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First Posted: 8/27/2014 WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; There was no screeching of tires, or streaks of rubber on the road, but the message from high above Route 309 in a highly traveled business district was clear.
As promised recently, the billboard reads: &#8220;I (heart) sex&#8221; &#8212; God. It was erected along the busy highway, alerting motorists to the upcoming month-long sermon series at the The Restored Church.
The church at 47 N. Franklin St., is sponsoring the billboard on Route 309 in Wilkes-Barre Township, near Sam&#8217;s Club. The 11-foot by 40-foot billboard will remain there until Sept. 25.
Pastor Dan Nichols previously told The Times Leader that the billboard is part of the church&#8217;s September sermon series, which will address sex as discussed in The Bible&#8217;s Song of Solomon.
The full text of the billboard was at first planned to be more wordy than it is. Nichols said in a recent interview that the billboard was to say:
&#8220;Sex is everywhere, but churches typically communicate indirectly on the subject at best. That&#8217;s tragic &#8212; especially since God dedicated an entire book of the Bible to sexuality. God is the author of sex. He loves it, and He has a very specific design for it. The gravity and overwhelming reach of this topic warrants a direct and honest response from the church. Join us in September for our new sermon series on the Song of Solomon.&#8221;
Nichols, 25, is one of three pastors at the Restored Church. He said the sermons will discuss sex and how it is a good thing when performed in the proper context.
&#8220;We will talk about the sexuality of a married couple,&#8221; Nichols said. &#8220;We believe that a marriage is a covenant relationship between a man and a woman.&#8221;
Nichols said the titles of the September sermons on sex are as follows:
&#8226; Sept. 7: &#8220;The Song of Solomon,&#8221; Dr. Mark McGinniss
&#8226; Sept. 14: &#8220;Sex & Marriage,&#8221; Pastor Dan Nichols
&#8226; Sept. 21: &#8220;Sex & Singles,&#8221; Pastor Tim Walker
&#8226; Sept. 28: &#8220;Homosexuality: Disagreement &#8800; Hatred,&#8221; Pastor Dan Nichols
Services are held Sundays at 10:30 a.m. at the church. For more information, call: (570) 266-7675.
Nichols said despite the theme of the sermons and the church&#8217;s teachings, gay people and couples are welcome at Restored Church. He said God designed sex and &#8220;created us to be sexual beings.&#8221; Nichols said the Restored Church wants to encourage people to enjoy sex in its proper context of God&#8217;s original design.
Nichols, 25, said the church encourages people not to engage in sex until they are married. He said Restored Church is non-denominational and not part of a hierarchical authority. The church has another location &#8212; Steamtown Church in Scranton.
Nichols said in today&#8217;s world, &#8220;sex is everywhere&#8221; &#8212; on computer screens, in living rooms and on TV.
He said there&#8217;s so much sex in today&#8217;s culture, the church needs to speak about it and tell what God has to say about it.

God loves sex, church’s billboard proclaims