A toolbox full of educational strategies, tools, thoughts, and ideas for ministry. My background is Lutheran but these will work for any congregation. Take, use, and/or adapt these ideas and let the Holy Spirit work through them!
A number of years ago I was leading a Bible study and the topic of homosexuality came up. There was a girl who had decided that God was wrong about it. Obviously, she thought God could be wrong. I didn't have time to delve into it at the time, but I did make sure I told the pastor what happened so that he might have a conversation with her about it and perhaps answer some of her questions. That's when I decided that it was important to bring up some of the social topics that were or seemed so obvious to adults. Today transgender is one of those topics. There are two issues at stake, one is biblical and the other is social.
Everybody wants everybody to be okay.
Nobody wants to be the one who is accused of being a Christian who doesn't love everybody and everything because God is love.
The problem is that while God is love and He loves everybody, He doesn't love everything we do. He doesn't love every choice we make, though He knows that our world is full of sin and that's why HE found a way to cleanse us through His SON.
There are some amazing resources out there discussing this and below are two of them: the video and a link to the blog of an LCMS man who struggled with being transgender and Christian. It is amazing! It's a lot to read, but he wrote letter to the LCMS, to the CTCR, and it clearly shows his struggle through scripture. Be sure not to miss his post for Good Friday 2019!
We all know that men and women are different. They just are. We are motivated by different things and were created that way: (Ephesians 5) Wives respect your husbands, husbands love your wives. When they know they are respected, men feel better about themselves and step up their game. When they know they are loved, women feel better about themselves and step up their game.
This applies to how you raise your children as well. Often these days we see women not understanding how to respect their husbands, but also their sons as they grow to be men. Your sons know you love them, but do they know you respect them? How can you make sure they do?
