instagram bios and describing to the world what your relationship status is.

Here's what it happens: you begin to, first of all, do a soft launch, which means that you both take pictures in the same place, but there's no actual proof that it's the two of you.

That's your soft launch.

Let me give you an example of what a soft launch looks like.

Take a look right there.

It's kind of a cryptic deal.

I don't really know who that is, but he's with somebody or she's with somebody, and there's sort of some kind of evidence.

Then the next phase of the dating process would be is that you both make a post in the same place, but not together.

All right.

And so therefore, people are like, wait a second, I saw them there earlier.

Are they together?

Like, what's going on?

And so it's this kind of crypto deal.

And then eventually you come out and you become Instagram official by having a post where you declare to the world, this is my new boyfriend or this is my new girlfriend.

Of course, until you break up and then you update your profile and you scrub all memory of them whatsoever from ever having been in your feed, right?

You want to make sure that no one knows that.

Now, these days, as well, nothing says love like a Snapchat streak, right?

You know what I mean?

Like you gotta make sure we are committed to each other and we're gonna make sure that we snap each other every day.

Regardless of the platform that you use, there is a pressure to not only clearly identify yourself in the status that you are in, but nowadays it comes with this expectation that everybody else also knows where your status is.

This morning, as we continue in the book of First Corinthians, I want us to consider this question.

Regardless of the status that you find yourself, whether you're single, whether you're married, or whatever it is, what does God say about your status?

What does God say about your status?

In First Corinthians chapter seven, it's kind of a long chapter.

It kind of bounces around and talks about different statuses that we're gonna see.

It's gonna kind of go married and it's gonna go single, and then it's gonna go different types of married relationships, and it's gonna go back and forth.

But all of these things together help serve for us to know how we're supposed to act, how we're supposed to serve, how we're supposed to live in whatever status we find ourselves in.

And this is appropriate because in the day of Corinth, it's the same issue that we have today that whenever we have the culture saying one thing and the Bible saying something else, unless you have clarity on what God's word says, when those two things intersect, the lines get blurry.

And let's be honest, when it comes to today and the status that you may have in your relationship, if you go by the culture, it's really blurry.

It's really unclear as to what you're supposed to do.

And so Paul writes this letter addressing a number of topics, and he spends an entire chapter addressing how do you live in your status.

Let's begin reading in verse six.

He says, Now, as a concession, not a command, I say this.

I wish that all were as I myself am, but each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.

To the unmarried and the widows, I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am.

There's four things I want to point out from chapter seven about how God says that you should live out your status.

First one is this your status is a gift from God.

Your status is a gift from God.

First few verses of chapter seven, what it talks about is the fact that married relationship, a married person is supposed to be able to enjoy the act of sex.

It says that some people there in Corinth were basically treating sex like it was only meant for procreation, and therefore they would go and they would actually have sex as an enjoyment with temple prostitutes, and they were living and separating those two things altogether.

And so Paul makes it very clear.

No, the gift of sex is meant to be a gift that is enjoyed in marriage, and it's something that is not just meant for procreation, it is also meant for enjoyment, and all the happily married couples can say, Amen, and let's just go home, right?

What a great message.

You can't really top it right there, all right?

Um but then he shifts from talking about married sex to immediately talking about, hey, but whether you're married or whether you're single, it's a gift.

He says there that it is something that is meant to be seen as a gift.

Verse 7 says that.

Have you ever received a gift that you had to act like you liked, but you really didn't like?

You got the holidays coming up, and I have no doubt maybe you're gonna get a gift, but you're gonna open it up, but you don't want to embarrass the person who gave you the gift, and so therefore you're gonna be like, oh, this is great, all the while you're thinking I'm gonna return this the second that they leave, right?

I don't really want this gift that I have been given.

Uh I uh I I'm I've I'm a lot better now than I used to be, but I I, for the longest time, was a really, really picky eater.

Uh, and I got really picky whenever it came to uh international mission trips.

Because, you know, I mean, that's that's kind of a dicey situation, right?

