Righteous Relationships

As a pastor, I frequently get questions on dating, courtship, and preparation for marriage from young couples. I find that many times, they truly want to honor the Lord, and yet wish there were more resources for them to read/listen to/study things that would help them understand what the Bible teaches about dating, relationships, and preparation for marriage. 

As a pastor, I think it's my first responsibility to sit down with those couples and help them personally, talk with them, teach them, and pray with them myself. I can't just pawn them off on a book or a sermon series like "listen to three of these and call me in the morning." I am a shepherd, not merely a resource suggestion source.  

However, as a part of my shepherding role, I will also suggest helpful resources that they can read, listen to, or study when we're not together that will help them to develop their own biblical convictions about dating. One such resource that I have frequently recommended to young dating christians over the years is a sermon series by Pastor Rick Holland.

Rick was the Pastor of a large college ministry for many years before becoming a Senior Pastor. He is skilled in the Scriptures, and is a man of great wisdom in applying them to life. His sermon series "A Roadmap to Righteous Relationships" was originally preached to a college audience, and was very helpful to my wife and I when we were dating. Rick has since preached an updated version of this series. It is cleverly titled Relationship Series II and shortened from 13 messages to 9. Links to the updated series are provided below. 

Warning: please don't just listen to this as though it is a healthy substitute for relationships in your church. I wanted to post these here as a helpful resource for members of our church, but I'd rather have you over for dinner so Claire and I can get to know you. Email me. Call me. Let's do this. Meanwhile, these messages will heap huge help on the hungry listener. 

Part 1 - Rethinking Relationships

Part 2 - The Contentment Principle

Part 3 - The Woman To Be And The Wife To Find

Part 4 - The Woman To Be And The Wife To Find

Part 5 - The Man To Be And The Husband To Find (Part 1)

Part 6 - The Man To Be And The Husband To Find (Part 2)

Part 7 - Identifying Mr. & Mrs. Wrong

Part 8 - A Life To Live And A Person To Love

Part 9 - The Common Ground Principle

Any questions? Great. Let's get together. I'd love to talk with you about this stuff. Much love friends.