Sermon Discussion Guide Sermon Discussion Guide

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Sermon Discussion Guide 1 Corinthians– Corinthians– In Christ in Corinth Wk 6 SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 INTRO Questions: Excursis: Guilt = Denial, Remorse OR Repentance. Most our connotations with guilt are negative because nobody enjoys feeling guilt, especially not via a guilt trip. But like physical pain does in our bodies, guilt protects our hearts from further harm and makes us seek a remedy. In short, guilt is a necessary part of a healthy Christian conscience, so we shouldn’t flee guilt but instead treat it properly. Here are two wrong and one right responses to guilt: 1) Denial: You likely know someone (or are someone) who often says, “I just don’t want to feel guilty.” This is the path of denial: “I dislike guilty feelings, so I avoid them at all costs.” And the cost of denial is a hard heart, which fails to acknowledge sin and fails to repent. When sin stops producing guilt you have desensitized yourself, a deadly condition. Repent and let the Spirit re-sensitize you.

What evidence do we see in our own lives that we’re often ruled by our sexual desires and/or other bodily appetites (for excessive food, alcohol, exercise…pills)? How do we feel after we indulge these appetites? How do we believe God feels about us? (Background): This sermon is part 2 of “Paul’s Vision for the Body.” Last week we focused on the physical resurrection of our bodies to prove that how we use them matters to God. Now we’re examining our struggle to use our bodies in a healthy, God-honoring way this side of Gen 3 (the Fall). We’re focusing on sinful sexual desire, or an unhealthy lack thereof, because we all experience sexual brokenness. The brokenness may be based on sins we’ve committed or those committed against us, or more likely, both. So how do we grapple with our broken sexuality and unruly desire in a sex-saturated place like Austin? READ the text aloud. DISCUSS: 1) v. 9: In light of Tim’s sermon why do you think Paul focuses so much on sexual sin, describing it in three ways in this one verse? 2) v. 10-11: How does v. 10 help us guard against stigmatizing sexual sin and minimizing other sins? Sexual sin carries unique shame for believers. Should it? How does v. 11 teach us to view ourselves? Hint: NOT shamefully. 3) vv. 15-17: Why does Paul bookend these verses with our relationship with Christ? What does this teach us about healthy sexual relationships (think covenant)? How does this reveal the ultimate object of our desires (think pure, perfect, eternal intimacy)? 4) Substitute “prostitute” in vv. 15-17 for any sexual intercourse outside of marriage. Discuss the implications of Paul’s teaching that sex always joins not only bodies but souls. How does this illuminate the brokenness that results from sex outside marriage? How does it make the phrase “casual sex” an emotional impossibility (even for men)? 5) What happens when we expect of another person what only God can offer us? How does this shed light on sexual brokenness within “good,” monogamous marriages?

2) Remorse: Some people like to wallow in guilt. This leads to self-loathing which masquerades as repentance. But as Paul Tripp explains, self-loathing is truly covert self righteousness, a subtle way to avoid repentance.

6) Ephesians 5 teaches that every marriage is a living parable of Christ and his Church. How does this change our perspective on the purpose of marriage and sex? How does it support Tim’s assertion (based on vv. 19-20) that our sexuality belongs to God? How are our marriages, and our family lives, thus an integral part of our Christian witness?

3) True Repentance: This is the real cure for guilt, but it’s one we have to seek on a daily basis this side of glory.

The power of sexual desire, the intimacy and mutual joy of sexual union in a healthy marriage, and the delight and purpose we find in raising children, all point to the power, intimacy, and mutual joy of our mystical union with Christ. They remind us that romantic love is a signpost, merely a foretaste of Divine love. Discuss how this helps us reorient our lives and longings, how it can change the way we live and love.

Conclusion/Application:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 15-20

Exursis 2: Augustine on Desire All desire has its source and fulfillment in God and his love. Attempting to simply repress and deny all our desires can dehumanize us just like indulging all our desire makes us animalistic. What we must strive for instead is rightly ordered desires or “loves,” which St. Augustine meditated on at length in The City of God and his Confessions, both highly recommended reading. For a short synopsis on some of Augustine’s teaching on sexuality and desire read this article from the late Chuck Colson: http://www.thegospelcoaliti on.org/article/findingsexual-freedom-inaugustines-confessions

English Standard Version (ESV) 9

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 15

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh." 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.