Last week Paul challenged us in this season of Advent to commit to what will last. We want to be prepared for eternity, Jesus is going to come back and we want to encourage others to be prepared to meet with Him too.

Be prepared is the scouting moto. Skills are taught that are to help mould young minds and give them the ability to grow into self sufficient adults. It equips them with skills to withstand crises, survival skills are also taught. Being prepared is an important skill to have in whatever circumstance.

With regard to Christmas I wonder how prepared you are feeling right now? Christmas is only 15 days away. There are cards to think about if you send cards, making Sure you get them in the post in time. There are presents to think about thinking about what gift would be great for each particular person that you might want to give a gift to. Then with the cost of posting you might think well let’s be prepared and arrange to meet up and exchange presents. If you’re going to attempt a roast dinner on Christmas Day preparation is key. I Quite like Jamie Oliver and he has a plan for Christmas dinner and all the things that can be prepared for in advance and a plan of how to get it all prepared in time on the actual day. If you’re travelling this preparation of your vehicle mode of transport the route that you’re going to take the clothes that you might need snacks for the journey lots to prepare for.  The idea is that the better prepared you are the more smoothly things might go.

Advent is the time when in the build up to Christmas we are not only thinking about that first Christmas or counting down to this one but also thinking as Paul touched on last week about being prepared spiritually – thinking about how advent points us to think of when Jesus will come again – are we prepared to meet him. I love the time of advent and lighting the advent candles helps us to think about Gods whole story with hints in the stories of the patriarchs pointing to Jesus – Abraham being told all nations will be blessed through his family and David being promised that there would be a king sitting on the throne from his family forever.

 This Christmas are we prepared to relive Gods story in the build up to the good news of Jesus? are we prepared to learn new things about God? about ourselves? are we prepared to put things right?

God wants his people to be prepared.

In our passage this morning, in the NIV Bible, the heading at the start of marks gospel is ‘John the Baptist prepares the way’ and he begins his gospel by saying ‘ the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ the son of God’ the people who added those headings obviously feel that that sums up this section of marks gospel that it was John the Baptist who came to prepare the way that John came to make sure people are prepared to receive the good news of Jesus Christ and we’re gonna unpack what that means this morning

Marks gospel is action packed. It doesn’t contain much of Jesus’ words and sermons – there’s no sermon on the mount as in Matthew’s gospel or sermon on the plain as in Luke’s. There’s no nativity story. There’s lots of action. And Mark’s action begins by drawing his readers back to what has been written.

Mark includes two prophecies here one for Malachi chapter 3, verse one, and then another from Isaiah 40 verse three here amalgamates, these two prophecies into one. In the second week of advent is lit to remember the profits, and the profits were often pointing God’s people back to him. They said of being prepared was part of the Jewish history, and Mark is framing it a fresh and linking it closely to the good news of Jesus.

He continued to build on this theme by introducing John the Baptist. He describes what John was wearing his appearance that he wore camels hair clothes and a leather belt, and he ate locus and wild honey. It’s very similar to the description of Elijah in second kings chapter 1, verse eight. Again, Mark is using this imagery from the old Testament to make connections between the prophets who were preparing the way and John.

At Saint Georges next week the readings will be focusing again on John as John is the third candle that we light in advent. The purpose of John was that he was a modern age of his time prophet. He was revealing God’s plan and getting people ready.

How was John getting them ready? Well he offered a baptism of repentance and forgiveness of sins? What was the response to that offer? the whole of the countryside and all people are Jerusalem went out, confessed their sins and were baptised. There is a sense that the people needed to be ready to come across their messiah. Their hearts needed to be ready they needed to be right with God. That’s why we confess at the beginning of every service, so that we prepare ourselves to meet with God afresh in worship. John was getting them ready to encounter Jesus when he came.

