Monday, April 28, 2008
No 6th Grade, Urbandale or High School Life Groups This Wednesday...
Because the Student Ministries Team is at the Orange Conference this week, there will not be any 6th grade, Urbandale (7th-8th grade), or High School Life Groups this week. The 7th-8th grade Waukee Life Group WILL meet this Wednesday as usual. All other Life Groups will resume next Wednesday (May 7th) at normal times.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
NO STUDENT SERVICES THIS WEEKEND! (4/27)
There will be no Student Ministries services this weekend because the Student Ministries staff will be in Atlanta at the ORANGE Conference. Please enjoy this weekend with your student as they celebrate the Live Like You Were Dying series in the Main Auditorium. Also please pray for us as we travel, and that God would bring fresh insights and creativity to us as a team to create even more irresistible environments where students can experience God, connect with others and serve their community. Have a great week and we will see your student next weekend (May 4th) for the start of our new series:
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Parent Preview: Exposed! [week.4 makin' up after messin' up]
Well the series is about to wrap up this weekend, and we have a had an amazing response from the students and parents about how helpful this series has been. We are so thankful for what God is doing in the lives of the students as they realize their need for Him and begin to see their sexuality through His eyes. This past week we challenged them to pursue purity at all costs, not just virginity. We explained that God wants us to run from all sexual immorality and that you can be a virgin and not be pure and that you can be pure and not be a virgin.
Here's the notes for this coming weekend (4.20) as we finish up with the fourth week of EXPOSED! We hope that these notes help you prepare for conversations that you are having with your student(s) by giving you the content ahead of time.
EXPOSED! [the naked truth about sex and dating]
week.4 - makin' up after messin' up
This week we will wrap up the series by really focusing on God's forgiveness and the immense power there is in His grace to remove our guilt from past sexual mistakes. We want every student to know, whether they have sexual mistake already in their past or not, that God's forgiveness is big enough to cover all. We want them to understand that while different sins have different physical and emotional consequences, nothing to too big for God. Many students experience immense guilt after a bad sexual decision and often they feel like they are too far for God to reach them. We want them to know that God is not only looking and longing for them, but is actually chasing after them to bring them back to fullness in His forgiveness.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11:
"Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or who practice homosexuality, or are thieves or greedy people, or drunks, or are abusive, or cheat people - none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed, you were made holy, you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God."
This verse sounds like bad news are first but it really is the explaining how none of us are clean and that by our own mistakes and sins we miss out on God's best for us. But that God can cleanse us from all of our sins! That if God can forgive our greed or pride (a form of idolatry that we are all guilty of) then he can forgive our sexual sins. because:
In God's family, there are no PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED!
In Mark 1:40-42 there is a story where Jesus heals a leper:
"A leper came to HIm, begging on his knees, 'If you want to, you can cleanse me.' Deeply moved, Jesus put out Hid hand, touched him, and said, 'I want to. Be clean.' Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin was smooth and healthy."
This story is so surprising because Jesus touches a man that was unclean. He touched him when no one else would. He did not have to touch the man to heal him. There are plenty of occasions where Jesus heals people without touching them, but Jesus knew that this man needed more than to be healed. He needed to be cared for, and that is what Jesus does for us as well.
Nothing is TOO SHAMEFUL to make Jesus LOOK AWAY.
This truth is so important, because students have to know that nothing is too shameful to come to God with. His love covers all our sins and His grace gives us second and third and one hundred and third chances when we do not deserve them.
Romans 8:38-39:
"Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not event he worst sins listed in Scripture."
We learn that shame and guilt that come from our sinful decisions are not from God but from people. Our sins have consequences and we must face them, but God is never going to turn His back on us, and we can never sin so badly that God says, 'That's the last time!' He will never leave us or forget us. God the Father turned His back on Jesus because of our sin, so that we could know Him personally, free from sin, guilt, fear or shame.
GUILT comes from people, GRACE comes from God.
We often come back to God and say, 'Sorry I messed up again! Will you forgive me again this time?' And while this may not seem like a big deal, it is a drastic theological error. The Bible tells us that God separates us from our sins as far as East is from West and that He is powerful enough to be all-knowing, and yet chooses to forgive and forget our sins. So we never have to say will forgive me AGAIN. God wipes our slate clean because of Jesus and instead we can thanks Him for his continued forgiveness as we confess our sins.
