Sex

All good answers. But we’ve talked about that stuff before! Let’s face it, after years and years (and years) of Advent, we could be tricked into thinking we’ve mined the depths of the season, and there is nothing left to discover.

But this, of course, would be a huge mistake… because there is always more to discover.

Advent is about the anticipation of GOD taking on FLESH. God coming entering into God’s creation, taking on our skin, purifying our world, and birthing something new in the midst of it.

And there’s something… deeply sexual about the whole thing!

So what if we explore that for Advent 2015? What might we learn about our relationship with God, with one another, with the creation and with our own bodies?

And how might it fill us again with wonder: Wonder at the Divine Mystery of the Incarnation!

This week we start with what it means to be pure and holy, and how it relates to sex, to God, and to Christmas!

The Ethiopian Eunuch, or, "What Is To Prevent Me From Being Baptized?"

April 19, 2015

2015.04.19 - Kevin Makins - The Church Calendar

The Ethiopian Eunuch, or, “What Is To Prevent Me From Being Baptized?”

Acts 8, Leviticus 21, Deuteronomy 23

Click here to listen (right click and “save link as…” to download)

The very cool story about how the Spirit used a wealthy, powerful, gender/sexual minority foreigner to shape God’s people forever!

Also some updates on our current building, and the next steps for finding a more settled location to gather on Sundays.

The text:

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”

The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

The water was COLD.

“Touch the waters, and remember your baptism!”

Soma: 1 Corinthians - Sex & Soma

January 23, 2012

2012.01.22 - Kevin Makins - Soma: 1 Corinthians

Sex & Soma

1 Corinthians 6:12-7:6

Here’s the thing: sex is all around us. People talk about it, laugh about it, it’s the overarching theme in movies, books and Top 40 - it’s everywhere. And people are fine to talk about sex… until the conversation gets too serious. And then it gets awkward.

But if sex is such a big part of our lives and our culture, shouldn’t we talk about it seriously? Shouldn’t we hold some conviction? And shouldn’t God have something to say about it?

Well… considering the the length of this sermon, apparently God has quite a lot to say on it. What the Bible says about sex is shocking, radically counter-cultural, and good news for those with ears to hear it.

Also, we sort of used fake Twitter to do Q&A… it was fun.

Music led by Tim Selles and Jeff Wynands - starts 1 hour and 24 minutes in.