11am LIVE | Centre Street Church

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] hi everyone and welcome to the center street church 11 a.m service streaming live from our central campus we're center street church one church in many locations and if you don't know much about us just check out the notes section in the chat where you can learn a bit more and friends at any time throughout the stream check there for ways that you can grow in your faith ways that you can connect ways that you can partner with us in the work that god is doing through center street church and also ways that we can be praying for you now before we get started i want to remind you that this time will be what you make of it often we walk into these streams or we turn our devices on but we're multitasking because we're just so busy right or we have something else going on on the side because we're just so tired we always have a i'm just so and you can fill in the blank but friends just come as you are because god loves you and he is with you and he has something for you during this service it is a big service henry has a powerful message for us so take a moment right now to turn your heart towards god so that you can fully surrender in worship and receive what god has for you this morning [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning center street church family on this amazingly beautiful late september day this weather has been wonderful and we have so much to be thankful for and so we're going to begin by celebrating with a psalm psalm 98 which which really focuses on who god is what he's given to us in creation and he that he is the god of salvation so i'm going to invite you to stand with us today and you're very welcome to read out loud with us as we proclaim together psalm 98 sing to the lord a new song for he has done marvelous things his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him the lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations he has remembered his love and his faithfulness to israel and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our god shout for joy to the lord all the earth burst into jubilant song with music make music to the lord with the harp with the harp and the sound of singing with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn shout for joy before the lord the king let the let the sea resound and everything in it the world and all who live in it let the rivers clap their hands let the mountains sing for joy let them sing before the lord for he comes to judge the earth he will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity let's pray together almighty god you have created the heavens and the earth and ourselves in your image teach us to discern your hand in all your works and to serve you with reverence and thanksgiving through jesus christ our lord who is alive and reigns with you in the holy spirit one god now and forever amen sing praise to the lord the almighty praise to the lord the almighty the king of creation oh my soul praise him for he is your health and salvation [Music] join me in glad [Music] [Music] raised to the lord above all things so wondrously raining shall bring you under his wings and so gently sustained have you not seen all that is me has been sent by his gracious [Music] [Music] praise to the lord who will prosper your work and defend [Music] his goodness and mercy shall daily attain [Music] with his love he befriends you [Music] joyful time for we adore the god of glory lord of lords the sun [Music] and angels [Music] come now with praises before him let thee amen sound from his people again gladly forever [Music] in matthew 11 28 to 30 we hear these words of jesus come to me all you who are weary and burdened and i will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for i am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your soul for my yoke is easy and my burden is light so come let's celebrate our god's great love that never runs dry drink of the water come and first no more [Music] come all you sinners come find his mercy come to the table he will satisfy taste of his goodness find what you're looking for [Music] [Applause] [Music] believes in him [Music] bring all your failures bring your addictions come lay them down at the foot of the cross jesus there with open arms for god so loved the world that he gave us forever defeated now it is praise god praise god from whom our blessings flow praise him praise him [Music] of his love praise god praise god from whom our blessings flow praise him praise him for the oneness of his love his amazing love for god so loved the world that he gave us his one and only son to save us for god so loved the world that he gave us forever defeated [Music] bring all your failures bring your addictions come lay them down at the foot of the cross jesus is waiting god so loved [Music] amen god loved us so much that he gave his life for us and uh interesting in my reading this week in james 4 i was just boldly reminded again that we are all sinners in need of forgiveness i'm a sinner in need of forgiveness in need of a savior and james ford says come near to god that he will come near to you wash your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded if anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it it is sin for them i invite you to be seated for a moment here and we're going to move into a time of both corporate and personal confession this is an opportunity to examine our hearts to allow god to show us those areas that we have failed where we have sinned against him so this is really a time of confession which is a call to acknowledge and forsake sin against god and one another and then also an invitation to receive the assurance of a new identity in the finished work of christ so will you pray with me please jesus you have called us to love you with our whole heart and mind soul and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves but we confess many times and in many ways we have not lived this way so lord have mercy on us christ have mercy and forgive us our sins so let's take a moment just before the lord to in this silence to bring our individual confession of sin to god and then we'll