Psalm 103:11-13:
"For His unfailing love towards those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the Earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him."
Because of God's love for us, He FORGIVES AND FORGETS our past mistakes.
While our sexual sins have consequences, we can always come back to God. He is waiting for us to come to Him for forgiveness and love. His open arms are there to wrap us up in grace and remove from us all shame and guilt.
One Last Thought:
No matter how much you've MESSED UP in the past, it is never too late to MAKE UP with God.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Parent Preview: Exposed! [week.3 technical virgin]
What a great start to our new EXPOSED! series we are having! We hope that you had a great conversation with your student after this weekend, where they learned how BIG sex is designed to be! We hope that they came home with the understanding that sex was created by God to be great and that He knows how to make it the best. Often students feel that God is trying to keep something good from them by telling us to wait until marriage for sex, but we learned that God sees our sexuality as a priceless gift and that if we try to see it from His perspective, then what He says to do about it will make perfect sense. We also hope that they begin to realize that sex is a much bigger deal than the world leads us to believe.
Students are always looking for a boundary, and line that they know that they can go all the way up to and not get in trouble. Unfortunately the Bible does not give a hard and fast line, because God knows that sex is bigger than we think. This makes the conversation more difficult at times, but also more relevant and true for our lives. Many churches have stressed that we shouldn't have sex until we are married, which is good, but they regretfully do not discuss the things that are most commonly happening in student sexual lives. Things that they do not view as sex, but are sexual in nature. This has lead to a lot of confusion in the lives of teens, especially those in church.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT TWICE:
If you have a 6th grade or older student, you MUST be asking them questions about masturbation and pornography for their protection because that is where the pressure is, not just "sex."
When you ask you student about "sex" they think about just that, "sex" so if they have not had sex, they say "no" but they still may have had oral sex, manual sex, masturbated or looked at pornography. It is important for you conversations with you student to be specific so that they are best prepared to deal with the pressure they are receiving from their friends at school.
Here are the main points and verses that we will be discussing this weekend (4.13), so that you can be prepared ahead of time to have meaningful conversations with your student about what they are learning. Please let us know if there is anything else that we can assist you with to help you connect and discuss this topic with your student.
EXPOSED! [the naked truth about sex and dating]
week.3 - technical virgin
This week we will be discussing what God has to say about all those things that kids face pressure to do that come 'before' sex. We will be splitting up into two groups for Junior High this weekend, boys and girls. This will allow us to better cater the conversation to the specific needs of each gender. That said both groups will be hearing about what the Bible has to say about some topics that are not usually discussed in church, but are very prevalent in the lives of Junior High and High School students, christian or otherwise.
Topics like: oral sex, masturbation, pornography, self image, friends with benefits, homosexuality and modesty.
They Bible tells us clearly that we are designed for sexual enjoyment and fulfillment, but in order to have the best experience we have to follow God's guidelines.
"You say, 'I am allowed to do anything'—but not everything is good for you. And even though 'I am allowed to do anything,' I must not become a slave to anything. You say, 'Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.' But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies."
1 Corinthians 6:12-13
God’s standard is not VIRGINITY, it’s PURITY.
The Bible tells us not to just limit ourself to virginity. Virginity is not the goal, it is not God's best. Virginity simply means that sexual intercourse has not occurred. This become problematic for students because they begin to assume that anything other than sexual intercourse is fine, and will not have any problematic consequences, physical or emotional.
Because God wants your student to have great sex, He wants to protect them from the things that can keep them from having it (i.e: emotional baggage, addiction & STDs) The truth is that you can be a virgin and still not be pure (be a "technical virgin" but be a avid porn watcher or have had oral sex), and you can not be a virgin and still be pure (be a victim of sexual abuse or rape, and yet still choose to not willingly participate in sexual activity until your wedding night).
"And then he added, 'It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.'"
Mark 7:20-22
The fact that we look for a BOUNDARY, says a lot about OUR HEARTS.
So what counts when it comes to sex? Our HEARTS! Our desire for a boundary communicates that we are looking to get away with as much as possible, rather than being focused on saving as much as possible for our future spouse. Immorality is defined and taking what is not yours, so sexual immorality is taking someone's sexuality that doesn't belong to you. For example: Pornography is looking at someone else's wife or husband so you are stealing their sexuality from them. Lust is stealing someone else's purity by imagining them in a sexual way. Oral sex is stealing an experience from your future husband or wife and stealing their ability to feel safe and comparison free in your future marriage.