And we know by his words John didn’t just come and baptise, but he had a message and the message was ‘after me, will come more powerful than I.’ The rest of Mark ‘s Gospel shows us Jesus’ power. Even in the rest of the chapter, we read how Jesus healed many, people from leprosy and how he drove out impure spirits. Just like the hymn I wrote about in our church email this week – There’s power in the name of Jesus. because of Jesus: demons will flee, captives are freed, God’s enemies shall be crushed, we are saved and given the ability to stand in faith.  That is the good news of Jesus, and he has the power and not need to give forgiveness, but to transform our lives. Jesus can transform our lives because he has defeated sin and death on the cross at Easter. That is the good news of Jesus that he made a relationship with God possible again by dealing with this in that often gets in the way. John‘s message is pointing to one more powerful than him. John,In the second part of his message  says this ‘ I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’ The good news about Jesus doesn’t end with his death and resurrection sign posts his followers to the sending of the Holy Spirit. John 14:26, we read that the’ advocate the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send him my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. This is the good news of Jesus we are not alone we can be transformed by the power of his Holy Spirit

So, when Mark uses, the Isaiah quote ‘prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him – he’s communicating to his listeners, but Jesus is a fulfilment of God story that repentance forgiveness baptism, part of that journey for Gods people.

What does making straight path look like for you?

How can we be prepared to receive from God today? 

We’re gonna do something I’ve never done here I want us to sit quietly for a moment, and to ask God this question, what does making straight Path look like for us? There might be something we need to ask forgiveness for or to even forgive ourselves for there might be behaviours and habits that we need to adopt? You might have never done this before and sat quietly. Some people might be comfortable with this for others It might help you to just read through those eight verses again. I want us to sit there and ask God how do I need to prepare to meet you Jesus?

How do you need to prepare to meet Jesus?

Father help us this season to be prepared to meet with you and to refocus on you.

Jesus said “…Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Mark 13:31). Advent is more than just the lead up to Christmas. It is an opportuniy to reflect on our lives from the perspetive of eternity.

How does God guide us? If we truly love God and are serious about being disciples of Christ, then we should always want toact and make decisions in line with what God wants.

What Would Jesus Do?

Back in the 1990, a helpful phrase became popular for Christians: “What would Jesus do?” It was often abbreviated to WWJD and many Christians bought and wore bracelets with WWJD on it.

As a phrase it was helpful in many ways. Paul will say later in 1 Corinthians,

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)

In the sense that it encourages us to treat others with the sacrificial love and compassion that Jesus showed we are certainly meant to follow Jesus’s example he is our role model and those who successfully]follow Jesus in their own lives, like Paul can also be good role models for us to follow.

But we also need to remember that we are not Jesus and neither are we Paul. Jesus preached to thousands, healed the sick and went to the cross. These were all specific to his calling and mission. Similarly, Paul travelled around from place to place, preaching the good news about Jesus to as many as possible. We will want to follow his example to use our gifts and opportunities to share the good news, but we are not the same as Paul and do not have the same calling or gifting, so most will not preach to crowds or travel from place to place, but simply talk about Jesus as opportunity arises with the people we engage with.

There are some ways where following a role model’s example is appropriate and some ways where it is important to recognise that we are different to them and that our gifts and calling is different. We are not all the same.

1 Corinthians 7

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul recognises that not everyone is called or gifted to live in the same way as him, that we are not all alike:

“I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.” (1 Corinthians 7:7)

The issue at stake here is that of marriage. Paul and Jesus were both single. Jesus never married and there is debate about whether Paul had always been single or was possibly widowed or divorced. What is clear from the passage, though is that when he wrote this letter he was single and pleased to be so.

But he is also clear, that this was his particular calling and that whilst being single was right for him, it was not God’s calling for everyone and marriage was a perfectly good state to be in as a Christian.

We have seen that in the previous chapters Paul has been addressing the issue of sexual immorality. He has been very clear that as Christians we are to flee from sexual immorality. Sex outside of marriage is not appropriate for Christians full stop.

But, as we come to chapter 7, the tone changes. Whilst commands like flee sexual immorality are universal and apply to everyone, now he addresses the reality and complexity of life’s decisions around the issue of marriage. The chapter appears confusing and complex, because it is seeking to apply clear Christian principles to the diversity of situations we find ourselves in and the different gifts and callings we have.

There is also a change in tone, because Paul is now not just challenging their wrong behaviour, but responding to questions they have written to him about and seeking to correct some of their misunderstandings.

The particular issue here, seems to be that in verse 1, Paul is quoting what some of the Corinthians are saying,

“It is good for a man not to touch a woman.”

It seems that, perhaps as a result of Paul’s teaching against sexual immorality, or for other reasons unknown to us, some of the Corinthians felt that Christians should abandon sex altogether. That after all was Paul’s personal example to them.

Paul’s response begins by saying that the answer to all the sexual immorality is not complete abstinence for all, but the prioritisation of marriage for those called to marriage.

