Jesus Loves Homosexuals - Part 1 - Part A

For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son that who ever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. If God loved the world that we should love the people that are in that war is Jesus.

Once people ask the theme of this whole series of gay people straight people, prostitutes, thieves, drunks, atheists and agnostics. Religious people and even you and I a prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi goes Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.

That's the mindset to have you reaching out to others today on connect with Skip Heitzig Skip turns his attention to the topic of homosexuality and how you can cultivate Christ's heart for that community and yourself at the end of today's program Skip and his wife Lynn. You share vital insight on how you can grow in your compassion for other whenever I spent time with spoken to those will have a gay lifestyle and a demonstrated love and interest in their backgrounds and stop they to take some off guard. I've had them say, gosh, no pastors ever done this before and seem to really really care so there's the bottom line we are nothing. All of us we are nothing but forgiven sinners here believe that you're not a realist.

Thank you.

Skip if you want to hear more. Please stay tuned after the teaching. Now we want to tell you about a great resource that will help you know God's love more intimately.

People everywhere have a deep God-given need to be loved, but sadly sometimes the people who need love the most the most rejected here. Skip, I think we all crave love. We will do sometimes almost anything to get it to know that we are loved by somebody else unconditionally. No wonder that better than Jesus love the worst of sinners. You love the best of saints Jesus show the love of God in human flesh we want to give you a glimpse of God's relentless love for all people including you by sending you the Jesus loves people for booklet collection by skip. I think all four Jesus loves people titles including Jesus loves the broken RR thanks for your gift of $25 or more today to help connect more people to God's love through his word connectwithskip.com/offer to give online securely or call 892 1888 okay John chapter Skip Heitzig starts today's be happy to know that at last a perfect creature has been found. I don't know the person but here's the description he preaches exactly 15 minutes so I'm out. He preaches exactly 15 minutes against sin in such a gentle way that he never hurt anyone's feelings. He works from six in the morning till 10 every night and every kind of work possible. He can clean the church if necessary.

He helps overhaul the cars of the congregation and is an expert in almost every field, he always dresses in the best close buys the latest books on every subject as a well-dressed and well behaved family drives a late model car at all times gives to every charitable fund and gives $40 to the church from his $100 a week salary. He is 20 years old and has been preaching for 30 years. He has a burning desire to work with teenagers and he spends all of his time with older folks. He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a good sense of humor that keeps them seriously dedicated to his work. He has a glowing personality with dad and feelings and iron nerves. The reason I preface my study this morning without little quip is because I have a feeling that no matter what I say on the subject.

I'm good to speak on that I'm going to offend someone.

It is not my desire to do so. I speak to you not as anything but a pastor with love in my heart knowing that I'm dealing with a very delicate subject a few years ago, one of our previous vice president's named Al Gore put out a film called an inconvenient truth, I'm not here to talk about it.

I never sought. I'm not here to discuss politics except to say this, there are some truths that are inconvenient truths to hear and people don't want to hear them out. One of them, especially among church folks is the topic of homosexuality, according to one study. Homosexuality is one of the top 10 issues facing the church today. The Barna research group has noted that few pastors will speak on such controversial issues because they worry about losing members and about diminishing ties.

Frankly, I've never done a message by this title. Jesus loves homosexuals is not that I haven't dealt with the tax before we gone through the entire Scripture and at appropriate times. We have dealt with those biblical passages but I've never done one as blatantly as what is the title of this message today and I want you to know that I do this message I preach this message. I teach this message with a little bit of fear with a lot of respect and with all of the love of Jesus Christ in my heart you know one of the reasons that you don't hear messages such as this one is because frankly it's a difficult subject, and it is made more complicated in this day and age because of the heightened rhetoric in the political arena because of the media spin that goes on whenever this issue is tackled, and because voices on both sides have been raised and people are very animated about what they believe in. Regarding this, some don't like to talk about it frankly because some don't like to think about it. The disorder wanted not deal with it and they they move on.

They can't even fathom thinking about such things for other people. It's just too painful. They had a son or a daughter approached them and that son or daughter is announced I'm gay. I'm homosexual and lesbian and immediately thought says I'm a failure as a parent. All of that is dealt with is just painful to go there for other people. It's painful because of all of the bashing they have heard throughout the years by a number of preachers they that Bible verses for long in their faces without an iota of love or concern for the individual. I've asked you to turn to John chapter 8, which might seem like a strange passage at first because it is not about Jesus encountering a homosexual, you will not find such a passage in all of the New Testament there is a one that's because it wasn't the issue, then, that it is today. It was assumed in that culture of Judaism that heterosexuality was the pervasive norm. However, what you find in John chapter 8 is a woman being brought before Jesus because of a sexual act that she committed sexual sin that she was involved with and we are can understand and see. As we read how Jesus dealt with her. Let's look at our text, John chapter 8 the first verse actually begins to the previous chapter, Jesus went to the Mount of olives that thought begins in verse two now early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him and he sat down and taught them.

