"I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." That was the verse Dan had texted his father the next morning. After much consideration, he had decided he wanted to give his first sermon the next day. His father had asked him multiple times if he was sure, and finally Dan had sent him Phillippians 4:13 in response.

This was probably the riskiest sermon anybody had ever gave at the church, but to Dan, it would be worth it. He was sprawled across Phil's bed, his different notes, his Bible, and every religious pamphlet he had ever encountered thrown everywhere as he prepared for the next day.

Phil laughed lowly, and shook his head as he entered his room. "You look busy there, pretty boy."

"Sorry," Dan muttered not looking up from the verse he was highlighting.

"No, don't apologize," The older boy smiled, "What're you doing?"

"Telling my parents, and the church, that I'm gay," Dan whispered.

Phil kissed the top of his head, "You don't have to, love."

Dan flopped over, onto his back, and smiled at Phil, "Yes, I do. I love you, and God forgives. If God can forgive me for this, then my parents should be able to too."

"Um, Dan, honey, have you ever thought what if there is no God*." Phil asked timidly.

Dan reached up and slapped Phil, and he didn't do it gently, "We don't talk like that," he said harshly.

"I'm just trying to reason with you." Phil muttered, bringing his hand to his face.

"You know what I believe, I don't expect you to change what you believe, but I do expect you to respect my beliefs," Dan replied, not letting his tone soften, "Also, will you come to church with my tomorrow?" He begged.

"I don't know.." Phil trailed off, biting his lip.

"Please," Dan pleaded, grabbing Phil's hand, "I'm doing this for you, for us."

Phil sighed, "Fine."

Dan smiled as he made room on the bed for the other, "Thank you," He whispered, "Now come here and love me."

*Once again, not trying to bash anybody or anybody's belief. That sentence actually pained me to write.

The next day, Dan got woke up earlier than normal to get everything ready. He went over his sermon over and over in his head as he dressed. He met Phil at his house, giving him a shaky smile.

"Don't worry, baby boy," Phil muttered to Dan, taking his hand, "Everything will be alright."

The rest of the way to the church was quite. Whenever the church bell rang, Dan stood with his father, going to the front.

"Today," Pastor Howell had started, "My eldest son, Daniel, will be giving the first sermon of his life. Most of you know him, he plays piano for our beloved choir, and today he'd like to lead us all in praising the Lord. Dan." His father gave him a smile as he handed the rest of the service over to him.

Dan grinned at the crowd as he thanked his father, his vision focusing in on Phil.

"God is good," He started, as they always did. The crowd then replied, "All the time"

"All the time," Dan then said, waiting for the usual 'God is good.'

Dan then went on to do a prayer, introducing the choir, joys and prayer concerns, testimonies, another prayer, and then finally offerings. His heart rate increased as it was time for his sermon.

"Our God is good," Dan started, earning a few 'amens' from the crowd, "Our God is so good that he sent his only son to die for our sins."

Phil half listened, half just stared at his boyfriend as he talked. Church, religion had never been his thing, but Dan made it 10000000000000000X more enjoyable.

"God forgives, does he not?" He earned a few mumbled 'he does' from the crowd, "He forgives minor sins, but he also forgives major sins: Divorce, adultery, pre-marital sex. He forgives all of these, loves us just the same, so my question for you today is, if all of these can be forgiven, why can homosexuality not be?" This earned quite a few gasps from the audience, but caught Phil's attention, "Who is to say that if a gay man, or woman, is a devoted member of God's army that they should burn. That they should die. We, as Christians, are here to spread the message of God, no matter race, sex, age, so why shouldn't sexuality be added to that list? If you devote your life to God, you live by the Bible, I believe you should be treated just as equally as anybody by God, and you are. I truly believe that. God loves all of his children. Many Christians have taken to hating gays because it's not biblical, now I'm not here to tell you what to believe, but one of our Ten Commandments is 'love thy neighbor'. You don't have to believe that homosexuality is right, but you do have to accept that many devoted church goers aren't necessarily straight." Dan could feel his father's glare as he focused once more on Phil, "My father is the pastor of our lovely church, my mother teaches the Bible to people who don't know it, I have been a devoted member since birth. I know the gospel, know the Bible like I know the back of my hand. I play the piano for our choir, attend every church event there is, I'm a youth pastor, I plan on becoming a pastor after high school. I have devoted my life to our Lord and savior, so should I suffer just because," He swallowed deeply, his stomach typing in knots, "Just because I'm gay?" The entire church was then silent.

Dan willed himself not to cry as he finished, "Daniel James Howell, the preachers son who has happily devoted his life to spreading God's word, is in love with another male. I don't believe that God hates me. He still loves me as much as he did whenever I was born. Please, think about this, if you call yourself a devoted Christian, yet you judge me for being me, who are you really?" Dan finished with that questions, shutting his Bible.

"Daniel," His father said sternly, walking up to the podium, "I will finish this, I want you and your stuff out of my house before I walk into my house."

"Dad," Dan whispered, tears starting to fall, "Y-you can't just ki-"

"Daniel James, I want you out of my house, do I make myself clear?"

The church was quiet, the interaction surprising them more than Dan's confession.

Dan didn't reply. Instead he just grabbed his Bible, took Phil's hand, and left.

Phil let go of Dan's hand halfway down the stairs, going back to the sanctuary, "You make me sick," He glared at the preacher, "That's your son. I've never met a kinder, more angelic person, and you're just going to let him go? You so called Christians are suppose to love everybody, not just pick and choose. You're a hypocrite. You're all hypocrites. So, I hope that you know that I'm still going to be happy with your son, because I love your son. I hope your happy with what you've accomplished here. Showing children that they have to be a certain way in order for their parents to love them. That they can't be themselves. Congratulations, for the rest of your life, you're going to have to deal with the fact that you disowned your son, because of who he loves. God, I hope that you're happy with yourself." With that, Phil glared at the crowd once more before he met Dan by the doors, pulling him into a hug.

Dan's tears stained Phil's shirt as he clung to the older boy.

Phil tried cooing the younger boy as he kissed the brown curls, "Shh, I love you," He whispered.

Dan continued to cry, "I-I-" He tried and return the words, but he couldn't manage words.

"Shh," Phil muttered, "I'm so sorry."