Sex and Power | Retrace | Pt 5

Retrace | There are six passages in the Bible that are often used to harm and exclude people in the LGBTQIA+ community. This fall we will retrace these passages, diving into the context and cultures in which they are found. Through this process we may find that these passages aren't condemning or shaming, but they illuminate our understanding of how we are to love one another and become a grace-infused people.
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Sex and Power | 1 Timothy 1.10 and 1 Corinthians 6.9 | Translating a passage that is over 2,000 years old is hard. And these passages are an incredible example of that. Words that our modern translators have translated as 'men sleeping with men' or 'homosexuality', are words that even in their own setting were hard to unpack and understand. So let's sit in the complexity of these words for a minute and ask what they could mean.

Then, let's ask what Paul may be doing in these verses if we take them as part of a whole. We might find that Paul isn't condemning a 21st century loving relationship between two committed partners, but instead Paul is challenging communities and people to stop trying to assert power over one another. 

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Some books that have been used to help give shape to this sermon series...

God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines

UnClobber by Colby Martin

Changing Our Mind by David Gushee