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst they said to him, teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.

Now Moses in the law commanded us that shut such should be stoned.

But what do you say this they said testing him, but they might have something of which to accuse him. But Jesus stoop down and wrote on the ground with his finger, as though he did not hear. So when they continued asking him, he raised himself up and said to them, he who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first and again he stooped down and wrote on the ground then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone in the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised himself up and saw no one but the woman he said to her, woman were those accusers of yours has no one condemned you. She said no one Lord Jesus said to her, neither do I condemn you go and sin no more. The first thing I want to consider with you is just how candid Jesus was with all people. He was always honest. In verse two we are told that Jesus was in the temple, and he was teaching in case you don't know this and I'm sure most of you do. That is the activity that we find Jesus doing most of in the New Testament teaching people. Yes, he was healing.

And yes, he was doing other things. But by and large the four Gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John have a whole chunk of red words in them.

Those are the words of Jesus. He taught people on virtually every needful subject for them to hear told him about God. He told him about creation. He taught them about divorce and marriage. She taught them about love and peace and joy in how to get to heaven and when he taught he was always honest. He was always candid. How do we know this because many times when Jesus taught things people didn't like what they heard. He was so honest, it actually offended people.

There are what theologians referred to as the hard sayings of Jesus or the difficult statements things like if you come after me deny your self pick up your cross and follow me in John chapter 6 when Jesus was giving one message. The crowd reacted and some of them said this is a hard saying who can hear it does mean was too hard to understand. It means it was too hard for them to tolerate limit limit translated another way. I don't like this preacher. He just offended me was hard because Jesus was always honest.

Here's one you remember when our Lord was at the well of Samaria with the woman there dialoguing and he finally says, go, call your husband and she says in a very kind of smart Kurt way. I don't have a husband and Jesus said you're right you don't have a husband you had five of them and now you're just living with Amanda cohabitating was somebody who's not your husband you think she loved to hear that that just cut her to the heart while he was always honest. He's teaching people in all honesty and notice how honest he is with this woman in verse 11, he says just the last part go and sin no more, that he just used the word there a term the term sin and he is referring to her behavior of adultery as something that is sinful. Notice that Jesus didn't say your mistake. Your hangup, your propensity your alternate lifestyle.

He called it a sin. What he did in using the term was frame for her how God views her action of adultery. He's not condemning her sexuality. In fact he's not even referring to her preference.

He's referring to her practice.

The sin that she committed that this is important because instead of condemning her as a sexual being what Jesus is doing is denouncing the way in which she chose to express her sexuality, i.e. committing adultery with some man. Let me be candid, according to statistics.com a statistical research website to in every 100 males in America claim to be gay one out of every 100 females claim to be lesbian.

Some will dispute those facts say more or less but the Williams Institute translates this into about 8 million adults in the United States that consider themselves to be gay or lesbian question, how do we respond to that short answer before I give you the long answer.

The short answer is we should respond to them at least in the way that the God we say we follow does for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. If God loved the world that we should love the people that are in that world as well. Jesus loves people.

That's the theme of this whole series units gay people straight people prostitutes, thieves, drunks, atheists and agnostics. Religious people and even you and I does mean he loves adulterer adultery. He loves adulterers, it doesn't mean he loves prostitution.

He loves prostitutes. It doesn't mean he loves homosexuality. It means he loves homosexuals. But in loving them. Please notice because Jesus was. Honesty was candid that one of the most loving things you can do is to tell people the truth. And Jesus did that there are some inconvenient truths in Scripture. Now I say without shame, but I believe in the authority of Scripture. I make no apologies for it. I believe that God has spoken through his word and he is spoken on issues of morality and sexuality, sexual practice, sexuality is it mentioned a whole lot in the Bible but it is mentioned 7×7 different passages. Genesis 19 Leviticus 18 and 20 Judges chapter 19 Romans chapter 1 first Corinthians chapter 6 and first Timothy chapter 1 all have something to do, either directly or tangentially with the practice of homosexuality and the Bible's teaching on it is clear according to the Bible, homosexuality is sin and it is contrary to God's plan and God's design for humanity.

Now I hope you will not switch me off at this point hold on, there's more to this message.

I realize that in making the statement that I just made that I am considered by the vast majority of our public to be narrowminded. I'm not dumb. I understand that if I got only my considered narrowminded by my view. I am considered to be intolerant by my view. After all, we live in a culture now that worships tolerance.