continue in a time of confession and worship through song [Music] for what we have done and left undone we fall on your countless mercies for sins that are known and those i know we call on your name so holy for envy and pride for closing our [Music] how deeply we need a savior lord have mercy christ have mercy lord have mercy on us lord have mercy christ have mercy lord have mercy on us stand and sing with us for what you have done your life of love you perfectly live we praise you though tempted and tried you fixed your eyes and finished the work god gave betrayal you love to [Music] lord have mercy christ our mercy lord have mercy on us lord have mercy christ have mercy lord have mercy on us lord have mercy christ have mercy lord have mercy [Music] [Music] mercy [Music] [Music] for hearts that are cold [Music] we found you our [Music] lord have mercy christ our mercy [Music] lord have mercy christ [Music] us lord have mercy right have mercy lord have mercy on us [Music] lord have mercy on us lord have mercy christ have mercy lord have mercy on us lord have mercy christ have mercy lord have mercy [Music] for all who put their hope in the finished work of jesus hear your assurance christ jesus is the one who died more than that who was raised and is at the right hand of god interceding for you in christ you are more than conquerors through him who loved you for i am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else at all creation will be able to separate you me from the love of god in christ jesus our lord thanks be to god [Music] hear the savior say thy strength indeed is small child of watch weakness pray find in me thine [Music] jesus paid [Music] he washed in white [Music] lord now indeed [Music] and build this heart [Music] [Music] white [Music] for nothing good ever [Music] jesus it all to hear my own sin had lived a crisis washed it white [Music] and when before the throne jesus [Music] jesus christ he was [Music] [Applause] if you're in grade seven to nine and registered for the pursuit you were dismissed would you all stay standing and pray with me dear heavenly father we declare as a church family gathered today that you are our king you are our savior you are our father and god we desire to make you our everything we are so sorry for the times that we make you are something and not our everything and we allow sin to creep into our lives and it isn't until we see those crimson stains that we've realized that we have lost a hold of you that god you are full of love and grace and mercy and faithfulness for us and you sent your perfect son jesus to die on a cross to save us from our sins and to make us white as snow to complete us we thank you for that and god you have given pastor henry a word for us today to help us understand sin your wrath your grace your love would you anoint him this morning and would you open our mind open our heart to receive the word that you have given him and for us to hear your voice and what you are saying to us and god now we continue in worship and adoration of you as we give to you from what you have given to us would you bless it would you multiply it so that more people could be made complete could be made white as snow could experience your love and your grace in your name we pray amen you may be seated god is all about changing lives and we want to celebrate that last weekend during a young adult retreat three young adults came to know jesus as their personal savior and one was baptized you better be celebrating at home too on my family and i want to remind you that he's not just over there working in their life no he is here he is working in your life he is there working in your life and it is when we live our life the way that he designed that he can bring about change he designed us to live life in community with him and with others and you are here you are worshiping you're in community with him but have you been in community with others kovit has really made that challenging but we see jesus modeling that in scripture for us he had his disciples a spiritual family if you don't have community if you don't have spiritual family we have an eight-week experience that's coming up that is designed to give you a taste of what spiritual family is like and we encourage you to check that out we do it safely some of it is online but we have to be in community so we really encourage you to check that out now god also designed us to serve him he created each one of us with unique abilities unique talents he created us just the way that we are and he's using us and wanting to use us to accomplish his purposes so we have a class coming up so that you can discover how god created you a bit more we go through your personality we go through your strengths and your abilities and we have a time of prayer to discern where god may be leading you to serve him so we encourage you to check that out as well now parents kids grandparents our october ministry boxes are ready to go so make sure that you pick yours up at the connect area after the service come into the church online family and pick yours up it is a highlight for my kids and our family and it's an incredible way to be able to disciple our children in a creative and engaging and fun way so encourage you to spend the time doing that now if you have questions about anything that i've talked about or you've been sensing the lord leading you to take a different step in your spiritual journey come and talk to us at the connect area after the service if this is your first time here welcome you probably have a lot of questions about what we're doing and what we're talking about just go to the new here area in the atrium and we would love to meet you now we're going to watch a video from pastor wayne a little update and if you see him in the atrium after the service make sure you let him know today is not the day you'll get it in just a minute doug i saw the bears paw video on the weekend today's the day fantastic and today's the day for central you're here today is the day so excited today's the day today is the day no it's not wayne but we can go have a look hey let's go take a look at how it's coming along hey center street welcome to the center for the city