I mean, you're eating food that you're not used to, and then you don't necessarily know if it's been clean the same way that you typically like to have things clean, and so therefore you're usually advised to kind of follow the lead of the person that's in charge as to whether something is safe to eat.

I went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic earlier this year to go to for is an ICM trip, which is a uh international cooperating ministries.

They plant churches all over the world.

We we're partnering with them.

Our church has given them a number of money to be able to build some churches in different places in Costa Rica, pretty amazing ministry.

And so we go on this trip, though, to the Dominican Republic, and when we show up at this church, they're really big in hospitality, and so they they bring us in and they're so excited that we're there, and they're so gracious and so wonderful, and they sit us all down and they put a a little a bag in front of every single one of us that has our name on it.

So I was like, this is kind of cool.

So I open up the bag, it's this gift that they wanted me to open up right away, and it was this coffee mug from the Dominican Republic that had my name spelt wrong.

No big deal, whatever.

It's fine, it's fine, no big deal.

But I'm like, this is great, you know, okay.

I got this mug that's got a different name, and then and then they they they take that away, and then they're like, oh, we want to give you something to drink, and so they put this drink in front of me, and so I'm kind of looking the whole time, trying to get eyeballs with the guy that's in charge is there, and he kind of gives me the thumbs up, so I'm like, okay, I can actually drink this, okay?

And so uh it's this orange drink, and it was really good.

It was great.

It was I had this drink and it was fine, no big deal.

And then they put this bowl in front of me that looked like soup.

I don't know what was in the soup, but it looked like it was a soupy type of substance.

And the whole time I'm like smiling and they're like, you know, eat, eat, go ahead and eat right away, eat.

And the whole time I'm looking to try to get the eyeball of the guy that was kind of in charge, but he wouldn't look at me, and so now I have a decision to make.

I'm stuck.

Because it's clear that they want me to eat it, and I want to be a gracious uh, you know, host, or I want to be a gracious guest rather, while they're being very nice hosts.

On the other hand, I know me eating this meal could change the entire trajectory of the rest of my vacation or the rest of my mission trip going forward.

So at that moment, I have a choice to make.

Do I reluctantly say yes and eat it?

Or I did a veteran pro move.

I've been before.

I'm fasting.

I'm not gonna be able to eat, but thank you so much for the gift that you've given to me.

I just blame it on God, all right?

Not gonna eat right now.

I wonder if some of you see your relationship status like I did that bowl of soup.

Like it's been given to you.

The Bible says very clearly in verse 7 that it's a gift.

But in your mind, your debate is whether you're just gonna reluctantly endure it and eat it, or whether you're just gonna say, God, no, I don't think so.

And you're just gonna push it aside and say, I'm not doing this, I'm gonna do what I want.

You gotta understand something.

If you if you're some of you, you're you're you're single, and the last thing that you would ever say is that your singleness is a gift.

Some of you are married, and in your married relationship, of all the words that you could possibly use to describe your relationship, not one time did you ever think of the word gift as a description of your marriage.

Some of you find yourself separated, some of you find yourself divorced, some of you find yourself widowed, and the last possible thing you ever think of your life at this point would be that that would be your status.

In order for you to understand what God's word is telling us in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, and in order for you not to blur the lines when it comes to your relationships with what God's word says, is you have to start with this premise and embrace this reality.

1 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

Your current status is a gift from God, and it's not an unwanted gift that you have to endure, but it's instead a gift that you can grow to see the status the same way the Lord sees it.

And you can allow the Bible to speak in your life instead of allowing the culture to blur the lines of what is acceptable, and you can begin to embrace whatever status that you're in as a gift from God.

Let's keep reading in verse 10.

Let's get down to verse 10.

To the married I give discharge, not I, but the Lord.

The wife should not separate from her husband.

But if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband, and the husband should not divorce his wife.

To the rest I say, I not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.

If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.

For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband.

Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so.

In such cases, the brother or sister is not enslaved.

God has called you to peace.

For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband, or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

The second thing I want you to see is specific to the status of married couples.

And here's the what God says about your status.

Number two, marriage is a covenant, not a contract.

Marriage is a covenant, not a contract.

