Series: America, Bless God
There are many, many issues we could talk about in regards to this election. However, I am only going to choose a few. It is our job to come down standing on the truth and to help all those around us do the same.
There is a large poster of Tiger Woods on the 18th green of a beautiful golf course, with a huge crowd surrounding him. But instead of acknowledging the scenery, Tiger was stooping down with hands cupped around the sides of his eyes and brim of his cap, so that he saw only what was in front of him- his critically important putt. The caption above his head read, "Sometimes to accomplish more, you have to see less."
I also hope that we will take the opportunity to speak to people about these issues of the day.
In my estimation we are all about 2 degrees from someone caught in the sin of homosexuality. I encourage you to give them a tape of this morning’s sermon as the Spirit leads you to do so.
The Christian response to Homosexuality
Sunday sermon October 10th 2004
Three sided approach (Not a three step, 1,2,3) such as first do “this” then “this” etc.
Be Completely Honest
1) About Homosexuality
a. Homosexuality is a sin.
Romans 1:21-27 "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. {22} Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools {23} and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. {24} Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. {25} They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen{26} Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. {27} In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
b. Environment contributes to the developing of the homosexual lifestyle.
"When I was 13, I was raped by a family friend. I was too afraid to tell anyone, especially my dad. So I ’stuffed’ down the fear and anger for the next 15 years. Bitterness brewed inside. In fact, my real self, my femininity, was buried by it, although I didn’t realize it for years. My father warned me to never trust men. In my third year of college I met a woman who gave the unconditional love I’d been seeking for years, but never received at home." -- Starla Allen, former lesbian
"I was afraid to play with boys since they called me ’sissy’ and ’momma’s boy.’ Since my father was emotionally cold and unavailable, and seemed to only value femininity, I fantasized about being a woman." -- Perry Desmond, former transsexual
Factors that should be considered are:
i. Early sexual abuse or violation
ii. Emotional detachment from the same-sex parent
iii. Cross-gender identification
iv. Poor gender role-modeling
v. Peer degradation
Many psychologists are treating homosexuality successfully today.
Charles Socarides, president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (an organization uniting therapists and other professionals who believe homosexuality is not inborn and can be changed). Says,
"Changing sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual, such a change would be unthinkable, if there were any truth at all to the biological or hereditary causation of homosexuality."
Stanton I. Jones, professor of psychology at Wheaton College, says,
"Every study ever performed in conversion from homosexual to heterosexual orientation has produced some successes," ranging from 33 percent to 60 percent.
c. Sexual sins bring death.
d. Sexual sin will never deliver what it promises
Intimacy (and the meaning of true love) has been robbed from the American people.
2) About what real marriage is.
Speak the truth in word and deed
Many people see God’s plan for marriage as “Not important”, or “Old Fashioned” or of no “Value”:
I have had people say to me, in an attempt to justify their sexual sin,
“Doesn’t God want me to be happy.”
We are told that our bodies are not to be used to simply please ourselves, but they are to be the temples of the Holy Spirit, which resides within us, and that we should not pollute them by any means, be it heterosexual or homosexual relationships.
a. To mirror God’s image.
i. At the very core of the nature of the Trinity is relationship.
ii. Each member of the Trinity complements one another perfectly, and as the Godhead are "one." Yet, each plays a unique role in the Divine plan of the universe.
iii. It should be the same with husband and wife.
iv. Each plays a unique role in God’s plan for the family, yet they are to be "one flesh." Their "oneness" reflects the character and unity of God.
v. Genesis 1:27.
b. To mutually complete one another (mutual interdependence).
i. To mutually complete one another means to create something together that does not exist apart.
ii. This presupposes that men and women are essentially not the same thing, and a male needs a female (and vice-versa) to be complete.
iii. They are equal in worth but different in design, and God made them that way for a purpose -- to complement and complete one another.
iv. Only in the union of a man and a woman can each be mutually complemented in the way God has designed us, physically, psychologically and spiritually.
v. 1 Corinthians 11:11.
c. To illustrate the relationship between Christ and the church.
i. As a husband and wife serve one another, love each other unconditionally, put the other’s needs before their own, and lay down their lives for one another, they illustrate the relationship between Christ and His church.
ii. Just as Christ loves and laid down His life for the church, so a husband is to lead his family by laying down his life for his wife and children.
iii. And just as the Church loves and serves Christ, so a wife is to graciously submit to her husband’s headship.
iv. Ephesians 5:25-33.
d. To multiply a godly legacy.
i. Marriage provides the context for having and rearing children.
ii. Neither women nor men are made emotionally, spiritually or physically to raise children by themselves.
iii. God created family in such a way that it is the primary learning environment for children. It serves as a "small society" where children learn to love, to relate and, by watching mom and dad, to understand and appreciate their spiritual, emotional and sexual identity. Only in the union of man and a woman can a godly legacy be fruitfully multiplied.
iv. The evidence that children do better in homes with their two married, biological parents is overwhelming.
