Thursday 8 May 2014

Read: Romans 1:26-27

Every year in February/March the Sydney Mardi Gras festival celebrates and promotes homosexuality and many other types of sexual perversity. In 1987 the event began with 2,000 people involved. In recent years the parade itself includes more than 9,000 participants and at least 300,000 spectators. It is astonishing that more and more in our western culture homosexuality is not only accepted but celebrated and aggressively promoted in the media.

Witness Moment

According to Ephesians 5:21-23 Godly marriages reflect the sacrificial love of Christ. To pervert this is to pervert the Gospel. To strengthen your marriage is to promote the Gospel.

The popularity of such an event and the incredible global push for the normalisation of homosexuality may shock many Christians but it would not have shocked Paul. Even 2,000 years ago Paul writes about the rampant nature of homosexuality. In these verses Paul describes in detail some of the immorality mentioned in the previous verses. Because mankind has turned away from the worship of God to worship created things God gives them over to shameful lusts. Both men and women discard the good, natural order of creation that God put in place and turn to sexual relations with other members of their own sex. Women exchange relations with men for relations with other women. Men exchange relations with women for other men. Men and women continue the long slide downwards into sin that begins with rejection of God and ends with judgment.

Many in our culture have sought to normalise homosexuality and disregard the Bible's clear teaching against it. Many have even tried to explain these verses away but the truth is Paul's teaching is crystal clear in our muddied and confused age. Homosexuality is against the clear order that God intended for sexual relations. To use Paul's' words, it is literally unnatural. Even more damning, homosexuality springs from the rotten root of rejection of God and the worship of created things.

Discussion Questions for families and groups

Imagine that you are having lunch with your extended family. The discussion turns to homosexuality and homosexual marriage and everyone around the table seems to think these are good things.

1. What do you say?
2. How could you share the Gospel in this situation?

As we look around our world we can see exactly what Paul is talking about. Not only is homosexuality practiced but it is celebrated and normalised. Even many who claim to be Christians fight against the clear teaching of God against this practice. Paul's point is that mankind is broken, sinful and deserving of God's judgment.

Prayer:

Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Pray for those in your community who identify themselves as homosexual. Pray that God would be at work in their hearts to convict them of their sin and to soften them to His grace towards them. Pray that the church would show love and grace towards them so that they might be drawn to Christ.
• Pray for the government and leaders of our nation. Pray that God would give them wisdom in their decision making. Pray that He would be working in their hearts to soften them to Him and that they might make godly decisions. Pray that they would uphold values that protect the family, the weak and the innocent.