Prioritising Marriage

For many in the Roman empire of Paul’s day, marriage was about duty not love. You married the right person to improve your status, to produce children to continue the family line and so on.

Ovid, a Roman poet said:

“there could be no erotic pleasure (amor) between husband and wife because it was a relationship of duty.”

It was common for men not to see marriage as their main means to sexual intimacy, but to seek that with mistresses, prostitutes or slaves.

In contrast both to these Roman attitudes and to the over-puritanical attitude of the Corinthians to abstain from sex altogether, Paul calls on those who are married to prioritise intimacy within marriage.

Applying the principle of Genesis 2:24, which talks about the idea of ‘one flesh union’, he reminds them that the Biblical concept of marriage is of a bodily union. This means he says, that the husbands body in a sense belongs to his wife and the wife’s to the husbands.

The point is not that the husband has the right to the wives body or that the wife has a right to the husbands body – such an attitude can lead to abuse or forcing oneself on one another or at least resentment.

Rather it is saying that both have a responsibility to give to the other the care, support and intimacy that is expected in marriage and not to permanently take those things away from the other.

In other words, when married Christians have a Biblical understanding of marriage, they should prioritise making their marriages flourish in every sense.

Now of course we recognise that every marriage is different and the amount of and level of passion and intimacy within even flourishing marriages will vary through time and from marriage to marriage.

But working to maintain both sexual intimacy and mutual support and care should be a priority for married Christians.

Why might such intimacy be lost?

One danger, which is probably closest to the issue faced here, is that in a zealousness to be a good Christian, one or both of a couple can spend so much time focussed on spiritual exercises or church work, that they neglect the time and emotional engagement with their husband or wife. This kind of behaviour may feel like you are being super-spiritual, but if it is at the expense of your marriage, it is a denial of your calling in God. To truly live for Christ may mean investing more in your marriage and less in your church or spiritual life!

More frequently, patterns of work and overwork can take so much time and energy away, that couples have little time or energy left for each other. This can be worse if you are working different shifts and juggling child care. As much as possible, it may be necessary to change your patterns of work to invest emotionally in your marriage and give to each other what is their due.

Another common reason is unforgiven hurt or upset, that leads to a kind of cold shoulder within marriage. As Christians, we believe in a God of reconciliation, who did everything to repair our relationship with him, even though it was all our fault. In the same way, if there has been a breakdown of hurt and upset in our marriages, let’s seek to do all we can to bring about reconciliation, perhaps suing marriage counsellors to help, where we cannot manage it ourselves.

Paul stresses the importance of offering intimacy in marriage, before discussing the topic of marriage break ups. In both Jewish and Roman society of the time, divorce was common and easy. When some became Christians, they may have felt that they should divorce their non-Christian husband or wife, becoming a Christian may even have been seen by some as a good excuse to get out of an unhappy marriage.

But, Paul probably referring back to Jesus’s words on divorce, reminds them that the Christian understanding of marriage is that it is a permanent lifelong union – “’til death do us part.” Or as Jesus puts it, “What God has joined together, let man not separate.” Once again, the fundamental understanding of one flesh in Genesis 2 lies behind this teaching.

Yet, Paul does not avoid the realities and complexities of life. Even in the bold statements of verses 10 to 11, there is a concession that separation may be necessary – and certainly, if a woman is caught in an abusive relationship, then separation if not divorce, is a wise course of action.

Paul emphasises that even if you are with a non-Christian, you should still stick with the marriage. Your holiness as a Christians is enough to make the family as a whole holy in God’s eyes, despite the unbelief of your husband pr wife!

But he concedes that becoming a Christian can put pressure on a marriage and it may be that the unbelieving husband or wife chooses to leave. In that case, he says it is unwise to force the situation – you cannot make someone stay. If the other abandons your marriage, then you are not bound. That means that at least they are need not feel they need to work to try and restore the marriage or it may mean they are free to remarry.

In all of this, Paul is emphasising, that although becoming a Christian gives you a whole new commitment to Jesus and to following him, rather than distracting from your marriage, this should encourage you to invest in your marriage even more fully, to work for its flourishing and continuation, through the ups and downs of life.

But, if you are unmarried, what then? Should you seek to marry or stay unmarried? Paul does not give a straightforward answer to this question. Rather he kind of says, ‘it depends.’