this is where the compassionate ministries and the new canadian friendship center come together to offer hope help and healing to the communities and it's going to be a fantastic amazing space to do that now that area is where parents can connect and wait have a cup of coffee because their kids are in the play area in the play zone having fun making new friends an opportunity for everybody to come here and be connected and together when you look over here just beyond these columns this is going to be classroom and meeting space where studies classes connection points are going to happen it's going to be a fantastic space for so many uses hey right behind me is the expansion of our chapel which will give us so much more room for weddings funerals banquets and so much connection with the community and now as you look over here here is the new csc gymnasium where we're going to be able to connect with our friends and family crossover sports connection points for youth children and adults all happening here on the new csc gym and welcome to the fourth floor this is where multi-purpose rooms are going to be staff offices are going to be and other areas of the church are being relocated on this fourth floor and that concludes our tour but today is not the day that we're moving in but it is a day that we start to prepare our hearts for one heart at a time to be changed one prayer at a time one day at a time as we look forward to what god's gonna do in the incredible future god bless you we'll see you soon [Music] all right yes indeed definitely something to celebrate and to look forward to well we do welcome those of you who are joining us online and also those of you who are meeting here together at the central campus along with those of you meeting at one of our other campuses in erdery uh bridgeland south calgary and also in bears spa we're in a new series in the book of romans and so i'm going to invite you to open your bibles or your bible apps to romans chapter 1. now paul essentially addresses two questions in this section of scripture from verse 18 to 32 why is god's wrath being revealed and secondly how is god's wrath being revealed now we address the first question why is god's wrath being revealed last time but it is the key to understand the scripture that we're looking at today and so here's a quick recap first of all in verses 19 and 20 paul writes that god has been and continues to reveal himself to people everywhere in two ways first of all outwardly through his awesome creation and secondly inwardly through an inner awareness of god a god-given conscience and a moral code that's written on our hearts by god himself regardless of where a person lives or has lived every person knows that there's a god because god has revealed himself to them and therefore they are without excuse now in verse 20 to 23 paul goes on to say that even though god has clearly revealed himself people replace god with idols they suppress the truth of god they attempt to explain it away because they don't want god messing with their lives and when people do this he says three things happen first of all god's wrath is revealed in other words his wrath is directed at their rejection of him second their thinking becomes foolish and futile and thirdly as we're going to see in our study today their life begins to fall off the rails morally speaking as they spiral deeper and deeper into a selfish immoral and hedonistic way of life or in paul's words here into wickedness which brings us to our scripture lesson today so i'm going to invite you to stand with me as we read a portion of this scripture together beginning in verse 24 therefore god gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another they exchanged the truth about god for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the creator who is forever praised amen because of this god gave them over to shameful lusts even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones in the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another men committed shameful acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error let us pray our heavenly father again we thank you for your word and we ask lord that today you would help us to understand this passage that we're looking at and lord toward that end that you would focus our minds and lord you would soften our hearts and you would give us the courage to do and to be what you call us to do and be for i pray it in jesus name amen you may be seated in luke chapter 15 it tells the story of a young man who became convinced that he was missing out on a lot of life that he was missing a lot of fun by continuing to live at home he wants to be free he wants to enjoy his life and live it the way that he wants to and so he informs his father of his desire to leave and also that he would receive his share of his inheritance before his father dies which is one of the most insulting was one of the most insulting things that he could have asked for in that day the father is heartbroken he is also concerned for his son because he's seen this played out in the lives of other people in the community over the years and he wishes that his son would have a change of heart but his son is determined and so the father makes the agonizing decision to let his son go and he gives him his share of the inheritance the son bursts out of the house money in hand shouting to himself finally i'm free i'm free unfortunately he has no idea of the mess the pain the despair that he will face in time especially when the money begins to run out and the party the partying is over and here in that passage we just read the apostle paul says that in the same way the father in the parable let his son go with great reservation but he did let his son go there comes a time when god does the same thing with those who persistently reject him or replace him when people keep suppressing the truth when people ignore god or replace god with counterfeit idols when people continue to live wicked lives there comes a time when god gives them over in fact this is how god reveals his wrath notice in verse 18 paul doesn't say the wrath of god will be revealed one day in the future judgment no he says the wrath