Don't Settle
Oct/088
Don't settle for less than God's best. That's yesterday's sermon in a sentence.
Specifically, we focused on not settling for less in our sex lives. If I could choose one phrase to describe the sex lives of so many people, including a ton of Christians, this would be it…they are settling for far less than God's best.
God reveals his best in Hebrews 13. "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure…" (Hebrews 13:4, NIV)
That's God's best. As I said yesterday…hot, holy, monogamous, married sex is God's best because it is the only sex that comes with no painful strings attached. Anything outside of those God-given parameters will bring pain. But within God's framework, sex brings joy, pleasure, and satisfaction.
If you're married, work on your sex life. A poor sex life can be improved. A good sex life can be great. It takes work. It takes communication. It takes practice. (Yep, it takes practice. You have some enjoyable homework to follow up the message this week.)
If you're single or dating, you need to know what God's best is for you. It's not going to be found on a computer screen. It's not going to be found in the backseat of a Buick. I know it's tough when you're faced with intense temptation, but God's best is worth the wait.
You are a child of God. You are a prince or princess of the King. Princes and princesses don't settle for less than the very best the King has.
Don't settle for less than God's best.
(And if you were at ACC yesterday, here's a fun word for you…acreage. Yeah, it's an inside joke for my ACC peeps. You want to know what it's about? Check out the message online. It will be uploaded to our site in the next day or so.)
Leave a comment
No trackbacks yet.
9:59 am on October 27th, 2008
I had to call home yesterday to see how the sermon went. I am waiting patiently for it to be uploaded. So could you please hurry!!! Was very sad to miss it. Oh and by the way I did hear about acreage. (SMILE) But you know what, that is truly love, to love someone unconditionaly just as God loves us. Way too many people focus on what they see and never find the beauty within and therefore miss so much. As always I so appreciate your bluntness. So please hurry and upload.
10:35 am on October 27th, 2008
Steven Furtick of Elevation church did a series recently on Songs of Solomon. I had a chance to watch a couple of the sermons on-line. They were good. I also read some stuff the Marc Driscoll wrote concerning the sex-life of married people.
I have been married 18 years and those two things gave me a better appreciation of what God has created for married people.
I am sure that your congregation was appreciative that you brought up a sensitive topic.
6:27 pm on October 27th, 2008
"it takes practice…" Ah, I still remember the bicycle analogy from senior high youth group. As I recall, it went something like this… "Do you stay on a bicycle the first time? No. It takes practice." LOL.
6:34 pm on October 27th, 2008
commenting on Carol's "way too many people focus on what they see and never find the beauty within…"
I also remember Mike's wise words from senior high youth group on why we should value inner beauty: "they're all the same when you turn out the lights." I, too, appreciate your bluntness, Mike :)
8:21 pm on October 27th, 2008
This was my first experience with Mike and the good people of ACC and I must say, "WOW"!!!!
I had been searching for a good church in my area and while online I looked at ACC's website-definitely caught my attention.
Signed up for Ground Floor but after reading blogs and listening to some past sermons, I couldn't wait! I had to get there before Nov 2. I am sure glad I did.
What a refreshing inner peace to know that there are still men of God out there that will preach the truth without any sugar-coating.
You see, I am a 'wayward child', so to speak, who is trying to find my way back to God. I had been dealing with feelings for a bit in my search for a church and had many invitations to go to others, after going through ACC's website time and time again, somthing just kept pulling me there.
So I just want to say, "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!
For your message of truth, for your warm welcome to your church on Sunday and for the opportunity to see it all in action.
9:01 pm on October 28th, 2008
All I can say is PRICELESS!!!!!
12:19 pm on October 29th, 2008
Thanks for sharing such a hard message with us on Sunday. I know many Christians don't want to believe that sexual sin affects some of it's members but the truth is that it does. I know of a Christian man who viewed pornography thinking it was not hurting anyone. That lead him down a path of watching some female in his house (other than his wife) taking showers. The relationship ended in divorce. I am sure he did not intend for this to happen when he first started viewing it.
We need to safeguard our homes, husbands, and sons from this temptation. It used to be you had to buy a magazine outside of the home to "look". Now it is as close as a click away. It is amazing as to the stronghold it has on men today both Christian and non-Christian. I applaud those who recongize they need help and support. I have heard where accountability groups can really assist in this area. I pray if any of our ACC church family is struggling in this area that they seek out help and support. God's people are not here to judge but to encourage and edify one another.
8:23 am on November 1st, 2008
Thank you for sharing this message.