A Tennessee Baptist preacher says that homosexuality is the “most lethal attack we have today against the family,” and a “capital offense to God.”

Claiming he wants to treat gay people as “people,” PastorÂ Robby Gallaty of Chattanooga’sÂ Brainerd Baptist Church warned in a 50-minute sermon on SundayÂ that “homosexual acts” are “contrary to God’s design” andÂ a “capital offense to God.”

He also, at the end of his lengthy sermon, said he welcomed gay people into his church.

Taking his congregation on his historical view of homosexuality throughout time, Pastor Gallaty claimed that the Greeks “promoted homosexuality,” and that athletes in the Olympic Games were naked for sexual reasons, not for speed. “Let’s be honest, how much does a shirt weigh?”

Gallaty also quoted from the infamous Book of Leviticus, and delivered what many would describe as a false interpretation of the story ofÂ Sodom and Gomorrah.

“Friends, it doesn’t take a seminary degree in English to realize what God is saying as the reason he deviates and levels the city. The fact of the matter is the men and boys came to the house, they wanted to have sex with attractive men inside,” Gallaty said. He labeled homosexual sex “the chief sin in Sodom,” claiming “that God leveled the city,” because of it.

“Leviticus 18 is the list of unacceptable sins,” the Tennessee pastorÂ continued. “Before you say, ‘This is Old Testament law, this doesn’t apply to me,’ friends,” he said, “this is as applicable to you today as it was back then.”Â

â€œGod said that the sins of the people had infected the very land in which they live,â€ Gallaty said. â€œSo what happens to people who engage in this activity, this sexual immoral activity? Go to Leviticus 20, God gives us the punishment for engaging in these sins. â€˜If a man sleeps with a man as with a woman, they have both committed a detestable thing. They must be put to death. And their blood is on their own hands.â€™â€

He calls the passage “sobering” and says “this is a capital offense to God.” He called it a “life or death matter,” not to be “trivialized.”

Gallaty makes up a claim that Jesus “didn’t have to talk about” homosexuality because the Jews already condemned it. There are many subjects that Jesus purportedly discussed that had been discussed previously.

David Edwards at The Raw Story, who first reported on the video, adds that Pastor Gallaty continues on to promote ex-gay therapy.

But the pastor noted that there was some good news in the New Testament of the Bible: God could turn gay people into heterosexuals. â€œ[The Bible says] some of you used to act like this, but now youâ€™ve changed by the grace of God. You were washed! You have been sanctified! You have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of God.â€ Gallaty went on to opine that â€œhomosexuality is an attack on the family and the marriage.â€ â€œItâ€™s the most lethal attack we have today against the family,â€ he insisted. â€œAnd if the enemy can ruin the family, he wins.â€ According to Gallaty, LGBT people â€œwear that homosexual badge as a badge of honor, itâ€™s an identifiable marker.â€ â€œHereâ€™s the problem with the argument that you closed-minded Christians, one day youâ€™re going to come full circle, and youâ€™re going to realize that youâ€™re being judgemental just like racism was 50 years ago,â€ he remarked. â€œAnd we finally realized that racism was an issue for Christians.â€ â€œAnd now you guys have repented and come full circle, and youâ€™re going to realize that youâ€™re as foolish as we were with the movement of racism,â€ Gallaty added. â€œItâ€™s not the sameâ€¦ A black man canâ€™t change his race, a white man canâ€™t change his race, a homosexual can stop engaging in homosexual acts. See, sexuality is a choice. Gender and race are not.â€

Calling the Pastor’s actions of sending a “repent or die” message to young LGBT people in Tennessee “a true social blight,” Jeremy Hooper at Good As You notes that Pastor Gallaty is “unapologetic about making local gay teens hate themselves.”

Gallaty is the author of three books, including Unashamed: Taking a Radical Stand for Christ, and his latest, Growing UP: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples.

About to preach on “God’s Standard for Sexuality.” What does Gods word say about Homosexuality? Prayers appreciated. â€” Robby Gallaty (@Rgallaty) August 30, 2014

At the very end, after spending 48 minutes telling his congregation that gay people are a threat to mankind, and God thinks they are guilty of “capital offenses,” Gallaty implores Christians to “stop bashing gays” and to “stop telling jokes about gay people.”

“The sin of homosexuality may be wrong, but your sin,” Gallaty tells his members, “is just as bad.”

Here’s Gallaty’s sermon:

http://vimeo.com/104864969

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Hat tip:Â David Edwards at The Raw Story

Image via Vimeo