“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
1 Corinthians 6: 18-20
The Bible says we need to run away from sexual immorality. What are some things in your life that you need to distance yourself from:
This time will be for each gender group to discuss those areas of sexual immorality that are most difficult for them. The Bible says to run away from anything that causes us to sin sexual and the question we want to get the students to ask themselves is, "How serious am I about putting God first in my life, and how does that play out in my commitment to remain as sexually pure as possible?" We want them to be willing to avoid sexual sin, even if it makes them look dumb, feel awkward, loose a boyfriend or a girlfriend or even mean making some real sacrificial changes in their life so that they can honor God and really respect their future spouse and set themselves up for a joyful, fulfilling and exciting sexual connection in marriage.
The more you save, the more you can give to your future spouse. Pay now, Play later!
ONE LAST THOUGHT:
PURITY paves the way to INTIMACY.
Students are always looking for a boundary, and line that they know that they can go all the way up to and not get in trouble. Unfortunately the Bible does not give a hard and fast line, because God knows that sex is bigger than we think. This makes the conversation more difficult at times, but also more relevant and true for our lives. Many churches have stressed that we shouldn't have sex until we are married, which is good, but they regretfully do not discuss the things that are most commonly happening in student sexual lives. Things that they do not view as sex, but are sexual in nature. This has lead to a lot of confusion in the lives of teens, especially those in church.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT TWICE:
If you have a 6th grade or older student, you MUST be asking them questions about masturbation and pornography for their protection because that is where the pressure is, not just "sex."
When you ask you student about "sex" they think about just that, "sex" so if they have not had sex, they say "no" but they still may have had oral sex, manual sex, masturbated or looked at pornography. It is important for you conversations with you student to be specific so that they are best prepared to deal with the pressure they are receiving from their friends at school.
Here are the main points and verses that we will be discussing this weekend (4.13), so that you can be prepared ahead of time to have meaningful conversations with your student about what they are learning. Please let us know if there is anything else that we can assist you with to help you connect and discuss this topic with your student.
EXPOSED! [the naked truth about sex and dating]
week.3 - technical virgin
This week we will be discussing what God has to say about all those things that kids face pressure to do that come 'before' sex. We will be splitting up into two groups for Junior High this weekend, boys and girls. This will allow us to better cater the conversation to the specific needs of each gender. That said both groups will be hearing about what the Bible has to say about some topics that are not usually discussed in church, but are very prevalent in the lives of Junior High and High School students, christian or otherwise.
Topics like: oral sex, masturbation, pornography, self image, friends with benefits, homosexuality and modesty.
They Bible tells us clearly that we are designed for sexual enjoyment and fulfillment, but in order to have the best experience we have to follow God's guidelines.
"You say, 'I am allowed to do anything'—but not everything is good for you. And even though 'I am allowed to do anything,' I must not become a slave to anything. You say, 'Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.' But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies."
1 Corinthians 6:12-13
God’s standard is not VIRGINITY, it’s PURITY.
The Bible tells us not to just limit ourself to virginity. Virginity is not the goal, it is not God's best. Virginity simply means that sexual intercourse has not occurred. This become problematic for students because they begin to assume that anything other than sexual intercourse is fine, and will not have any problematic consequences, physical or emotional.
Because God wants your student to have great sex, He wants to protect them from the things that can keep them from having it (i.e: emotional baggage, addiction & STDs) The truth is that you can be a virgin and still not be pure (be a "technical virgin" but be a avid porn watcher or have had oral sex), and you can not be a virgin and still be pure (be a victim of sexual abuse or rape, and yet still choose to not willingly participate in sexual activity until your wedding night).
"And then he added, 'It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.'"
Mark 7:20-22
The fact that we look for a BOUNDARY, says a lot about OUR HEARTS.
So what counts when it comes to sex? Our HEARTS! Our desire for a boundary communicates that we are looking to get away with as much as possible, rather than being focused on saving as much as possible for our future spouse. Immorality is defined and taking what is not yours, so sexual immorality is taking someone's sexuality that doesn't belong to you. For example: Pornography is looking at someone else's wife or husband so you are stealing their sexuality from them. Lust is stealing someone else's purity by imagining them in a sexual way. Oral sex is stealing an experience from your future husband or wife and stealing their ability to feel safe and comparison free in your future marriage.
