Is God Anti-Gay?

I didn't hear that. Good morning. Fantastic. Thank you. It's wonderful to be with you. This is the last in our series on human sexuality and gender. It's been a long old ride, hasn't! It's not how we normally teach, but these things are so important and the Lord wants us to know his will and to love him better. So we'll address those topics. Let's pray before we start, shall we? Let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you that your word is clear.

Lord, we thank you that most of all it is clear about the Lord Jesus and who he is. We thank you so much that he has not left us to our own devices, with problems that we cannot fix, with dangers that we cannot see. We thank you that you sent him to us to reveal to us the truth, to reveal to us your love, to bring us back into your family, to make us yours, to give us a hope and a future. Lord, that is your will for all humanity, that they would turn and follow you. So please, Lord, as we now come to the topic of homosexuality, please help us to remember your love and the need for your truth and the hope that you offer to all of us. We pray that in Jesus' name. Amen.

What do we do with these sorts of headlines? These are all headlines from the last month. What do we do with them? See, there's still some argument in society about whether homosexuality and homosexual practice is a good thing. Although, a recent survey in The Guardian, 35% of people actually don't think homosexuality is a good thing in the UK. But perhaps more worryingly, there's a big argument within God's people and inside the church. Is homosexual practice is a good thing in the UK? Is that okay? Is it not? We need to turn to God's word, don't we? Hear his voice on this issue. How do we behave in our country, which has largely accepted homosexuality and homosexual practice and seems ready to accept all kinds of other sexualities as valid too?

Now, clearly, we're speaking today to those who follow the Lord Jesus. If you're here or you're listening and you don't follow the Lord Jesus, then we don't expect you to live as he asks because he's not your Lord. But we are glad that you're here or that you're listening.

You are welcome in Jesus' name and we hope that you'll hear the message of hope from what we say today. I think we need to admit straight away, don't we, that Christians actually in our country have not always been compassionate and clear. We've not always been loving and truthful towards people who experience same-sex attraction. In fact, we've expected people to change before they come through the door, haven't we? And we've told them that they need to clean up before we introduce them to Jesus, which is not what God's word says. It's the wrong way round.

And actually, corporately, we need to apologise as a church for the way that the church in this country has harmed gay people. In many ways, we've failed them. And we can be glad, can't we, that there are cruel laws which have been done away with because they dehumanised people who are made in the image of God. And we can be glad that science is helping us to understand better what it means to experience same-sex attraction, to be homosexual.

And yet at the same time, there are lifestyles which point away from God's love, that are being celebrated, that are being promoted, that are being taught to our children in ways that are inappropriate and unfair. What do we do? We need to show love without letting go of the truth.

What is the truth? Well, last time when I spoke, before Mike spoke last time, we were talking about what the meaning of sex is. Do you remember? And we said it looks like this. We said that sex is for procreation, for passion, for proclamation, but also that it's broken. It's intended for marriage between a man and a woman because that is the context in which it points to God's life-giving love, isn't it? That's what we said it meant. Sex is a signpost to God's intimate, life-giving love for his people forever. Now that message has implications for everybody who is single, which is everyone at some point, isn't it? And for those who experience same-sex attraction and for all kinds of other sexualities and sexual activities too. So where in this message is there good news for those folks?

Well, I think that Jesus says to us through the Council of Scripture that singleness, as in celibacy, not having sex, is not second best. Actually, Jesus says that for those whom God calls to that life, it is the best way to experience his love. So singleness is not second best, but for those whom God calls to it, it is the best way to experience his life-giving love. Seems like a mountain? There's three questions that we're going to ask to try and help us climb that mountain. First, what does God actually say about homosexuality and other kinds of sex outside of marriage? Secondly, how is that good news?

And thirdly, how can we love people who experience their sexuality that way? Now, you will have noticed that already I've used a fair number of different terms, haven't I?

And I think we need to be careful how we use them and we need to explain them well, so that we respect people whose experience it describes, and so that we understand what the Bible is saying well.

So we're just going to briefly take a minute to look at this slide together, to help us understand some of those distinctions before we turn to what Scripture says. So we'll start at the bottom of the pyramid, where we have same-sex attraction, and that is a term which describes someone's experience, isn't it?

Same-sex attraction is not chosen. Also, it may come and it may go. It may diminish. It may grow. And this is a term that Christians who experience homosexual feelings often use to describe themselves, because it makes clear that it's not primarily about who they are, it's not their identity, but how they are, what they experience. You could use the word desire here, couldn't you?

