Transgender 6 – Wisdom

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We’re not meant to face our struggles alone.  We’re meant to face them within the family of God.

If you’re a Christian who experiences gender dysphoria, remember that this does not define you.  You are defined by who you are in Christ.  Our goal, aided by the Holy Spirit, is to align our desires and behaviours in line with that identity.

A Christian church should respond by warmly welcoming everyone, just as Jesus did.  According to Acts, the first Gentile to become a Christian was a eunuch.…

Transgender 5 – Rescue

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God made us; we don’t have to define ourselves, he has already done that.  By turning away from him, we have spoilt everything.  We can’t sort it out ourselves, because we are part of the problem.  But God has sent the rescuer we so desperately need.

God’s Son being born on earth is a wonderful affirmation of our created bodies.  He identified with our sinful nature, without himself being a sinner.  He died the death that we deserved.  …

Transgender 4 – Fall

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Genesis 3 records the scene in which the first humans, given great freedom to enjoy God’s good creation, defied his clear command.  But their bid for freedom, far from making them ‘like God’, dragged them down into a state of brokenness, of fallenness.

We are created, but fallen – and every aspect of our humanity is affected by this: we are all prone not only to bodily sickness and decline but also to disorders of our intellects, emotions and wills.…

Transgender 3 – Creation

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According to Genesis 1:27 (quoted by Jesus in Matthew 19:4), ‘God created mankind in his own image…male and female he created them.’

We are creatures, and therefore our identity is found, not by asserting our independence, but by embracing what our Creator has made us to be.

We are not machines; we are ‘flawed masterpieces’.  If you set out to restore an Old Master, you don’t think: “This would look better with a car, rather than a hay cart”: you must be true to the work of the original artist.…

Transgender 2 – The iworld

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One result of the Enlightenment was that reliance on revelation was replaced with reason as the authoritative source of knowledge.  But our society has now largely lost its confidence in reason, and therefore has abandoned the concept of objective truth as applied to the ‘big questions’ of meaning and morality.

We live, accordingly, in an age of subjectivism, of individualism, of personal freedom.  I am free: free to think and live as I want.  Free to be me.  …

Transgender 1 – Introduction

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Here’s the first instalment of my summary of Vaughan Robert’s short book on this subject:-

Transgender is today’s big social, ethical and cultural issue.  Stories of transitioning, debates about which public bathrooms to use, documentaries on transgender children, are impacting us on almost a daily basis.

How are Christians to respond:- not only to the issues, but also to the people involved, as we come into contact with them?

‘Transgender’ covers a range of experiences in which an individual’s sense of gender does not match their biological sex.  …

Discussion starters – Exodus 3 & 4

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  1. What do you think is the significance of the ‘flames of fire’ in chapter 3:2?  What biblical images and ideas does this conjure up?  How do you feel when you read that ‘our God is a consuming fire’ (Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29)?
  2. Look at chapter 3:13-15.  In Old Testament times, a person’s ‘name’ represented his or her character.  What aspects of God’s character are revealed in this passage?  And in what ways does this revelation of God’s ‘name’ look forward to Christ?
…

‘Behold the Lamb of God’

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John 1:29

  1. The Lamb of God prophesied, Gen 22:8
  2. The Lamb of God typified, Ex 12:5f
  3. The Lamb of God identified, Jn 1:29
  4. The Lamb of God crucified, Isa 53:7
  5. The Lamb of God glorified, Rev 5:6
  6. The Lamb of God magnified, Rev 5:12
  7. The Lamb of God satisfied, Rev 19:7; 21:9

(Naismith, 1200 Scripture Outlines)…

Discussion starters, Joshua 1-6

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(a) How does the story of Joshua relate to the great promise that Abraham had been given in Genesis 12:1-3?

(b) The story of Rahab in Joshua 2 is the story of how a Gentile woman of dubious morals found that she mattered to God.  The Old Testament focuses on the Lord’s dealings with his chosen people, the Jews; but can you think of other instances where Gentile people find God’s favour?  And what do you make of Matthew 1:5?…

Discussion starters, Daniel 1-6

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(a) Daniel found himself, as a young man, in a very alien environment.  To what extent do find yourself, as a young Christian, to be in an environment where you are made to feel that you don’t belong?

(b) One of the most striking things about Daniel is his discipline.  Quickly scan these chapters to see how much evidence you can find for this.  What do you thing we can learn from Daniel’s example in this regard?…