The Gathering

Last night I spoke at Oakland Christian Church. They have an awesome college group called, "The Gathering". They were going for it radically till almost 10:30 pm. We had a great time. They asked me to speak on Sex and dating. So I developed this... "The 5 Pitfalls of Sex and Dating." I had a great time as usual. It is easy to speak about sex. I definately live what I preach. We are pregnant with our 3rd child!!! Here is a copy of the sermon. However, I have deleted the examples by design. Sorry too hot for blogger. You will have to buy the CD from them to get the whole story!!!

I did not edit the format on this, so enjoy.

“5 Ways to Avoid the Pitfalls of Sex & Dating”
5/22/08
Intro
· 5 keys to help you avoid the pitfalls of sex and dating
· The term sex and dating should not be used in the same contexts actually
· Bible instructs us to live free from sexual immorality.
· God isn’t trying to rob you of fun and pleasure
· He has your best interests at heart.

Obj
· You have probably heard the term the Devil made me do it
· Well he can’t make you do anything
· He can tempt you to sin, but you make the choice
· And you must learn to avoid the pitfalls

Premise
· We are living in a world where voices are constantly feeding us information.
· TV, video, music, computers, internet, friends, parents, pastors, and teachers.
· The decisions we make today are the roads we travel tomorrow.
· The choices we made yesterday are the paths we take today
· One bad choice can mess up a perfect plan-most tragedies are not over night but a progression of bad choices.

Body
· Temptation- thought of evil
· A thought to act on something
· Temptation tests your faith in God, and works patience in you, James 1:2-3
· But if you endure temptation you will receive the crown of life, James 1:12
· God will never tempt you to do wrong. Temptation comes from the lure of you own evil desires. Evil desires lead to actions and evil actions lead to death.
· That’s why we needed the cross.



5 Ways to Avoid the Pitfalls

1. Run from Evil
· Make no provision for the flesh Rm 13:14, 2 Tim 2:22, Flee youthful lusts
· If you have to get new friends, than do it
· Don’t go to movies that will arouse your desires
· Abstain from an appearance of evil, 1 Thes 5:22
· And don’t be alone with the opposite sex when a relationship is involved
2. Purpose to Remain Pure
· Dan 1:8 Daniel made up his mind not to defile himself
· Just settle it in your heart to obey God’s Word
· Even when I wasn’t fully living for the Lord I had purposed in my heart that I would not have sex before marriage

3. Be Accountable to Someone
· Heb 10:25, warn each other, ask each other the hard questions
· It is easier to go through issues when you know that you are not the only one going thru stuff
· When you have to answer to someone else about your actions, it may help you stay on course.
· Ex: xxxchurch.com- accountability software that alerts 2 people of what websites that you have visited.
· 2 Sam 11:1-4a NLT King David
1 In the spring of the year,[a] when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. 2 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. 3 He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her.
Progression in King David’s life of a few bad choices caused him to lose his friends, children, wives.

A. Stay Away from High Places
o see a lot from high places
o bigger they are the harder they fall
o easy to be trapped when your alone
o David should have been @ war but was home alone on a roof being tempted.
o Not the blade of the sword that destroys a man but the lack of character.

4. Be full of God’s Word and Develop Right Relationships
· Bathsheba was already married
· Psa 119:11-hide God’s Word in your heart that you might not sin against him
· The Word of God is a weapon against sin
· Will power is not enough
· *if you put God’s Word in your heart before the battle, God’s Word will come out in the battle when you need it.
· you spend the most time with will have the most influence over your life



5. Pray
· Mat 26:41, pray that you enter not into temptation
· People that pray a lot do not fall into temptation
· Jude says that He is able to keep you from falling

Conclusion
· God protects us from
o Broken heart-when you give yourself to someone sexually, you are giving a portion of your heart as well. If this person is not your spouse, then your emotions are in the hands of someone else
o Emotional baggage- Emotional ties very hard to break, not normal to break them
i. Relationships like snowball, continue to grow as long as they are rolling
ii. Emotional ties need to be broken when not of God
o The things you thought would never happen, Diseases of any kind.

· You are worth the wait
· If others won’t wait and tell you they can’t, they are lying because true love is patient.
· You are worth waiting for
Highways in California have runaway ramps for truckers going thru mts, going too fast, brake failure, fall asleep, sand pits to stop them
You must purposely save yourself for the Lord, and let Him restore any areas that have gotten out of control.

Build a Boat

Noah-
He was very interesting. God called him at age 500 to build a boat that had never seen rain. He finished 100 years later, at age 600. And set sail for an entire year. Noah did not have a health insurance plan, vacation time, or any other mechanical forms of support that we carry today. Even though he was on a cruise for a year, it was not the type of cruise I would ever hope to purchase. Ever been to the zoo? Think of your worst day at the zoo, based on the smell, and multiply that times 365 days. That was Noah's experience with over 45,000 animals!!! What if they started procreating? What if Noah's shovel's broke? (for what?). Noah found favor in God's eyes. That favor was evident because of his close relationship with God (Gen 6:9). If you are going to build a boat, or anything else that might sustain you and others, make sure that you pitch it with a close relationship with God. Want to be used by God in a life altering way? Good. Build a Boat! Happy Birthday Noah you are 601 years old. Take the next 350 years relax-multiply!!! Noah died at age 950. What do you do that whole time? Time with God. Time well spent.