Monday, May 18, 2009
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www.studio78wheatonbible.blogspot.com
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Scott Murray
This BLOG is going bye bye...
"To Date...or Not to Date...is there a Question?"
Monday, May 11, 2009
Here is the message from last Wednesday. Check it out, tell me what you think!
To Date or Not To Date
(This is a copy of my notes that I used for last week’s message on dating.)
When I was growing up…my idea of dating consisted of holding someone’s hand during couple skate at the roller rink.
• If there was a girl that I liked, I asked her if she wanted to “Go Out” with me.
• This basically meant, that we were boyfriend or girlfriend, but we never went out…I couldn’t Drive!
2 reasons to date:
1. To Break up
2. To get married
• If you are dating to “Break Up”, then do not invest your body, your time, do not change your plans for this person. Also, do not invest your emotions on this person. The truth is…one of you will break the other person’s heart! You do not want to the type of person that is known for breaking hearts!
• If you dating to “Get Married”…(which looking around the room I can see that none of you are, maybe the Wheaton College staff!)…then ALSO, do not invest your body (save that for marriage), but DO invest your time, your future planning…but remember; this person may break up with you!
There isn’t much in the Bible about dating.
• All those marriages were arranged by mom and dad…
• DO you trust your parents to find you someone to marry?
Here is something pretty interesting…
35% of teenagers claimed “parents” to be the biggest influence on their dating practices.
Here are the contenders:
Friends = 28%
Media = 4%
Siblings = 4%
Religious leader/Faith community = 3%
Boyfriend or girlfriend = 2%
Other family member = 2%
What does God say about this whole thing?
1 Thes. 4:1-8
Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
Song of Solomon 2:7
“I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, That you do not arouse or awaken my love Until she pleases.”
Eph. 6:1-4
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Here is something that you NEED to hear and KNOW…
-GOD HAS FORGIVEN YOU
-GOD CAN MAKE YOU WHOLE AGAIN
-If you have messed up: He wants to put you back together
-Before you mess up: He wants to show you so much love and security, so you don’t have to look anywhere else for your identity.
In your core groups TONIGHT, you will get a chance to write down a question or two about this subject:
• Be serious
• We will answer as many as we can next week with our expert panels and we split up the guys and the girls for the message part of the night.
