Our Plea to the LGBTQ+ Community

Pride Month in Salt Lake City and a Plea to the LGBTQ+ Community

Hey guys, this is Pastor Wade Orsini of Apology at Church of Utah. And I am Andrew Songkran. And we're here today, we're downtown in Salt Lake City. We're exploring the area. You might understand what's going on this month in the month of June.

It is Pride Month, Pride Month throughout the world in many places. And we're outside of a church here, one amongst many downtown. We're in front of the First United Methodist Church here. And this church has joined others in sporting rainbow colors, in showing solidarity or some sort of support with those who approve of, practice of, sodomy, transgenderism, all these things that God calls an abomination.

And we're here really to appeal to you as Christians, to give you the truth, to equip you with the truth, but also to appeal to those in our community as a pastor, as a deacon, as people, part of the Christian church here in the Salt Lake Valley.

We want to appeal to you in love with the truth and with the hope of the gospel. I know many of you are in hopeless circumstances. You think that if you change this or do this, it'll bring you more hope.

And, you know, of course, I don't see that to be true. No one has really found fulfillment. In fact, they've been led down darker and darker paths and holes when they've committed themselves to mutilation or to these relationships.

And so we want to speak to that today. But before we get into anything, really, the foundation is in the Word of God. It's in the Word of God, and God starts it in the creation ordinance. Before any sort of human institution or societal group came up with any sort of thing, God had determined from the very beginning in Genesis chapter 2 that there is man, and it was not good for man to be alone.

He found no helper suitable among him with the beasts, with the animals. He found no suitor helpful to him that would be male. He found one suitor helpful to man, and that was woman. And then that woman and that man would come together.

He would leave his father and his mother, and the two would be joined together, and they would become one flesh, a one-flesh covenant that represents God, the image and likeness of God. And even Jesus affirms that, right, brother?

Absolutely. In Matthew chapter 19, we hear it all the time first. You'll even see TikTok videos of these LGBTQ affirming, quote-unquote, pastors, where they'll have a sign that's blank, and it says, What did Jesus say about homosexuality?

And it's blank, meaning that Jesus never said anything. Well, Jesus would say to them, Have you not read, like he says in Matthew 19, what God made in the beginning, male and female, and what He joined together, let no man separate?

It's right there, and it's even in Leviticus, in the law of God. And guess what? The law of God, where does that come from? It comes from Jesus. We know that in Hebrews chapter 1. It says that He has always loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore God, His God, has anointed Him with the oil of gladness above all companions. Think about this in the beginning as well. When God put Adam to sleep, and He took a bone from his rib, He did not create another man.

He took it from Adam, but made a help meat suitable to him, which was female, and joined them together. Yes, absolutely, brother.

And the fact is, again, Jesus affirms that in Matthew chapter 19. He says, Have you not heard from the beginning that God made them male and female? He Himself, Jesus, points back to the prototypical family in Adam and Eve.

And so, the reality is, as my brother said, Jesus says in Matthew chapter 5, He said, I did not come to abrogate the law, to nullify the law in any way. He came to affirm it. He affirms it even in the Sermon on the Mount.

So, we cannot disregard things like Deuteronomy 22, 5, where it says, A man shall not wear a woman's garments, and a woman shall not wear a man's garments. And that's just with clothing. That goes also to the point where there are laws that says we are not to mutilate ourselves, or cut ourselves, or change the way we look, our genitalia, things like that.

These people today, they're taking chemical therapies, they're making physical changes that are irreversible. And some of these people, years now after, you can see testimonies online, they've cut off their breasts, they've castrated themselves, and they are no more full of joy than before they did it.

They've lost hope. That's huge, man. And this is the issue, right? Look behind us. This is the issue that we see. Why? Because the Church is supposed to point the people to the Law of God that convicts people of their sin, and then the Gospel is what heals them and brings them hope.

But how can you get conviction of your sin when you are affirming sin? How can you bring someone into the truth of the Gospel, and the reality that they're a sinner and they need Jesus to save them from their sin, when you're telling them that their sin is to be celebrated?

Exactly. Exactly. That's the problem. It starts with the Church. And when we're here standing and talking in front of the camera, it's not because we hate these people. Absolutely not. Love rejoices in the truth.

That's what it says in 1 Corinthians 13. And to tell people that they should be rejoicing in their sin is not love.

It's actually a lie. That's right. So churches like this are doing what Romans 1 has said. They're giving hearty approval to those who do such things, who defile themselves, who practice what is not decent anymore.

But we want to give you hope. We don't want to leave you there. If you are in the sin of homosexuality, transgenderism, any of these things, just know that the call of the Gospel is to repent and believe that you can have transformation of body, heart, and mind, that Christ will heal these things.

He will change you. He will grant you repentance and regeneration in such a way that these things will no longer appeal to you. It may take time, but you can have healing. We've seen it. We've seen it.

But the reality is you must repent. Turn from these lawless deeds. Turn from these things that God calls an abomination. You see, every sin, no matter what, of course, every sin puts us at enmity with God.

It puts us in a place where we are now God's enemies, that's for sure. Every sin is equal in that place. But there are things that God calls an abomination that He detests more than other things. That's why there's even sort of an order of the Ten Commandments.

And God hates this sin, guys. God hates this defiling, damnable sin. It's hurting children these days. It's abuse. It's hurting so many people. The reality is this is the glory of the Gospel, and we see it highlighted in 1 Corinthians 6.

I'll read it, and brother, why don't you talk a bit about this to these folks. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

But there is a glorious aspect to this. What does it say, brother?

Absolutely, but it says,. But such were some of you, but you have been washed, and you have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And that's the hope of the Gospel. Look, we're no better than you, right?

Jesus saved us from our sin, but we have the ability to recognize our sin because God's Word tells us what our sin is. Listen, you may have been hurt when you were younger. You may have gone through difficult trials and temptations when you were younger.

But what's happening now is that you're not actually finding your identity in Christ. Remember, such were some of you. You have been told to place your identity in homosexuality. You identify as those things.

But guess what the Bible says is that we need to identify with Jesus Christ. We need to put on the identity of Christ. The Holy Spirit needs to conform us into the image of Christ. And that only happens through salvation.

And you need to be told that right now you are in sin. And the identity that you hide in is not going to help you. And it will not, when you stand before the Father, protect you from His wrath. Yes. But only Christ can.

You need to be clothed in His righteousness, which is to repent and believe in the Gospel in the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. That's right, brother.

And so that's the call. Repent, believe, and understand the truth about pride. What does the Bible say about pride? The Bible says pride comes before the fall. Those who rejoice in pride, especially such a pride as this, they will fall.

They will fall. But I pray that you fall on your knees before the living God, before the Savior, Jesus Christ, who can save you from your sin. Thanks, guys.