God’s design for marriage

STRUCTURING YOUR MARRIAGE AROUND GOD’S DESIGN AND VISION

Sunday, 26 February 2023|Time: 12:30 at ICF Delft 

Here is the link for the sermon

Marriage is God’s idea.

It reflects something of who God is: God is love. It also reflects something about the church: a loving community.
A couple can feel disconnected at times:

– Why is this happening?
– Is there something we can do about this?

It is helpful to go back to the Bible and re-discover God’s design and vision for marriage. We then must take (drastic) decisions to realign our lives with God’s vision.

We looked at Genesis 2:24 and some other important passages. Our focus is practical: how can we improve our communication?

My Activities

My speaking schedule for 2023

• ICF Grace church Amersfoort February 12th 2023 

• ICF Delft February 26th 2023 

• ICF Grace church Amersfoort April 30th 2023

• ICF Grace church Amersfoort July 9th 2023

• ICF Grace church Amersfoort October 15th 2023

• ICF Grace church Amersfoort November 26th 2023

Living with Hope and Courage in All Circumstances

Some things we cannot change easily, the fact of the corona pandemic and lockdown we are going through is an example. But we can do something about how to respond to this pandemic.

This is a talk I gave at ICF Delft Sunday, October the 6th 2019. With the corona pandemic and the lockdown we experience these passages can bring comfort and strenght. They also can show us how to deal with uncertain times, even with death, with courage and hope.

Talk theme: living with hope and courage whatever may come

We all live our lives without knowing what may happen in the future. All humans are fragile in one way or another. For instance, we cannot avoid death or the death of loved ones. Furthermore, we need to know who we are to be able to live a life free from wrong expectations or the trap of performing to be accepted.

We want to live with values that will help us live a life worth living. Who can help us live with hope and courage during our short and fragile lives?

The Christian faith has an answer to these questions. Our passage this coming Sunday from 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5 talks about

• certainty in death – future promise connected with a past historical event
• a meeting with the King  that inspires hope
• courage to live with kingdom values
• an identity rooted in a love relationship with God

Click below to listen to the talk from about minute 29.

Outline: A Creed. A Meeting. An Identity. A lifestyle.

New Church (Nieuwe Kerk) in Delft.

TagsCorona, Covid-19, lockdown

What kind of relationships do I need to be truly happy?

Relationships matter

Relationships are important because they define us as human beings. To be authentically human, someone said, is to exist in relationships. Happiness has to do with the knowledge of being loved. Relationships define our identity. Not any kind of relationships brings happiness. Only loving relationships bring happiness in our lives as nothing else can do.

A famous rock singer, Freddie Mercury, once said that success had brought him fame and lots of money. However, before his death, he confessed that he missed the one thing really needed, “a loving, ongoing relationship.” Not only loving but ongoing relationships make the difference. This involves commitment.

Evidence that relationships matter

A nearly 80-year-old study has proven that “embracing community helps us live longer, and be happier.” The study revealed that “close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives.” Furthermore, they discovered through this study that “loneliness kills. It is as powerful as smoking or alcoholism.” And the key to healthy aging is “relationships, relationships, relationships.”

This study resonates surprisingly with what we read in the Bible. From the repeated words in the creation narrative of everything being good we have a sudden break with the words “it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” God created human beings in his own image and likeness, “in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” We are relational beings.

The reality of loneliness in our times

Loneliness is a real problem in our times. I asked a group of students in a university in Utrecht what could be a problem students are facing. They didn’t need much time to come with an answer. Loneliness and the need for loving relationships were on the top of their list. This generation has social media but still, it feels lonely. Business is a challenge for many people. Things go fast. Some struggle to catch up with things. Others have made it their aim to reach the top. A very successful novelist once was asked what he would like to have known as a boy. Here is what he said, “that when you get to the top, there’s nothing there.”

Relationships and true love

Love is important for good relationships. Our lives become meaningful when true love is part of our daily lives. The Beatles with their song “all we need is love” pointed to the brokenness of their generation which was struggling with racial tensions. The sad thing was that they ended up suing each other.

True love is more than a song that expresses an idea. Someone said that “love is not free” but it is the nature of love to “bind itself.” This means that love is not selfish. To gratify our desires is not true love. For relationships to grow and become meaningful commitment is unavoidable. Relationships are messy. Relationships are complicated. But the one thing that can make relationships blossom and grow is true love.

Finding and experiencing true love

Jesus taught about love many times. But more than this he talked about his love relationship with his Father in heaven. In one occasion he said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now, remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

According to Jesus true love can be experienced in a personal relationship with God. This relationship brings joy and leads us to loving, ongoing, meaningful relationships with others. It gives meaning to life. Here you can read more about this love. A good way to find out more about Jesus’ teaching about true love is to join the Alpha Course. I will be happy to answer questions you might have.

Notes

– This blog is a shortened version of a talk I gave at SEARCH, university mission in Utrecht in 2018. I also reworked it and used it at Grace Church on March 10th 2019. Here is the outline of the talk.

– Alister McGrath, Mere Apologetics

– Harvard study of adult development

– Bible Gateway. Online Bible in different versions. I used the NIV, New International Version in this blog.

– Questions of Life: An Opportunity to Explore the Meaning of Life

– Ravi Zacharias, Can man live without God? 

Tagsapologetics

Responding to World Religions

Upcoming seminar will be on Islam. Dr. Phil Gottschalk will lead this session. You are welcome October 9th 19:00 hour at trinity church international.

Responding to World Religions at Trinity International Church Directions click here

25 September Drake Williams Introducing the topic on World Religions.

2 October Mike Duffy on Hinduism.

9 October Phil Gottschalk on Islam.

16 October Jim Dahl on Buddhism.

30 October Solomon Dimitriadis on Secularism

Tagsapologetics