A covenant is a commitment that you make to where no matter what, you don't break it except for death.

A contract, on the other hand, is something that you have a mutual agree upon, and as long as you are both committed to the terms and conditions that you agreed to in the midst of the contract, then you are both happily fulfilling the obligations of that contract.

But the moment that one of you decides that you don't like the terms and conditions, then you bail on the contract.

You just figure out how you can get out of it.

A contract is a commitment with a timeline.

A covenant is a promise that supersedes time.

Paul speaks to a number of different nuances of married life in this passage.

He speaks to the one who's in a difficult marriage.

Maybe your marriage isn't going well.

Maybe your marriage isn't what you expected.

Maybe he doesn't have all the magic that you thought that it promised whenever you were dating or you were engaged.

Here's what his advice is to you: work on it.

Work in it, work through it.

His advice is not what the culture says, which is find something else.

If you don't like it, you need to be happy.

That's the main thing.

Instead, a covenant says this, I'm committed here, and so therefore I'm gonna work on it.

Josh, uh, Thomas and Lily uh got married.

Josh and Lily Thomas now got married last week, which was pretty exciting, pretty incredible to see this fan this couple get married.

Uh Josh is our young adult pastor, he leads worship up here a lot.

Uh, you many of you know Josh just because of his visibility, but let's be, I'm just gonna be honest with you.

We all really like Lily, all right?

That's that's who we really love.

Lily's the best.

Uh Lily that works in our kids' ministry, and uh a lot of times it's back there, and just an is just an awesome, awesome wedding.

A lot of times just because the fact that they basically got together on staff and then they're now kind of a staff call.

I feel like responsible for this whole thing, right?

You know, kind of a deal.

And so it was just kind of awesome.

Uh, and they're just both of them just exude joy.

Like just everything about them just has so much joy in it.

And so it was just one of the most enjoyable, fun weddings I've ever been to in my life.

It was just so great.

And I had the privilege, the absolute honor of officiating their ceremony.

And so, in the midst of doing that ceremony, I got up there and did the typical thing, said a few words, and then and then they had the opportunity to stand towards each other and they they exchanged vows and then they exchanged rings and then they kissed and they went off a whole deal like a normal thing.

But in the midst of the vows, let me just mention a few things that I said that they committed to each other there in front of everybody.

They said that they were gonna be committed to each other for life.

They said that they were gonna be with each other for richer or for poorer.

They said that they were gonna be with each other in sickness and in health till death separates them.

So we do the whole vows and they do the whole thing, and everything goes well, and then we uh that they they stay back after the ceremony to go do some family pictures, and we kind of had a moment where we were all kind of over next to the area, kind of in the waiting spot before we went into the reception and all of that.

And I had a chance to go meet one of Josh's aunts, Aunt Marion.

She was an unbelievably delightful lady.

It was just so much fun getting to hear her story and just being able to talk with her and just getting to know her a little bit in the midst of that time, and and so we're talking back and forth, and then right before we're about to kind of leave, she grabs me and she says, Hey, can I talk to you for a second?

Absolutely.

And she grabs my arm and she pulls me aside and she gets really, really quiet.

And then Mary An begins to tell me, she says, I saw the her husband that was there.

She says, I'm actually uh I've already been married.

I I I'm I'm a widow and I got I got remarried eight years ago.

And she said, a couple years in to our marriage, uh, my husband got cancer, he's actually doing really well now.

She said, but honestly, two years ago is really when things changed.

And he got diagnosed with dementia.

And she got teary a little bit, and she said, I just want you to know how much it meant to me to hear you say the vows.

Now, don't get me wrong.

I crushed the vowels, right?

I said them really, really well.

But I was like, I didn't say anything special, you know, like what are you what are you talking about?

And she goes, just to hear what I signed up for.

I needed that.

The culture's gonna tell you when it's hard to fail.

Just leave.

Upgrade.

Get a new one, and just go find another one.

Just whatever you gotta do, just as long as you're happy.

That is not true.

Because I'm just telling you, and Marianne gets it.