You have to be tolerant.

There's only one group you don't have to be tolerant with the Mets Christians in this culture. I also understand something else that is saying what I just said one day I could end up in jail for saying that in our culture that could be labeled as something that would imprison the person that I sort of feel like what the apostles felt as they stood before the Council in acts chapter 6 and Peter said what, or whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God you judge.

But we must obey God rather than men see what we we can just simply not handle biblical prohibitions irresponsibly, we can shape them around our personal or cultural preferences. We can never think that God will bless what God denounces no matter what culture tells you no matter what your body chemistry or a genetic study will tell you, no matter how you feel. The Bible I believe trumps it all because you know what I found all sorts of feelings in my past and was predisposed toward a number of behaviors that if I acted on them all. I would be, not alive or be in jail would be right.

Just because someone has a preference for something doesn't make it morally correct in and of itself, but I want you to differentiate between something or I keep talking about practice Jesus ago, and sin no more. He was talking about her practice, not her preference.

There's one thing to note that somebody has a preference or an orientation or a propensity or proclivity is another thing to practice it.

This woman in our story had a preference she was attracted to a man outside of her marriage and she yielded to that temptation that urge. And it became an act thus became sinful a few months ago I was in a restaurant and it was just a remarkable time. I was seated by a waitress. She introduced herself to me. She said you don't remember me, do you you invited me to one of your Easter services. Some years ago and she said I did not go but I did come to your church.

After that, and I gave my life to Jesus Christ and he's changed my life. But then she said something my whole family was there was quite remarkable how candid she was.

She said you can probably tell by looking at me that I'm a stereo typical lesbian and is going okay. I'm all ears.

She said you know I have lots of people around me who tell me either change the way you look or just hook up with someone and then she said something that was so profound I wrote it down. She said I'd rather struggle with my desires and remain single and to give into those desires to those I trust that God will change the rest. As time goes but I've chosen to make a decision, my choice to remain celibate rather than to give into those urges.

She admitted that she had a homosexual preference, but she no longer was practicing. And here's the point I want to make sexual orientation does not have to define you when a spiritual orientation can define you and that is the choice that she made that she would be defined by her submission to God no matter how she felt.

I know it's cliché was signed even say this, however, it is true, and we must demonstrated that that God loves the sinner, he may hate the sin, but God loves the sinner Romans chapter 2 verse four tells us it's the goodness of God that leads a person to repentance know what Jesus came to remove the dead of sin from all people from all unbelievers, all undeserving people, and he condemns all forms of sin including high hypocrisy, which is what I want you to notice next.

So first, Jesus was candid with all people. The second thing I want to make note of his Jesus was confrontational with all hypocrites, you see that throughout the New Testament whenever Jesus encounters people like the scribes and Pharisees.

Look at verse three then the scribes and the Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst I just want you to picture that the scribes and the Pharisees brought to this woman center in the Mets and said to him, teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the fairly act.

I can see him smiling, almost when they said that now Moses in the law commanded that such should be stoned what you say this they said testing him, that he might have something of they might have something to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger, as though we didn't hear a love that when they continued asking him, he raised himself up and said to them, he who is without sin among you, let them throw a stone at her first and again he stooped down and he wrote on the ground, then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone in the woman standing in the midst of the message from the series Jesus loves now elicited to the studio's give in line as they share vital insight on how you can grow in your compassion for others it's important for us to demonstrate compassion rather than contempt and startling sexuality.

Being in touch with our own violent nature. Help us to act Markham passionately other is a tough subject and I'll just say that as believers in one sense, the odds are stacked against us may be in some for some of the reasons because the way the church is handled in the past, but also the gay community thinks the church is written them off completely. So were sort of at a disadvantage whenever we engage in.

They find out were Christian, so whenever I've spent time with or spoken to those who have a gay lifestyle and a demonstrated love and interest in their backgrounds and stuff they take it takes them off guard.

I've had them say, gosh, no pastors ever done this before and and and seemed to really really care. So here's the bottom line we are nothing. All of us we are nothing but forgiven sinners. You believe that your not a realist and and Paul said here's a trustworthy saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Paul said I'm the worst of the mall because I at one time persecuted the church of God so you know were all on batting with a disadvantage when it comes to sin and therefore we should look at people through that lens of our own failures and that will bring compassion thank he is in my hand from cover to cover. The Bible proclaims God's radical left for you.

If I think that powerful message to more listeners around the world. So please give now to help keep the teachings he left on the air and online and make it possible for more people to experience that life-changing laugh, call 890 280-800-9218 or is it connected/Downey connect with.com/Downey thank you to me again tomorrow and Skip pictures practical insight show Christlike love to those with Skip presentation of connection communication to go through