Valuing Singleness

In our modern world, where young people can be made to feel ashamed for being virgins, the idea of both celibate singleness, is seen as a state to be avoided. Rather than fleeing sexual immorality as Paul urges, they are often encouraged to flee singleness and certainly celibate singleness.

This is perhaps reflected in the phrase sometimes used when someone finds a partner, “They’ve found happiness.” As though you can only truly be happy in this life if you have someone to share an intimate relationship with.

Yet, such an attitude can lead people to jump at the first opportunity of a sexual relationship that comes along and leave them vulnerable to falling into exploitative or abusive relationships, rather than taking the time to find the right partner.

In contrast, Paul values and is happy with his own singleness and sees that it could be a good thing for others as well. As we have seen in verse 7, he says, “I wish that all of you were as I am.” and in verse 8, he says to the unmarried, “It is good for them to stay unmarried.”

Throughout Christian history, the celibate life has often been seen as a higher calling than marriage. I really believe that as Christians today, we need to value the call to singleness more and work harder at creating communities that support and encourage single people, rather than expecting everyone to end up in a married relationship. Especially as the trend in society is for people to be less likely to marry and more likely to be single.

Paul gives reasons later in the chapter for seeing singleness as an advantage. He says you are saved all the worries and stresses that the married face, so that you can be more devoted to following Jesus and doing his work, rather than having to invest in your marriage.

” I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs–how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world–how he can please his wife– and his interests are divided.” (1 Corinthians 7:32-34a)

For those who are single, whether through divorce, bereavement or having never married, it is important to find happiness and blessing in the state you find yourself in – even if it is only temporary, because as Christians we are to see it as a gift from God, a status to be embraced and celebrated for the positive benefits it brings, rather than an unfortunate imposition.

Stay as you are?

In fact making the most of your present circumstances for your own happiness and for the opportunities it offers to serve Christ is a major theme of this passage.

In verses 17 to 24, Paul reminds the Corinthians that becoming a Christian does not mean seeking to change the life circumstance you find yourself in, but making the most of where God has placed you.

Are you circumcised? Don’t try and change back!

Are you uncircumcised? Don’t get circumcised. Circumcision does not matter, but living for Christ.

Are you a slave? Don’t worry about it – know you are free in Christ!

Are you free? Great, but remember you are a slave to Christ.

Are you single, then there’s no need to seek marriage, rejoice in the gift God has given you.

Are you married, then if possible stick with your marriage and invest in making it flourish.

Our first aim, should be to learn to make the most of the circumstances God has put us in. That does not mean that change is always wrong.

If as a slave you have the chance to be set free, then grab it!

If you are single and fall passionately in love with another Christian, then go ahead marry!

But don’t spend your life wishing you were something you are not. Make the most of where God has placed you now.

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. (1 Peter 1:14)

The Dangers of Ignorance

Ignorance is a dangerous thing. We can think that we are doing something that is perfectly OK, only to discover that it is deeply harmful.

In the first half of the twentieth century, many people smoked. No-one saw anything wrong with it – a pleasant past-time like having a pint down the pub. Some doctors even suggested that smoking actually improved your health.

It was not until the early 1950s that it was conclusively shown and accepted that smoking led to lung cancer – a killer disease. Up until then many people had been ignorant and died an early death as a result.

In 1 Peter 1:14 it says,

“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.” (1 Peter 1:14)

Peter is saying that before his readers became Christians they had behaved as they did because they were ignorant of God, his ways and his guidance. Now, they have come to know God’s ways and so they must live differently.

In our reading this morning, Paul tackles the church in Corinth about their attitudes to wrongdoing and focuses on sexual immorality in particular. He says four times: ‘don’t you know’? In other words, are you still ignorant? Are you still pursuing this wrong way of living, because you have not understood the truths that God has now revealed to you in Christ?

He is concerned, because their ignorance on these issues could prove catastrophic.

Increasingly today as people come to faith out of a culture that has lost touch with a Christian understanding of sex or as Christians have allowed themselves to become more influenced by the society around them than the teaching of the Bible, there is a danger that many are falling into sexual behaviour that is ultimately harmful to them, the church and their relationships around them.

So let’s explore the three areas of ignorance that Paul tackles in this passage around the issues of sex. In the hope that we can be less ignorant and so learn the Christian approach to sex, one that is ultimately for our good, our blessing and our joy.

