1 Corinthians SeriesSex Matters Introduction:Sex sells. It’s an old saying but it’s still true today. Advertisers all over the globe use sex to sell there produces. If an advertiser can find a way to make a provocative, they probably have. For many people today sex and sexuality has been normalized. It’s no longer taboo to talk about, especially for people of my generation. Back in the broken church of Corinth, they were having their own problems regarding sex. We already talked about the man who was sleeping with his step-mother. He thought he could do whatever he wanted. But it was more then just him. like I said before, their were those within the church who not only accepted that man’s sin, but actually applauded it. Today we are going to continue our series in first corinthians by examining chapter 7, the issues of sexual immorality within the church of Corinth. As sex and sexuality become more and more celebrated within our society is more important then ever that we understand why sex matters and what spot marriage should play in Christian life .Section 1: A Shattered View of SexThe truth is, the corinthians were all over the place in how they viewed sex. Just like in chapters 1-4 a number of factions had developed within the dying church. They couldn’t agree on what role sex should have for those who had been saved and called to live out holy lives. A lot of this confused stemmed from the greek & roman portions of the church. See their was a common view among these societies that the physical was useless, corrupt and evil. That the physical was nothing compared to the spiritual. Only spiritual matters were important. This is why the greeks were so obsessed with Wisdom. They wanted to focus on the things that really mattered. So when the issue of sex came up and the church was falling apart., everyone began to interpret it differently In one camp there were those who lived by the motto “Everything is permissible”. They believed that since they were redeemed in Christ, that physical things just didn’t matter. That the holiness within them meant they could do anything they wanted. So this group would go and sleep with the temple women or there slaves. They thought that no sin could touch them now that they had committed their lives to Jesus. The second group took a different approach, they decided to abstain from sexual relationships all together, like monks. This group decided that sex didn’t matter at all and it would be best to stay away from it. However, a number of people in this group were married. So they were suddenly changing their relationships removing sex from their marriages. I can imagine that didn’t go over well. The final group was more understandable to us today. I’m not sure if they were caught up in the greek “all physical things are bad” mentality. This group was younger men and women as well as widows who were seeking out marriages. This group felt that the best way they could live out holiness was to be in a relationship. So they began to get married often without thinking through the consequencesBasically the Corinthians had no idea of what Christian sexuality should be! As the church was falling apart many were falling back into old patterns. They wanted to do what they wanted to do and they weren’t concerned about what god was calling them to. Listen, this is story that is playing out in church’s across Canada right now. I’ve seen time and time again young men and women not knowing what a Christian sexuality should be. In a world that tells them sex is ok and almost always appropriate our young people don’t know what to do. The theology of sex and marriage is something church leaders have taken for granted. Up until 20 years ago premarital sex and unmarried long-term couples were taboo. Yet now, they aren’t. Christian sexuality a topic we need to talk about more, not less. Section 2: The ritual of MarriageAnd let me just say, Christian sexualit