This is a continuation of week 1- Orienting All Of Life To The Glory Of God. There is so much to this teaching I'm not sure I can do it justice in a short blog. I will just highlight what stood out to me and once again, you can watch this live at www.livechurch.ca. There will be a break next week due to a musical concert, so the teaching will resume two weeks from tonight.
I would like to add, I don't think there is another teaching out there that is more relevant than this one. We need to hear this!
Knowing Christs supremacy Guides, Guards and Governs our sexual lives.
Knowing the supremacy of Christ enlarges the soul so that sex and it's little pleasures become as small as they are.
The root of most problems with sex is that people, Christians included, really do not have a passion or desire to go deeper with God. Non Christians, who have rejected God completely, have been given over to their own lustful desires as described in Romans Chapter 1. Christians who have become complacent and comfortable in there relationship with God, with no desire to go deeper which causes their souls to stop growing, can be deceived and led astray into finding intimacy in sexual perversions. This is the reason many Christian leaders have fallen into sexual sin. God created us to have an intimate relationship with him and we have everything we need for Godliness through knowledge of him. See Colossians 3:10 & 2 Peter 1, 3-4.
Christ needs to be the center of our lives and everything that we do. Just as the Sun is central to our universe and holds all of the planets surrounding it in a gravitational pull giving order and life to the universe. Should something happen to the sun, everything else would be affected and we would die. If we do not make Christ supreme in our lives, it affects every aspect of our life, particularly our sexuality. Little souls give sexual lusts great power. Your soul was made for Jesus Christ, nothing else will make little lusts lose their power.
Knowing The supremacy of Christ saves our sexuality from sin by empowering us to suffer.
Unfortunately, we are prone to avoid pain and maximise comfort. Yet as Christians, we are called to share in the sufferings of Christ. see Mathew 5: 27-30. Better to suffer in this life, than to spend eternity in hell.
Whether we give in to sexual lust or decide to follow Christ, we are going to suffer either way.
Take a look at the lives of Joseph who ran away from Pottufers wife. He resisted temptation and look at all the trouble he suffered as a result. King David gave in to his lust with Bathsheba. Look at all the problems he suffered in his family as a result.
The question remains: are we willing to suffer in order to make Christ the center of our life?
The irony of this is, that if we do, we will experience more pleasure and freedom than we could ever imagine.
The next talk we look into the book of the Song of Songs. All that is in the bible about sexual love is not negative. Here we will learn how God shows us the sexual pleasures that can be experienced in a right relationship.
To be continued..............................
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Our Cities Cry To You, Oh God
Lyrics: Margaret Clarkson (c) 1987 Hope publishing
Tune: English melody: "Kingsfold"
Our cities cry to you, O God, from out their pain and strife; you made us for yourself alone, but we choose empty life.
Our goals are pleasure, gold, and power; injustice stalks the earth; in vain we seek for rest, for joy, for sense of human worth.
Yet still you walk our streets, O Christ, we know your presence here, where humble Christians love and serve, in godly grace and fear. O word made flesh, be seen in us, may all we say and do, affirm you God Incarnate still and turn sad hearts to you.
Your people are your hands and feet to serve your world today, our lives the book our cities read to help them find your way. O pour your sovereign spirit out on heart and will and brain: inspire your church with love and power to ease our cities pain.
O healing savior, Prince of Peace, salvation's source and sum, for you our broken cities cry: O come Lord Jesus, come! With truth your royal diadem, with righteousness your rod, O come, Lord Jesus, bring to earth the city of our God.
This was a new hymn we sang in church today. I loved the lyrics so much, I wanted to share them with you. It's like a prayer!
Tune: English melody: "Kingsfold"
Our cities cry to you, O God, from out their pain and strife; you made us for yourself alone, but we choose empty life.
Our goals are pleasure, gold, and power; injustice stalks the earth; in vain we seek for rest, for joy, for sense of human worth.
Yet still you walk our streets, O Christ, we know your presence here, where humble Christians love and serve, in godly grace and fear. O word made flesh, be seen in us, may all we say and do, affirm you God Incarnate still and turn sad hearts to you.
Your people are your hands and feet to serve your world today, our lives the book our cities read to help them find your way. O pour your sovereign spirit out on heart and will and brain: inspire your church with love and power to ease our cities pain.
O healing savior, Prince of Peace, salvation's source and sum, for you our broken cities cry: O come Lord Jesus, come! With truth your royal diadem, with righteousness your rod, O come, Lord Jesus, bring to earth the city of our God.
This was a new hymn we sang in church today. I loved the lyrics so much, I wanted to share them with you. It's like a prayer!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Getting To Know God
This post is an added thought that came out of the teaching of the last post. I have been thinking about this allot. There is a passage of scripture in the bible found in Matthew 7:21, that has always puzzled me and disturbed me at the same time. I finally think I understand it as a result of the teaching " Sex And The City Of God".
The scripture says: " Not everyone who says to me " Lord,Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, " Lord, Lord," did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, " I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!"
When the bible uses the word "know", God is using that sexual language to describe the type of intimacy we need to have with him in order to "know" him and to do his will. In the passage above he was speaking to people who thought they were Christians because of what they did, yet the Lord said, " I never knew you". It is a bit scary to think we can go through our whole Christian life thinking we are serving God and doing his will when in fact we could be rejected by him on judgement day because we just didn't get it. Just saying the words " Lord, Lord" in other words " I believe in you" obviously is not enough. The bible says even the demons believe, yet are they going to heaven? NO! Even Satan believes God exists, yet he hates God. Is he going to heaven? NO!
