Love Offering for Stumbo Family (St. Petersburg, Russia)
by Lauren Hammond
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Jeremiah 17:9, Deuteronomy 22:5, 1 Corinthians 11:10

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/lauren-hammond--love-offering-for-stumbo-family-st-petersburg-russia
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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praise the lord church and tonight i just want to tell you that who i am is more than a feeling and who you are is more than a feeling who you are and who i am was settled long before we saw the light of day today we live in a culture where you create your own truths based on your own feelings our cult our culture is trying to make absolutes a thing of the past and so that only you can decide what your truths are today i urge you to be weary of your own truths for your heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it jeremiah writes i believe if we step back and look at our world as a whole we can see that living life based on our own feelings and our own truth is at the very core of our world's issues today what if we acted upon every thought we had about ourself what if we took those thoughts and those feelings and made them facts for example how could someone ever commit suicide nothing could ever be bad enough just to end it all but for them it was the the feelings became fact and worst of all fatal so those feelings those truths they felt about themselves led them to a permanent end so today who are you who am i before i was given a name before i was wife to zach and mom to beckham in hampton i was female from the moment of conception i was a female so what is a woman that is a question that most politicians wouldn't publicly answer if you look up the definition in a dictionary chances are it's been edited in the last eight to ten years but unlike political figures dictionaries universities or pop pop culture the bible is over 3 500 years old and can tell us exactly what a woman is and what a woman should be the bible says she is made by god in genesis she was taken from a man's side in genesis in first corinthians she is physically different than man she is beautiful in appearance in genesis second samuel and first kings she has reproductive organs that give her the ability to bear children to be pregnant in exodus isaiah and many many other places in the bible she is the weaker vessel in first peter she is skillful in exodus she is tender in deuteronomy she is delicate in deuteronomy she is discerning in first samuel she is wise in second samuel and in proverbs she is gracious and proverbs she is precious she is trustworthy she is a willing worker she is prudent she is strong she is diligent she is generous she is a good teacher of kindness all in proverbs she is great in faith in matthew she is a bearer of a faithful testimony that led many to believe in john she is the glory of a man of the man in first corinthians she is quiet she is a listener and a learner in first timothy she is submissive in first timothy this list really just scratches the surface of what god says a woman is it talks about origin physical attributes personality temperament biological makeup so not only does it tell us what a woman is it also tells us what a she can be whenever she operates in her role as a woman you could guess that god also lays out a clear word on what a woman is not or what she should not be the bible says she is not drunken in first samuel she is not perverse or rebellious in first samuel she is not cursed in second kings she is not wicked in second chronicles she is not forbidden woman in proverbs she is not evil in proverbs she is not wiley of heart and proverbs she is not contentious or angry in proverbs she does not have a heart of snares and nets in ecclesiastes she is not a deceived transgressor in first timothy as i begin to think on these words contentious angry cursed evil wicked perverse drunken rebellious deceptive pictures of the latest pro-choice marches begin to roll through my mind can you believe we live in a world today of women who are angry they can't kill their own offspring social media and feminist groups are brainwashing our young ladies into believing that in order to be heard seen or to really experience freedom as a woman we must be loud we must wear less we must be loose so you're telling me that i've got to be loud and obnoxious wear less that i've got to adorn myself as though my body is alert to get attention that i've got to open myself up to anything or anybody and expose myself to all types of sexually transmitted diseases to really be free as a woman to really experience womanhood to really experience what they call gender equality that doesn't sound like freedom to me that sounds like bondage and slavery if you listen to the feminist movements of today you will hear hateful and manipulative speeches and slogans about men in their toxic behaviors in recent years we've started hearing this phrase toxic masculinity in reference to the average male in america last week talked the hashtag toxic masculinity was used over 209 000 times just on instagram alone i had a hard time understanding this phrase as they were referring to men and i couldn't possibly imagine what could be toxic about men acting like men so i googled here are some examples i found via new york times and men's healthline.com examples of toxic masculinity physical toughness self-sufficient mindset mental toughness championing heterosexuality not displaying emotion not being a feminist ally risk taking why is the world telling our men and in particular our young men that masculinity is toxic there is nothing toxic about masculinity that's right we need our men today in fact as a woman i can't think of a more comforting word than masculinity i was designed by god for a longing to be protected to be loved and provided for so why is society telling us that men should be soft and feminine that they need to be fearful and weak all the while women must man up provide and protect our homes what could be more deceptive and destructive than telling men and women that there are no differences between the two of them the voices of these lies are nothing short of satanic culture can claim that they are being true to their own truths by choosing their gender but when you are in bondage and sin you are only captive to satan and his truths but we can combat every lie that satan has disguised as a truth if we look into the word of god so let's start at the beginning god's order of creation god said it was not good for man to be alone so he took a rib from adam's side which represents a place of protection and created eve and every person since eve has come from a woman man and woman were made to work in unity one cannot create without the other no matter what this world says men and women have always been equal in rights but we are not equivalent in our roles god so clearly says in his word that he wants us to maintain and celebrate those difference in our roles even in every detail down to our outward apparel and adornment god so adamantly god is so adamant in maintaining these differences