Marriage and Sexual Purity
December 13, 2009 · Filed Under Sermon Study Guides · Comment
1 Corinthians 7:1-9
- What are God’s purposes for marriage? Look up the following texts in addition to the one for this sermon: Ecclesiastes 4:7-12; Malachi 2:10-16; Ephesians 5:22-33
- How would you respond to someone who says, “Paul was a sexist”? How would you respond to someone who says, “Paul is down on marriage”?
- Read and discuss Proverbs 5:15-21. What is the message of the text? Why do you think that vs. 21 seems to have such little import into the lives of modern people?
- Talk about the role of sex in marriage. How would you characterize a biblical concept of sex in marriage? In what ways has our culture polluted the biblical view of marital sex? In what ways does marital sex take on a selfish dynamic? What does it mean for your spouse to have “authority” over your body?
- What is the gift of celibacy? How could it be misunderstood?
- Formulate your own question from this text to share with the group.
- Pray for the marriages in the group. Pray that God would make selfless spouses out of each individual. Pray for each to be given to self-control in the sexual arena of their lives.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
“Your Body Matters”
December 6, 2009 · Filed Under Sermon Study Guides · Comment
1 Corinthians 6:9-20
- Share some data points and observations from our society that would demonstrate that our culture is rather like the one exemplified by the two Corinthians slogans. Can you trace how we have culturally come to this place we have?
- If I say, “You are not a person with a body, but you are an embodied person,” what if any difference exists between these two perspectives. What is your relationship to your body? What wrong perspectives concerning our bodies do we face in our present culture and from our present vantage point?
- Read through this text carefully, as well as Romans 6:13; 8:9-11; 22-23; 12:1; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and Colossians 3:5. How would you put together what they say about the body? As you think about these texts think about the role of the body in human life and the challenges presented with being an embodied creature. How does it affect your spiritual life?
- What does sexual union with another person outside of an appropriate marital context do to you as a person? What do you think Paul is getting at when he utilizes Genesis 2:24 in reference to a man’s union with a prostitute?
- Look at vs. 19-20. Talk about how your body (and you in total for that matter) is possessed (19a), purchased (19b-20a) and purposed (20b).
- Formulate your own question from this text to share with the group.
- Pray for the members of the group to grow in their understanding of how to glorify God with their bodies. Specifically pray for protection from the evil one and your own flesh as you live in a sexually licentious culture
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Photo Stream