Because she's living in such a way where right now she is the most beautiful picture and model of what it looks like of the relationship between Christ and the church because she is now serving a man who doesn't even know where he is, and it's hard, and it's difficult.

But that's what Paul's trying to say in this passage.

Just because it's hard and difficult doesn't mean you bail.

When it's hard and you difficult, you stay in, you press in, you work hard, you allow God's mercy and his grace to come to you in the midst of you living out the vows that you made in your marriage.

In the passage, what Paul does is he begins to speak specifically to this next group of people, like, okay, what about these people who both were unbelievers and then they both get married, and then all of a sudden one of them comes to Christ but the other one doesn't?

Are you supposed to leave the one who's not a believer now because I'm a believer?

And he says, No.

You press in, you pray, you pursue, you serve, you see what God does because you want to show the world what it looks like for you to follow after your God and still be able to pursue your unbelieving spouse, praying that God leads them to a place of repentance.

Folks, practically, what does this mean?

This means get in reengage.

This means get into counseling, this means get into another group with other Christian couples who are also walking this thing through so that you can be around people who you can see what it looks like for you to have a God honoring marriage where you take out the D word and you don't even allow it to be in your vocabulary.

Because it's not even an option.

Because instead, I'm committed to you.

And it's going to be hard and it may be difficult, but I ain't going anywhere.

I'm here.

This doesn't mean there's not certain exceptions along the way.

We certainly know that Jesus even speaks to a few of those about divorce, but I would tell you this we look way too much to the exceptions and not nearly enough to the rule, which is God wants you to stay in.

Want you to work on it.

Let me just practically say this really quickly to the rest of the folks that are here that are not married.

There's a reason why you should be so picky and choosy before you're married because the covenant that you're entering into.

Second Corinthians chapter 6, verse 14.

2 Corinthians 6:14

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness, there's a reason there is a clear warning.

There's a reason there is a clear command because God does not want you to be married to an unbeliever because he wants you both to be pursuing after the Lord.

Let me just go and give you a little bit of a heads up.

You cannot marry someone who is an unbeliever if you don't date someone who's not a believer.

And this whole idea that somehow I'm gonna pull them up into godliness only leads to you falling down to where they are.

And instead, what God tells you to do is He tells you to look towards Him and you run towards Him and you look.

And if somebody happens to be running next to you towards the same place that you're going, that's marriage material.

But if you got to turn around and look for somebody else, that's not where you need to be.

Because now all of a sudden your eyes are off of where you need to go.

So, folks, you gotta make sure you're picky and you're choosy because once you're in, you're in for good.

Let's keep going.

Verse 17.

Only let us let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him.

This is my rule in all the churches.

Skip down to verse seven verse 20.

Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.

Were you a bondservant when called, do not be concerned about it.

But if you gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.

For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freed man of the Lord.

Likewise, he who was freed when called is a bondservant of Christ.

You were bought with a price, so do not become bondservants of men.

So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

Number three, third thing I want you to see that God tells us in this passage, in this chapter, about how to live in your status.

Number three, stay faithful where you are right now.

Stay faithful where you are right now.

It's interesting when you're growing up, you're always wanting to be in the next season.

So if you're in elementary school, you can't wait till you get to middle school where you get to change classes.

When you're in middle school, you can't wait to get to high school where you got a little bit bigger stage and a little bit bigger pool of friends to choose from.

Whenever you're in high school, you can't wait to get into your college.

You can't wait to get into your career.

Whenever you're in college, you can't wait to get to that next phase where then all of a sudden you're kind of adulting.

And whenever you're a young adult, you can't wait to get married.

Whenever you're married, you can't wait to have kids.

Whenever you have kids, you can't wait for them to get to the same next stages.

In the same way, think about your career.

You may start out as a resident or an entry-level position, but you're always thinking about what is next.

How can I make more money?

How can I work my way up the ladder?

It's all about getting and attaining the next promotion.

And having drive and ambition are not bad things.

I would actually argue they are a good, godly thing.

However, we must be careful that we aren't so focused on the destination that we miss that God wants us to see a lot on the drive.

And so, therefore, what does God say about what I do today besides me only caring about what I'm supposed to do then?

