May 31st, 2026 - Against The Tide: Part 2 (10:30 AM)

Jun 01, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Your Body: A Temple on Loan from God

The world insists your body belongs to you, a tool for self-expression or pleasure. Scripture declares a radical truth: your body is a sacred trust, bought with Christ’s blood and inhabited by His Spirit. This changes everything—how you dress, what you consume, where you invest your energy. Sexual purity isn’t about repression but stewardship. Like a borrowed heirloom, we care for it not according to our whims but the Owner’s instructions. Every choice becomes worship when we remember we’re handling holy property. [29:11]

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples 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 honor God with your bodies."
(1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you claimed “ownership” of your body through choices that ignore God’s design? What one step can you take this week to honor Him as the true Owner?

Day 2: Sexuality: A Fenced Garden, Not a Wild Field

Culture frames sex as a limitless playground, but God designed it as a walled garden—protected and purposeful. Within marriage, sexuality cultivates intimacy, reflects Christ’s love for the Church, and births new life. Outside those boundaries, it becomes a weed that chokes souls. This isn’t about missing out but preserving the sacred. Like a farmer who fences crops not to restrict but to nourish, God’s limits guard love’s deepest joys. [37:39]

"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral."
(Hebrews 13:4, NIV)

Reflection: What cultural lies about “sexual freedom” have you tolerated? How might embracing God’s design deepen your trust in His goodness?

Day 3: Identity: Chiseled by Christ, Not Crafted by Culture

Labels like “gay,” “straight,” or “nonbinary” shrink identity to desires. Scripture shouts a better name: “Child of God.” In Christ, every believer is remade—not improved, but resurrected. Old patterns may linger, but they don’t define you. Just as a butterfly can’t reclaim its caterpillar shell, Christians live from their new nature. This identity isn’t earned through purity but received through grace. [31:03]

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"
(2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)

Reflection: Which worldly label or past struggle still feels like your “name”? How would living as “new creation” shift your daily choices?

Day 4: Crucifixion: Killing Desires, Not Coddling Them

Sinful urges aren’t houseguests to entertain but criminals to execute. Crucifixion isn’t quick or painless—it demands ruthless honesty, accountability, and Spirit-empowered resolve. Every click, glance, or fantasy is a nail. Victory comes not by feeling stronger but by daily surrendering weaker. The cross reminds us: what feels like death to our cravings is birth to true freedom. [46:50]

"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
(Galatians 5:24, NIV)

Reflection: Which desire have you been negotiating with instead of crucifying? Who can you invite into this battle today?

Day 5: Magnets and Miles: Staying Far to Stay Free

Temptation’s pull weakens with distance. Accountability apps, blocked contacts, or altered routines aren’t legalism—they’re lifelines. Like Joseph fleeing Potiphar’s wife, wisdom runs first and fast. Every “small” compromise magnetizes the soul toward greater bondage. Freedom flourishes in the space we create between craving and choice. [54:43]

"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body."
(1 Corinthians 6:18, NIV)

Reflection: What “harmless” edge have you been skirting? What radical step will you take to put miles between you and temptation?

Sermon Summary

The contrast between culture and Scripture sets the frame: culture chants my body, my rules, but Paul insists the body belongs to the Lord. First Corinthians 6 says the Christian body is not its own, which means sexual desire is not a tool of self expression but a gift with God given limits and purposes. Identity follows the same line. The world urges self definition by sexual labeling, but Christ gives a new identity. Second Corinthians 5 says the old has gone. The Spirit hands the believer a new name, a new direction, and new boundaries.

Galatians 5 lays out the fight. The flesh pulls hard and loud, the Spirit speaks life and truth, and those two desires constantly collide. The difference between a Christian and a non Christian is not the absence of temptation but the presence of a war and the power to choose. The works of the flesh tell on a life led by desire, and Paul starts his list with three sexual sins. Sexual immorality porneia names any sexual activity outside the covenant of a man and a woman bound for life. God is not anti sex. He is pro covenant, pro bonding, and pro protection. Impurity akatharsia targets the inner life. Jesus moves the line inside the heart. Lustful looking is adultery incubating, like a truck with a shiny paint job but a rusted frame that collapses under pressure. Shamelessness aselgeia is the brazen stage where sin is celebrated and normalized. Ancient Rome flaunted it. So does modern life. Paul will not call darkness light.

