10 Tweets

Here's my sermon from last weekend in 10 Tweets, "The Bible and Sexual Intimacy" in the Loveology series (1 Corinthians 7:1-5

1/ What if sexual intimacy in marriage is one of the means God uses to make us more like Jesus?

2/ We are so sexually broken that our sexual life is full of the pain of unfulfilled desires.

3/ Sex is God’s idea! He created the drive, he made it pleasurable, and then he told Adam and Eve to go do it.

4/ Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. …Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. Pro 5:18f.

5/ The Bible isn't prudish, but also contains many warnings about sex when it’s taken outside of its God-given boundaries and purposes.

6/ Countercultural message of 1 Cor 7:4 - women have sexual desires & those desires are legitimate & that they're as legitimate as a man’s.

7/ Marital intimacy God’s way teaches us to be less self-centered and more other-centered. 

8/ The biblical ethic for sexual intimacy is training us in self-giving and serving others. It is training ground to be more like Christ.

9/ You might say that sex as a gift to be enjoyed bet a husband & wife who are trying to out-serve each other, even in bed.

10/ Jesus our model. Washed feet - Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (Jn 15:13)

Behind the Scenes

Here are some of the behind the scenes happenings at Five Oaks:

Laser Mayhem: That's just one of the ways our Staff Leadership Team did some team building during our strategic planning retreat last week. Having our new youth pastor with us, Tyler Sotebeer, was also a special treat, especially since he doesn't start officially until June.

Change Happens: Lot's of changes on staff. Long-time member Peg Benson is coming on staff. Andrew Carey is our new Tech Director. I went to school with his dad, so that's the second staff person whose parents went to school with me. Jonathan Haage is transitioning over to work with Kent in Small Groups.

Carrs: No, not the movie. Ken, Deb and Ian Carr. Speaking of change, they're moving to FL. Deb has been on our staff forever. She's also the genius behind our stage sets over the last year or so. And Ken serves the Elders. That's only the tip of the iceberg of their impact. We're going to miss them in a huge way.

Christopher Walken Prayer: That's our staff nickname for the the Walk & Prayer Invite team because of how it sounds when you say it fast. I joined them for their first prayer walk on Sunday. Great group. Great time of praying while we walked. Even some major league hockey fans came and missed the first period of  the game to be there. I'm sure there will be special rewards in heaven for them.

Daily Life: Group Life will become daily life for the summer. Two 40-day journeys, back-to-back, taking us through 1-2 Samuel. A minimalistic approach that sets up the reading for the day and then prompts reflection. And there will be a special offering for those who want to go deeper into the study of 1 Samuel. The small group study will be included with the sermon notes each week and posted online.