between men and women he calls it an abomination when we break down his standard in deuteronomy 22 and 5. the issue of separation and dress like most holiness standards go all the way back to the order of creation to rebel against your function and your role in creation is to rebel against god one of the most effective ways satan works to advance his plan is to water down god's standard of dress so that others are tempted and god's order of creation is broken there will always be a a difference in gender because there has to be but that the sad thing is now the emphasis is not on the beauty of a woman's femininity or the strength of a man's masculinity but merely the difference in body parts only to only emphasize physical body differences is absolutely degrading to both womanhood and manhood the driving force behind the unisex fashion of our time is the feminist movement vision of a genderless society clothes and roles of men and women are unisex and interchangeable womanhood is nothing more than a costume that can be put on and taken off such a vision of a genderless society is clearly condemned in the bible god wants us to clothe ourselves in a way that affirms our gender identity and roles ladies may the dress you put on every morning be the greatest reminder of who you are in him homosexuality and lesbianism is an attack from satan and is it is an abomination unto god let's look at some statistics alone the lgbtq teens are six more times more likely to experience symptoms of depression than non lgbtq teens lgbtq youth are more than twice as likely to feel suicidal and more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youth 48 percent of transgenders report that they have considered suicide in the last year compared to the 4 of overall u.s population satan's end goal will always end in death so just how serious is this idea of gender gender distinction to god it is very serious in deuteronomy 22 and 5 it says the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man neither shall a man put on a woman's garment for all that do so are an abomination unto the lord thy god this verse is very plain in its condemnation of cross-dressing but notice that commandments are different for the men and the women a man must not put on a woman's garment that is the feminine attire itself with distinctive styling that's enough of a commandment for men because adorning is not a particular problem area for a man however the instructions are heavier for a woman because we are tempted in this area she is to not even wear that which pertaineth to a man the word pertain means to relate have reference to be appropriate for belonging to as an accessory attribute feature or function so in other words she must not allow her feminine apparel to reach toward or even slightly resemble a man's clothing or his masculine behavior has anyone ever said this or heard someone say this well she wears the pants in that family a common phrase used in our culture today when talking about a female who is acting outside of a woman's natural behavior or a woman who is showing strong masculine behavior i find it very interesting that they chose to use pants as an example they could have said she leaves the toilet seat up in that family but no even culture relates apparel and distinction they even admit that she wearing pants is out of order and not natural for a woman and also a woman forcing herself into being the head of her household is not in correct order but satan's plan it always includes twisting and perverted perverting the order that was so beautifully designed by god satan knows that if he can get men acting like women and women acting like men instead of complimenting one another we begin to degrade one another men and women husband and husbands and wives are now in competition with one another it's no secret that satan hates the family unit he knows that if he can destroy the family unit he can then destroy the church which destroys communities and so on and so forth i found this interesting that the word sex and female sex and gender if you looked up in any popular dictionary were one in the same until around 1955 when places of higher education decided it needed to have two different meetings in order to justify and validify the idea that you can choose what gender you want to be based on your own truths and your own feelings students please do not look to the world or to university for the foundation of your morals and principles don't let culture tell you who you are but you see god saw this long before we ever thought this was possible his design is perfect so no matter what doctors scientists professors say if i died tomorrow and 200 years later someone came and dug up my 200 year old grave and recovered my remains they could look at my bones they may not be able to see my hair color or where i went to school if i was black or white rich or poor they won't be able to see how i felt that day or how successful or unsuccessful i was however they can look at my bones and without a doubt tell that i was a woman you see god's design is perfect ladies we are female down to our very bones there is a difference and it's divine amen a divine distinction so who are you who am i we are who we are in him who i am is all about who he says that i am everything i am everything he says that i am and everything i'm not he is why do i feel like gender distinction is one of the most important topics we could talk about as it refers to in first corinthians 11 there are two greek words for the word power the word dudeness refers to an offensive power we see an attribute of a godly man it refers to a power to do something that your flesh cannot it's a doing power an offensive power to all the ladies in the room the word exousia refers to a power we see an attribute of a godly woman it's a restraining power a power to also to do what your flesh could not do for example when jesus was hanging on the cross he had the power to come down but he showed exousia or a restraining power when he died on that cross for our sins in first corinthians 11 and 10 in the kjv translation it says this for this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels the women will have restraining power on her head through her uncut hair we as women bring a power that no one else can bring but the world is fighting it even down to its new translations of the bible in first corinthians 11 and 10 in the message bible it reads this way don't by the way read too much into the differences here between men and women you don't believe it go look for it yourself men bring the offensive power and women bring the restraining power and when you confuse the two you lose access to that god-given power church you can lose god's greatest team of offense and defense in spiritual warfare for the revival for your generation the devil knows that his greatest threat is god's greatest team and he is fighting it like never before i am who i am is more than a feeling i am who he says that i am i am who he created me to be i am a child of god i am a chosen generation a royal priesthood i am more than a feeling today i am his let's thank god for his word right now