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The Holy Communion of Marriage. American Clergy Leadership Conference. Today’s Crisis: Marriages without Love, Families without God 1. The number of divorced and single-parent families is increasing. Family Breakdown. From 1901 to 1970, Divorce up 700% From 1970 to 1992, Divorce up 270%
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The Holy Communion of Marriage American Clergy Leadership Conference True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Today’s Crisis: Marriages without Love, Families without God 1. The number of divorced and single-parent families is increasing. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Family Breakdown • From 1901 to 1970, Divorce up 700% • From 1970 to 1992, Divorce up 270% • Within 6 months: 50% have doubts- 30% report “big fights, 4% separated for at least one night. • 1970 to 1995 Married couples with children down by a third. Single parent families nearly doubled. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Today’s Crisis: Marriages without Love, Families without God 2. The next generation is damaged. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Family Breakdown • Divorce : leading cause of child depression • 75% of adolescent patients in drug abuse centers are from single-parent home • 63% of youth suicides are of single-parents • 70% of teen pregnancies are from single-parent homes. • 75% of juveniles in jail are from single-parent homes. Impact on Children True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Family Breakdown • In 1960, 243,000 children living with a single parent who never married. In 1993 this figure rose to 6,300,000. • From 1979-88, the suicide rate for girls rose 27%, boys rose 71% (10-14 years old) • 1970 1 in 20 girls under 15 ad had sex; 2001, 1 in 3. • Toddlers in full-time day care are more aggressive toward other children and defiant toward adults, regardless of the quality of the care. Impact on Children True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Today’s Crisis: Marriages without Love, Families without God 3. Family breakdown leads to the breakdown of society. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Family Breakdown • 50% of all single mothers are living in poverty. • The cost of teenage pregnancies in 1985 alone was $16.65 billion, paid through welfare benefits. • In 1990, more than one third of all murders were committed by someone under the age of 21. • Since 1960, the juvenile crime rate is up 600%. & Social Decline True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Family Breakdown • The family “exists at the heart of every society. … No society has succeeded in doing without it.” • Francoise Zonabend, A History of the Family & Social Decline True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Today’s Crisis: Marriages without Love, Families without God 4. The core problem is sexual immorality. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
“In the first years of the Roman civilization, not a single divorce was recorded (the first was recorded in 234 BC.). But by Paul’s time (60 AD) divorce among Romans was as common as marriage.” (John T. Bristow, What Paul Really Said About Women, p. 98-99). True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Around 100 BC the Roman aristocracy discovered romantic love and began to have contempt for traditional values of respectable marriage and fatherhood. (Anthony Guerra, “The Family in the Holy Roman Empire: Christian Influence in Reshaping the Ancient and Medieval Family”, p.5) True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
“God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another … to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.” Romans 1:24-32 True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
“There is one causal factor that sheds light on a lot of the rest of the crisis [of the American society], … the causal factor is the sexual revolution.” Charles Colson & R. J. Neuhaus, Evangelicals and Catholics Together True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Today’s Crisis: Marriages without Love, Families without God 5. The most destructive sexual immorality is premature sex. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
CHART I: Behavioral risks in 12-16 year old males • 70% • 60% • 50% • 40% • 30% • 20% • 10% • 0% • Alcohol Cigarettes Marijuana Run from Arrested by Suspended Attempted • Home police from school suicide(fem’s) Virgin Non-Virgin True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
“The overall effect of expanding family planning services for under-16s has been to increase pregnancies and abortions.” London Daily Telegraph, Mar 5, 2002 6. Premature sex is promoted by our culture of immorality. Why hasn’t the church been able to do anything about this problem? True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
The taboo subject 1. Even saved Christians struggle with marital fidelity. II. Christianity and Sex True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
A national survey of Christians indicates that Born-again Christians have a slightly greater probability of divorce (27%) than the rest of society (24%). (George Barna) True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Family Breakdown • 67% of Americans believe that sex is permissible out-side of marriage. • 83% of Catholics believe this. • 56% of single fundamentalists engage in sex outside of marriage. • 66% of single Catholics engage in sex outside of marriage. • 57% of single liberals do so. & The Church Andrew Greeley (Catholic priest), First Things, 1996 True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
II. Christianity and Sex 2. Churches are confused about sex. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
