There’s something about January when it comes to new relationships and a flurry of engagements. Facebook is awash with happy news, and that picture with the hand and the ring. Congratulations if that’s recently been you!
Which brings us neatly to the topic of this post—'happily ever after?' A morning looking at what the Bible says about sex, dating and relationships.
Why are we encouraging you to get up early on a Saturday morning and come to church to learn more about what the Bible says about these things?
The intention isn’t to peddle the St-Helens 'line on dating’ (whatever that is). (No, seriously, what is that? I genuinely, genuinely, would like someone to tell me what it is. Get in touch via the church office.)
Rather, the aim is to look at what our Heavenly Father, the creator of men and women, has told us about our relationships. God’s design for marriage should shape our thinking about dating and sex, whatever our current relationship status. Single, dating, engaged, married, divorced, history, pasts and emotional baggage. And we could all do with some help on joining the dots of what the Bible has to say on these topics.
Who should I date? How should I date? What’s the purpose of marriage? How does that help me to decide who to marry? What is sex for? How does the gospel shape my understanding of sex?! These are all questions we think about and talk about. We’re giving advice to each other all the time.
A morning like this is an opportunity for us to become better equipped to give good advice—godly wisdom rather than earthly counsel. It’s an opportunity to put Colossians 3:16 into practice:
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
A healthy church is one where we’re not just listening to God’s word for ourselves, individually, but one where we bring God’s word into our conversations with each other. So we hope our time together will be a time of growing together; becoming a church family where the gospel shapes our relationships and the way we talk about them.
