IIMU/UUNGW 2:24

Whenever someone asks us if we believe in premarital sex we respond by saying “yes and no.” It’s a confusing answer at first, but it gives us an opportunity to make an important point. God affirms our sexuality as human beings and we ­can’t suddenly become asexual. For this reason, we believe in premarital sexuality. We are quick to follow up, however, by saying that having genital sex before marriage is clearly not in line with God’s principles. 

Our world is full of men, but God is looking for kingdom men who will rise up and take responsibility for their own actions, their families, their churches and their communities. When we have leadership like that taking hold, God will be magnified through every aspect of our lives.

Marriage comes with great joys and great challenges. One of the reasons for the challenges is because we have lost sight of the Biblical purpose of marriage. We have removed God and defined marriage in terms of happiness. But marriage exists to glorify God by expanding His reach throughout the world. In this five-day reading plan, Dr. Tony Evans takes you on a journey of kingdom marriage.

As New York pastor Rich Villodas defines it, a deeply formed life is a life marked by integration, intersection, intertwining, and interweaving, holding together multiple layers of spiritual formation. This kind of life calls us to be people who cultivate lives with God in prayer, move toward reconciliation, work for justice, have healthy inner lives, and see our bodies and sexuality as gifts to steward.