Ignorant about the Gospel – 6:9-11

Importantly as we talk about sex, it is important that we really understand the gospel, that is what the good news of Jesus actually says and what becoming a Christian means.

We sing a hymn called, ‘Just as I am’, which emphasises the great truth that you do not have to do anything or become anything to be welcomed into God’s family and to become inheritors of eternal life. The Corinthians and many people today are happy to accept that, but what they and many Christians seem to have forgotten is that as a Christian you cannot, ‘stay as you are.’ Jesus calls us to repent as well as to believe, not to change in order to come to God, but to come to God in order to change our behaviour.

In our passage, Paul lists a whole load of sinful behaviours and then says powerfully, “this is what some of you were.” We can assume that for each of these behaviours there was a Christian in the Corinthian church, who had lived in that way before they came to faith. There were people who had been adulterers, thieves, greedy, slanderers and so on. They had lived in ways incompatible with being a follower of Jesus.

In coming to Christ, they were transformed. They were cleansed of all sin and guilt. God’s memory of their wrongdoing was washed away. They became part of God’s holy people and they were put into a relationship with God, where they were no longer condemned for past wrongs. They came as they were and were totally accepted. This is grace, this is good news.

But, this transformation shows itself in terms of change. Paul is saying that if they continue to habitually sin in these ways, then it shows that they have not really been accepted and changed. We don’t change in order to come to God, but we come to God, that our behaviour is changed.

What’s the fuss with sexual sin?

So, we are called to change, but why such an emphasis on sexual sin? For some in the Corinthian church, sexual sin did not matter. Chapter 5, mentioned a particular bad example of a man sleeping with his father’s wife, but in this section, the issue is sexual sin more generally. Some of the Corinthians thought that it was fine for Christians to do whatever they like with their bodies. “All things are lawful for me!” they said, “Everything is permissible for me.” If the Jewish food laws no longer mattered for Christians, why should Jewish scruples about sex be applied to non-Jewish Christians.

Paul’s response to this anything goes attitude to sex, was to accuse them of being ignorant about their bodies and about the nature of sex.

Ignorant about our Bodies – 6:12-15,19-20; 7:3-4

Firstly, he accuses them of being ignorant about the importance of their bodies. The Corinthians like many people of their time, probably thought of the body as a kind of container for the soul. The two were separate, the body was temporary, but the soul might live on in some way. They thus believed that whatever you did with your physical body did not affect your soul.

As Christians, they probably thought that faith was merely to do with the soul and had no relevance to the body. So what you did with your body, including having sex is irrelevant to your spiritual life.

Paul could not disagree with this idea more. He emphasises how much our bodies do matter, they are not just a container for the real us. They are the real us. When Paul speaks about the body he means more than our flesh, blood and bone. It refers to the totality of who we are, our whole personality, emotional state and well-being.

Firstly, In 6:14 he reminds the Corinthians that our eternal future is not a disembodied spiritual one, it is a bodily one. Jesus was raised bodily from the dead and so we one day will be given transformed resurrection bodies – he talks a lot more about that in chapter 15. Our bodies are not temporary, they are eternal and so what we do with our bodies matters.

Secondly, in verse 15 he tells us that our bodies are members of Christ. We are not just united with Christ spiritually, but our physical presence in this world, becomes Christ’s presence in the world. What we do with our bodies is linked with how we represent Christ. What we do with our bodies matters.

Thirdly, in verse 19, he tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. This links with the previous point. Whereas most people in the Bible thought that you went to a temple to meet with your god, Jesus created a radically different concept, where God is met in the bodily witness of Christians in community. Our bodies matter to God.

Finally, Jesus does not just save our souls, he redeems our bodies. His death on the cross was the price he paid to save us body and soul. He gave his body, to save our body. In that sense our bodies belong to him, we cannot use them in ways that contradict his will, but need to honour God with our bodies.

The thrust of Paul’s argument is that faith is not a purely spiritual thing, what you do with your physical body really does matter.

Ignorant about Sex – 6:16-18

But, Paul was also clear elsewhere, that some of the things that Jews did with their bodies, i.e. circumcision and not eating certain foods no longer mattered. The Corinthians were probably arguing, that if these things no longer constrained Christians, why should we be constrained when it comes to sex.

Paul’s response is to say, that they are ignorant about sex. Sex impacts us at an emotional level far more powerfully, than any food we eat.

