Amid the convoluted messages about sexuality and marriage across the news networks and social media feeds, it’s easy to wonder if there is any solution or resolution for the conversation. Has God provided a clear, navigable pattern to follow?
Do you wonder how Jesus Christ would respond to questions like:
- “Can I sleep with my girlfriend, just so long as she doesn’t get pregnant?”
- “Is marriage really only between one man and one woman for life?”
- “Isn’t lust and porn okay as long as nobody gets hurt?”
- “If someone has same-sex attraction, does that mean they’ve been made that way by God? Does God think it’s okay?”
A Pattern in Design
On Sunday, Nov. 9th (6pm service) we at North Park Baptist Church began journeying into a study of what God says about our sexuality and His design for marriage. Here’s a quick glance at the line-up (audio podcasts now posted for messages 1-3 at the bottom of this post):
- Nov. 9 – God’s Beautiful Blueprints – Pastor Michael Breznau
- Nov. 16 – Counterfeits? Jumping to Home Plate: Pre-Marital Sex – Pastor John Nixon
- Nov. 23 – Counterfeits? LGBTQ meets FHL (Faith, Hope, Love) – Dr. Bruce Kalish
- Nov. 30 – Panel Discussion on Cohabitation, Lust, Same-Sex Attraction, Q & A, etc. – Michael Breznau, John Nixon, Bruce Kalish, and Heather Saturley
Our series on these important questions relates to a proposed amendment [Update: voted into our constitution as of 4.26.15] to our church constitution, relating to “Position Clarifications” and a “Marriage and Sexuality Position Statement” appendix, on which we plan to hold a congregational vote (4/26/2015): click here to access this document as a PDF: Constitution Position Statement and Appendix
Also relating to our revised and expanded “Position Clarifications” on Christian Liberty and Ethics, please go here to access further resources and the audio messages from our series “Liberty or License: The Moral and Ethical Implications of the Gospel.”
God’s Beautiful Blueprints
I had a great time kicking-off the series with two key portions of God’s blueprints for marriage: Genesis 2-3 and Ephesians 5:17-33. Below is the audio podcast of my message (I will post the other messages in the series as they become available). As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Also, here’s a video from Dan Stevers we used as the opening for our series. He does an excellent job capturing the essence of “the Story of Sex” with clarity and creativity:
Going Deeper
We also want to provide you with materials to go beyond what can be accomplished in just 4 teaching sessions. Therefore, here are 4 key resources that I highly recommend purchasing for further study. If you swing by North Park Baptist for one of the the evening sessions listed above, we have all these books available in our foyer display for the cheapest prices we could scrounge up on the internet. Here you go:
Listen to the full audio messages below by simply clicking on the play button below or by subscribing to our iTunes podcast. These messages were originally delivered at North Park Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI,
Part 1 – Pastor Michael Breznau: “God’s Beautiful Blueprints” (Gen. 2-3; Eph. 5:17-33) on Sunday evening, November 9th, 2014.
Part 2 – Pastor John Nixon: “The Truth and the Grace” (1 Cor. 6:13-20), Sunday evening, November 16th, 2014.
Part 3 – Dr. Bruce Kalish: “LGBTQ meets FHL” (1 Cor. 6:9-11, and selected passages), Sunday evening, November 23rd, 2014.
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