It caused David Popenoe, professor of sociology at Rutgers University to state:
"In three decades of work as a social scientist, I know of few other bodies of data in which the weight of evidence is so decisively on one side of the issue: On the whole, for children, two-parent families are preferable … If our prevailing views on family structure hinged solely on scholarly evidence, the current debate would never have arisen in the first place." 10
Karl Zinsmeister, a leading researcher on the family, "There is a mountain of scientific evidence showing that when families disintegrate, children often end up with intellectual, physical, and emotional scars that persist for life … We talk about the drug crisis, the education crisis, and the problem of teen pregnancy and juvenile crime. But all these ills trace back predominantly to one source: broken families." 11
v. Malichi
e. To serve as a foundation for a healthy society.
i. While there are many courageous single moms and dads and others in less than ideal family settings who are accomplishing the task, God created marriage as the basic building block upon which to construct a society.
ii. The special and sacred bond shared between husband and wife provides for strong families which, in turn, provide for stable, healthy social structures.
iii. Only in the unique union of a man and a woman can the foundation for a healthy society be built.
Strengthen the foundations
Normalize, legitimize, and legalize homosexuality through same-sex "marriage," same-sex adoption rights, propaganda in public schools,
1) Counter cultural living
a. (Strengthen your commitments in your own marriage)
b. Christians must return to the standards of the Bible.
c. Promiscuity is acceptable in many circles.
d. Divorce has become normal.
e. "The Great Commission included the redemption of culture,"
2) Influence the Young Generation
a. The Homosexual agenda will persuade many people (Including the young people) to accept, and even experiment with homosexuality.
b. The church cannot sit back and in effect say, “You can have the government, you can have our schools, you can have our children, and you can have the whole nation because we simply don’t care.”
"Early life for me was traumatic. My uncle who was so dear to me was arrested for homosexual activity, my father died and the minister of my new church was sent on his way. His replacement was a young man who was soon to take over the role of father in my life. This minister encouraged me to embrace homosexuality." -- Frank Worthen, former homosexual and the founder of the Ex-Gay movement
c. Adoption rights
Dr. J. Dobson, “First, when the State sanctions homosexual relationships and gives them its blessing, the younger generation becomes confused about sexual identity and quickly loses its understanding of lifelong commitments, emotional bonding, sexual purity, the role of children in a family, and from a spiritual perspective, the “sanctity” of marriage.”
d. I was reading an article that was talking about some of the things happening on college campuses. A college in Florida hosted what they call, “Sex on the Lawn” It included races for
3) Legal Protection
Much is at stake here.
a. The message right now is directed to put you to sleep.
b. The homosexual movement wants their arguments framed as a civil rights issue.
c. Domino effect. The laws of our land are often built on another.
i. First do away with anti-sodomy laws
ii. Once you legalize homosexual marriage.
iii. Once the state sanctions homosexual marriage, it becomes a crime to even speak against homosexuality.
d. There is a push to include “Homosexuals” as a specifically protected people group in the “Hate Crimes” Bill.
Janet Parshall, "(the marriage amendment) is an issue that will determine if pastors are able to preach the word of God declaratively if it ties back specifically to sex outside of marriage in the form of homosexuality. There are those who want that deemed a hate crime and to be punishable by imprisonment," she continued, "We’ve seen it (fines and imprisonment of pastors) in Canada; we’ve seen it in Australia.”
e. Elect government leaders who understand the issue from the stand point of Truth.
f. Influence our government (Because our government was designed to be influenced by the people.)
g. Support the appointments of judges who will do the same.
“Gay marriage has been popular with activist judges but not with voters even in liberal states. When the Hawaii state supreme court appeared likely to rule in favor of granting marital status to same-sex unions, voters responded by passing a constitutional amendment empowering the state legislature to affirm traditional marriage with 69 percent of the vote. California approved Proposition 22, the Defense of Marriage Act, with 61 percent of the vote. Vermont lacked the ballot initiative as recourse against a state supreme-court ruling mandating either full gay marriage or a reasonable facsimile thereof, but angry voters punished several legislators who backed civil unions and gave Republicans control of the state House of Representatives.”
