"racism" Tagged Sermons
Bridges to Multiethnic Reconciliation | Acts 10:34-11:18
Last week I talked about Barriers to Multiethnic Reconciliation (i.e., personal & systemic racism, group pressure and personal vulnerability). This week I want to talk about how we can overcome those barriers by building bridges, so my sermon title this week is Bridges to Multiethnic Reconciliation. My big idea is this… Be bridge builders in a world of walls. In March 1965 several of Martin Luther King Junior’s associates, one of them Representative John Lewis who died this past summer,…
Barriers to Multiethnic Reconciliation | Acts 10:23b-43
Last week we talked about the Bible’s vision of churches working towards becoming diverse multiethnic congregations that reflects his church family in Revelation 7:9-10. Today I want to talk about the things that hinder us from doing that, barriers to unity in diversity. When we look at the New Testament, we find one of the most commonly reoccurring themes is racial tensions between Jew and Gentile. The church had to call a council in Acts 15 to deal with the…
Cultural Preferences | Acts 10:1-23 (Peter’s vision)
Today I want to start with a Scripture passage that promises how things are going to be one day. This promise comes from the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible. It shows us what the final day will look like when Jesus returns. It shows us a great multitude of different kinds of people from all over the earth singing and praising God. Revelation 7:9-10 (ESV) 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no…
A Posture of Listening | Acts 7:54-60 (Stephen’s Martyrdom)
Today we are finishing the story of Stephen. I had written my sermon for today’s service a couple weeks ago, but when I read it this week, it just didn’t feel right. I sensed the Lord had a different sermon for me. Today, I’m sharing what the Lord is teaching me through the lens of Stephen’s story about the issue of racial justice. I’ve felt really drained this week. I’ve felt anger and grief, sadness, despair, as I know many…
Justice Served | Micah 2
What is the greatest commandment in the Bible? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matt 22:37) What is the second greatest commandment? “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 22:39) So the greatest commandments are “love God” and “love others.” What is idolatry? Idolatry is when we break the first and greatest commandment. It’s when we love anything more than God. Our sermon series is God of Justice.…
An Immigrant Story | Ephesians 2:11-22
In seminary they taught us to preach a passage like it’s written. So if you’re preaching a narrative like a parable or story of Jesus’ life, you should try to tell a story. And when you preach one of Paul’s letters that tend to be more logical and reasoned, you should make a more logical and reasoned argument. But rules are made to be broken, especially if you think the Lord is leading you in another direction. So today I…
The Certain Gospel: Pray for Justice | Luke 18:1-8
Does prayer work? When you’re going through something and you ask people to pray for you, does it matter? Does it help? Maybe you’ve seen this meme on Facebook about the uselessness of prayer. “I named my cats ‘thoughts’ and ‘prayers’ because they’re useless.” I actually think that’s pretty funny, but it’s sadly popular because people believe it. Prayer doesn’t work. Maybe some of you were on social media after the recent Parkland Shooting and you saw this meme showing…
Discipleship 101: Counter-Cultural Disciples | Philippians 1:27-30 (Tim Tebow vs. Colin Kaepernick)
What word would you use to describe our world right now? Chaotic? Angry? A mess? It seems like every week there’s a new story covering the strife in Washington and filling our globe. North Korea. Russia. Healthcare. The President. NFL. It seems like no matter the topic, our world is bitterly divided. But the great news is that Christians are in agreement! We are unified. We are at peace. We offer a safe-haven to those who want to get away…