Wednesday, March 18, 2009
No Life Groups Tonight! Go Bowling...
There are no Life Groups tonight because of Spring Break. So come bowling with us tonight at Warrior Lanes from 8p to 10p. It costs $10 and it includes 2 hours of Xtreme Blackout Bowling and shoe rentals. Have your student bring their own money for food if they want. Hope to see them there!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
SPRING BREAK MADNESS 2009!
Some people think that the Madness has to do with Basketball this March, but we know that it's really about Student Ministries and all the fun stuff we have going on this week! So be sure your student(s) join us for all the fun and invite their friends to come with them! There's no reason to be bored!
Here is the Line Up:
TUESDAY – March 17th TOKENS ARCADE
11:30am – 4:00pm
Meet & Pick Up at the Church (Parent Drivers Needed)
Cost: $20
Includes Lunch, Transportation, 1 Game of Lazer Tag, 1 Round of Mini Golf and 10 Game Tokens
*WE NEED PARENTS TO DRIVE TO AND FROM THIS EVENT!! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER TO DRIVE PLEASE CALL KURT OR KATIE @ 515.577.2696 OR 515.577.9212 AND BRING YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE AND INSURANCE CARD ON TUESDAY! THANK YOU!!*
WEDNESDAY – March 18th
XTREME BOWLING @ WARRIOR LANES
7:30pm – 10:00pm
Meet & Pick Up at Warrior Lanes
190 Laurel Street, Waukee (Across Hickman from POG)
Cost: $10 plus bring money for food
THURSDAY – March 19th LUNCH AND A MOVIE @ JORDAN CREEK
11:30m – 3:30pm
Meet & Pick Up at Jordan Creek Dew Zone
Cost: $10-20 for Food and Movie Ticket
We will be seeing Race To Witch Mountain at 1:30p. It is Rated PG and produced by Disney.
If you have any questions or if you want to help out with any of these events, email us at students@pointofgrace.com. Thanks and hope to see your student at all the fun activities!
Here is the Line Up:
TUESDAY – March 17th TOKENS ARCADE
11:30am – 4:00pm
Meet & Pick Up at the Church (Parent Drivers Needed)
Cost: $20
Includes Lunch, Transportation, 1 Game of Lazer Tag, 1 Round of Mini Golf and 10 Game Tokens
*WE NEED PARENTS TO DRIVE TO AND FROM THIS EVENT!! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER TO DRIVE PLEASE CALL KURT OR KATIE @ 515.577.2696 OR 515.577.9212 AND BRING YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE AND INSURANCE CARD ON TUESDAY! THANK YOU!!*
WEDNESDAY – March 18th
XTREME BOWLING @ WARRIOR LANES
7:30pm – 10:00pm
Meet & Pick Up at Warrior Lanes
190 Laurel Street, Waukee (Across Hickman from POG)
Cost: $10 plus bring money for food
THURSDAY – March 19th LUNCH AND A MOVIE @ JORDAN CREEK
11:30m – 3:30pm
Meet & Pick Up at Jordan Creek Dew Zone
Cost: $10-20 for Food and Movie Ticket
We will be seeing Race To Witch Mountain at 1:30p. It is Rated PG and produced by Disney.
If you have any questions or if you want to help out with any of these events, email us at students@pointofgrace.com. Thanks and hope to see your student at all the fun activities!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Sex Series Parent Preview (week.3)
This series has been such a great connecting point for the students! Last week, we had over 30 students commit to giving God control of their sexual lives. It was awesome! This week we are discussing the issue of setting both mental and physical boundaries before we are faced with the situation where we would need to make those certain decisions. So here are the message notes for this coming weekend (3.15) about what we will be teaching for Birds & Bees (The Spark) and UNCENSORED (4ORTY 2WO). 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.
The Spark (6th-8th Grade)
Week.3: Don't Get Stung!
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. However, only holding out our 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.
God’s standard for our life is not just VIRGINITY it’s PURITY.
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.
“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
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.
Setting BOUNDARIES ahead of time keeps us from getting STUNG!
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.
“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; love lasts forever.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
We want to close out this discussion talking about God's definition of love, and how if you are pursing love, you will not substitute it for sexual activity, because 'love is patient... and it doesn't demand it's own way.'
Big Idea:
It’s not LOVE unless it’s FOREVER.
