Here's the link to the blog I read at the last class on Wednesday. Hysterical!
http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2008/06/remix-14-dating-god-instead-of-me.html
Enjoy!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Audio of Session 5: Moving On of Breaking Up
Here you are friends! The audio from the last session of the Dating Game.
Teaching Audio: http://s3.amazonaws.com/Wccsingle/DatingGame5a.mp3
Q & A: http://s3.amazonaws.com/Wccsingle/DatingGame5b.mp3
Enjoy!
Teaching Audio: http://s3.amazonaws.com/Wccsingle/DatingGame5a.mp3
Q & A: http://s3.amazonaws.com/Wccsingle/DatingGame5b.mp3
Enjoy!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Audio of Session 4: Guarding Your Heart
Here's the audio from last week's session with Leonard and Mandy Bagdanov. Enjoy!
Here is the session itself: http://s3.amazonaws.com/Wccsingle/DatingGame4a.mp3
And here is the Q & A http://s3.amazonaws.com/Wccsingle/DatingGame4b.mp3
Enjoy!
Here is the session itself: http://s3.amazonaws.com/Wccsingle/DatingGame4a.mp3
And here is the Q & A http://s3.amazonaws.com/Wccsingle/DatingGame4b.mp3
Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Audio of Session 3: Purity in Dating
Hello friends,
Here's the audio from last week.
Teaching of Session 3
http://s3.amazonaws.com/Wccsingle/DatingGame3a.mp3
Session 3 Q & A
http://s3.amazonaws.com/Wccsingle/DatingGame3b.mp3
Enjoy!
Here's the audio from last week.
Teaching of Session 3
http://s3.amazonaws.com/Wccsingle/DatingGame3a.mp3
Session 3 Q & A
http://s3.amazonaws.com/Wccsingle/DatingGame3b.mp3
Enjoy!
Purity in Dating
So last week, we spent the bulk of our time discussing the topic of purity in dating. We looked at 4 key questions in regard to this topic. The first one was this: WHAT IS THE GOAL? One of the most common questions you hear from singles as it relates to the physical aspect of a relationship is "How far is too far?" I believe that is the wrong question. A better question would be, "How pure is too pure?" You see, the goal for a believer in the area of the phyiscal nature of the relationship is purity, not virginity. In Matthew 5:27-30, Jesus says, "
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." God's standard, as it relates to sin, is perfection, not "better than that guy." So if God's standard is holiness or purity, shouldn't that be our goal? God's standard for purity can be found (among other places) in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 and 1 Corinthians 7:8-9.
The second question we asked was WHY PURSUE THAT GOAL? There are three main reasons we addressed. First, because we represent Christ and should desire to honor His name. 1 Corinthians 6:15-17 says that any time we join ourselves sexually to someone else, we drag Christ right along with us and join him to that person in impurity. Secondly, the way we handle ourselves sexually affects our own witness and character. Chris and Abby alluded last week to the importance of a good name or reputation as you consider who to date, and in 2 Corinthians 6:3-6, Paul lists impurity as a potential stumbling block to his ministry, realizing that his message of the good news of Jesus Christ would be hollow apart from him living out his faith. Lastly, we pursue this goal for our own protection. Proverbs 7:6-27 is a father's description of a young man falling into an adulteress affair with a woman and ends with a warning to his son to not be caught in this trap. He likens the damages of this to an "ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose 23 till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life." We have a loving Father who longs to protect us from ourselves if we will only let him. I love this quote from Randy Alcorn in his book The Purity Principle: "'But we really love each other' has no bearing on the ethics of sexual intimacy. Sex does not become permissible through subjective feelings, but only through the objective, lifelong commitment of marriage. Those are God’s rules, God’s guardrails. There’s nothing we can do to change them. The rules are always enforced. When we break them they always break us. A smart traveler doesn’t curse the guardrails. He doesn’t whine, 'That guardrail dented my fender!' He looks over the cliff, sees demolished autos, and thanks God for guardrails."
The next question we looked at was WHAT ABOUT MY PAST? The simple reality is that most of us have not been completely pure up to this point in our physical relationships. The enemy whispers (and sometimes shouts) this lie to those of us who have fallen in this area that says, "Since you've fallen, there's no hope for you, so why bother trying to live God's standards today." That is a lie that goes back to the base level of our theology. First of all, your "purity" was never a result of your goodness. Ephesians 2:1-6 reminds us that we weren't just a little dirty when God found us. We were dead!! But God made us alive! He made us pure! So to think that your will power up to this point is what has "earned" your purity is faulty thinking. It was and is a gift from your Father. Secondly, your "purity" has been bought and paid for. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that God "made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says "You are not your own; you were bought with a price" and then goes on to say what our last response should be to our past. "Therefore, honor God with your body." The final principle here is to remember that you have been redeemed TO a life of "purity." God didn't just save you and make you pure so that you could run off and live as you please. He saved you and not begs you to live a life of purity. Ephesians 2:10 says that we have been saved from our sins to "good works" not so that we'll be saved, but because we are saved.