“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
1 Corinthians 6: 18-20
The Bible says we need to run away from sexual immorality. What are some things in your life that you need to distance yourself from:
This time will be for each gender group to discuss those areas of sexual immorality that are most difficult for them. The Bible says to run away from anything that causes us to sin sexual and the question we want to get the students to ask themselves is, "How serious am I about putting God first in my life, and how does that play out in my commitment to remain as sexually pure as possible?" We want them to be willing to avoid sexual sin, even if it makes them look dumb, feel awkward, loose a boyfriend or a girlfriend or even mean making some real sacrificial changes in their life so that they can honor God and really respect their future spouse and set themselves up for a joyful, fulfilling and exciting sexual connection in marriage.
The more you save, the more you can give to your future spouse. Pay now, Play later!
ONE LAST THOUGHT:
PURITY paves the way to INTIMACY.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Vitals - April 6th
The Spark (Jr. High) - April 6th
Message - "EXPOSED! ...so it's kind of a big deal!" by Katie and Kurt
Key Points:
The world says "Sex is NO BIG DEAL!" but God tells us "Sex is a PRICELESS GIFT!"
If we SEE as God sees, we will DO as God says.
God invented SEX and He knows how to make it the BEST EVER!
Sex WITHIN MARRIAGE is the most complete picture of LOVE that there is.
God's plan for sex is to connect two people's: HEART SOUL MIND BODY
Sex is meant to CONNECT two people FOR LIFE... so it's kind of a big deal!
Verses Referenced: Ezekiel 18:25, 27, Song of Solomon 8:3-4, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Matthew 19:4-5
Worship led by: Justin Willis and Key to the City
Attendance:
Total: 110
1st Service: 46 (36 students, 10 leaders)
2nd Service: 74 (64 students, 10 leaders)
42 (High School) - April 6th
Message - "EXPOSED! ...so it's kind of a big deal!" by Katie and Kurt
Discussion Questions:
"What do you think the world says about sex? What do you think the Bible says about sex?"
"What is the most confusing part about sex?"
Key Points:
The world says "Sex is NO BIG DEAL!" but God tells us "Sex is a PRICELESS GIFT!"
If we SEE as God sees, we will DO as God says.
God invented SEX and He knows how to make it the BEST EVER!
Sex WITHIN MARRIAGE is the most complete picture of LOVE that there is.
God's plan for sex is to connect two people's: HEART SOUL MIND BODY
Sex is meant to CONNECT two people FOR LIFE... so it's kind of a big deal!
Verses Referenced: Ezekiel 18:25, 27, Song of Solomon 8:3-4, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Matthew 19:4-5
Worship led by: Justin Willis and Key to the City
Attendance: 60 (51 students, 9 leaders)
Message - "EXPOSED! ...so it's kind of a big deal!" by Katie and Kurt
Key Points:
The world says "Sex is NO BIG DEAL!" but God tells us "Sex is a PRICELESS GIFT!"
If we SEE as God sees, we will DO as God says.
God invented SEX and He knows how to make it the BEST EVER!
Sex WITHIN MARRIAGE is the most complete picture of LOVE that there is.
God's plan for sex is to connect two people's: HEART SOUL MIND BODY
Sex is meant to CONNECT two people FOR LIFE... so it's kind of a big deal!
Verses Referenced: Ezekiel 18:25, 27, Song of Solomon 8:3-4, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Matthew 19:4-5
Worship led by: Justin Willis and Key to the City
Attendance:
Total: 110
1st Service: 46 (36 students, 10 leaders)
2nd Service: 74 (64 students, 10 leaders)
42 (High School) - April 6th
Message - "EXPOSED! ...so it's kind of a big deal!" by Katie and Kurt
Discussion Questions:
"What do you think the world says about sex? What do you think the Bible says about sex?"
"What is the most confusing part about sex?"
Key Points:
The world says "Sex is NO BIG DEAL!" but God tells us "Sex is a PRICELESS GIFT!"
If we SEE as God sees, we will DO as God says.
God invented SEX and He knows how to make it the BEST EVER!
Sex WITHIN MARRIAGE is the most complete picture of LOVE that there is.