4ORTY 2WO (9th-12 Grade)
Week.3: Caution I'm Hot... Don't Get Burned!
In the 21st century we have seriously jacked up the idea of Love and Sex. Many young people feel like having sex for the first time is something to just get over with before High School is over, so that they’ll be ready for college. ‘Being in love’ has become some milestone that one must reach in order to justify that they are ready for sexual activity. This understanding shatters lives, breaks hearts and cheapens our understanding of love. Truth be told… There’s not a condom in the world that can protect you from a broken heart!
God’s standard for our sex life is not just VIRGINITY it’s PURITY.
In many ways this is much harder than “just wait until your married,” it’s not just “abstinence is the only safe-sex,” rather it encompasses all of who we are, our mind, heart, body and soul. God cares about everything because our thoughts about ourselves and about other people reflect the condition of our heart and our relationship with Him.
“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.’ (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) 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
We need to set boundaries with our thoughts, so that we can set limits for our choices. These boundaries need to protect us emotionally and physically.
Setting BOUNDARIES ahead of time keeps us from getting BURNED in the heat of the moment.
If you are seriously looking for a “line” not to cross you should think of the question in a different way, instead of giving/taking just enough from someone to not make God mad, think of how much you can save/protect for your future husband or wife one day, so that you can give the most of yourself that you possibly can. Those boundaries are not something anyone can make for you, you must come up with these for yourself, talk about it with a friend, parent or adult you trust and most of all if you surrender this area of your life to God and seek His wisdom, He won't let you down. Common sense: anything that is covered by a bathing suit is a no-go area of your body, long make out sessions might get you going sexually because that is how our bodies are created, just be honest with yourself and your boyfriend/girlfriend of how sensitive you are.
It’s important to set boundaries for what you allow to influence your thought life. The things you watch, sexual scenes in movies, pornography, etc., have a profound affect on what we begin to think is OK for us to act out in our behavior. They also can have a very detrimental affect on how we view ourselves, as well as members of the opposite sex.
“God wants you to live a pure life. Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity. Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God. Don't abuse your brothers or sisters. Their concerns are God's concerns, and He will take care of them. We've warned you about this before. God hasn't invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful - as beautiful on the inside as the outside.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7
In GOD’S FAMILY there is no such thing as CASUAL SEX.
So the question begs to be answered… How far is too far when it comes to sex?
Well how far would you go with your dad in the room? How far would you go with your brother or sister? I know that sounds gross to think of it that way, but that’s what it looks like from God’s perspective as our Heavenly father, He sees it as abuse or just plain disturbing if we use each other for our own selfish pleasure.
“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.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
God wants us to be “love-elitists” when it comes to our thoughts on sexual purity.
Emotional purity… desiring/dropping the “L” bomb prematurely can be dangerous if the level of commitment is not forever, it has the potential to over promise and under-deliver. Not to mention, can accelerate your physical desire for that person. We are wired to want sex when we are promised Love, it is a biological and spiritual reaction to that level of intimacy. If the person you are with avoids meeting your parents, being around your friends, if your friends don’t like this person, if this person is not following God, that should be a huge red flag.
BIG IDEA:
It’s not really LOVE until it’s FOREVER.
[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. Feel free to email thoughts, comments or questions to students@pointofgrace.com and we will get back to you! Until next week...]
The Spark (6th-8th Grade)
Week.3: Don't Get Stung!
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. However, only holding out our 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.
God’s standard for our life is not just VIRGINITY it’s PURITY.
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.
“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
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.
Setting BOUNDARIES ahead of time keeps us from getting STUNG!
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.
“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; love lasts forever.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
We want to close out this discussion talking about God's definition of love, and how if you are pursing love, you will not substitute it for sexual activity, because 'love is patient... and it doesn't demand it's own way.'
Big Idea:
It’s not LOVE unless it’s FOREVER.
4ORTY 2WO (9th-12 Grade)
Week.3: Caution I'm Hot... Don't Get Burned!
In the 21st century we have seriously jacked up the idea of Love and Sex. Many young people feel like having sex for the first time is something to just get over with before High School is over, so that they’ll be ready for college. ‘Being in love’ has become some milestone that one must reach in order to justify that they are ready for sexual activity. This understanding shatters lives, breaks hearts and cheapens our understanding of love. Truth be told… There’s not a condom in the world that can protect you from a broken heart!
