Kyle's terrific sermon this week on marriage

Terrific sermon from Kyle Idleman at Southeast last weekend (June 9-10). The text was I Kings 11 (drawing from chapter 13 of The Story, which includes excerpts from I Kings 3-11).

Kyle begins to segue from Solomon toward his primary applications, by defining marriage at 12:20 into the sermon. (If you're only going to listen to part of this, start there.) Then at 15:30, he offers the "sucker question"-- a la Amos' approach and Paul's at the end of Romans 1-- where some people in the audience are expecting one answer/angle and they get (quite) another.

Later, he gets to "same-sex marriage" and answers why it is-- and is not-- difficult to talk about. Not because it's political, since it's biblical before it's political-- and that it's God's definition not ours. Not because it will offend, because a key element of Christianity is offending ourselves and each other-- with God's word, wanting what's best for ourselves and others. Moreover, Kyle noted that he's simply sharing God's message-- with a good analogy to a UPS driver delivering a tough package and a wonderful reference to Ezekiel 33's "watchman"!

Why is it difficult to talk about? First, the "moron" in North Carolina (the term he used on Saturday evening, but not on the video'ed service). Second, because the Church has struggled so much on this topic, particularly with respect to divorce. At 26:50, I love the point he makes about the allure of positive marriage/family examples-- as an intended example of light in darkness.

That's two weeks in a row on similar topics-- in particular, calling the Church first to repentance, so that we and others will be more at home in the goodness of God's kingdom.