December 4th Sermon Discussion and Questions

Series: What Will Hold Us Together
Sermon: All for God's Glory (1 Cor 7:1-16)

Summary: As one loved and redeemed by God, you are to live for Him. And since God redeemed not just a part of you but all of you, every aspect of your life is now sacred - able to give glory to God (1 Cor 10:31). This includes your desire for love and marriage. You can take this desire in your own hands or you can surrender it to the author of love and the creator of marriage. God has commanded that believers must marry believers. This isn't an arbitrary rule, nor is it meant to be a moral code we just have to follow. This command was given for our good - for without it, there would be a loss of intimacy. A believer marrying a believer means every significant area of their lives overlap (and there is no area of life more significant to a christian then their relationship with God). This is the foundation for intimacy. On the other hand, a believer marrying an unbeliever means that the most significant area of life for the believer (their relationship with God) can never be shared. Furthermore, the unbelieving spouse would have his or her own god (maybe the god of another faith or the god of money, materialism, success etc.). Whatever the case may be, the God of the bible has already set himself against all other gods vying for the allegiance of our hearts. How can a marriage and family stand when husband and wife, father and mother serve gods who are at war with one another?


1.How open are you to dating a non-christian (honestly)? Why or why not?
2. Do you believe that true intimacy is possible only between a christian and a non-christian?
3. Do you agree that in order for you to be involved with a person of a different faith, you need to compromise the biblical definition of marriage (Gen 2:24) and conversion (Col 3:1-4).
(ie you have to make marriage less than what it is and make what it means to be a christian less than what it is)
4. Our culture says that love is about happiness, romance, and feeling.  Our faith says that marriage is about holiness, faithfulness, and character transformation.  To which do you gravitate?
5. Where did marriage come from? And why does this matter?