Inside Today's Experience - Gilbert Thurston

Stressing but good day.
Any time you talk about a subject like sex it takes a lot out of you.
However, everyone I talked to was very appreciative that we tackled it directly.
Was so nice to wake up this morning to go put out signs and it was light outside and not below freezing!
Set-up went pretty smooth.
In total today we had 51 people serving which is awesome…love our team and their hard work!
Especially needed the help with the nursery and toddlers area…we had 16 of them crawling and running around!
In this series we’ve had a lot of guests, including many who are right smack dab in the demographic of who we’re trying to reach…people that have little to no church background or experience.
I love talking to them because their questions constantly remind me of how much churches just assume that people understand. If you could hear some of the questions and comments I get, you’d be amazed how much the Church in America assumes people know about church and Christianity. That’s why at ExponentialChurch.tv we go out of our way to remove barriers that might be confusing to new people coming in.
We opened today by covering Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”. Sort of edgy but it went well with the message and as I mentioned during the greeting time, here is a young girl who is influencing what today’s young adults think about sex, but yet she herself just a few months into her marriage is already in counseling because it’s not working out.
Will give them credit though…at least they’re trying counseling. Many in Hollywood immediately go the divorce route. Praying that Katy and Russell “Find the One“.
In any case, Gayle did a great job covering the song even though it was a bit uncomfortable for her.
Really liked today’s worship set…pretty decent energy from the crowd.
I’ve preached on sex before but never really thought I got into a groove today, so not sure it was as good as it could have been.
However, I did have quite a few people comment positively afterward and saw what appeared to be a handful of people that seemed genuinely convicted.
Best of all, 3 more people today prayed to begin a relationship with Jesus!
You can listen to the message here.
The gist though was this.
- God does not hate sex…in fact He invented it.
- Like any invention to best know how to use it, you’ve got to ask the inventor and/or consult the owner’s manual (in this case…God/Bible).
- Many churches preach no, no, no, when in fact we should be teaching wait, wait, wait.
- So if you’re not married wait for sex until you are. Not because God is a big kill joy in the sky, but because He has something far better in mind for you.
- And singles, don’t see how close to the line you can get and still be a Christian, instead see how close to God you can get.
- As for married couples, I believe my exact words were, “Do it early,do it often, and do it in a lot of positions”. :)
- In other words enjoy this amazing gift God has given you.
- I talked about a lot of other things but you’ll have to listen to the message.
Don’t forget that next week I’ll be answering the questions that you’ve been submitting throughout the series.
You guys have been asking some great questions, including more in depth stuff about sex so we’ll cover as many questions as we can in our time together to see what the bible has to say.
See you then…have a great week and don’t forget to invite some people to come along with you!

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