Breakaway: Love One Another Series (Dating, Part 1)

Ben Stuart's message on "Sex & Dating: First Things First" (podcast)
Breakaway Ministries: Love One Another (3.26.2009)

Notes:

Anyone can get a date & get married (esp. if you lower your standards far enough)
- But how can we do it right?

Navigate by fixed points that don't change (illustration about the stars while camping)

Dating is not the biggest thing in the universe
- You have to get your relationship with God right first before a girl/guy

1 John 4:7ff -- You can't step out and love people until you've been loved by God

How do I rest in God's love?
1. Through the Son (1 John 4:9)
2. Through His Word (1 John 5:13)
3. Through obedience (1 John 5:2-4)

If you are beloved, you will be satisfied and not try to use/get from others (illustration about dinner interview--eat before, so you can focus properly)

"I have to feast on You (God) or I will use them..."

Scripture speaks clearly to:
1. Not dating unbelievers
2. How to treat believers (1 Timothy 4-5) -- be a brother
- Treat women as sisters -- you don't fool around with sisters!
- Spur them on toward love and good deeds
3. How to treat a spouse -- these passages do not apply to you if you aren't married!

Take-aways:

Example 1: Abraham & Isaac -- maybe you need to surrender it all and tell God that He can take everything including dating

Example 2: Voyage of the Dawn Treader -- the journey is about seeking the great King and I will not give up, even if the boat sinks; I will drown with my nose to the sun. In the story, Caspian finds a girl who he marries, but it was all about seeking the King.