of god is being revealed it's being revealed right now god is judging godlessness and wickedness right now in the present so how is he doing this well he lets people have their own way we often think about lightning bolts and all kinds of things but no god's revealing his wrath by letting people have their own way look at verse 30 24 look at verse 26 and verse 28 they all start with the same phrase god gave them over so what does the phrase god gave them over mean does it mean that god gives up on them not at all it means that he allows people who have pushed him away to have their way god's present judgment is if you want to sin if you want to if you keep insisting on having your own way well then i'm going to let you but as verse 27 says you will reap the consequences of your choices you know people think that they're free to do whatever they want to do which is largely true but they are not free to escape the consequences of their choices i mean for example let's say that a fellow stands on top of bankers hall in downtown calgary declaring i am free to jump off this building if i want to and let's say to prove his point he actually does about 20 stories down he waves at people in their offices and says you know so far so good but the truth is now that he has jumped he's no longer free he is now a slave he is now a victim to the law of gravity folks when we break god's laws or god's principles they break us god's a good god he has our best interests at heart in all things he never gives us a negative command without a positive purpose when we ignore his ways we may think that you know it's it's no big deal that there's no cost but there always is in this verse god speaking specifically about those who reject him he's talking about unbelievers here and what's implied in this verse is before god gives an unbeliever over they're still the recipient of a certain amount of god's grace protection and watch care otherwise there would be nothing for god to restrain there'd be nothing for god to give them over to but god actually restrains he holds back the evil one from carrying out his sinister agenda not only on believers but also unbelievers because of god's unrelenting love and desire to reveal himself to them and to get their attention and to draw them to himself but when an unbeliever and i might add an entire society or group of people continues to rebel continues to suppress and exchange god's truth for a lie and essentially says i want nothing to do with you god or your truth god says okay have it your way we'll play it out the way that you want and make no mistake this is not a position a person ever wants to find themselves in to have god give you over now in romans 1 it teaches that god gives people who replace him reject him over to three counterfeit idols number one sexual purity impurity number two shameful lusts and number three a depraved mind let's unpack those a little more first of all god gives them over to sexual impurity look at verse 24 therefore god gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another so what is sexual impurity well as we're going to see in a moment it's the same as sexual immorality now if we want to know what god's morals standard for sex is we need to go back to the beginning we need to go back to creation and so turn in your bibles to genesis 2 verse 24. this is what we read there for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh this scripture spells out god's design for sexual intimacy it is to be between a man and a woman who are united in marriage in fact for those who believe this is just an old testament old school outdated teaching no longer relevant in the new testament in matthew 19 verse 5 jesus quoted this verse clearly affirming this to be god's moral context for sexual intimacy so here's the thing if this statement is god's moral standard for sexual intimacy then we can conclude that any sexual relations outside of this context is immoral or it's unacceptable to god so when we read for example in ephesians chapter 5 verse 3 but among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or any kind of impurity we know that this is referring to any sexual intimacy happening outside of a committed marriage between a man and a woman now let me just say that if you have a non-biblical or if you have a non-christian world view you may not agree with what the bible teaches here at all in fact we as christians shouldn't expect those who aren't followers of jesus to embrace this or any other christian ethic i'm just articulating what the bible teaches is god's design for sexuality now in verse 25 when paul writes they exchanged the truth about god for a lie and worshiped and served created things like sex serve created things rather than the creator who is forever praised amen the lie that he's referring to is people saying you know god i believe that if i follow you my life's going to be miserable and so i'm going to take control of my life and i'm going to live it the way that i want to live it because i believe i know better than you what's going to ultimately make me happy and fulfilled in life that's the lie it's the same lie that adam and eve fell for when satan suggested that god didn't really have their best interests at heart and was really out to kind of destroy their fun and their happiness in life and of course god gave them over to what they wanted as well and that was the beginning of the mess that we see in our world today on so many different levels now paul's description here in verse 24 to 27 sounds very much like our sex-centric culture today the well-known founder of a pornographic empire who is now deceased he once boldly declared his worldview of sexuality and freedom and this is what he said sex is a biological function like eating and drinking so let's forget all the prudery about it and do whatever we feel like doing well that's the thinking and the world view of many people in our culture today who are trying to put a band-aid on their sore soul through their new god of sex now the notion that sex is just a necessary biological function like eating well that's a lie that's deceiving and it's hurting people anyone who has counseled people knows the relational