That's the widest category. Moving up the pyramid, we've got homosexual orientation. So this really is when someone has only ever experienced attraction to people of the same sex, and they don't see a prospect of that ever changing.

And that seems to describe between 2% and 4% of the population. You may have heard higher numbers, but that's what the people say, what the experts say. And finally, top of the pyramid, we've got gay identity. Now that's different, isn't it?

That's a conscious decision to lean into your homosexual orientation or attraction, and to regard it as a fundamental part of who you are.

Maybe the fundamental part of who you are. And you'll remember, at the very beginning of our series, Mike was saying really clearly that we are more than our sexuality.

We're built for relationship with God, first of all. So we don't look in to our sexual orientation for our identity. We look up to God to understand who we are.

That will give us an identity that is stable and will allow us to flourish. Basing identity on our feelings just doesn't work well. And then the other term that I use is homosexuality, isn't it?

And that can be an umbrella term which covers all three of these things in the pyramid and often includes not just homosexual attraction, but actual homosexual sex and a homosexual lifestyle.

So I hope that is a little bit clearer, and I hope in using those terms well, we do justice to both the Bible and the people whose experience this is.

But we need to turn to the Bible, don't we? Shilpa's going to come and give us our first reading. We're going to think about the question, what does the Bible say about homosexuality? Thanks, Shilpa. Thanks, Shilpa. Good morning.

It's page number 1128, Romans chapter 1, verse 18. The heading says, God's wrath against sinful humanity.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that people are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. But their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore, God gave them over in their sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served created things rather than the creator, who is forever praised.

Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts, even the women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.

In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them.

Thanks, Shilpa. Sounds harsh, possibly even hateful to our ears, doesn't it?

And yet the first thing that Paul says here is that it's not the Bible and its thinking that needs rehabilitation. It's us and our thinking.

See, we think we're fine, naturally speaking. We don't need saving. And that's exactly the problem. So right at the beginning of the book, which explains the good news about Jesus in such a sensational way, right at the beginning of Romans, Paul explains why we need the good news in the first place.

It's hard to hear though, isn't it? What does he actually say? Let's look at verse 18 to 20. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that people are without excuse.

What is Paul saying? Paul is saying, first of all, we are all in the same boat. But it is the wickedness of people, not one particular kind of person, that is the problem.

This isn't a passage about homosexuality, first and foremost. This is a passage about what happens when humanity commits treason against God. We are all without excuse.

Verses 21 to 23. For although they knew God, they neither glorified God, nor gave thanks to him. But their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal human beings and birds and reptiles. See, Paul is talking about when humanity rebelled against God at the beginning, at the fall.

He refers back to creation, doesn't he? And as a result of the fall, what happens? Our thinking is disordered.

You see that? Their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Because we're no longer aligned to God, who gave us our brains, taught us to think, but instead we've given ourselves, our allegiance, our loyalty to something else, our self, sex, whatever other God we've made up.

Because of that, our thinking is skewed. Verses 24, 25. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served, created things rather than the Creator who is forever praised. Amen. So not only is our thinking disordered, but actually our sexual desires are disordered, aren't they?

Not just one kind of person's sexual desires. everybody's. All of us are sexually messed up. Which means that if you are same-sex attracted, then in all the important ways, your sexuality is the same as everyone else's.

It is beautiful, it is broken, it belongs to God. All of us are slaves to our bodies, to our sexual desires until God sets us free.

So when God says, don't do this, that isn't an unhealthy repression of a natural desire, but instead it is God saying to everyone, to everyone, control your disordered desires.

notice what he doesn't say. He says, certain sexual desires are wrong. What he doesn't say is, when you experience those things, you're sinning.

His target is not the desire itself and laying responsibility for that desire on an individual, but what you do with it. He doesn't condone the desire, but he speaks to us about what we do with it.

Verses 26 and 27. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.

Men committed shameful acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. So what does the Bible say? It says that homosexuality does not fit God's design for human sexuality.

Paul says that homosexuality is against God's created order. That is what he means by unnatural. And that makes sense, doesn't it? It makes sense in the context of everything we have learnt about sex so far.

Because homosexual sex can't be fruitful, it requires difference to be fruitful, doesn't it? And actually, biblically speaking, it can't be faithful either.

Because God defines faithfulness as marriage between a man and a woman. because marriage reflects Christ's love, faithful love for the church.

So homosexual sex doesn't point to God's life-giving love for his people and nor does any sex outside of marriage. It's like the sign that you can see on their PowerPoint.

You know what the words say? Keep right. What direction is the arrow pointing? That's the problem. And again, I'll say it again, while certain sexual desires are wrong, it is the actions that Paul is holding people responsible for here.

