The book of Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs) is a love story. It’s the romance between a young man and a young woman set to music that describes their courtship, marriage, and ultimate sexual consummation of the relationship. It can be interpreted allegorically (that it is not a factual relationship, but only a picture that symbolizes God’s love for Israel or Christ’s love for the Church), but a better way to interpret it is literally (with a secondary meaning)—that it is a real, historical, love relationship between a man and a woman which also parallels the love of God for us. Sex is a gift God has given us to be celebrated between a man and a woman in a monogamous, heterosexual marriage. In part one of this series, Pastor Gary will examine “Courtship Love”—guidelines from this story for those who are in a courting/dating relationship in preparation for marriage.