Homosexuality is a symptom of fallen humanity.
Political activism stops short of giving life.
Promote love not hate
1) Homosexuals are people too
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders {10} nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. "
a. Not one homosexual will enter the Kingdom of God, not one adulterer will enter the kingdom of God! Not one standing in sin, defending sin, exchanging the truth for a lie will enter the Kingdom of God, NOT ONE!
b. Is this a list of our enemies or is it a prayer list.
c. This passage shows us those who need the liberating power of Jesus Christ to regain control of their lives. This section also shows the power of Jesus Christ to transform people lives in that the next verse reads:
1 Corinthians 6:11 "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
i. They have the same human needs for love, acceptance and community
ii. They are caught in web.
iii. The Sting of Death is Sin (Notice the Order)
iv. Love demands that we lead people out of darkness
v. We are in Battle for the souls of men!
John Eldredge, speaking about genuine Christianity, “The bottom line is this - to know if you’ve got the real thing or not - is it healing the broken-hearted and setting the captives free? Is it restoring men and women as men and women? Is it helping them win the battle that they face in their lives? Because if it doesn’t do that, then you don’t have Christianity, you have something else.”
2) The message of the cross is one of repentance and then restoration through healing!
a. Homosexuality is a forgivable sin as one repents of their sin and turns to God
b. Realize that at the core of the homosexual struggle, there is a deep-seated sense of rejection.
c. Communicate acceptance -- not rejection. Express love and commitment to the person (1 John 4:9-10).
d. Instill hope for change Thousands of men and women have overcome homosexuality and are able to lead celibate lives. Many continue in their healing and marry and have families.
e. God gives hope.
f. Change is not always easy but it is possible.
g. It is possible to be set free from this bondage of sin.
Exodus International is a worldwide coalition of Christian ministries that offers support to men and women seeking to overcome homosexuality. Many of these ministries have specialized services for family members and friends, including support groups, one-on-one counseling, and literature. Exodus International has developed an extensive library of practical booklets on issues relating to homosexuality.
National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) is an organization of nearly 700 professionals across the country who treat homosexuality from a variety of perspectives.
Homosexuals Anonymous
Setting the Record Straight -- What Research Really Says About the Social Consequences of Homosexuality - Larry Burtoft, Ph. D., Focus on the Family
Someone I Love Is Gay -- How Family and Friends Can Respond
by Anita Worthen and Bob Davies,
"All my life I was tortured by the fact that I never felt loved and accepted by my dad. My sense of masculine identity was developed by a tight-knit relationship with my mother, so I searched for my father in the arms of other men. When I eventually overcame my homosexual desires, I was able to embrace true love from Christian men." -- John Paulk, former homosexual
"I had never been emotionally nurtured by my mother. She seemed weak and passive. My father, on the other hand, was strong and outspoken. But I never measured up to his expectations. I soon learned that a strong, confident woman could meet my emotional needs." -- Karen Dyer, former lesbian
i. The message isn’t ONLY: “Thou shall not!” but it is also: “You can be healed, you can find the love your Father God, you can be set free. God can and will help you. His Church, can and will help you.
ii. We don’t hate you. We love you. And because of that love we can’t stand back and let you march off the cliff to your death.
iii. The truth is this: This is the real mission of the church, however, not all who hear a clear message of the hope and healing found only in Jesus Christ through repentance and the subsequent forgiveness and healing, not all will listen to the message. Therefore, we must also take measures to guard against the tactics of those who are trying to destroy us.
3) Pray for them instead of against them
a. Satan has taken them as prey.
I Peter 5: 8 CEV “Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack. 9 But you must resist the devil and stay strong in your faith.”
Tolkien, “It’s very dangerous, if you live near a dragon and do not believe in dragons.”
What if we found out that a ticket person knew that there were terrorists boarding the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers on 9/11. Would that person hold some responsibility in the outcome? Yes.
b. If we accept and validate people’s sin then we play hand in their death.
i. We have blood on our hands if we don’t do what we can.
ii. Not all will listen, not all will repent, and not all will be saved and healed.
iii. But, some will. Their spirit eternally celebrating with us over the truth and God’s grace.
iv. If we stay quiet we will have allowed the multitudes, in wholesale fashion, be given over to a lie that will destroy them. It will lead to their eternal damnation.
Conclusion Gary North: "Money talks. Competence talks louder. Courage talks loudest of all."
