Christ Church
Derailed Week 2 - Porn & Sexuality
Locations & Times
Christ Church Fairgrove Campus
2416 Zion Church Rd, Hickory, NC 28602, USA
Saturday 5:00 PM
1. Don’t underestimate the power of sex.
a. Necessity of the sexes – Genesis 1:27b
b. Necessity of marriage – One flesh – Genesis 2:24
Sex is NOT just a physical act but a spiritual, emotional, and mental act.
2. Sex out of context can destroy you.
a. Harmful for your body.
Pornography and all connected to it generate 11-15B profit annually in US which is more than NBA, NFL, and MLB combined.
b. A person or an object?
Men: E.D. rose from 5% to 26% in men under 40 from 1992 to 2013 – one major contributor is the desensitization associated with regular use of pornography.
c. You can know a tree by its fruit.
90% of 8-18 year olds have seen porn online.
Plain Truth: Don’t undervalue sex and underestimate the Spirit’s gift of self-control.
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http://christnc.com/giving/Life Group Lesson for the Week of January 28, 2018
In the beginning, God (Genesis 1:1a). That says it all. The living God created man in His very image— “let us make human beings in our image, to be like us”—and God blessed the man and woman with this commission: “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it” (see Genesis 1:26, 28a). Without question, we can know that in the beginning, sex was good and certainly from God. The man was a gift to woman, and woman a gift to man. Jesus even quotes from the book of beginnings when He is confronted by the Pharisees who were pressing Him on the issue of divorce: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife…?” (Matthew 19:3).
“Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’ And He said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together” (Matthew 19:4-6). But in the Garden of Eden, man sinned when he doubted God’s word. Influenced by an enemy of God through his wife, Eve, Adam fell into a trap that still entangles us today—a twisting of the truth that can derail our journey.
Read Matthew 19:1-12
Sex is everywhere in our culture today, yet man (humanity) is more lonely, more empty, and perhaps suffers under more perversion than any other time in history. ‘God made them male and female.’ In context of covenant love, man and woman are joined at a soul level and become one flesh. Marriage compliments the differences of man and woman—in mind, body, and spirit. And yet, the enemy takes sex which is so good and from God, and twists and turns it into a weapon against us. What was to be life-giving and joy-producing, is so marred in our culture today that addiction to pornography has become a disease of epidemic proportions.
1. Sex is powerful. Within the context of marriage, it can be an intimate expression of the unique and mysterious relationship Christ has with His Bride (see Ephesians 5:31-32). But sex out of control and outside the bonds of what God intended can destroy us (see 1 Corinthians 6:18). How is sexual intimacy a beautiful expression of deep and abiding love within the context of a healthy marriage?
2. Think about ways sexual perversion harms and destroys persons created in God’s image. Name ways the media’s use of sex (defining for us what is ‘sexy’), the viewing of pornographic material, and other sexual addictions trapped our culture today.
The apostle Paul writes—
“You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. And even though ‘I am allowed to do anything,’ I must not become a slave to anything. You say, ‘Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food’… but you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:12-14). All sin brings destruction. But sexual immorality is a sin against our own body (again, see 1 Corinthians 6:18). Becoming addicted to images and sex on a screen can cause us to prefer an image (really, a lie) over our spouse. Porn is deadly to your marriage.
3. What makes us see a person as an object? (in any arena)
According to 1 Timothy 5:2 you are to “Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.” How is Christ helping you to see others with value—created in His image, worth honoring and respecting?
Galatians 3:28 says, “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” God knows we are sexual beings, after all, He created us. He knows we have a propensity to sin in this area. God is a good father. He knows we are weak and ‘remembers that we are only dust” (Psalm 103:14). But He also calls us to be conformed to the image of His Son in all areas of life. As the Plain Truth states, we don’t have to under-value sex. But also, we should not underestimate the Spirit’s gift of self-control. Once we belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit marks us as God’s children and will produce fruit in our lives that distinguishes us as His very own children (see Galatians 4:6-7).
4. A child of God is no longer a slave to sin. Close by reading Galatians 5:16-24 (aloud if possible!) What steps will you begin taking today to ‘follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of your life’?
Who will you ask to become your accountability partner in your area of struggle?
“Dear brothers and sister, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall in to the same temptation yourself” (Galatians 6:1).
In the beginning, God (Genesis 1:1a). That says it all. The living God created man in His very image— “let us make human beings in our image, to be like us”—and God blessed the man and woman with this commission: “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it” (see Genesis 1:26, 28a). Without question, we can know that in the beginning, sex was good and certainly from God. The man was a gift to woman, and woman a gift to man. Jesus even quotes from the book of beginnings when He is confronted by the Pharisees who were pressing Him on the issue of divorce: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife…?” (Matthew 19:3).
“Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’ And He said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together” (Matthew 19:4-6). But in the Garden of Eden, man sinned when he doubted God’s word. Influenced by an enemy of God through his wife, Eve, Adam fell into a trap that still entangles us today—a twisting of the truth that can derail our journey.
Read Matthew 19:1-12
Sex is everywhere in our culture today, yet man (humanity) is more lonely, more empty, and perhaps suffers under more perversion than any other time in history. ‘God made them male and female.’ In context of covenant love, man and woman are joined at a soul level and become one flesh. Marriage compliments the differences of man and woman—in mind, body, and spirit. And yet, the enemy takes sex which is so good and from God, and twists and turns it into a weapon against us. What was to be life-giving and joy-producing, is so marred in our culture today that addiction to pornography has become a disease of epidemic proportions.
1. Sex is powerful. Within the context of marriage, it can be an intimate expression of the unique and mysterious relationship Christ has with His Bride (see Ephesians 5:31-32). But sex out of control and outside the bonds of what God intended can destroy us (see 1 Corinthians 6:18). How is sexual intimacy a beautiful expression of deep and abiding love within the context of a healthy marriage?
2. Think about ways sexual perversion harms and destroys persons created in God’s image. Name ways the media’s use of sex (defining for us what is ‘sexy’), the viewing of pornographic material, and other sexual addictions trapped our culture today.
The apostle Paul writes—
“You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. And even though ‘I am allowed to do anything,’ I must not become a slave to anything. You say, ‘Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food’… but you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:12-14). All sin brings destruction. But sexual immorality is a sin against our own body (again, see 1 Corinthians 6:18). Becoming addicted to images and sex on a screen can cause us to prefer an image (really, a lie) over our spouse. Porn is deadly to your marriage.
3. What makes us see a person as an object? (in any arena)
According to 1 Timothy 5:2 you are to “Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.” How is Christ helping you to see others with value—created in His image, worth honoring and respecting?
Galatians 3:28 says, “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” God knows we are sexual beings, after all, He created us. He knows we have a propensity to sin in this area. God is a good father. He knows we are weak and ‘remembers that we are only dust” (Psalm 103:14). But He also calls us to be conformed to the image of His Son in all areas of life. As the Plain Truth states, we don’t have to under-value sex. But also, we should not underestimate the Spirit’s gift of self-control. Once we belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit marks us as God’s children and will produce fruit in our lives that distinguishes us as His very own children (see Galatians 4:6-7).
4. A child of God is no longer a slave to sin. Close by reading Galatians 5:16-24 (aloud if possible!) What steps will you begin taking today to ‘follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of your life’?
Who will you ask to become your accountability partner in your area of struggle?
“Dear brothers and sister, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall in to the same temptation yourself” (Galatians 6:1).