Gay marriage. What do we say about that? How will we handle that as a church and as Christians? Well, most importantly, we say what the Bible says-homosexuality is a sin. That means the pastors at Good Shepherd's will not be performing gay weddings. But it also means we, as Christians, help others understand what the Bible teaches, and be careful not to make homosexuality seem like the unforgivable sin. It's a sin, like any other, that needs God's law and gospel so that a person can be saved.
 

It also means that we will be facing a new reality in which we as a congregation may be challenged--legally challenged even. So we stand ready to give our defense from God's word, even if it means we lose in court. We may have to face the reality that we, as pastors, can no longer serve as agents of the state in performing weddings. In the future, there may be a civil ceremony at the courthouse, and a (optional) religious ceremony at church.

The point, I guess, is this: the church faces persecution. We are perhaps coming to the end of an unparallelled time in the church's history, a time where the attitudes of most people were also in line with the teachings of God's word. That has not been the case for much of the church's history. But that doesn't mean we need to panic. Instead, we rejoice that we join with our Savior who also suffered and we proudly bear his name before a world that so desperately needs to know him and be saved.

Gay marriage is an opportunity that we are well-equipped to handle because God has grace enough to forgive all sins, to heal people from the inside, and to give hope for a better heavenly future.