the emotional and spiritual devastation and hurt and carnage and even the physical consequences of sexual sin and much more of course could be said about this sad reality but we need to move on so first of all when we reject or when we replace god he gives us over to sexual impurity secondly he gives us over to shameful lusts look at verse 26 paul writes because of this god gave them over to shameful lusts even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another men committed shameful acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error now i don't have to tell you that there are few scriptures that have the potential of upsetting people in our culture more than the one that i just read over the years i have had many emotional and in some cases tear-filled conversations with people to know that this is a very difficult subject for those who have same-sex attraction or who self-identify as gay or homosexual or have loved ones friends and working associates who are and so before i talk about this passage i i want you to know my heart and i also want to acknowledge that we have not always communicated the truth of scripture in love in our teaching we have not always demonstrated the spirit and the compassion of christ but sometimes more so the judgment and the condemnation and so on behalf of all christians who acknowledge that this has been true of them i would like to apologize and say how sorry i am and also we are for this we have not always represented the spirit of christ as he calls us to but having acknowledged that i also need to say because i believe to the core of my being that god that the god of the bible is all-powerful all-knowing and everywhere present that the god of the bible is sovereign holy and just and also loving gracious and good i along with other christ followers have chosen to believe him have chosen to worship him and trust him with all my heart i've chosen to entrust my life the direction and focus of my life my future my eternal destiny everything in my life to my lord and king jesus christ and what that means practically is that he is my true north when it comes to knowing what is right and wrong what's really important in life and what's going to matter most when it's all said and done it means that i believe that he is the truth and that his way is the best way to live and to experience this life to the full and of course i do not always live out his ways faithfully in fact i fall short often but i diligently seek to grow in my faith and my understanding of of his word and then with the spirit's help to be and to do what he calls me to be and to do when i teach a passage of scripture like i am right now my goal is always to help us understand as clearly as possible what was being said to the people of that day including the context and the background of the passage and then how that applies to us in our present day context now i say all of that because when we come to a passage like romans 1 26 and 27 it's important that you understand that this isn't about hatred this isn't about bigotry or wanting to pick a fight or about wanting to incite hatred or homophobia this is just an honest sincere attempt to understand what the bible is teaching and what god is saying to us through this passage and i say this because when people disagree with one another in our day instead of having a mature kind respectful and reasonable dialogue too often one or both parties employ ruthless tactics via social media and other ways to shame to stereotype label and demonize the other in fact it's well known that many special interest groups are unashamedly doing this they've written books declaring that this is their strategy for dealing with those who have different beliefs than they do now here's the thing no mentally or emotionally healthy person likes being labeled no one likes being shamed called names or demonized same-sex attracted people don't people of different races religions and political stripes don't pro-vaxxers and anti-vaxxers don't and neither do christians my challenge to all of us is this whatever your world view is whatever your convictions are when you're tempted to label shame demonize or cancel a person or a group of people that you don't agree with please realize that there is a difference between accepting someone and agreeing with someone and what i mean is i may not agree with you in fact i may even despise what you believe but if i have any honor and integrity as a human being not to mention as a christian i should treat you with dignity and respect as a fellow human being if i can't if i won't then i am as guilty of the hate bigotry or whatever else i accuse you of now as much as christians need to learn this difference so do those who do not embrace the christian worldview bruxycady puts it this way he says it is possible for someone to believe homosexual behavior is sinful just as they believe heterosexual sex outside of biblical marriage is sinful but that doesn't make them a bigot a hate monger or homophobic get to know us enough to see that we don't have to divide our thought world into gay and straight or that we teach people must change their sexual orientation in order to follow jesus no we invite all people to change their spiritual orientation toward god and their fellow human beings by putting their faith in jesus christ so whatever our world view is let's stop the labels and the attacks and let's sit down together in a mutual and respectful way and if in the end we don't agree let's continue to treat one another with dignity and respect and just acknowledge that we embrace different world views or we see things differently well that was a sermon in itself but i believe it's necessary preparation for our examination of verse 26 and 27. so let's look at verse 26 and 27. this is one of the clearest scriptures on how god views homosexual behavior not same-sex attraction but homosexual behavior i trust you see the difference between a person's orientation and a person's behavior let me be clear same-sex attraction is not the same as acting on it in the same way that being tempted to be sexually intimate with someone of the opposite sex that you're not married to is different than following