Neighborhood Church
Seven Deadly Sins, Part 3: Lust
Jordan Brokaw
Locations & Times
Neighborhood Church
5505 W Riggin Ave, Visalia, CA 93291, USA
Sunday 8:00 AM
Our culture has a broken understanding of human sexuality.
When we separate sex from love, the results are disastrous.
Sin is anything that falls short of God’s best for our lives.
Lust
Any time we lust after someone, we are dehumanizing them.
Lust goes beyond attraction, temptation, and biological desire to a place where we are actively using the sight of others to fuel our sexual desires.
Lust distorts love, objectifies others, and places pleasure above people.
Love says, “How can I meet the needs of others?”
Lust says, “How can I use others to meet my needs”?
Love gives without expecting anything in return.
Lust takes without leaving anything in return.
Lust says, “How can I use others to meet my needs”?
Love gives without expecting anything in return.
Lust takes without leaving anything in return.
Infidelity is widespread:
Roughly 20–25% of married men and 10–15% of married women report cheating at least once, according to the General Social Survey (GSS).
Pornography is inescapable:
Pornhub reported 130 million daily visits in 2023; over 90% of men and 60% of women report viewing pornography at some point in their lives.
Sexual abuse is rampant:
1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before age 18, per CDC data.
Healthy sexual intimacy within marriage becomes increasingly elusive:
Studies show 15–20% of marriages are considered "sexless" (fewer than 10 sexual encounters per year), with dissatisfaction linked to stress, porn use, and emotional disconnection.
Roughly 20–25% of married men and 10–15% of married women report cheating at least once, according to the General Social Survey (GSS).
Pornography is inescapable:
Pornhub reported 130 million daily visits in 2023; over 90% of men and 60% of women report viewing pornography at some point in their lives.
Sexual abuse is rampant:
1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before age 18, per CDC data.
Healthy sexual intimacy within marriage becomes increasingly elusive:
Studies show 15–20% of marriages are considered "sexless" (fewer than 10 sexual encounters per year), with dissatisfaction linked to stress, porn use, and emotional disconnection.
Kids have their sexuality shaped more by Pornhub than by healthy education:
The average age of first porn exposure is 11 years old; fewer than 50% of U.S. schools require medically accurate sex ed.
Sex is becoming more violent, more performative, and detached: Studies show that over 88% of porn scenes contain physical aggression, without context of consent or affection, which researchers link to shifting norms in young people's sexual behavior.
The average age of first porn exposure is 11 years old; fewer than 50% of U.S. schools require medically accurate sex ed.
Sex is becoming more violent, more performative, and detached: Studies show that over 88% of porn scenes contain physical aggression, without context of consent or affection, which researchers link to shifting norms in young people's sexual behavior.
How do we respond?
1) Repression
1) Repression
The Church has often weaponized guilt and shame in an attempt to manage sexual behavior—and that has left deep scars on people’s souls, and on our culture as a whole.
Purity Culture
How do we respond?
2) Unrestrained Indulgence
2) Unrestrained Indulgence
The sexual revolution was: “The destigmatization and demystification of non-marital sex, and the reduction of sexual relations in general to a kind of hygienic recreation in which anything goes, so long as those involved are consenting adults.”
Mary Eberstadt
Mary Eberstadt
Healthy sexuality is an expression of genuine love.
Sex is designed for expression exclusively in the context of a loving, committed marriage.
Sex rooted in selfless love is one of the highest forms of relational intimacy.
Sexual commitment creates the ultimate space for vulnerability and safety.
Sexual fidelity is the foundation of marital security and stability.
Sexual commitment creates the ultimate space for vulnerability and safety.
Sexual fidelity is the foundation of marital security and stability.
Why does Jesus take lust so seriously? Because lust undermines love. And love is God’s vision for our world.
Our sexuality is not just for biological pleasure, it’s a divine gift for deep connection.