This week Pastor Luke continued on with our 1 Corinthians series with Chapter 7: talking about marriage, sex, and singleness.
The big point is that both sex and sinlessness is a gift.
Point One: Sex is a gift.
Paul is giving a renewed vision for sex inside of marriage to the Corinthian church. Historically, sex has been viewed as two opposite extremes, either animalistic and sinful, or angelic and off limits. Neither of these views is correct, and every generation seems to miss it in some way when it comes to sexuality.
Instead, we need to see sex through a Biblical lens, understanding that it is a good gift to be expressed and experienced within the safe context of a marriage covenant.
If you are not willing to be completely vulnerable with somebody legally, consistently, emotionally, mentally and covenantally, you should not be naked and vulnerable with them sexually. Sex doesn’t create intimacy, it comes from intimacy.
From that point, Pastor Luke gave five application points for married couples:
Don’t withhold sex from one another, as mutual submission within marriage is key.
Your spouse is your standard of beauty. If you start looking in any other direction you will run into porneia (sexual immorality).
Sex takes work, but practice often and fight for it. It’s important to have healthy expectations and understand that God is in the business of restoration.
Sex should never be used as a punishment or reward.
The only time not to have regular sex with your spouse is to set aside time to pray. Not having regular sex opens couples up to temptation, and it’s important to fight for a healthy sex life. Don’t settle in this area. God created sex too good for it to be stolen.
Point two: Singleness is a gift.
In church culture, we haven’t always a done a great job with celebrating singleness, and we need to have a renewed vision for the gift and calling that it is.
Paul had a celibate lifestyle, and calls others to do the same because single people can devote themselves to God in a way that married people can not.
In your singleness, it’s important to guard yourself against porneia as a great sex life starts when you are single.
Sex and singleness are both gifts, but it’s always, always about the giver – and dedicating ourselves most fully to Jesus.
1 Corinthians | Week Five | Chapter 7
1 Corinthians Series
February 14, 2021 • Luke Isaacson
1 Corinthians | Week Thirteen | Chapter 16
April 11, 2021 • Tyler Schenzel
This week Tyler Schenzel finished up our 1 Corinthians series with Chapter 16. Paul talks about four distinct topics within this short chapter; money, his travel plans, standing firm in the faith and his final greetings. Tyler spoke about the various things that get in the way of living on mission such as our jobs, relationships, phones, hobbies and desire for comfort amongst others. We need to become people who live on mission; taking control of our schedules before they take control of us. Tyler encouraged us to hear from the Lord and walk through the wide door of effective work that is open for us. Just as Paul urges the Corinthians, we must stand firm in the faith, putting on the full armor of God and displaying the fruits of the Spirit in every area of our lives.
Easter Sunday | 1 Corinthians | Week Twelve | Chapter 15 pt 2
April 4, 2021 • Pastor Matthew
This Easter Sunday Pastor Matthew preached a message of resurrection out of 1 Corinthians 15. The resurrection is what changed everything, it is the anchor of our faith and the thing upon which everything hinges. It launched the church, Christianity and the Kingdom of God. When Jesus died everybody assumed that He would do what every dead person does – stay dead. Nobody expected no body, which is why the resurrection changed and changes everything. Pastor Matthew led us in three points: 1. How can I be sure? All scholars believe that Paul was a real person who lived in the 1st Century, and there are seven letters that all agrees He wrote between 50AD and 60AD. Likewise, all credible scholars believe that Jesus was a historical figure and that He was executed by Romans. Paul wrote about the resurrection just years after it happened. He met with eyewitnesses and used a creed to teach the people: Christ died for our sins and was buried; He rose from the dead and was seen. Paul’s letters prove two things; first - that the resurrection was not a product of decades of oral transmission, and secondly - belief in the resurrection was around when eyewitnesses were still alive. No scholars believe that Paul was lying, because His life validated it. 2. What does it matter for me personally? The resurrection proves everything Jesus said about Himself. That He is the Son of God. The exact image of the invisible God. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The light of the world. The forgiver of sins. The Word made flesh. He was there before the creation of the world. He was and is and is to come. He is the great I Am. The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Apart from Him we are all destined for an eternity without Him in hell. The wages of sin is death and apart from Him that is our destiny. Jesus paid the price for our sins, and conquered death. If Christ truly was resurrected, we are no longer bound to sin. Jesus’s power is REAL and we can be set free. We do not have to live in our sin any longer. 3. What does it matter for our world? Jesus is King, and the Kingdom of God brings life to dead places. Jesus is making all things new and partnering with His children to bring it to pass. We are people of the resurrection and we can see graves turned into gardens.
1 Corinthians | Week Eleven | Chapter 15 pt 1
March 28, 2021 • Jermaine Stewart
This morning, Pastor Jermaine continued on with our 1 Corinthians series with Chapter 15:35 to end of Chapter 15. This section of 1 Corinthians is all about the resurrection. The Corinthians had let false teachings come into their churches and they were doubting the resurrection of Jesus and of the body. Paul passionately addresses these concerns, using the resurrection as the link between the present and the future. Just like Jesus we will be resurrected into a new body, into a present and heavenly existence. Pastor Jermaine made three major points: 1. There is a resurrection Paul calls out the Corinthians for not using common sense, and uses the image of a seed to demonstrate the continuity between our present body and our future body. 2. There is a resurrected body The body is both natural and spiritual. It is natural in its current age, but spiritual in the age to come. 3. The resurrected body/ state involves the body, and is a supernatural event performed by God. Adam was life receiving whereas Jesus is life giving.