Down the road.

Culture says that whatever season you're in, you need to be longing and waiting and working to get to the next season.

The culture says that whatever status you're in, you need to be working to get to the next status and not stay in your current one.

Here's what God's word says about your status: stay faithful where you are right now.

Instead of worrying about how to move on to the next place, God wants you to be faithful in the place you are right now.

This doesn't mean that you may not change your status in the future.

However, the goal needs to be faithfulness in your current status instead of working and worrying about your next status.

This is similar to the parable of the talents, one of my favorite passages in all of the Bible in Matthew 25.

It says that a servant comes and he goes and he hires three different people and he gives all three of these folks one talent, one two talent, one five talent, and he leaves.

So enjoy and be content with the season that you are in so that God can bless you even more in that season, or God can bless you by moving you to a different season.

So ask yourself this question Am I being faithful right now or I am?

Am I being faithful in my giving?

Am I being faithful in my serving?

Am I being faithful in my sharing?

Am I being faithful in my prayer life?

What makes you assume that if you're not being faithful right now, that if your status changes, that you're gonna all of a sudden start being faithful then?

Instead, stay faithful where you are right now.

Let's get down to verse 32.

I want you to be free from anxieties.

The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.

But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided.

And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit.

But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.

I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

Skip down to verse 38.

So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives.

But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes only in the Lord.

Yet in my judgment, she is happier if she remains as she is.

And I think that I too have the spirit of God.

Final thing that God says about your status, number four, don't waste your singleness.

Don't waste your singleness.

Paul specifically speaks to singles, and he says that your singleness is actually an advantage.

He makes it clear it's not wrong to be married, but it's better to be single.

When you're single, you don't have the distractions and the hindrances that you do when you're married and when you have a family.

Right now, uh my uh phone has all of my family calendars that we share, that I share.

I should say it that way.

Uh and right now I am literally up to 15 shared calendars on my phone.

15.

It says stuff like Chris Personal, it says stuff like Hillary Personal, it says stuff like boys Chris aware.

So that's like stuff that the boys are doing that I'm supposed to actually know about, right?

The meaning they have another calendar that's like boys that's I don't even see, okay?

They they they got like Chris and Hillary calendar for the two of us.

We've got another one that's like the family calendar.

We've got, I mean, it's just it's insane.

Like if you open up my my my phone and my calendar, it's just like colors everywhere.

Like just it's just nonstop, all the different things.

What's wild is that my wife, I think, has like 10 more calendars that she also keeps up with, in addition to the 15 that I keep up with that I don't even know about.

Like I've just told her, like, I I babe I can't do it.

Like, I just can't.

I'm out.

I need you to handle, and she does, because she's got like just the amount of stuff.

I mean, it's just insane how many calendars there.

So if somebody was to come up to me and say, hey, can I get with you?

Like in my mind, I just kind of laugh.

Like, that's that's that's really good because I have 14 personal calendars that I'm trying to figure out how to navigate.

And on top of that, I have an assistant, and part of her job is to navigate my work calendar, which is just absolutely insane.

I don't say that to say that I'm really, really busy.

I say that to say that having a family with four teenagers is a lot.

There's a lot going on.

I'm not trying to say that if you're single, that you don't have a lot going on.

I'm not trying to say that if you're single that you're not incredibly busy.

But I really hope if you're single, you don't have 15 calendars that you're navigating, right?

You don't have nearly as many things that you're having to juggle and deal with.

And I think that's what Paul's point is in the midst of this passage.

He's saying, look, if you're single, you have an advantage.

In fact, it actually says there in verse 37 that you can have greater devotion to the Lord.

It's not saying it's wrong to be married, it's just saying it's better to be single.

Now, I realize that's not the message most people in the church hear, they're single.

And I would tell you this: I own that and I apologize for that.

Because I want to be faithful to what God's word says.

And while, yes, we talk about marriage and illustrations that I use are in marriage, please understand this.

You're better off than me.

You're in a better place than me as long as you embrace your singleness instead of viewing your singleness as a bird.

What does this mean?

This means one.

Don't buy into what the culture says, which is that all you really need is a partner.