So if you experience same-sex attraction or your friend or your family member does, then what we are not saying is your sexuality is good but don't practice it. What we are not saying is your sexuality is wrong while everyone else's is right so don't practice it.

We are not saying that. We are saying your sexuality is broken just like everyone else's and the only right way to practice it is the way that God invites us to in a way that points to his faithful life-giving passionate love for his people.

Which means that if we experience same-sex attraction or any other kind of sexual desire or urge outside of God's definition of marriage whether that be porn or fantasy in your head or actual adultery whatever it may be we must say no to ourselves all of us and if we're all broken sexually then homosexual sin is not some worse kind of sin is it?

You notice in the Bible it always appears in a list it always sits in the box called sexual immorality next to a whole load of other things and what does Jesus say about adultery which is sexual immorality he says it's a matter of the heart now if it's a matter of the heart which of us is going to cast the first stone?

It means we don't condemn someone for experiencing same-sex attraction or having a homosexual orientation how can we say that? We can say that because God in the words of Paul doesn't judge primarily based on how we rebel how we suppress the truth but the fact that we do it's not what kind of rebel we are it's the fact that we're a rebel which means that in church it should be safe to talk about this because we're all rebels we're all broken and we should be carrying each other's burdens but it does also mean Christians that we can't be neutral on this did you see what Paul says in verse 32 about people who approve of homosexual lifestyles he says actually you are in the same boat so you can love and you should love and support people who experience same-sex attraction especially when they've been bullied or marginalised or otherwise hurt or harmed but not in a way that will give people the impression that you approve of the lifestyle they've chosen if this is linked to God's design in creation and to the fall then it isn't really just a matter of a few verses is it this is about

God's whole design for what it means to be human it's not an argument about interpretation it's about the sweep of scripture if you don't believe me here's two voices there's a man called entertainingly called Pim Pronk and here's exactly what it says there he's a homosexual liberal Dutch Bible scholar does the Bible support homosexuality that support is lacking wherever homosexual intercourse is mentioned in scripture it is condemned rejection is a foregone conclusion the assessment of it nowhere constitutes a problem not a Christian gay reads the Bible conclusion he comes to is it's clear or how about Rachel Gilson she's a lady who same-sex attracted wasn't brought up a Christian has become Christian she says when I was first feeling drawn to Jesus I wondered if there'd be a place for someone like me in his church initially I was given false hope by friends who told me that the

Bible doesn't actually say no to same-sex sexuality but when I read the Bible I found it does it took me realizing I wanted Jesus more than any woman to truly come to him and to find my life in him by losing it still not convinced can I recommend this book to you what does the Bible really teach about homosexuality by Kevin DeYoung no relation by the way so that's what the Bible says at least in part about homosexuality how's that good news how's that good news let alone for those who are same-sex attracted society says we're doing people harm by teaching this and by expecting Christians to live this way that we're not letting people be happy but are we looking for happiness in the right way or in the right place Kim's going to give us our second reading from

Matthew chapter 19 thanks Kim so our second reading is from Matthew 19 and we'll read from verses 1 to 12 and then down to 29 when Jesus had finished saying these things he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan large crowds followed him and he healed them there some Pharisees came to him to test him they asked is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason haven't you read he replied that at the beginning the creator made them male and female and said for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh so they are no longer two but one flesh therefore what

God has joined together let no one separate why then they asked did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away Jesus replied Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard but it was not this way from the beginning I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another woman commits adultery the disciples said to him if this is the situation between a husband and wife it is better not to marry Jesus replied not everyone can accept this word but only those to whom it has been given for there are eunuchs who were born that way and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven the one who can accept this should accept it and then down to 29 and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life thanks kim people don't choose who they're attracted to often do they you feel like it's etched into your heart into the fabric of your being so what good news does jesus offer those for whom that is their experience let's notice a few things from this passage verses 4 and 5 god upholds god's jesus upholds god's design in creation doesn't he haven't you read he replied that the beginning the creator made them male and female jesus jumps straight over the old testament law that's interesting isn't it and he says if you want to know what god really thinks about your question don't look at how things are now you go back to before the fall and jesus says sex is between man and a woman in marriage reflecting my own jesus own love for the church and it's two different pieces that make one flesh just as jesus is different to the church and that is hope for all because it points to jesus life creating sacrificial saving love for his people and that love is for all those who are heterosexual those who are homosexual those who are married those who are single those who are able to have sex those who are not able and he says verses six to nine jesus condemns adultery doesn't he he underlines the seventh commandment and he says don't commit adultery and he's referring back to the old testament category of sexual immorality which includes homosexuality and he does that why because faithfulness in marriage which is broken by adultery faithfulness in marriage points to god's faithful love to us so jesus is completely in line with the old testament and he is so for us but this is the punchline verses 10 to 12 what's going on here the disciples think jesus must not understand the implications of what he's saying here because if

