On Sunday, September 29, 2013, over 600 people gathered at First Baptist Church of Orange Park for a day filled with biblical teaching, personal testimony, and heartfelt fellowship during the Holy Sexuality Conference. The event, led by Christopher Yuan and his parents, Leon and Angela Yuan, highlighted God’s transformative power and the hope found in Christ.
The day began with Christopher and his parents sharing their family testimony during three morning church services. Their story of God’s redeeming grace captivated the congregation, offering a powerful witness to how God works in the midst of brokenness to bring healing and restoration.
Following the church services, Pastor David Tarkington graciously hosted the Yuans for lunch, allowing time for fellowship and encouragement before the afternoon conference. Despite spiritual resistance evident throughout the days leading up to the conference, God’s faithfulness prevailed, and the conference proceeded with a clear sense of purpose and redemption.
In the evening, Christopher delivered two deeply engaging messages. The first, Homosexuality: Nature or Nurture, addressed common questions about the origins of same-sex attractions from a biblical perspective. His second message, A Christian Response to Homosexuality, challenged attendees to embody grace and truth in ministering to those wrestling with questions of sexuality. This was followed by a lively and thought-provoking Q&A, allowing for deeper exploration of these critical topics.
Attendees expressed gratitude for the day’s events, noting the balance of truth and love in the teaching. One young lady who had attended the conference confided she didn’t want to come to church that day but her mother made her. She listened to the Yuans’ story and it gave her a “huge reality check, actually it was more like God hitting me with a frying pan,” she exclaimed. The conference gave her the push she needed to come back to God and the courage she needed to ask God for help in “standing up to my own personal demons just as you had stood up to yours.” She concluded by telling Christopher that, “listening to your story and reading about the details of it opened myself up to God even more and I just wanted to thank you for that.”
The Holy Sexuality Conference served as a reminder of God’s unchanging truth and His ability to redeem and restore. Despite challenges, the day proved to be a time of equipping and encouragement, pointing all who attended to the hope found in Christ. For those who couldn’t attend or want to revisit the material, the Holy Sexuality Conference at FBC Orange Park messages are available on YouTube.
Homosexuality: Nature or Nurture? and A Christian Response to Homosexuality.