through with that temptation as christians we believe that jesus is our lord and he's the source of our identity not our past not our biology or our desires i am not suggesting that we can choose our sexual orientation i am saying though that we can all choose how we will live and how we will behave regardless of our sexual orientation we are all sexually broken people and we're tempted to act out sexually in inappropriate ways and so having clarified that what paul is articulating here is that when a female has sex with another female or a male has sex with another male it goes against god's design the word unnatural used here literally means against nature or against god's design you'll recall back in genesis 1 27 it says god created mankind in his own image in the image of god he created them male and female he created them god says here we are created in his image we're created male and female which indicates that he intended our sexuality to be tied to the image of god in which we were created and then right after that in genesis 1 28 god gives his first command to be fruitful and to increase in number in other words he tells the male and female who you remember back in genesis 1 24 he refers to his husband and wife he tells them to be sexually intimate you see god intended for the marriage covenant and sexual intimacy between a husband and his wife to be a pitcher or an example of the spiritual intimacy that god wants to have with us which explains why throughout the bible the relationship between god and his people is often pictured as the relationship that's shared between a husband and a wife or christ the groom and his bride the church now rick mckinley he brings this right home to the thinking of our present day he says many people today literally place their hope for fulfillment and satisfaction in life in sex the thinking goes like this if i can't express myself sexually as i want well that is oppressive to me if i can't have sex with whoever i want and when i want well then that's oppressive to me and if god forbids it well then he's unloving and he's not a good god and anyone who teaches that god forbids it is also unloving and oppressive mckinley says those who embrace this worldview often decide not to marry because they don't want to have sex with just one person the rest of their life they think i need to be sexually i need to sexually express myself because it is the pathway do you hear this it's the pathway to fulfillment and satisfaction and friends this worldview includes every type of sex outside of biblical marriage including homosexuality including premarital sex adultery or pornography and you see this is a description of idolatry worshipping the created rather than the creator rather than letting god be the ultimate object of our worship and gratitude we reject him in favor of our counterfeit gods that we believe are going to bring us true satisfaction including the god of sex the god of body image the god of materialism the god of power position or fame or any other number of things paul writes idolatry or worshipping the things that god made or created is a lie it may satisfy for a time but ultimately these counterfeit gods will leave you empty hollow and filled with despair and regret make no mistake sex is a gift from god but it was never intended to replace god now when it comes to their view of sex some people look at paul's reference here to natural and unnatural sexual relations in verse 26 and 27 and they argue that homosexual sex is okay if it feels natural to the person mckinley says but that is not what paul is talking about here he's talking about what is natural and unnatural in relation to god's design within creation i mean if paul was talking about what feels natural then every person who wants to sleep with someone not their spouse would justify their sin by just simply saying it feels natural to me in fact on this basis people could defend sexism they could defend racism and a host of other ungodly attitudes depending on what feels natural to them but you see true followers of christ they don't go down this road because their greatest desire is to honor their lord and his design for sex and to obey him a christ follower has a deep conviction that says i do not need to indulge every desire i have even legitimate desires because the faith adventure that god has invited me into is so much more fulfilling and satisfying than anything these earthly idols can offer me providing of course that i take god's invitation seriously and jump in with both feet folks when sex or any other idol becomes the hope of our soul the object of our highest affection we are in danger of losing ourselves and all that god has for us this principle is even true for the husband who puts his hope for fulfillment and satisfaction in his sexual relationship with his wife even in a relationship that god has blessed if a spouse makes sex an idol not only will he or she frustrate their partner and put their marriage in jeopardy but they're gonna find that even a satisfying intimacy with one's partner can't fulfill the deep yearning for intimacy in their soul because the intimacy that our heart really craves for cannot be found in anything or anyone but a friendship with god and god alone and so to recap paul writes that when people reject or replace god with earthly idols god gives them over to sexual impurity and also to shameful lusts and then thirdly he gives us over to a depraved mind look at verse 28 in fact let's read it together furthermore just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of god so god gave them over to a depraved mind so that they do what ought not to be done they have become filled with every kind of wickedness evil greed and depravity they are full of envy murder strife deceit and malice they are gossips slanderers god haters insolent arrogant and boastful they invent ways of doing evil they disobey their parents they have no understanding no fidelity no love no mercy although they know god's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them now you know so often when we read and study you know the passage that we're looking at today we get fixated on passages about sexual immorality about