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Redeeming Sexuality: In Paul's day, as in ours, the Christian ethic has differed widely from that of the culture at large. Throughout the Roman empire, confusion was widespread as to the real purpose and nature of sexuality, which was viewed differently within marriage and outside of it. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul shows us that God has specific designs for sexuality within marriage: as a reflection of joy and pleasure, the source of new life in the world, and a way to grow in intimate knowledge of one another. Sexual attraction or desire isn’t inherently sinful, but it must be expressed in the right context. Recorded on Nov 6, 2022, on 1 Corinthians 7:1-16, by Pastor David Parks. Recorded on Nov 6, 2022, on 1 Corinthians 7:1-16, by Pastor David Parks. This message is part of our sermon series “Redeeming Regular Life,” from the Epistles of the New Testament in the Bible. The Epistles are letters from the Apostles to the early Christian churches around the Roman Empire, helping them understand and apply the gospel to life. The way of Jesus changes everything, including marriage, sexuality, singleness, parenting, work, politics, and friends. In some ways, it’s easier to accept Jesus our Savior than it is to accept him as the Lord of our lives who wants to make some changes in our lives. In Christ, regular life is a gift. The way of Jesus is not easy, but it’s the way of redemption which leads to true and lasting freedom, joy, and peace. Sermon Transcript This year, our annual theme is, Learning the way of Jesus. And we’re working through a sermon series called Redeeming Regular Life. This series is from the epistles of the New Testament in the Bible. The epistles are letters from the Apostles to the early Christian churches around the Roman Empire, helping them understand and apply the gospel to life. “To what part of life?” you might wonder. And the answer is: to every part! The way of Jesus changes everything. Last week, we started this series with the teaching of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesian church on marriage, that a healthy and godly relationship between a husband and wife can be a beautiful picture of the gospel and the relationship between Christ and the church. If you missed that, you can always go back and watch on YouTube or listen to the audio podcast. But today, we maybe naturally move from the topic of marriage to sexuality. And some of you might wonder if this is an appropriate topic to be talking about at church. And I would say two things. First, kids start learning about sexuality in school around 5th grade and probably earlier from their friends or TV or whatever. So if we fail to address this in church, they will only have a worldly perspective on a very powerful and important topic. Second, the Bible addresses it, so we should probably hear what the Lord has to say about it, too. I think you’ll find the biblical perspective to be both realistic and very relevant to us today. So with that, let’s consider redeeming sexuality. If you have a Bible/app, please open to 1Co 7:1. We’ll read this first and then unpack it together. 1 Corinthians 7:1-7 (NIV), “Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all of you were as I am.