1 Corinthians 7:17-35 - Singleness
HBC6pm070811.mp3
Passage: 1 Corinthians 7:17-35
Originally Preached: 07/08/11 - 6pm Service - Hornsby Baptist Church
Series: Love, Sex and Marriage
Description: The question is not what is the most spiritual option but how can we serve Jesus in the situation we are in.
Comment: I enjoyed having the chance to preach this sermon. Mainly because I feel like the last 28 years of singleness (with a small break) have come in handy.
Plus we rarely hear people in church talking about singleness and what's good about it and what's hard. We regularly hear from married people about marriage.
I have had people mention that they felt I should have covered sex. Next week we are having a Q and A so if you want to ask a question about sex, here is the link. Otherwise you can listen to my two talks about sex in this podcast/blog (Part One and Part Two) and they hopefully will cover sex and the single person a bit better than I did in this sermon.
The video was fun to make. I was worried it'd be a little self-indulgent but people seemed to like it. I felt pretty silly singing in all those places but I'm happy with how it turned out.
Here it is so you don't feel left out when you listen:
I've come away from the sermon feeling a little bit worried that I might be single for the rest of my life. I really enjoy singleness and I love serving Jesus. And if it's God's will then I'm happy. Still, I also wouldn't mind not being single too. I guess I'll just trust Jesus to sort it out. And I'll try and play my part too.
I also felt like we as a church need to be proactive in listening to singles. Singles are under-represented in our church leadership structures. And while I fell like I get a voice (I get to preach and lead ministries) it's generally married people who are pastors to sit on church councils and eldership boards. Where are the people who have lost their partners? Where are the divorcees? Where are the unmarrieds? They're around but are they being actively sought out for insight? I don't know. I hope so.
Anyway, I hope the sermon serves you. And I hope it inspires you to serve Jesus.
Passage: 1 Corinthians 7:17-35
Originally Preached: 07/08/11 - 6pm Service - Hornsby Baptist Church
Series: Love, Sex and Marriage
Description: The question is not what is the most spiritual option but how can we serve Jesus in the situation we are in.
Comment: I enjoyed having the chance to preach this sermon. Mainly because I feel like the last 28 years of singleness (with a small break) have come in handy.
Plus we rarely hear people in church talking about singleness and what's good about it and what's hard. We regularly hear from married people about marriage.
I have had people mention that they felt I should have covered sex. Next week we are having a Q and A so if you want to ask a question about sex, here is the link. Otherwise you can listen to my two talks about sex in this podcast/blog (Part One and Part Two) and they hopefully will cover sex and the single person a bit better than I did in this sermon.
The video was fun to make. I was worried it'd be a little self-indulgent but people seemed to like it. I felt pretty silly singing in all those places but I'm happy with how it turned out.
Here it is so you don't feel left out when you listen:
I've come away from the sermon feeling a little bit worried that I might be single for the rest of my life. I really enjoy singleness and I love serving Jesus. And if it's God's will then I'm happy. Still, I also wouldn't mind not being single too. I guess I'll just trust Jesus to sort it out. And I'll try and play my part too.
I also felt like we as a church need to be proactive in listening to singles. Singles are under-represented in our church leadership structures. And while I fell like I get a voice (I get to preach and lead ministries) it's generally married people who are pastors to sit on church councils and eldership boards. Where are the people who have lost their partners? Where are the divorcees? Where are the unmarrieds? They're around but are they being actively sought out for insight? I don't know. I hope so.
Anyway, I hope the sermon serves you. And I hope it inspires you to serve Jesus.
posted by Unknown at 11:28 pm
1 Comments:
A question that came to mind as I was listening: What do you with bitterness about your singleness (and I guess it could apply to marriage for some)?
Your comment about getting support from others to not be so selfish was helpful, and about finding our identity, security and hope in Jesus, and Jesus alone.
But in recent years I've found that much harder to do. I guess maybe part of it is just reminding ourselves of God's promises and spending time with Him, even we don't feel like we're serving Jesus well (or at all) where He has us now.
Any other suggestions?
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