homosexual behavior like we just looked at and we see these sexual sins as the ultimate sins and yet far too often we we just kind of skim over the 21 additional sins that paul lays out here in verse 28 all these sins not just the sexual ones but all of them are a picture of how depraved and how wicked we are capable of becoming without god reject or replace god and you know where that leads you well it's all about me it's all about getting my needs and my wants met i become the center of my universe and when a world begins to operate that way it shouldn't surprise us why it's the way that it is and the mess that it's in for example in paul's day if a roman man didn't like his slave he would kill him right on the spot without penalty if a baby wasn't the right sex or something less than perfect or just an inconvenience they could throw him on the street to starve and to die historians tell us that there could be 30 to 40 babies abandoned on the street or out in the countryside at any one time well this is what happens to humanity when we reject god and god in return gives us over paul says god gives us over to our greed to our stinginess our our selfishness and lack of generosity god gives us over to our envy gives us over to gossip to slander to our arrogance our dishonesty our deceit to our incitement of strife and division our lack of mercy and on and on as christians we're often good at labeling some sins as well those are just terrible and others well not so bad sometimes we look at some people and we judgmentally think to ourselves your sins are appalling they're disgusting and yet we think of some of our sins they're just not that bad but the reality is we've all been on this long list that we read a moment ago we've all served the things that god created rather than the creator and we still do at times but as i wrap up let me remind you of the gospel of jesus christ how jesus changes everything including the ugliness of all the sins that paul lists here you know those of us who have acknowledged our sin and our selfishness who've humbled ourselves and asked god for his grace and forgiveness and put our trust in the risen lord let's remember paul's healing words in first corinthians 6 11 where he reminds us of our sinful past and then he says and that is what some of you were but you aren't that anymore amen you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of our lord jesus christ by the spirit paul says when you put your trust in jesus you're a new creation in him your primary identity is no longer based on what you were no it's now based on who you are in jesus christ you are no longer the object of god's wrath but the object of his love and grace you are now the son or the daughter of the king of kings and the lord of lords because jesus paid it all on the cross god is no longer your judge he is now your loving father now you are in christ and christ is in you which means it's a new day the old is gone the new has come the core of your personhood is in him you know this is a massive gospel declaration for anyone who bears guilt and shame over past sinful behavior or is confused about their sexual orientation mckinley says it's a declaration of freedom true freedom not freedom that that comes from finding our hope in sex but freedom that says that you can come out of the closet in your faith community you can wrestle with these things with others because you're with a whole bunch of people who are also coming out of the closet so to speak who together are being open and acknowledging their sinfulness being transparent about their stuff in their life that paul lists here and together are seeking the lord's grace and forgiveness and power to live in victory over them you're not alone in this friends this is something that together with christ at the center of our lives we can find victory over that's what the church should be and that's the kind of church i believe christ calls us to be not a church that waters down and explains away all these tough passages on sin like the one we're just looking at today and just kind of affirms people to live and whatever they feel like which is like a doctor telling a person that they're healthy when in reality they're sick and dying how sad no we must not be a church that compromises or explains the truth away but neither should we be a church that's quick to communicate condemnation with our condescending attitudes and judgmental words and posters and refuse to love and befriend people who need jesus no i'm talking about being a church that doesn't compromise the scriptures but also embraces and welcomes those whose world views and whose lifestyle we don't agree with a church that creates a safe place not for people who who just want to pick a fight not for people who just want to demonize us and judge us with unkind labels but people who are genuinely seeking spiritual answers and what it means to be a friend of jesus by the way if you want to learn more about god's design for sexuality and and and find hope in all of that i just want to encourage you to go through the by design series which you'll find on our website under sermons back in 2019 i'll close with this a young boy pleaded with his mother who was a single mom to please buy him a playstation she would just be the absolute best the most loving mom ever if she did so his mother loved him dearly and and so even though she really couldn't afford it she bought him a playstation for his birthday and on his birthday when he opened her gift he was through the roof with joy and excitement he hugged his mom and then he hugged her again and again and again he set up his playstation and he spent the rest of the day playing it the next day his mother looked forward to spending some time with him but he begged her for permission to play with his playstation instead and with the passing of time she re she regretted getting him the playstation because it had become the object of his affection rather than their relationship church so it is with our god when many areas of our lives including sex a relationship with a special person a position our possessions or any other good earthly gift replaces our relationship with him when a gift becomes more