Finally, we wrapped up with the question HOW DO I PURSUE PURITY? We boiled it down to two simple application points. First, flee immorality! This is the plea of 1 Thessalonians 4 and numerous other passages of Scripture. This is a call to flee anything that doesn't speak to a pursuit of God's standard of purity. If the guy or gal you're dating has any other standard than this, run as quickly as you can. If they don't honor this standard, chances are there are other areas of God's will and Word that he or she won't be real fired up about pursuing. Secondly, we pursue purity by pursuing intimacy, first with God, then with a collection of other believers who will hold us accountable, and finally intimacy with one other person who will be called our spouse.
Praying for each of us, that we will flee immorality and pursue intimacy with our Lord today.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." God's standard, as it relates to sin, is perfection, not "better than that guy." So if God's standard is holiness or purity, shouldn't that be our goal? God's standard for purity can be found (among other places) in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 and 1 Corinthians 7:8-9.
The second question we asked was WHY PURSUE THAT GOAL? There are three main reasons we addressed. First, because we represent Christ and should desire to honor His name. 1 Corinthians 6:15-17 says that any time we join ourselves sexually to someone else, we drag Christ right along with us and join him to that person in impurity. Secondly, the way we handle ourselves sexually affects our own witness and character. Chris and Abby alluded last week to the importance of a good name or reputation as you consider who to date, and in 2 Corinthians 6:3-6, Paul lists impurity as a potential stumbling block to his ministry, realizing that his message of the good news of Jesus Christ would be hollow apart from him living out his faith. Lastly, we pursue this goal for our own protection. Proverbs 7:6-27 is a father's description of a young man falling into an adulteress affair with a woman and ends with a warning to his son to not be caught in this trap. He likens the damages of this to an "ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose 23 till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life." We have a loving Father who longs to protect us from ourselves if we will only let him. I love this quote from Randy Alcorn in his book The Purity Principle: "'But we really love each other' has no bearing on the ethics of sexual intimacy. Sex does not become permissible through subjective feelings, but only through the objective, lifelong commitment of marriage. Those are God’s rules, God’s guardrails. There’s nothing we can do to change them. The rules are always enforced. When we break them they always break us. A smart traveler doesn’t curse the guardrails. He doesn’t whine, 'That guardrail dented my fender!' He looks over the cliff, sees demolished autos, and thanks God for guardrails."
The next question we looked at was WHAT ABOUT MY PAST? The simple reality is that most of us have not been completely pure up to this point in our physical relationships. The enemy whispers (and sometimes shouts) this lie to those of us who have fallen in this area that says, "Since you've fallen, there's no hope for you, so why bother trying to live God's standards today." That is a lie that goes back to the base level of our theology. First of all, your "purity" was never a result of your goodness. Ephesians 2:1-6 reminds us that we weren't just a little dirty when God found us. We were dead!! But God made us alive! He made us pure! So to think that your will power up to this point is what has "earned" your purity is faulty thinking. It was and is a gift from your Father. Secondly, your "purity" has been bought and paid for. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that God "made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says "You are not your own; you were bought with a price" and then goes on to say what our last response should be to our past. "Therefore, honor God with your body." The final principle here is to remember that you have been redeemed TO a life of "purity." God didn't just save you and make you pure so that you could run off and live as you please. He saved you and not begs you to live a life of purity. Ephesians 2:10 says that we have been saved from our sins to "good works" not so that we'll be saved, but because we are saved.
Finally, we wrapped up with the question HOW DO I PURSUE PURITY? We boiled it down to two simple application points. First, flee immorality! This is the plea of 1 Thessalonians 4 and numerous other passages of Scripture. This is a call to flee anything that doesn't speak to a pursuit of God's standard of purity. If the guy or gal you're dating has any other standard than this, run as quickly as you can. If they don't honor this standard, chances are there are other areas of God's will and Word that he or she won't be real fired up about pursuing. Secondly, we pursue purity by pursuing intimacy, first with God, then with a collection of other believers who will hold us accountable, and finally intimacy with one other person who will be called our spouse.
Praying for each of us, that we will flee immorality and pursue intimacy with our Lord today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)