“At the end of the twentieth century, the question is whether Protestants, Orthodox, and Catholics can believably set forth a distinctively Christian understanding of marriage. Some say it is too late. …” (Richard John Neuhaus, First Things) True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
II. Christianity and Sex 3. The Bible is mysterious on this matter. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
II. Christianity and Sex 1. Adam and Eve were created naked and not ashamed. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
II. Christianity and Sex 2. They ate a fruit … …and became ashamed. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
II. Christianity and Sex They were not ashamed of their mouths. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
II. Christianity and Sex 2. They were ashamed of their lower parts. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
II. Christianity and Sex 3. Eating fruit is a biblical metaphor for sexual intercourse. Lover = “apple tree” “his fruit was sweet to my taste … his banner over me was love.” Song of Songs 2:3-4; 4:16; 7:7-9 4. Not to eat the fruit meant to refrain until God said to eat. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
II. Christianity and Sex 5. The root problem: Adam and Eve had premature sex. 6. Their love was ungodly. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
G A E C S 7. Their family life took place outside the Garden. A E -->Not blessed, but cursed. 8. Satan claimed their love and lineage. C True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
9. We reap divorce and family breakdown. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
1. Adam and Eve’s conjugal love should have been one with God so that God could bless it. G A E III. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: The Model of True Parents True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
2. Their children should have been the true children of God; their lineage should have been the lineage of God. G A E C III. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: The Model of True Parents Godly Offspring Mal 2:15 True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
But Adam and Eve’s conjugal love was selfish; God could not bless it. S A E • Their children were not the true children of God; their lineage was not the lineage of God. C III. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: The Model of True Parents Fallen Offspring John 8:44 True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
S A E III. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: The Model of True Parents 3. Salvation is rebirth as God’s children (into God’s lineage). C Fallen Lineage True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
G S A E A E III. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: The Model of True Parents 3. Salvation is rebirth as God’s children (into God’s lineage). C C God’s Lineage Fallen Lineage True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
God Jesus Holy Spirit III. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: The Model of True Parents 4. Jesus is our True Father who gives rebirth in the Holy Spirit. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
God Jesus Holy Spirit III. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: The Model of True Parents Christians • 5. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are our spiritual TrueParents. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
III. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: The Model of True Parents Then, why do Christians divorce? True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
1. We await the redemption of our bodies. Satan put a nail in Jesus’ flesh, … …so he could put a thorn in Paul’s, III. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: The Model of True Parents …and in our flesh. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
3. Therefore, divorce and family breakdown continue. III. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: The Model of True Parents 2. We are still born of Satan’s physical lineage. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
5. …eventually we have to change our lineage physically. III. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: The Model of True Parents 4. Through Jesus and the Holy Spirit we change our lineage spiritually. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Rom 8:23, 25 The Unfinished Business: “… we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. … We hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
6. This is why Christ is still working in the world today. III. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: The Model of True Parents True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
Jesus has anointed each of us to fulfill a unique ministry. 2. What mission did Jesus call Reverend Moon to fulfill? IV. The Purpose of the Blessing of Marriage True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
It is a mission that he could not fulfill by himself … he can fulfill it only with his wife. Jesus anointed Reverend Moon to restore the family into the Kingdom. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
3. Obedient to Jesus, at the cost of their lives, Reverend and Mrs. Moon established marriage under God’s blessing, removed from Satan’s claim. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
4. They thereby established God’s lineage physically on earth. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
5. The blessing is how we ingraft, as a couple, into this lineage. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage
6. Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is like a wedding banquet. True Family Values Ministry The Holy Communion of Marriage