God's plan for sex is to connect two people's: HEART SOUL MIND BODY
Sex is meant to CONNECT two people FOR LIFE... so it's kind of a big deal!
Verses Referenced: Ezekiel 18:25, 27, Song of Solomon 8:3-4, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Matthew 19:4-5
Worship led by: Justin Willis and Key to the City
Attendance: 60 (51 students, 9 leaders)
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Parent Preview: Exposed! [week.2 ...so it's kind of a big deal]
What a great start to our new EXPOSED! series! We hope that you had a great conversation with your student after this weekend, where they learned how to date with a Godly goal in mind. This weekend, we continue discussing what God has to say about our sexuality and how to ensure that they can experience love and intimacy in marriage by choosing to pursue purity now! We will expose the lies that the world is telling your students about love and sex, and replace them with the truth from God's word.
Here are the main points and verses that we will be discussing this weekend (4.6), so that you can be prepared ahead of time to have meaningful conversations with your student about what they are learning. Please let us know if there is anything else that we can assist you with to help you connect and discuss this topic with your student.
EXPOSED! [the naked truth about sex and dating]
week.2 - ...so it's kind of a big deal
Often times our perspective on certain things becomes warped or confused because we find ourselves being influenced by so many things, and they all seem to say different things and drive us in different directions. The magazines we read, the stores we shop at, our friends at school, the music we listen and almost everything else around us tries to influence us to think about sex in one way or another.
"Just loose 10 pounds and you will be more attractive.'" "If you have this shirt you will be more sexy." "The opposite sex will want you if you are this way or that way," they all try to tell us. Because of their influence, sex has become a dirty word, a taboo topic that you only talk about if you are immature or perverted. However, God has a lot to say about sex in the Bible, because, well... it was HIS IDEA! God was the one who created it! And He says that it is good. Not just good, but if used in the way He designed it, He says it is even Worship! Sex is wonderfully mysterious, amazing and yet can be totally confusing, frustrating and leave us feeling empty if it is abused. Because our culture is so saturated with sexual images and ideas, the mystery of sex is cheapened and destroyed so:
The world around us says, “Sex is NO BIG DEAL!”
BUT
God tells us, “Sex is a PRICELESS GIFT!”
We are all born sexual, from the moment we enter life on this planet, we are determined by our sexuality. "It's a girl!" So our sexuality is not something to be ashamed of or shy away from, but is something to celebrate, understand and embrace.
Ezekiel 18:25, 27:
"'Do I hear you saying, 'That's not fair! God's not fair!'? 'Listen, Israel. I'm not fair? You're the ones who aren't fair! Look around you, don't you see what's happening? Do you see how you are treating people?'"
In this passage, God is asking us to look at our world, at our actions and at our decisions from His perspective. Instead of just whining and complaining that we don't like what He tells us, which is what we usually do, He wants us to think about WHY He might have told us how and why to wait for sex. As we look at sex from God's perspective, we can see why we might want to put up some boundaries and limits about how it is to be used. Think about it, everything that is cool, everything that we look forward to, those milestones in life, come will higher risk and add more limits to our life. You get your driver's license, so you get to drive, but you have to obey the speed limit and wear a seatbelt. You move out, and you get to set your own social schedule, but you have to get a job to financially support that social life. You want to go to Big Stuf summer camp, but you have to remember to put on your own sunscreen instead of depending on your mommy, otherwise you look like a pomegranate after only the first 3 days in Florida. Everything good in life comes with higher risk and higher reward, and sex is no different. If we truly want to enjoy sex the way God designed us to, we need to listen to His insight about how it is to be used, because those "limits" are there for our protection because He loves us. The reality is, if we begin to look at sex from God's perspective, everything that He says about it, will make total sense.
If we SEE as God sees, we will DO as God says.
Song of Solomon 8:3-4:
“Imagine! His left hand cradling my head, his right arm around my waist! Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem: Don't excite love, don't stir it up, until the time is ripe—and you're ready.”
This verse encouraged us to see the beauty of sex as something worth waiting for. Students have to understand both the beautiful, incredible experience that God desires us to have when it comes to sex, and the consequences that come from misusing something so powerful, in order to understand the motivation to save sex for a committed marriage relationship.
God invented SEX and He is the one who knows how to make it the BEST EVER!