In verse 16 he quotes from Genesis 2 the foundational verse on marriage and sex:

“The two will become one flesh.”

He applies this to having sex with a prostitute and explains that when you have sex with someone you are at an emotional level gluing yourself to them. Sex was designed to create a deep emotional unity between husband and wife in marriage, to help create a permanent bond and as a way to bring children into the world – in the context of a united mother and father. In the context of marriage, sex is a good and positive thing and in chapter 7, Paul encourages sex within marriage.

But outside of marriage, it acts as an emotional glue between two people, when such a bond is in appropriate. Paul says, how can you take your body, which belongs to Christ and emotionally glue it to a prostitute? It is an offense to Christ and emotionally and spiritually damaging to yourself and the prostitute.

This is why Paul says in verse 18, that to sin sexually is to sin against your own body. It is in a sense to emotionally glue yourself to someone who you are not meant to be sticking to. When you do that you damage your own body emotionally and the body of the person you have sex with.

When I went to university the biggest rule they stressed about our university rooms, was no blue tac. When you stick a poster to a wall with blue tac, it looks great, but when you come to take the poster down, the blue tac often pulls away some of the paint from the wall leaving a horrible mark. The same is true of sexual relationships. They look great while they last, but when they end, they leave an emotional scar.

That is why sexual abuse is worse than normal abuse. Because it leaves powerful emotional scars on people.

That is why sleeping around is so unhelpful, because it leaves people emotionally scarred and damaged, perhaps making it harder for them to eventually settle in a permanent long term relationship. Certainly, no-one can argue that the sexual revolution of the 1960s has not created a society full of people emotionally scarred by broken sexual relationships.

That is why adultery is so wrong. In chapter 7, Paul says, that as husband and wife you have a kind of ownership over each others bodies. In becoming one flesh, you have united with each other. To take your body that belongs to your husband or wife and unite it with someone else causes deep pain and loss to the other. In my ministry, I have seen the effects adultery has had on betrayed wives and it has been utterly devastating.

It is also why, living together before marriage, although not as emotionally scarring as adultery or sleeping around is also wrong. People often live together as a way of testing whether marriage is right. But if the act of sex is a powerful expression of permanent emotional union, of gluing together two people, having sex before you’ve made that commitment is at best a powerful lie and at worst is uniting two people who may not wish to stay united and condemning them to emotional pain when the separation happens.

As Christians, we need to grasp hold of a Biblical knowledge of what sex to understand why Jesus calls us to a better way with sex, to reserve it for marriage.

Homosexual Sex

But what about same sex couples? If they are in a permanent relationship is it not OK for them to have sex?

This is a big debate in the Church of England at the moment and the Church’s General Synod is completely split on the answer. Many who would want to see the church fully accept same sex marriage, would want to simply dismiss what the Bible says on this issue as no longer relevant. Others, however, would argue that the Bible does allow for same sex marriage.

I and many others are not convinced. In this passage two words are used for homosexual activity. Some argue that they refer not to homosexual sex generally, but to abusive homosexual relationships or to a relationship between and older man and a younger boy. The problem is that Paul uses a word that literally means, ‘one who sleeps with a male.’ There is no hint that abuse is an issue or that one of those involved is too young. In fact Paul could have used other Greek words to make clear that this is what he was referring to, but he doesn’t. On face value this seems to be a general prohibition of any kind of sex between two males.

And this is not the only place in the New Testament. In Romans 1, Paul, also makes it clear that same sex is wrong and the word also appears in 1 Timothy 1 in a list of sins.

This is not to say that people who engage in same sex sex or who identify themselves as gay or lesbian are barred from God’s salvation. The gospel is as much for them as anyone else. God’s free offer of salvation is for all including those in the LGBT community. We should show the same love, compassion, kindness and welcome to them as we would to anyone who comes into our church and share with them the good news of Jesus. We do not have to change to come to Christ, but we come to Christ that he may change our behaviour.

There were many who would describe themselves as gay or lesbian who spoke for the orthodox Biblical view on sexual morality at General Synod. I met someone who goes to a local church, only recently, who said he was gay, but is committed to a celibate life. There is an ordained minister in a nearby church, who used to be a regular at gay nightclubs, but has now turned his back on all of that. As Paul said, to the Corinthians, this is what some of you were… But now you are Christs!

Let us like them commit to using our bodies to honour Christ and fleeing from Sexual Immorality.