Last week we started talking about the apparent tension between the freedom we have in Christ (Galatians 5:1) and our ongoing struggle with sin. We talked about Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:1-3 where he says that they were captive to three things; the cravings of our sinful nature (flesh), the ruler of the Kingdom of the air (the devil) and the ways of this world. While none of these are mutually exclusive our aim this week is to talk about…
Kinnamon and Lyons statistics (quoted in “Untamed” by Alan & Debra Hirsch) claim that 91% of those outside the church aged between 16-29 say that their primary perception of the church is anti-homosexual (87% judgemental and 85% hypocritical). I find these statistics very difficult to get my head around. Where did we as the church go so wrong as to turn this issue into one upon which are very reputation as Christians seems to be tied up with? Our aims…
Yesterday we had the inevitable discussion about sex and marriage and if I am honest I thought it was probably the best study so far. It may surprise you to learn that the Bible is full of sex and marriage! The key verse is which is threads itself right through scripture is Genesis (Quoted by Jesus and Paul) and it says: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become…
The second study of our series looked at what the Bible teaches us about sexuality was entitled “Sexuality and the Supremacy of Christ”. We considered how sexuality is “God-designed” as a way to know Him more fully and that knowing Him more fully is the road to purity. All misuses of our sexuality derive from not having the true knowledge of Christ opened up to us through the gospel. If I am honest, the more I have thought about it…
This past week we began our new Bible study series on the subject of “Sexuality: God’s Idea and God’s gift”. The series has been motivated by the apparent void of good teaching in this area (how many talks have you heard on this and how many Bible studies have you been involved with?) If I am honest I could probably count the number I have heard or been involved in on one hand. When I looked for material upon which…