Paul’s remedy is just as concrete. Those who belong to Christ nail the flesh to the cross. Crucifixion is slow. It is also public. Hidden sin stays strong. James tells the church to confess and pray so that real healing can land. That means dragging desire into the light and suffocating it. Delete the bait. Block the access. Invite accountability. End a sexual relationship or covenant it before God. Marriage is not a job interview. It is the job, the daily, durable yes. For the single and the same sex attracted, Scripture dignifies celibacy as a holy call for the kingdom. Jesus lived it. Paul wrote it. Nearness to God is not a consolation prize. It is the prize. So the wise keep their distance from the magnet of temptation. The closer the filings move to the pull, the faster they fly. Flee sexual immorality. Don’t pet it. Execute it.

Key Takeaways

1. The body belongs to the Lord [29:11] God claims the believer’s body through redemption, which reframes agency as stewardship. That shift turns permission into purpose and imposes holy limits that protect joy. Sexuality is not self expression but covenant expression. Ownership answers the why behind every no and every yes. [29:11]
2. The Spirit wages a daily war [33:52] Galatians names a fight, not a vibe. Desire does not disappear at conversion, but the believer now possesses new power and new desires. Patterns reveal masters. Occasional falls grieve grace, but a life led by the flesh exposes allegiance. The Spirit can be chosen, again and again. [33:52]
3. Sexual sin moves in a progression [43:17] Impurity seeds the imagination, porneia acts it out, and shamelessness brands it as pride. Guarding the inner life is not prudish; it is preventive care for the soul. What is wrong to do is wrong to dwell on for pleasure. Kill seeds, and harvests change. [43:17]
4. Crucify desires and confess publicly [45:54] Crucifixion is slow suffocation, which is why stubborn desires take time to die. Bringing sin into the light accelerates the death, because grace often travels on the prayers of the saints. Costly choices are crosses, not accessories. Kill access, not just guilt. [45:54]
5. Celibacy as joyful kingdom call [51:56] Scripture honors those who choose self control for the kingdom. Jesus and Paul embody a full human life without sexual activity and without lack. The lie says unacted desire is deprivation; the truth says misdirected desire is separation. Intimacy with God is real gain. [51:56]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[27:37] - Against the tide on sexuality
[28:26] - Who owns the body
[30:25] - Identity received in Christ
[31:03] - Desires under Christ’s control
[33:13] - Walk by the Spirit’s lead
[35:03] - Works of the flesh named
[37:02] - Porneia and marriage boundaries
[41:57] - Jesus starts with the heart
[43:17] - From lust to shameless pride
[45:54] - Nail passions to the cross
[48:14] - Confession that brings healing
[49:28] - Costly, practical guardrails
[51:56] - Celibacy for the kingdom
[54:43] - Prayer and ministry invitation

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Galatians 5:16-24 (ESV)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Observation Questions

What three sexual sins does Paul specifically name in Galatians 5:19, and how does the sermon define their progression (e.g., internal vs. outward)? [43:17]
According to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, what two reasons are given for why our bodies do not belong to us? [29:11]
How does the sermon contrast the world’s view of sexual desire (“self-expression”) with Scripture’s view (“covenant expression”)?

Interpretation Questions

Why might Paul emphasize crucifying sinful desires (Galatians 5:24) rather than simply avoiding them? How does the metaphor of crucifixion relate to the process of overcoming sexual sin? [45:54]
The sermon states, “What’s wrong to do is wrong to dwell on for pleasure.” How does Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:28 redefine the boundaries of sexual sin beyond physical actions?
How does public confession (James 5:16) weaken the power of hidden sin, according to the sermon? Why is secrecy so damaging in this struggle? [48:14]

Application Questions

What practical step could you take this week to “delete the bait” or “block access” to a specific temptation (e.g., an app, relationship, or habit)? [49:28]
Who is one trusted believer you could invite to pray with you about a recurring struggle, and how might you initiate that conversation?
If you’re unmarried, how could you reframe singleness or same-sex attraction as an opportunity to pursue “nearness to God” rather than a lack of fulfillment? [51:56]
What daily habit (e.g., Scripture reading, worship music, prayer) could help you “suffocate” lustful thoughts before they take root? [45:54]
How might viewing your body as “bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20) change your decisions about relationships, media consumption, or boundaries?