1 Corinthians 13:4-7:
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
These verses describes to boundless reach of love and paints us a picture of what love looks like in a relationship. Love is not described as a feeling or an emotion, but as adjectives and verbs within the contexts of relationship. Love define what we do, not how we feel, and sex is God's idea of the perfect picture of LOVE. It is the physical union that represents the connection between two people that can only be achieved through a healthy, God-driven marriage. It represents, trust, vulnerability, passion, sacrifice, patience and joy.
Sex WITHIN MARRIAGE is the most complete picture of LOVE there is.
Matthew 19:4-5:
Jesus said “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’ And he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one."
Jesus tells us that God decided from the beginning to make us sexual beings, with the capacity to enjoy sex. However, He knows how powerful it is, and He loves us enough to trust us with it, but gives us a "Users Manual" for our protection. If sex was just skin-on-skin, then it wouldn't matter how we used it, but sex encapsulates the entirety of our person, so it really is much, much bigger than we might have previously imagined.
God’s plan for sex is to unite two people’s:
MIND HEART BODY SPIRIT
ONE LAST THOUGHT:
Sex is meant to CONNECT two people FOR LIFE, so… it’s Kind of a Big Deal!
Here are the main points and verses that we will be discussing this weekend (4.6), so that you can be prepared ahead of time to have meaningful conversations with your student about what they are learning. Please let us know if there is anything else that we can assist you with to help you connect and discuss this topic with your student.
EXPOSED! [the naked truth about sex and dating]
week.2 - ...so it's kind of a big deal
Often times our perspective on certain things becomes warped or confused because we find ourselves being influenced by so many things, and they all seem to say different things and drive us in different directions. The magazines we read, the stores we shop at, our friends at school, the music we listen and almost everything else around us tries to influence us to think about sex in one way or another.
"Just loose 10 pounds and you will be more attractive.'" "If you have this shirt you will be more sexy." "The opposite sex will want you if you are this way or that way," they all try to tell us. Because of their influence, sex has become a dirty word, a taboo topic that you only talk about if you are immature or perverted. However, God has a lot to say about sex in the Bible, because, well... it was HIS IDEA! God was the one who created it! And He says that it is good. Not just good, but if used in the way He designed it, He says it is even Worship! Sex is wonderfully mysterious, amazing and yet can be totally confusing, frustrating and leave us feeling empty if it is abused. Because our culture is so saturated with sexual images and ideas, the mystery of sex is cheapened and destroyed so:
The world around us says, “Sex is NO BIG DEAL!”
BUT
God tells us, “Sex is a PRICELESS GIFT!”
We are all born sexual, from the moment we enter life on this planet, we are determined by our sexuality. "It's a girl!" So our sexuality is not something to be ashamed of or shy away from, but is something to celebrate, understand and embrace.
Ezekiel 18:25, 27:
"'Do I hear you saying, 'That's not fair! God's not fair!'? 'Listen, Israel. I'm not fair? You're the ones who aren't fair! Look around you, don't you see what's happening? Do you see how you are treating people?'"
In this passage, God is asking us to look at our world, at our actions and at our decisions from His perspective. Instead of just whining and complaining that we don't like what He tells us, which is what we usually do, He wants us to think about WHY He might have told us how and why to wait for sex. As we look at sex from God's perspective, we can see why we might want to put up some boundaries and limits about how it is to be used. Think about it, everything that is cool, everything that we look forward to, those milestones in life, come will higher risk and add more limits to our life. You get your driver's license, so you get to drive, but you have to obey the speed limit and wear a seatbelt. You move out, and you get to set your own social schedule, but you have to get a job to financially support that social life. You want to go to Big Stuf summer camp, but you have to remember to put on your own sunscreen instead of depending on your mommy, otherwise you look like a pomegranate after only the first 3 days in Florida. Everything good in life comes with higher risk and higher reward, and sex is no different. If we truly want to enjoy sex the way God designed us to, we need to listen to His insight about how it is to be used, because those "limits" are there for our protection because He loves us. The reality is, if we begin to look at sex from God's perspective, everything that He says about it, will make total sense.
If we SEE as God sees, we will DO as God says.
Song of Solomon 8:3-4:
“Imagine! His left hand cradling my head, his right arm around my waist! Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem: Don't excite love, don't stir it up, until the time is ripe—and you're ready.”