that's how it's supposed to be marriage between one man and one woman for life then it's better not to get married at all isn't it too hard verse 10 if the disciple said to him this is a situation between a husband and a wife it is better not to marry and what do they think he's going to say they think well he's going to pull them back now because that's a line that we don't want to cross old testament blessing is being married and having a wife and kids and what does jesus say you're right he says you're right not everyone can accept this word but only to those whom it has been given the one who can accept this should it should accept it singleness and celibacy is good news because jesus says it is he says it's better he would know he wasn't married and actually that's good news we all need isn't it because we are all single at some point and will be single again there's no marriage in heaven if the old testament mark of blessing was being married and having children then the new mark of blessing is being one with the lord jesus sexual union points to union with christ what does union with christ give us union with christ gives us a family and an intimate friendship that will last forever whether we are married or single and who joins us together verse 6 it's god god joins us together in union with the lord jesus and what god has joined together man won't separate that is good news isn't it i think we tend to think about eternal life which is what being with jesus means as kind of a never ending continuation of what we've got now and if you're struggling with same sex attraction or other sexual difficulty and that's not really good news is it because that would be like being a nun or a monk forever have a never ending eternity of loneliness and longing that doesn't get fulfilled but that's not what eternal life is eternal life is knowing jesus that's what john 17 says eternal life is a relationship of the deepest intimacy and love with jesus which can start right now and which will never end and which will in the end make us whole forever and that is good news isn't it and then we come to verse 29 everyone who has left behind the dream of marriage and children and family who has offered that up to god will be rewarded will not fail to receive a hundred times over what they have sacrificed and they will inherit the kingdom if this is true then we need to redefine our idea of what love is we need a love that can't be reduced to sex or romance bible has an answer doesn't it what is the greatest kind of love it's the kind that unites us to jesus greater love has no man than that he give his life for his

friends see the greatest love says god is to give your life for another you can do that without ever having sex in fact if you sacrifice the chance to have sex for god's sake you are doing what jesus did and we need to remember what we said before in the end being right with god and being happy go together because being happy is not about doing whatever you want in the moment it is about being with the right person forever and who is the right person for all of us forever it's the lord jesus so why don't people believe that well the answer from christians who struggle with same sex attraction or experience same sex attraction is that in general we've done a bad job of living our faiths in a way that makes singleness credible and livable when people have said but i want a family we haven't been the family that they've needed in the church and when people have said i'm lonely our answer has been i'm busy with the kids and while we've asked those who experience same sex attraction and single people to deny themselves have we been willing to deny ourselves all that much what can we do with this well we celebrate wedding anniversaries don't we and that is right and good because they point to god's love but shouldn't we also celebrate anniversaries of faithful service to the lord jesus in relationship with him by single people or deep friendships between people of the same sex that aren't sexual because don't those things point to the love of jesus as well the sacrificial greater love has no man kind of love when we speak to those who don't follow christ we need to be saying that if we are going to be as humanity caring and fair and inclusive then the good life needs to be the one that is for everyone including single people including those who can't have sex or don't have sex for whatever reason anything else is too small but that is the vision that christ offers us of the good life and when we discuss with people we say yes to intimacy but no to an intimacy that has to be reduced to sex instead an intimacy that offers deep and eternal love to people of all sexualities and all states which is what christ offers we say that we believe people are more than their sexuality don't we and that christianity has always believed that that's what god's message is but then we can't act like marriage is our reward for being good boys and girls jesus is our reward i wonder if you've noticed that sexual intimacy is not enough to satisfy our longing for sex our longing always returns why is that it's because