Sermon Clips

32s

#WhoOwnsYourBody

“And so I want to compare the differences by begin by comparing the differences between what the culture tells us about sexuality versus what the Bible tells us. And I wanna begin by asking the question, who does your body belong to? I've been doing a study on finances and the thing I probably said probably 20 times now is the starting place to use your money and possessions well is to understand it belongs to God. Then you you reorient how you're gonna use it and what you're gonna do with it because you understand. It's similar with your sexuality.”

27s

#EnslavedBySin

“Now I wanna be clear. This isn't saying if you've ever given into any of these, you're not inheriting the kingdom of God. Or the vast majority, if not all of us, would not qualify, right, to be saved. The key verses in verse 21, it tells us that living that sort of life means you aren't right with God. This isn't an occasional slip up. This is somebody who is controlled by their sinful nature. Instead of their master being God, it really is whatever that sin is that's driving them. They're enslaved to it.”

31s

#SexWithinMarriage

“It's the word porneia in Greek. It's the word we get pornography from, and it's used in the New Testament, the definition is really any sexual activity outside of marriage. Paul's saying, don't do that. Right? Sexual activity is meant for inside of marriage. When a husband, a man and a woman commit themselves for a lifetime commitment, God gives them sexuality to be able to express themselves and I think it's partly because it bonds you. Right? The sexual act, that's why if you do it casually, now you have complicated emotions getting involved and people get more hurt.”

22s

#SinStartsInTheHeart

“One of the hardest parts about Jesus's teaching is he says sin for his followers is gonna start in the heart. You're gonna work on that. Before people commit sexual immorality, they think about it, they fantasize about it, they dream about it. You lust after a man or a woman and desire to be with them. And Paul puts this sin in the same category as sexual immorality and it's the same as the last one we're gonna look at.”

22s

#IdentityInChrist

“But you know what the Bible says? The Bible says your identity is given by God. God loves you. If you're a Christian, you are his own child. You've been redeemed and loved. You've been given a new identity in Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians five seventeen tells us the old way of life is gone. You no longer get to decide exactly all the bad stuff you used to do. You have a new direction God's given you in Jesus Christ.”

22s

#HeartLeadsToAction

“Wherever you read this, these letters are written to the church. These words are written to the church because it's not something foreign to the church. All of us over most of us have sexual desires that are not pleasing to God. What do you do with them? And so what we see here is Paul has a progression. Right? Like you have this internal sexual immorality that a lot of times if you let it grow, then it turns into outward sexual immorality.”

24s

#BodyBelongsToGod

“The starting place to understand what is the purpose of my of my body, does it belong to me? That's what the world believes. This is my body. I can do with it what I want. The Bible says your body belongs to the Lord. First Corinthians six nineteen and twenty directly says that, that we aren't our own. And so right there you have a big difference. How do you live your life and your sexuality? Is it your body to do with what you like or does it belong to the Lord?”

21s

#BattleOverDesire

“There's a lot of people here with good intentions. Right? But what Paul's saying is you're in a battle. On the one side, you have your sinful nature that all the time is like, doesn't that sound fun? Don't you wanna do that? Right? With sexual desire, there's a lot of desire there. There's a lot of things you wanna do. And on the other hand, as a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit there saying, here's what God's plan is for your life. Do this. This will be much better for you.”

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May 31st, 2026 - Against The Tide: Part 2 (10:30 AM)

Devotional

Day 1: Your Body: A Temple on Loan from God

Day 2: Sexuality: A Fenced Garden, Not a Wild Field

Day 3: Identity: Chiseled by Christ, Not Crafted by Culture

Day 4: Crucifixion: Killing Desires, Not Coddling Them

Day 5: Magnets and Miles: Staying Far to Stay Free

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

May 31st, 2026 - Against The Tide: Part 2 (10:30 AM)

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