So, what does it take to get to heaven? We must "know" God in an intimate way so we are able to "know" what his will is and do that!
If that is not the focus of your ministry, then I would suggest you re-evaluate your motives. I believe everything else will come out of that relationship with the Lord. Follow Jesus, and all the other things will follow you.
I have mine and that is now going to be my focus; getting to "know" God.
I want to hear those words from Jesus: " Well done good and faithful servant!".
The scripture says: " Not everyone who says to me " Lord,Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, " Lord, Lord," did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, " I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!"
When the bible uses the word "know", God is using that sexual language to describe the type of intimacy we need to have with him in order to "know" him and to do his will. In the passage above he was speaking to people who thought they were Christians because of what they did, yet the Lord said, " I never knew you". It is a bit scary to think we can go through our whole Christian life thinking we are serving God and doing his will when in fact we could be rejected by him on judgement day because we just didn't get it. Just saying the words " Lord, Lord" in other words " I believe in you" obviously is not enough. The bible says even the demons believe, yet are they going to heaven? NO! Even Satan believes God exists, yet he hates God. Is he going to heaven? NO!
So, what does it take to get to heaven? We must "know" God in an intimate way so we are able to "know" what his will is and do that!
If that is not the focus of your ministry, then I would suggest you re-evaluate your motives. I believe everything else will come out of that relationship with the Lord. Follow Jesus, and all the other things will follow you.
I have mine and that is now going to be my focus; getting to "know" God.
I want to hear those words from Jesus: " Well done good and faithful servant!".
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Sex And The City of God - Week 1
If you would like to hear the full teaching you can download it from the website. It may take a few days to there though. There is a Linc at the top right hand side of this blog entitled West Highland . You can actually see it live each week on line.
The first part of this teaching is about " Orienting All Of Life To The Glory Of God".
The title of this series came from a combination of the title of the TV sitcom " Sex In The City" and a book written by some dude ( St. Augustine?) called " The City Of God". Hence " Sex And The City Of God."
What Pastor John is attempting to reveal is the clear biblical distinction between the worlds view of sex and sexuality verses God's view of sex and sexuality as explained in scripture.
As you probably know the TV show " Sex In The City" is about four divorced women living together who are attempting to find true love and the ultimate relationship through experiencing the ultimate orgasm. All they ever really find is heartache and problems. The writers of this show and other TV shows of the same type are creating propaganda that will affect us, the viewing public and try to influence our thinking to theirs as being a societal norm, when in fact it is not. Their world view of sexuality is "people oriented".
Conversely, Christians, believers in Jesus Christ, are part of " The City Of God" and our view of sexuality as described in scripture is "God oriented". God created sex in order to demonstrate and have a language that would allow us to understand the kind of intimacy we can have with him. Our purpose in expressing our sexuality then becomes, as 1 Corinthians10:31 says, " So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do (including sex), do it ALL for the GLORY of God."
If you want to see an example of the kind of language God uses to describe his relationship with Israel, just take a look at Ezekiel chapter 16 and tell me if this does not sound like sexual language? Sexuality then, is designed by God as a way of knowing him through Jesus Christ more fully. Going back to the book of Genesis God outlines the parameters as to what this relationship looks like, between a man and a women, two very distinctly biologically different genders, in a loving covenant relationship called marriage. Any other variation or deviation from this model causes us to sin by creating an idolatrous relationship as described in Ezekiel 16 and keeps us from knowing God! As Hosea said in chapter 6:3 ( he was the prophet that married the prostitute) " Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises. he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." In other words Gods favour will restore us.
Tune in next week for a continuation along the same theme.
Apparently week three gets really juicy!..... as we get into the Song of Songs which is all about sexual love.
I can't wait!
The first part of this teaching is about " Orienting All Of Life To The Glory Of God".
The title of this series came from a combination of the title of the TV sitcom " Sex In The City" and a book written by some dude ( St. Augustine?) called " The City Of God". Hence " Sex And The City Of God."
What Pastor John is attempting to reveal is the clear biblical distinction between the worlds view of sex and sexuality verses God's view of sex and sexuality as explained in scripture.
As you probably know the TV show " Sex In The City" is about four divorced women living together who are attempting to find true love and the ultimate relationship through experiencing the ultimate orgasm. All they ever really find is heartache and problems. The writers of this show and other TV shows of the same type are creating propaganda that will affect us, the viewing public and try to influence our thinking to theirs as being a societal norm, when in fact it is not. Their world view of sexuality is "people oriented".
Conversely, Christians, believers in Jesus Christ, are part of " The City Of God" and our view of sexuality as described in scripture is "God oriented". God created sex in order to demonstrate and have a language that would allow us to understand the kind of intimacy we can have with him. Our purpose in expressing our sexuality then becomes, as 1 Corinthians10:31 says, " So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do (including sex), do it ALL for the GLORY of God."
If you want to see an example of the kind of language God uses to describe his relationship with Israel, just take a look at Ezekiel chapter 16 and tell me if this does not sound like sexual language? Sexuality then, is designed by God as a way of knowing him through Jesus Christ more fully. Going back to the book of Genesis God outlines the parameters as to what this relationship looks like, between a man and a women, two very distinctly biologically different genders, in a loving covenant relationship called marriage. Any other variation or deviation from this model causes us to sin by creating an idolatrous relationship as described in Ezekiel 16 and keeps us from knowing God! As Hosea said in chapter 6:3 ( he was the prophet that married the prostitute) " Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises. he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." In other words Gods favour will restore us.
Tune in next week for a continuation along the same theme.
Apparently week three gets really juicy!..... as we get into the Song of Songs which is all about sexual love.
I can't wait!
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