This verse encouraged us to see the beauty of sex as something worth waiting for. Students have to understand both the beautiful, incredible experience that God desires us to have when it comes to sex, and the consequences that come from misusing something so powerful, in order to understand the motivation to save sex for a committed marriage relationship.
God invented SEX and He is the one who knows how to make it the BEST EVER!
1 Corinthians 13:4-7:
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
These verses describes to boundless reach of love and paints us a picture of what love looks like in a relationship. Love is not described as a feeling or an emotion, but as adjectives and verbs within the contexts of relationship. Love define what we do, not how we feel, and sex is God's idea of the perfect picture of LOVE. It is the physical union that represents the connection between two people that can only be achieved through a healthy, God-driven marriage. It represents, trust, vulnerability, passion, sacrifice, patience and joy.
Sex WITHIN MARRIAGE is the most complete picture of LOVE there is.
Matthew 19:4-5:
Jesus said “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’ And he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one."
Jesus tells us that God decided from the beginning to make us sexual beings, with the capacity to enjoy sex. However, He knows how powerful it is, and He loves us enough to trust us with it, but gives us a "Users Manual" for our protection. If sex was just skin-on-skin, then it wouldn't matter how we used it, but sex encapsulates the entirety of our person, so it really is much, much bigger than we might have previously imagined.
God’s plan for sex is to unite two people’s:
MIND HEART BODY SPIRIT
ONE LAST THOUGHT:
Sex is meant to CONNECT two people FOR LIFE, so… it’s Kind of a Big Deal!
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Vitals - March 30th
The Spark (Jr. High) - March 30th
Message - "EXPOSED! crush, crush, crush" by Katie and Kurt
Key Points:
The GOAL of dating is to prepare for a GOOD MARRIAGE.
In dating, you GET what you AIM for.
Girls: Your WORTH does not come from your DATING STATUS.
Guys: The most MANLY thing you can do is RESPECT women.
Instead of trying to find the RIGHT person, try to BECOME the right person.
Verses Referenced: Genesis 2:18-25, Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 7:6, 1 Thessalonians 4:5-7
Worship led by: Justin Willis and Key to the City
Attendance:
Total: 103
1st Service: 41 (31 students, 10 leaders)
2nd Service: 72 (61 students, 11 leaders)
42 (High School) - March 30th
Message - "EXPOSED! crush, crush, crush" by Katie and Kurt
Discussion Questions:
What do you think the Bible says about dating?
What qualities do you think make for a good boyfriend/girlfriend?
Key Points:
The GOAL of dating is to prepare for a GOOD MARRIAGE.
In dating, you GET what you AIM for.
Girls: Your WORTH does not come from your DATING STATUS.
Guys: The most MANLY thing you can do is RESPECT women.
Instead of trying to find the RIGHT person, try to BECOME the right person.
Verses Referenced: Genesis 2:18-25, Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 7:6, 1 Thessalonians 4:5-7
Worship led by: Justin Willis and Key to the City
Attendance: 54 (45 students, 9 leaders)
Message - "EXPOSED! crush, crush, crush" by Katie and Kurt
Key Points:
The GOAL of dating is to prepare for a GOOD MARRIAGE.
In dating, you GET what you AIM for.
Girls: Your WORTH does not come from your DATING STATUS.
Guys: The most MANLY thing you can do is RESPECT women.
Instead of trying to find the RIGHT person, try to BECOME the right person.
Verses Referenced: Genesis 2:18-25, Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 7:6, 1 Thessalonians 4:5-7
Worship led by: Justin Willis and Key to the City
Attendance:
Total: 103
1st Service: 41 (31 students, 10 leaders)
2nd Service: 72 (61 students, 11 leaders)
42 (High School) - March 30th
Message - "EXPOSED! crush, crush, crush" by Katie and Kurt
Discussion Questions:
What do you think the Bible says about dating?
What qualities do you think make for a good boyfriend/girlfriend?
Key Points:
The GOAL of dating is to prepare for a GOOD MARRIAGE.
In dating, you GET what you AIM for.
Girls: Your WORTH does not come from your DATING STATUS.
Guys: The most MANLY thing you can do is RESPECT women.
Instead of trying to find the RIGHT person, try to BECOME the right person.
Verses Referenced: Genesis 2:18-25, Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 7:6, 1 Thessalonians 4:5-7
Worship led by: Justin Willis and Key to the City
Attendance: 54 (45 students, 9 leaders)
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