TRUE LOVE WAITS
(February 2009 – Beausejour Church Youth Rally – Pastor Chris Jordan)
WHAT IS TRUE LOVE WAITS? True Love Waits is a campaign designed to challenge students to remain sexually abstinent until marriage. 2.5 – 3 million students have made the True Love Waits Pledge. When I hosted True Love Waits conferences as a youth pastor in Surrey, BC, we saw over 1,200 students make the TLW pledge! *Not Everybody’s Doing it!*
SHOCKING STATISTICS – EVERY DAY:
2,795 teenage girls get pregnant (about 1,000,000 a year, 95% unintended!)
8,219 teenagers contract sexually transmitted diseases (www.ppbec.bfn.org/teens/tp_std.htm)
INTRO SPEAKER: I was conceived in a hotel room in Edmonton by my parents before they got married. Unplanned and unwanted. They later got married and then divorced - my alcoholic father left us. Went through life looking for love. STORY of the all night drive in: There’s got to be more to life than dating girls, partying and getting drunk! (Salvation story)
THE MEDIA’S LIES: Today’s media is telling you lies – you watch a movie, what do you see? Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl falls in love with boy, they have sex together, and the next thing you know they’re running down the beach together in slow motion while romantic music plays in the background. TV IS NOT REALITY! TV has an unrealistic model of actions and consequences – don’t buy the lie! (James Bond illustration)
KEY TEXT: “God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness and honor –not in lustful passion as the pagans do, in their ignorance of God and his ways.” (1 Thess. 4:3-5).
ILLUSTRATE TRAPS: Sexual immorality is a trap (mouse trap & Reese’s monkey’s stories)
1. GOD IS A LOVING FATHER:
“The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:13).
• Why did God give us His commandments? For our own good and protection!
• ILLUSTRATION: discuss rules for my children (don’t touch the hot stove!)
• We need to heal our image of God - a warm, loving Heavenly Father
• Most important truth you can walk away with today – God created you and loves you!
2. GOD HAS A PERFECT PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE:
“But from the beginning of the creation, God ’made them male and female.’ ’For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mark 10:6-9).
“Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:18-19).
• Sex outside of marriage is wrong because it hurts the participants:
• Why wait? True Love Waits - if you really love that person, you’ll do it God’s way
TESTIMONIES: Kyle Neufeld & Liza Jordan (list)
TOP 10 WAYS TO SAY NO:
Everybody’s doing it. If that’s the case, then it shouldn’t be too hard to find someone else then, should it?
If you loved me you’d let me. If you loved me, you wouldn’t pressure me.
Would you like to get into the back seat? No thanks, I’d rather stay up front with you.
Don’t worry, I’ll use protection. You’re going to need protection if you don’t stop pressuring me.
Want to go to bed? No thanks, I just got up.
You don’t know what you’re missing. That will make two of us because I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of finding out.
Try it, you’ll like it. I’m sure I will with the one I marry.
But I have to have it! No, you don’t. If I can wait, you can wait.
We’ve had sex before, what’s wrong with doing it again? That doesn’t make it right. Besides, I have the right to change my mind.
I can’t believe you’re still a virgin! What are you waiting for? Anytime I want to I can become like you. But you can never again become like me.
DATING THOUGHTS:
1. Set standards of purity beforehand - Unshakable Unbreakables - write them down.
2. Be real & accountable with someone - share your standards with them.
3. Choose your friends wisely - same values as you - get plugged into youth group.
4. Make sure the person you’re going to date has the same values as you.
5. Become good friends first. The best person to date is your best friend! Set aside physical & focus on building a relationship – be friends first – communicate.
6. Don’t date anyone you wouldn’t marry! Dating = fun, preparation for marriage.
7. Use wisdom in choosing where to go on dates. Don’t be alone, or go to parties where there will be negative pressures to drink, do drugs, make out, etc.
8. Break off a bad relationship if you’re being pressured.
9. If you can’t handle the pressure, run!
10. Pray - before date (kept from temptation) & while on date together. By making this promise tonight, you can count on God’s protection in helping you follow through!
THE TRUE LOVE WAITS PLEDGE:
“Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future mate, and my future children to a lifetime of purity including sexual abstinence from this day until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship.”
WHY WAIT? True Love Waits
When you save sex until marriage, there are many practical benefits!
BENEFIT #1 - PROTECTION: (Waiting until marriage protects from)
30 Sexually Transmitted Infections – including AIDS that can kill you
- about 3,000,000 contract STI’s a year (that’s 1 out of every 4 teens)
Unplanned Pregnancy - about 1,000,000 a year (abortion - 4/10 teenage girls)
Unwanted Marriage – Divorce
Loss of Reputation
Low Self-esteem
Lose Individuality
Less Character
Guilt
Depression
Broken Heart
Suicide
Isolation (withdraw from family & friends who disagree)
Development of Poor Sexual Habits & Attitudes
No “Comparisons” with Future Spouse
Abusive & Failed Relationships / Marriage
Compromises Family or Religious Beliefs
BENEFIT #2 - PROVISION: (Waiting until marriage provides for)
Plan for Future
Freedom From Disease
Trust
Respect
Help Others
Develop Friendships without Sexual Overtones
Always Remember the First Time Sense of Wonder
Bring Something Special into Marriage
Learn Discipline and Self-control
Marry for the Right Reasons
Healthy/Happy Sex Life
Energy For Other Things
Freedom to See Children as they Really Are: Special
Greatest Chance for Successful / Happy Marriage
(Lowest Divorce Rate)
Obedience to Family or Religious Beliefs
Beausejour Community Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor Chris Jordan’s Blog: http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/
