G O O D N E W S F O R A L L P E O P L E THE BIBLE HAS GOOD NEWS FOR GAY - LESBIAN - BI PEOPLE BECAUSE THE BIBLE HAS "GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY FOR ALL PEOPLE!" Most of us have heard that same-gender sexual acts are condemned in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 (part of the Holiness Code prohibiting actions done by the Heathen Fertility-Cult Idolaters -- Egyptians and Canaanites Lev. 18:3). And we've heard about Romans 1:26-27 -- which is really a condemnation of Heathen Gentile Fertility-Cult Idolatry, Rom. 18-32, and which goes right on in 2:1 to say "You have no excuse for judging another person, for you the judge do THE VERY SAME THING!" But WHAT ELSE does the BIBLE say to Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual People? Is there any Good News? YES! There is wonderful Good News for ALL people! WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY TO GAY-LESBIAN-BISEXUAL and A L L P E O P L E ? 1. YOU, and all people, are created in GOD'S IMAGE. Gen. 1:27 2. "God created YOU a little lower than God and crowned you with glory and honor." Psalm 8:4-5 3. The same-gender love relationships of Ruth and Naomi (Ruth 1:16) and of David and Jonathan II Sam. 1:26 - "Jonathan ... your love for me was wonderful, surpassing the love of women." - are respected and honored. 4. God wants you to be FREE from oppression and injustice. Isaiah 42:6-7, Isaiah 58:6; Amos 5:24; Micah 6:8; Luke 4:18-22 5. As wonderful as children my be, You do not have to marry and bear children to be FULLY INCLUDED in God's covenant and family. Isaiah 56:1-5 6. When JESUS was born in Bethlehem, the angel said: Behold, I bring you GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY FOR ALL PEOPLE: to you is born ... a savior." Luke 2:10 7. Jesus Christ, God's True Light, shines in YOU and in EVERY PERSON. John 1:9 8. W H O S O E V E R WHOSOEVER WHOSOEVER W H O S O E V E R BELIEVES MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE -- John 3:16 "For God so loved the WORLD! God sent Jesus NOT TO CONDEMN, BUT TO SAVE the world. John 3:17 9. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, says: "I have OTHER SHEEP WHO ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD. I MUST BRING THEM ALSO ... SO THERE WILL BE ONE FLOCK, ONE SHEPHERD." John 10:16 10. Marriage and children are not necessarily for everyone. Jesus said: "There are eunuchs who have been so by birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can." Matthew 19:12 11. What did JESUS say about Homosexuality? NOTHING! Jesus Christ said NOT ONE WORD against homosexual acts or behavior! The four Gospel writers say NOT ONE WORD against homosexual acts or behavior. For Jesus Christ homosexuality and homosexual acts are NON-ISSUES, not worth even mentioning! 12. Jesus DID say: "I am the Living Bread which came from heaven; ANYONE who eats of this bread will live forever." John 6:51. 13. In Acts 8, the apostle Phillip baptizes an Ethiopian eunuch. After being baptized, he is STILL A FOREIGNER and GENTILE, STILL BLACK, AND IS STILL A EUNUCH ... God didn't have to CHANGE this person in order to love and accept this person fully. 14. The Apostle Peter declares: "GOD HAS SHOWN ME I MUST NOT CALL ANY PERSON UNCLEAN OR IMPURE!" I Acts 10:28 15. The Gospel is God's power for salvation to A L L who believe. Romans 1:16-17 16. GOD L O V E S YOU! Nothing in all creation can EVER separate you from God's love. Romans 8:39 17. "EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13 18. In Jesus Christ no human differences matter at all -- there is "NO MALE NOR FEMALE" so how can there be gay or straight? Galatians 3:28 19. How can a person be both lesbian-gay AND Christian? "FOR BY G R A C E YOU ARE S A V E D, THROUGH F A I T H, and this is NOT of YOUR OWN DOING, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD." Ephesians 2:8-9 20. "But now in Christ Jesus, YOU who ONCE were FAR AWAY have been BROUGHT NEAR ..you are NO LONGER strangers, foreigners or aliens, but fellow citizens with all God's people." Ephesians 2:11-22 - cf. I Peter 2:10 - "Once you were no people, but now YOU are GOD'S people! Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 21 . "BY THE GRACE OF GOD, I AM WHAT I AM." I Cor.15:10 22. "I saw an ENORMOUS CROWD, a GREAT MULTITUDE that no one could count, from EVERY nation, from ALL PEOPLES, standing before the throne..." Rev. 7:9-10 23. Lev.19:18, Matt 19:19, Mark 12:31,33, Luke 10:27, John 15:12,17, Rom.13:9-10, Gal.5:14, James 2:8 -- "LOVE GOD, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF, LOVE ONE ANOTHER!" GOD IS LOVE - I John 4 Prepared by The Rev.Paul C. Evans Metropolitan Community Church of Topeka, Kansas