WestGate Church Teaching WestGate Church

Our guest, Joshua Ryan Butler, joins David Tieche for a frank and pointed discussion about sex and gender featuring questions from our congregation. If the Creation story shows how the pairing of male and female (marriage) reflects the intended whole of Creation, then what do single people reflect? Are they incomplete? A sun without a moon? If everyone is “fearfully and wonderfully” made - then explain people with same-sex attraction? Did God make them “wrong?” Wouldn’t that make God cruel for giving SSA people a sexual attraction they can’t fulfill according to God’s law? Are churches that are not affirming more hostile (in some way) to the LBGTQ+ community? Also how should Christians approach people who identify as transexual, intersexual or asexual? We dig into these topics and more.

Speakers: David Tieche + Joshua Ryan Butler

In recent years, the question of gender and biological sex - not someone’s sexuality or sexual attraction but a person’s internal sense of self and the social expression of that - has become a cultural flashpoint. What does it mean to be “male” or “female”? Is it fixed, or chosen by an individual? Does a person’s biological sex even matter? And what does God think about all this? In this talk, author and pastor Joshua Ryan Butler delves into the theology of maleness and femaleness found in the Creation story in Genesis to bring clarity to this confusing and layered topic.




SPEAKERS:
Joshua Ryan Butler (Saratoga), video (South Hills)

Bible Passage(s):
Genesis 1



SPEAKERS:
Jay Kim (Saratoga), video (South Hills)

Bible Passage(s):
Genesis 1

The Christian sexual ethic has historically been one of the more contentious and contested ideas in our cultural moment. What does the Bible actually say about sex? How is it the same as what our culture says, and how is it different? Is sex really reserved only for straight, married couples? If so, what does this mean for those folks who are teens and young adults, who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community, or who are part of the singles community? Does that mean those folks have to deny their sexuality? As we examine this together, we see the Genesis creation account taken with the model of Jesus can provide us a way to see what sexuality is really about, and how, properly understood and defined, can lead to everyone accessing their sexuality in ways that bring life, and not pain or confusion.




SPEAKERS:
Jay Kim (Saratoga), video (South Hills)

Bible Passage(s):
Genesis 1

There’s no topic more confusing or contested in our culture than the topic of sexuality. This week, Jay Kim joins David Tieche to dive in. Sexuality is obviously a part of what it means to be human, but how big a part of our identity should it be? What are some ways that Christians talk about sex and sexuality that are reductionist, or incomplete or even harmful? Is a church merely having a non-affirming stance fundamentally unloving to folks who are gay? And what can we learn from the life of Jesus Himself about what it means to be sexual beings?

Speakers: David Tieche + Jay Kim

This week starts the beginning of our five-week series called Wonderfully Made, which WestGate Church is doing in coordination with several other Bay Area churches. In this week’s episode of The AfterWord, Jay Kim (lead pastor of WestGate Church), Filipe Santos (lead pastor of Echo Church) and Phil Eubank (lead pastor of Menlo Church) talk about the genesis of the Wonderfully Made Sermon Series, why it’s important right now, and what each of them is hoping the series will do in each of their congregations.

There is a common misunderstanding today, even among Christians, that human beings are primarily souls who happen to have bodies. Or, go to any gym and you’ll see contradictory messages of both idolizing the body AND simultaneous hatred of the body. Sometimes in the same person! But the Biblical story makes clear that from the beginning, to be human is to be a body. And this is a good thing. Being humans means having a body. And - as the Bible shows - what we do with that body is our choice and really matters.