It doesn't even matter if it's a spouse.

You need a partner.

And so, because of that, the culture has suggested to you that essentially that's all that really matters, and so therefore, you can enjoy all the benefits of marriage without the constraints of a relationship in marriage.

Don't buy into that stuff.

Instead, use your singleness as a way to have greater devotion to the Lord.

Singles, don't waste your singleness.

Don't lower the bar of what God would want for you by just trying to have a date or trying to get a boyfriend or trying to get a girlfriend.

Don't spend so much time trying to figure out how you can get out of your single status that you miss what God wants to do with you in that status.

Serve out of your singleness.

Don't be selfish in your singleness.

Give of your time and your resources during this season.

Don't sell your soul to your career, which will never reward you or satisfy you like you think that it will.

Instead, live for a greater purpose, a greater mission, and a greater calling, which is Christ and his church.

Let me close by asking you one final question.

Instead of you having to choose your relationship status update on Facebook, saying whether you're single or whether you're married or whether you're divorced or separated or widowed, or whatever it is that you would have to say, even complicated.

If there was a dropdown and you had to choose about your status before God, what would you say?

If one of the options was saved and living for Jesus, would you be able to choose that?

If so, praise God.

Because that's more important than you being single or married or widowed or dating or any other thing out there.

It's that you're pursuing after Jesus.

You have a relationship with him.

Keep living out that status.

Maybe for some of you you would say, you know, I'm saved, but I'm not really following right now.

I would simply tell you, one, thank you for being honest.

You know Jesus, but you aren't currently living for him.

It's okay to be in that status, it's just not okay to stay in that status.

So instead, you know what you need to do is repent and turn and come back to the Lord.

And what you will find is that he is waiting for you, having been watching you, wondering when you're gonna finally see, hey, come on back home.

And instead of giving you a lecture, he's gonna run and he's gonna embrace you and give you his grace.

If that's you today, would you make the decision to return to the Lord and experience his goodness in your life?

Some of you, if you were honest, you would say, you know, honestly, unknown.

I don't know really where I stand before God.

My assumption is it's probably not too great.

But on the other hand, I don't feel like I'm that bad, but I I don't know.

Maybe some of you would be so honest as to say, man, I'm just completely lost.

I have absolutely no idea.

It's not something that I think about, or maybe I do think about it, but I don't really know what to do with it when I do think about it, and so therefore, I'm not done much with it.

I'm gonna ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes all across this room.

If that's your status today, I'm gonna ask you to change it.

You don't do it by doing a bunch of stuff.

You do it by receiving a gift from Jesus salvation.

You can pray a simple prayer that can literally change your life.

Just pray these words right where you are, dear God.

I want to change my status with you.

I believe you died on the cross for me, for my sins.

I believe that you rose from the dead.

And right now, I invite you to change me.

Forgive me of all of my sins.

I receive you as my Lord and as my savior.

I want to be saved.

If you continue to keep your heads bowed and your eyes closed, what I'm gonna ask you to do is in the same way that Facebook put in this relationship status update so that other people could see and celebrate.

I want you to give us that same privilege.

If you just change your status before the Lord.

Just a moment.

What I'm gonna ask is those in the front section here below.

You've got folks that are in front of you and on the sides of you.

If you just pray to receive Jesus, we want to like, we want a heart, we want to celebrate, we want to comment, we want to have a party in celebration.

We're not gonna embarrass your promise, but we want to know about your decision.

There's others of you that are in the balcony.

What I'm gonna ask you go, folks in the balcony, to do is that no one be leaving.

This is the most important time of our service.

And we've got folks at the bottom of the steps, and so therefore, if you today make a decision in the balcony, you just get up in just a moment and you come forward and tell one of our folks at the bottom of these steps.

If that's not you coming forward for a decision, I'm gonna ask that you do not move or leave, but you instead pray.

Asking God to move in our midst.

The most important moments of our service are right now as people take their bold public next steps.

Others of you need to come and join United City Church.

You need to change your status from being an attender to a committed member.

You've been thinking about it, you've been playing around with it, you've been talking about it, maybe you've gone to grow track or know you need to.

