Haven’t preached in a couple of weeks…and I’m feeling it! :-) Here’a a few thoughts on the day…
- We launched our singles series entitled, “Don’t Get Married Until…” today…and it was a BLAST!
- My prayer for this series is that singles will view being single NOT as a sickness, but rather as a season that needs to be embraced in order to learn all that God desires to teach them.
- We have A LOT of singles at our church…and I have a heart for them, that Jesus would be EXALTED in their lives and that they would view marriage as something to be held in high regard…and not merely a license to have sex!
- Today we talked about, “Don’t Get Married Until…You Hear From God.”
- Dating out of convenience rather than conviction will lead to compromise—EVERY time!
- Following Jesus doesn’t mean we compromise when life gets tough…but rather we establish convictions that are based on Scripture and stand by them, even when it seems like things aren’t going our way.
- If we are desperately seeking God…that means we are NOT desperately trying to convince God of what we want!!!
- God WILL make it clear as to who He wants you to marry, trust me, HE WANTS YOU TO GET IT RIGHT MORE THAN YOU WANT TO GET IT RIGHT!
- God wants to bless His children…so, if you are dating “a curse” then understand that he/she is NOT want God wants!
- The BEST THING for some singles (and engaged couples) is to SLOW the HECK down!
- “But Perry, we’re already sent out the invitations to the wedding and…” STOP IT…if you are not sure, if you haven’t heard from God…then STOP! Trust me, the money you spend recalling the invitations will be much less than you will spend on the divorce lawyers!
- If a dating relationship is immersed in worship then it can’t be immersed in wickedness.
- If a dating relationship is based on sex before marriage…it will be incredibly difficult to establish intimacy after marriage!
- (The talk about sex in the message today was fun…and intense…and necessary!)
- The last place single people need to run to for advice on marriage is other single people!!! Seek out the advice/wisdom of people who are walking where you want to walk one day…who ARE married and have been for quite some time!!!
- It was SO exciting to share the news about our Christmas offering today…I am pumped out of my mind about what God is doing at our church.
- It is SO amazing how God has blessed our church and allowed us to move forward over the past two years…despite going through the worse recession we’ve seen in our lifetime.
- AND…there’s MORE to do!!!
- Had nearly 1,500 people register for Unleash (in March) before the early bird deadline of $39 expired (we had 200 register for that rate this time last year!) We are expecting to sell out…so…I would register ASAP if I were you!
- Looking forward to talking about, “Don’t Get Married Until…You Are Willing To Be A Man” next week!!!
- AND…I’m looking forward to speaking at Clemson’s FCA this Thursday night!
That’s about it…going to bed!