important than the giver when the gift becomes the object of our highest affection god is grieved because we have settled for lesser things for temporary things that may bring pleasure for a time but do not satisfy or meet the deepest yearning in our soul don't give yourself to the lesser things of life no give yourself completely to the giver who loves you and gave his life for you jesus can be completely and totally trusted he loves you right where you are you can trust him with your sexuality your career your relationships your life and your eternity you know he taught us how to love through his sacrificial death on the cross he taught us through his very life that it is possible to live life to the full as a celibate single individual and so as we close i ask you in whom or in what are you really trusting your creator or his creation among the thousands hearing me in person and online today i'm confident that most of you can say without reservation my trust is in the lord my creator and we just need to celebrate that however i'd like to challenge you just to take a little test before you leave here today and if you can't do it here then do it when you get home sit down and read through this passage verse 18 to the end of the chapter that we just looked at before you do ask the lord to show you if there's any attitude if there's there's any behavior if there's any area of disobedience in your life that reveals that you're actually worshiping and you're putting your trust in the things god created in that particular area rather than worshipping and trusting your creator as you read ask the lord what are you saying to me lord what is it that you're asking me to do about it now among the many who are listening to me right now i'm sure there are some who would have to acknowledge that you're at the center of your life not god you want to be your own god you you want to run your own life and and do things your way the question i want to leave you with and that i want you to ponder before you leave or this week is how has that been working for you i mean honestly now deep down inside how satisfying and how fulfilling has it been and even more importantly moments after you die when you stand before your creator on judgment day what will you say to him about why you ignored him why you rejected him or replaced him with something else friend may whatever will be most important to you moments after you die be most important to you now let's bow our heads let's close our eyes for a moment and let's ask the two questions we've become accustomed to asking lord what are you saying to me and lord what is it you want me to do about it in a moment we're going to respond to our lord in song [Music] were creations suddenly articulate with a thousand tongues to lift one cry then from north to south and east to west we'd hear christ be magnified [Music] [Music] his name would burst from sea and sky to the mountaintops we hear christ be magnified [Music] just let his praise arise christ [Music] [Music] christ being [Music] [Music] him [Music] [Music] be magnified from the altar of my life [Music] [Music] and i won't bow to idols i'll stand strong and worship you if it puts me in the fire i'll rejoice cause you're there too and i won't be formed by feelings i'll hold fast to what is true if the cross brings transformation then i'll be crucified with you cause death is just the doorway into resurrection life if i join you in your sufferings then i'll join you when you rise and when you return glory with all the angels and the saints [Music] christ be magnified just let his praise arise of my life christ be magnified just let his praise arise [Music] christ [Music] if you'd like to put your trust in jesus christ and begin the faith adventure he so so much wants for you i invite you to talk to one of our pastors one of our prayer partners they're going to be making their way up here right now or if you're online and just indicate your desire on the chat and someone will be in touch with you and these people would just love to explain to you what it means to have a friendship with jesus and how you can begin that if you have other prayer requests that you would like to pray with someone be sure to do that before you leave and now may the lord bless you and keep you may the lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you the lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you his precious peace in the name of god the father the son and the holy spirit amen and god be with you hi everyone i just want to thank the sinclairs and marlette child of god roxanne and for your encouraging comments in the chat thank you so much it is an incredible message it will be posted on youtube for video on demand so that you can watch it this week and really dig into everything that was there because there was so much now if you have made a decision to follow jesus we are celebrating with you that is amazing if it's been on your heart to maybe take that step but you haven't taken that step this is your day this is your moment no longer delay live life to the fullest find completion find purpose find meaning and ultimate love make that choice today just reach out in the chat one of our pastors is ready to pray with you if you do know jesus already i want to remind you of what henry told us to do read through romans chapter 1 18 through to the end of the chapter and pray about it ask god to show you if there is any attitude any behavior in your life that is an area of disobedience that may be causing you to worship the creation rather than the creator and friends i can't stress this enough it is when we take these moments to look within ourselves to talk to god to listen to what is he saying to us that changes our life and it changes everything around us so take that time we'll see you all next week we are praying for you this week as you go through this process if you need prayer or want to talk to a pastor as you're going through this this week don't hesitate to reach out to the church we're here monday to friday from 8 30 to 4 30. bye everyone [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so 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Published: Sun Sep 26 2021