It's Saturday and I'm looking forward to a great SEC football game at 3:30. I love to watch college football and I'll often start with the noon game and watch football the rest of the day. But today, before football, I felt compelled to watch a sermon that I received via email last night.
The sermon is delivered by Brian Tome from Crossroads Community Church in Cincinnati, and addresses the issue of homosexuality. It is directed to those who profess a belief that Jesus Christ is who he claimed to be in the scriptures ... God incarnate who gave himself to ransom us from the penalty of sin. When we believe in him, we are given a new identity, and we stand before God as righteous because of Jesus Christ. But we still have our old nature, a nature that is predisposed to sin. We struggle to have our own way, even though God wants more for us. We often attempt to ignore or justify our sin and we miss out on the joy of walking in fellowship with God.
We all have sin that we cannot overcome through our own willpower. Homosexuality is a predominant topic in our culture today, which is why Brian focuses on this specific issue. Whether it be sexual immorality, homosexuality, greed, lying, cheating, gossip or any habitual sin, the first step, as believers in Christ, to overcome sin is to acknowledge it and confess it to God. The second step is to surrender to his will and allow the Holy Spirit to mold you into who God wants you to be. We must be willing to say to God, "Have Thine own way."
This message speaks truth and demonstrates grace. Those that are full of truth and no grace may think it is too soft. Those who desire grace at the expense of truth may dismiss it as too dogmatic. If you have questions about what God says through the Scriptures about this issue, this message may speak to you. Here's the link (warning, the message contains some graphic expressions):
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