Maybe this is your next step today.

Would you come and lead the way today?

Others need to be baptized, you're about to baptize one at our next service.

God is calling you to take that public next step.

You come forward and you tell one of our team members, again, those in the balcony, we've got folks at the bottom of the aisles, and those in front.

Just a moment, you'll see.

Others of you need prayer today.

Maybe you're struggling.

Maybe your status is that you're overwhelmed.

Maybe you feel like you're filled with anxiety and you need peace.

Whatever your story is, I want you to know this.

You don't have to walk it alone, but we want to pray with, we want to pray for you.

Give us the privilege of doing that today.

Father, I pray you'd move in these moments that we have left.

Lead people to a life-changing next step.

They will forever remember and they'll never regret.

It's in the name of Jesus that I pray.

Amen.

Would you stand and as you stand, our team is up front?

For those of you in the balcony, up close are right there in front.

You come and stop us leading you to respond.

Come on.

So thankful to see people coming and responding to the message today, and just uh I know this can be a hard, a hard message.

I get it.

I I get it, it's definitely difficult.

If you're in a struggling marriage, I want you to know you can have help.

If you're widowed, I want you to know we've got resources that are designed to help you.

Uh if you're separated, I want you to know you're not a you're not a stigma.

You're you're welcome in United City.

We're for you, and we want to walk with you.

We want to open up God's word and we want to help you.

Uh if you're single, folks, let me just tell you something.

We we are all about uh godly people, dating godly people, but we also are not gonna sit around and try to celebrate what God doesn't celebrate.

And so, therefore, know that we also want to call you to holiness because we believe that at the end of the day, that's the most important thing that you'll do, more than just that relationship that you have.

And so, in all things, uh, we want to make sure to navigate this.

I believe Paul's warnings are just as true to the church today as they were to the city of Corinth, where there's just messiness.

But we know that God is a God of clarity.

Hey, real quick, I've got one quick announcement that I want to let you know about.

Really excited about.

Uh, we are adding a brand new staff member to the team today, and I want to make sure you have the opportunity to meet him.

Landon Miller uh is gonna be our new middle school pastor here at United City.

We're super, super thankful for him.

Landon and his wife Liv uh grew up in the area, they're native Houstonians and are coming to us after uh many years of ministry here locally in the area, and I'm really excited about having him be in the screw shall they got uh a baby Dallas little girl.

She is just absolutely a doll.

And so, therefore, we got a little gift for you.

We've got a little jean jacket for Miss Dallas.

We got a little baby bottle with UCY on it, got some different swag for you as well.

Let's give him a hand and let's celebrate Landon coming on the team.

Church family, do me a favor as we exit today.

Would you just extend your hand forward like you did earlier?

I just want to pray a prayer blessing over Landon and his family and encourage you to get a chance to meet them uh in the days ahead.

Father, we thank you so much for Landon.

We thank you for his leadership.

We thank you, God, for what you're gonna do.

In and through this man, Lord, we thank you for his family.

We pray your blessing upon Liv and Dallas.

And we're just so grateful that you brought him to us.

I pray, God, that you would give him favor relationally, Lord, open up doors that he doesn't even know.

Uh, Lord, that that could be open and allow him, Lord, just to be able to connect with students and to connect with parents and to be able to be used mightily in all areas of United City Church.

Thank you, Lord.

Bless him.

We are so grateful to see what you're doing in United City Unit.

We pray God that you're the best thing we're truly ahead of.

It's in Jesus' name that I pray.

Amen.

Thank you all so much.

Wow, what an amazing message we got to hear this morning.

I hope the Lord showed himself to you in a fresh, new way.

Hey, if you made a decision today to follow Jesus or a decision for Christ, we would love to process that with you, and so text the word next to 55498, and someone from our team will be more than happy to reach out and process that with you.

If you missed the message or you missed a note or two and you want to go back, don't worry, we've got the option for that as well.

It's gonna be available on Spotify as well as Apple Music.

This has been an amazing morning.

We love you guys so much, and we hope to see you next week.

Bye bye.