sexual desire points to something more than sexual fulfilment it points to the eternal love of god the only thing that will satisfy us forever so we don't make our life choices based on sex then we make our life choices based on god's love how then can we love people who experience same-sex attraction well i think jill's going to come and give us our third and final reading okay so the third reading is 1 corinthians 6 verses 9 to 20 do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of god do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor the drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of god and that is what some of you were but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the lord jesus christ and by the spirit of our god everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial everything is permissible for me but i will not be mastered by anything food for the stomach and the stomach for food but god will destroy them both the body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the lord and the lord for the body by his power god raised the lord from the dead and he will raise us also do you not know that your bodies are members of christ himself shall i then take the members of christ and unite them with a prostitute never do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body for it is said the two will become one flesh but he who unites himself with the lord is one with him in spirit flee from sexual immorality all other sins a man commits are outside his body but he who sins sexually sins against his own body do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy spirit who is in you whom you have received from god you are not your own you were bought at a price therefore honour god with your body thanks jill jesus is realistic he knows that our sexualities have gone wrong and that we will mess up and that we will live with the consequences until he returns such were some of you that's what it says right at the beginning isn't it how then do we love people who experience same-sex attraction well verses 9 and 10 we need to remember that this is a salvation issue do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of god do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of god those who don't turn away from

sexual sin of any kind won't inherit the kingdom is what the bible says so we can't say that this is a secondary issue that we can agree to disagree about it and that is scary for all of us isn't it if adultery is a matter of the heart verse 11 and that is what some of you were but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the lord jesus christ and by the spirit of our god we need to remember that it is jesus who saves and who washes and who cleans not being straight and that means we don't expect those who don't love the same lord to hold the same line as us but we do introduce them to the lord jesus so we lead with the gospel don't we we welcome people into our homes and into our church so that they can meet him here not clean up your act then you'll be welcome because it's jesus who does the cleaning up it's jesus who washes us all clean all of us and remember paul is talking to people who are already in the church so even when we mess up after we come to him jesus can clean us up but we learn also that jesus should be our master not our sexual desires see paul is in an argument with the corinthians they throw out statement and he says yeah but and it goes back and forth and paul says i will not be mastered by anything certainly not the things that characterized my life before before i met jesus because he should be my master now the loving lord of the universe so our guide for life is not our appetites it's the spirit of jesus who renews us and leads us and verse 17 we need to remind each other that we're united with christ paul paul just talks about that for verses and verses doesn't he verse 17 is the key whoever is united with the lord is one with him in spirit so our bodies are for him in fact he is in our bodies in some way that we cannot understand and that means our bodies are temples not playgrounds and it means also did you see this that when he returns our bodies will be resurrected repaired perfected so that we will never again want things that are wrong what are we to do therefore verses 18 to 20 flee from sexual immorality honor god with your bodies we help each other honor god with our bodies we flee from what he says is wrong what does that mean in practice well it means if such were some of you some of us if we were once like that then there is no us and them it's not those people over there who have this kind of sexuality and us in here because we were once them

Paul doesn't say don't associate with people in the LGBTQIA plus society he says don't associate with people who claim to follow Christ but refuse to repent of what Christ says is wrong that's who he says not to associate with and we need to remember that the root of all sexual sin is not sex but it is pride prideful rebellion the god of self that is the basic problem that we need saving from and even Sodom and Gomorrah is explained in those terms in the old testament their sin was pride and what form it took is secondary and it means of course that if God's ultimate solution for our broken bodies is the resurrection his ultimate solution is the resurrection then we should not be insisting or always expect that people's sexual desires or orientations will change though we can ask

God this raises a lot of questions and probably some concerns for you and it's right to listen carefully to those but I think most of all we need to remind ourselves of what it means to follow Jesus and to live in his love because what Jesus asks of all of us is self denial isn't it that is the heart of the gospel because it points to Jesus denying himself on the cross whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me and when we hear that it sounds negative doesn't it we kind of think oh it's kind of a be mean to yourself so you can feel righteous a kind of wasting away until there's nothing left of the real you except sort of a sense of holiness but that isn't what it means self-denial self-forgetfulness leads to love and to joy how's that because the greatest love is sacrificial it's self-giving love isn't it and because that takes you straight to Jesus who is the greatest example of that love and who is also the most fulfilled person there ever was it's a self-denial that gladly accepts the good things that God puts in our path isn't it without running down every side track after what we think is best it doesn't result in wasting away it results in growth the things that last forever become more precious and the things that offer us only a passing pleasure get put in their right place we become more like

Jesus who is supremely content in himself and who overflows with love for other people that's what we want isn't it that's what Jesus calls us to and that's where his teaching about human sexuality fits in celibacy singleness is not second best for those whom God calls to it is the best way to experience his life giving love that's not giving up the most fulfilling relationship you can experience it is throwing yourself into it because Jesus is deeper and richer and fuller and more reliable and less changeable and more passionate and more exciting and more trustworthy and more understanding than anybody else oh the deep deep love of Jesus love of every love the best love pray that that love would be yours amen we're going to stand and sing of the hope that we have in Christ in Christ alone

Thank you.