Series Summary…”What you bring to the table”

I believe that the Holy Spirit is leading a movement for the Church to unite over the issue of race.  Several pastors have recently highlighted the fact that Sundays are the most segregated times for the believer.  Several pastors are becoming unsettled about the fact that believers aren’t moving toward unity with other churches.

And these pastors, including me, aren’t conspiring with each other…it all just happened because we are led in that direction.  Of course the Holy Spirit is the One directing this movement.  I’m not claiming a prophecy here but I believe that something big in the area of race relations is building among the churches in our area.  The Holy Spirit is on the move.

We’ve come to the end of the collection of sermons for “What You Bring to the Table.”  For the next few days, I will review some of what we learned from the series.

First was the vision for Peter of the sheet coming from heaven in Acts 10.  He learned that “God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.”

He found out that his prejudice against a whole people group was actually hindering what God was doing through the burgeoning move of God to take the Gospel to everyone, everywhere, and even to the ends of the earth.

Satan didn’t like it then, and he won’t like it now…but trust God and follow the directing of the Spirit in this area!

New Series Begins Sunday

A few weeks back a message series idea began to stir in me surrounding racism and the church.  As I studied, I found that throughout the church’s Biblical history the issue is larger than just race…the church is divided over culture, social status, economics, and much more.  In other words, the prejudice of church people goes beyond racism.

Why is the Kingdom so divided when God placed the members in His Church just the way he wanted?  Why do church people elevate themselves and put others down?

A new series begins Sunday by asking “What do you bring to the table?”  Some things you bring to the table–or the Kingdom of God–is awesome and showcases the grand variety God enjoys.  But with great diversity, there is a great temptation for favoritism and partiality.  Those dangerous attitudes have no place at the table.

 

“GRacism”

Are you a gracist?

Not a misspelling.  The word “gracist” just popped into a conversation I was having yesterday.  I thought, “mmmhmmm, that could be a message series title.”  This was too clever of a word for it not to be used before, so I googled it and found that certainly other preachers and authors have used the word play.

Racism is a really negative and prevalent issue of showing prejudice toward others based on their race.  Put a “G” in the front and it introduces God’s Grace or unmerited favor.

David Anderson wrote a refreshing book entitled “Gracism.”  His point is NOT that color, class, or culture DON’T matter, but rather Christians are called to extend grace or unmerited favor on others precisely because of their differences.

Anderson put it:

The heart of a gracist extends a helping hand to those who are outside the positive norms of a particular society… gracists build bridges of inclusion for those on the margins.

I haven’t read Anderson’s book, but I’m intrigued by this idea.  Racism is a particularly ugly issue in this part of the country, but there are beautiful signs of reconciliation!  Team Church was planted here with the hope that it would become one of the few (only?) mult-racial churches in our area.

Perhaps this could be a sermon series where we can do some intentional things to bring people of different races together?  It’s kind of ridiculous that God can bring people from nearly 50 nations together in the same church in Charlotte, just an hour away, but we can’t hold many services where blacks and whites worship together.

Hey, I said it before, but we have to own it…”We Are Lanc…”  Well, you know.

What does “gracism” make you think of?  Ever read Anderson’s book?  I would love any feedback you have.  Hey you creative thinkers…time to collaborate.