God’s standard for our sex life is not just VIRGINITY it’s PURITY.
In many ways this is much harder than “just wait until your married,” it’s not just “abstinence is the only safe-sex,” rather it encompasses all of who we are, our mind, heart, body and soul. God cares about everything because our thoughts about ourselves and about other people reflect the condition of our heart and our relationship with Him.
“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.’ (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) 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
We need to set boundaries with our thoughts, so that we can set limits for our choices. These boundaries need to protect us emotionally and physically.
Setting BOUNDARIES ahead of time keeps us from getting BURNED in the heat of the moment.
If you are seriously looking for a “line” not to cross you should think of the question in a different way, instead of giving/taking just enough from someone to not make God mad, think of how much you can save/protect for your future husband or wife one day, so that you can give the most of yourself that you possibly can. Those boundaries are not something anyone can make for you, you must come up with these for yourself, talk about it with a friend, parent or adult you trust and most of all if you surrender this area of your life to God and seek His wisdom, He won't let you down. Common sense: anything that is covered by a bathing suit is a no-go area of your body, long make out sessions might get you going sexually because that is how our bodies are created, just be honest with yourself and your boyfriend/girlfriend of how sensitive you are.
It’s important to set boundaries for what you allow to influence your thought life. The things you watch, sexual scenes in movies, pornography, etc., have a profound affect on what we begin to think is OK for us to act out in our behavior. They also can have a very detrimental affect on how we view ourselves, as well as members of the opposite sex.
“God wants you to live a pure life. Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity. Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God. Don't abuse your brothers or sisters. Their concerns are God's concerns, and He will take care of them. We've warned you about this before. God hasn't invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful - as beautiful on the inside as the outside.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7
In GOD’S FAMILY there is no such thing as CASUAL SEX.
So the question begs to be answered… How far is too far when it comes to sex?
Well how far would you go with your dad in the room? How far would you go with your brother or sister? I know that sounds gross to think of it that way, but that’s what it looks like from God’s perspective as our Heavenly father, He sees it as abuse or just plain disturbing if we use each other for our own selfish pleasure.
“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.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
God wants us to be “love-elitists” when it comes to our thoughts on sexual purity.
Emotional purity… desiring/dropping the “L” bomb prematurely can be dangerous if the level of commitment is not forever, it has the potential to over promise and under-deliver. Not to mention, can accelerate your physical desire for that person. We are wired to want sex when we are promised Love, it is a biological and spiritual reaction to that level of intimacy. If the person you are with avoids meeting your parents, being around your friends, if your friends don’t like this person, if this person is not following God, that should be a huge red flag.
BIG IDEA:
It’s not really LOVE until it’s FOREVER.
[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. Feel free to email thoughts, comments or questions to students@pointofgrace.com and we will get back to you! Until next week...]
Monday, March 02, 2009
Sex Series Parent Preview (week.2)
We had a great start to our new series this past weekend talking about Dating. This weekend, we we be discussing the topic of sexual purity and how we all need to make a choice to trust God with our decisions and choices regarding our sexual identity and our sexual activity. Our hope is to impress on the students the reality of magnitude of sex in an age appropriate manner that helps them understand WHY God says what He says regarding this topic. So here are the message notes for this coming weekend (3.8) about what we will be teaching for Birds & Bees (The Spark) and UNCENSORED (4orty 2wo). 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.
The Spark (6th-8th Grade)
Week.2: What's All The Buzz About?
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. It’s sometime hard for students to know what God says about sex, because all too often, churches aren’t talking about it, but everyone else is.
All the BUZZ about sex causes us to be UNSURE about what God thinks.
It’s would be easy to know what God thinks if He was the only one talking…
“God said, ‘It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a companion.’… This is why a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh. The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.”
Gen. 2:18, 24-25
God INVENTED sex, and He tell us the TRUTH about it.
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.
“There's more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, ‘The two become one.’ Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never ‘become one.’”
1 Corinthians 6:16-17
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’s plan is for sex to be ENJOYED in marriage.
Big Idea:
PURITY paves the way to INTIMACY.
4ORTY 2WO (9th-12 Grade)
Week.2: Best Sex Ever!
"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.
“There's more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, ‘The two become one.’ Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never ‘become one.’”
