January 6th...

SEX & The City!

Genesis 18-19:29

God promised Noah that He would never again destroy the entire earth, but here we see God inability to tolerate wickedness. He kept His promise to Noah, but He did destroy and entire city because of its wickedness.  

Think about wickedness and righteousness in your city today. Now narrow it down even more. Think about your school.  Could you find 50... 40... 10 righteous people?  If someone else was looking, you you be picked?  Take a quick look (no this isn't the list that will get you in or keep you out of heaven or hell... but, how do you think your school measures up?

Righteous-meter:  

Do people pick on others?  

Is there anyone befriending the "new kid"?  

Is there respect for teachers, coaches, and administrators?  

Is there compassion for less fortunate?  

Is there persecution of those that are different? 

Do you hang out with anyone that might get you in "social trouble" - you know, someone you might get grief for?  

Does anyone thank God for their meals?  

When you pray, are you asking God to let you beat the other team, or thanking Him for the victory?  Isn't that pretty self-centered?

Or do you thank Him for your talents and pray for the other team, too?

Do students help one another through tutoring or through cheating?  

Are girls dressing to provoke lust or love from guys?  

Are guys acting out of lust, or out of expressing a love like Christ's... one of self sacrifice?  

Do you spend more time telling people how awesome they are, or how awesome someone else is?  

Or do you spend more time telling others how they or others don't measure up to your standard?  

Is drinking part of the "cool-meter" at your school?  

Is your heart broken and desperate for God's mercy on your school, like Abraham was?  

Or is your heart numb, apathetic, you don't care (either you feel like "they'll get what they deserve" or "I can't change them, let them do whatever they want")?

Abraham is set before us as an example of a righteous man with great faith, and this is our call as Christians. Let’s follow his example. Today, talk to God about the wickedness in your school. What are other ways that you can be more like Abraham this week?

WOW ... CHAPTER 19!!!!

Check out lot and his daughters... Genesis 19:30-38

A lot of sex going on in the city of Sodom... actually, we see that wickedness has invaded the lives of Lot and his family.

When Lot chose the more fertile land... Sodom was part of that land.

3 observations... 

Lot values his visitors, which was the right thing for a person to do, to take care and protect his visitors.  Yet he does not value his own daughters. The wickedness of Sodom has invaded his way of setting standards.  His view of sex is distorted.

Lot's daughters view of sex and of God's provision for their lives is distorted.  

Lot's use of alcohol puts him in a situation he never would have been in had he been sober... that of having sex with his daughters.

I'm sure that Lot and his wife thought... "it's not too bad, sure we are starting to get used to this city, and we're letting our daughters marry men from here, but we're different."  I think we can see that they had begun to think like and live like the Sodomites more than they'd want to.

think about it:

Are the people you are with most of the time "righteous"?

Who is the influencer in your relationships with your friends who are not living for God?  Are you being influenced, or are they?

Do you look like the people around you?

What do the people around you look like?

Can alcohol still put people in situations they wouldn't ever be in had they been sober? 

Do people use other people for sex?  Physically or mentally or emotionally?