1 Corinthians 6:16-17
The world says that sex is just PHYSICAL, but in fact it is also EMOTIONAL and SPIRITUAL.
Instead of just whining and complaining that we don't like what He tells us, which is what we usually do, God 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 with 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. 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.
“There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for ‘becoming one’ with another. Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:18-20
Sex starts between the EARS, way before it’s ever between the LEGS.
God's design for sex completely contradicts the world's persuasion about sex. The world tells us that great sex is sex without boundaries or inhibitions. This encouragement is actually counter-productive to good sex. Most high school students that have sex regret their decision and wish they would have waited. Based on the latest scientific research, the brain actually reacts completely differently regarding sex, and the hormones it produces when sex is within a committed relationship where there is little fear, embarrassment or shame of rejection. This is amazing, because new scientific research is actually saying what God has said all along: That sex is the best within a committed marriage. This is why it is so important for students to make decisions about sex before they are in the position to have act out their decision to have sex, or remain pure.
“God said, ‘It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a companion.’… This is why a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh. The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.”
Gen. 2:18, 24-25
God’s desire is for you to have the BEST SEX EVER and He knows that only happens when there is NO SHAME.
God’s design for sex was that we could be naked with each other and feel no shame… Adam and Eve in the garden, God was still at the center of their relationship, they had nothing to compare to, they didn’t have the burden of past mistakes, no regrets, they did not feel self conscious at all, didn’t worry about adding up to pressures they saw around them…they could simply give themselves to each other completely, beautifully and wholly; out of pure love.
Big Idea:
PURITY paves the way to INTIMACY.
[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. Feel free to email thoughts, comments or questions to students@pointofgrace.com and we will get back to you! Until next week...]
The Spark (6th-8th Grade)
Week.2: What's All The Buzz About?
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. It’s sometime hard for students to know what God says about sex, because all too often, churches aren’t talking about it, but everyone else is.
All the BUZZ about sex causes us to be UNSURE about what God thinks.
It’s would be easy to know what God thinks if He was the only one talking…
“God said, ‘It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a companion.’… This is why a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh. The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.”
Gen. 2:18, 24-25
God INVENTED sex, and He tell us the TRUTH about it.
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.
“There's more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, ‘The two become one.’ Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never ‘become one.’”
1 Corinthians 6:16-17
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’s plan is for sex to be ENJOYED in marriage.
Big Idea:
PURITY paves the way to INTIMACY.
4ORTY 2WO (9th-12 Grade)
Week.2: Best Sex Ever!
"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.
“There's more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, ‘The two become one.’ Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never ‘become one.’”
1 Corinthians 6:16-17
The world says that sex is just PHYSICAL, but in fact it is also EMOTIONAL and SPIRITUAL.
Instead of just whining and complaining that we don't like what He tells us, which is what we usually do, God 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 with 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. 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.
“There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for ‘becoming one’ with another. Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:18-20
Sex starts between the EARS, way before it’s ever between the LEGS.
God's design for sex completely contradicts the world's persuasion about sex. The world tells us that great sex is sex without boundaries or inhibitions. This encouragement is actually counter-productive to good sex. Most high school students that have sex regret their decision and wish they would have waited. Based on the latest scientific research, the brain actually reacts completely differently regarding sex, and the hormones it produces when sex is within a committed relationship where there is little fear, embarrassment or shame of rejection. This is amazing, because new scientific research is actually saying what God has said all along: That sex is the best within a committed marriage. This is why it is so important for students to make decisions about sex before they are in the position to have act out their decision to have sex, or remain pure.
“God said, ‘It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a companion.’… This is why a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh. The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.”
Gen. 2:18, 24-25
God’s desire is for you to have the BEST SEX EVER and He knows that only happens when there is NO SHAME.
God’s design for sex was that we could be naked with each other and feel no shame… Adam and Eve in the garden, God was still at the center of their relationship, they had nothing to compare to, they didn’t have the burden of past mistakes, no regrets, they did not feel self conscious at all, didn’t worry about adding up to pressures they saw around them…they could simply give themselves to each other completely, beautifully and wholly; out of pure love.
Big Idea:
PURITY paves the way to INTIMACY.
[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. Feel free to email thoughts, comments or questions to students@pointofgrace.com and we will get back to you! Until next week...]
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