Race and Racism
A 3-part series of sermons to help Christians understand what they should be doing and thinking about all of the racial discussions in today’s world.
Pastor Steve Estes: “There is a question that we’re going to deal with today and the answer to its roots is in a place we don’t expect. Humble beginnings, we might say. The question is race. And the racial tensions that are really tearing our nation apart, that people are giving a great deal of attention to, and it has started a national conversation. And the folks feel very strongly about it in all directions.”
“And so, if we were to ask ourselves, where in the Bible do we go to see what God says about race and how Christians are to think about it, we have to go to somewhere that is a lot further back than we think to what I’ll call humble beginnings. We really have to go back to the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis chapter 1.”
Part 1: Why God Made Races - Various Passages
Important Note from Pastor Steve Estes:
“The sermon you are about to hear was filmed several days ago at our church at Brick Lane in Elverson, Pennsylvania. I forgot to mention at the beginning of the sermon, something that I had in my notes. But in the rush of trying to get the filming done, forgot to say. A great deal of the material that I shared comes from a paper presented to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America several years ago. I followed the outline of that material substantially. Of course, I added my own material and embellished their material some. But a lion’s share of it really did come from their outline and I wanted to make that clear to you. I hope that this message is helpful to you in thinking through the issue of race in America.”
“Today’s sermon will not be from a single passage, it will be from a lot of passages all over the Bible. But I hope as we trace the idea of race throughout the Bible, it will be helpful to you as you think in this 21st centrury, what am I as a Christian to be doing and thinking about all the racial discussions that are happening now?”
Source: Why God Made Races was part of the 6/21/20 Worship Service and Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.
Part 2: As Christians Address Racial Tensions - Various Passages
Pastor Steve Estes: “I grew up in evangelical Bible believing churches and one of the things that distinguished our churches from the churches down the street of more liberal theologically inclined churches, was that they got involved in the social issues of the time, and we studied the Bible. And it seemed to us that when we heard discussions about social issues of the time, it just seemed to us like social liberalism in general.”
“It doesn’t mean that if we didn’t know if maybe we would try to meet it financially. My parents certainly reached out endlessly to people of all sorts. But as a whole, our churches didn’t think like that and there was some suspicion about thinking about social issues as being a liberal gospel. A social gospel instead of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
“We’re going to try to look a little bit at the Bible regarding that and almost certainly regarding - and next week as well. This is not meant to be a history lesson. This is meant to be a sermon from the Bible, and yet, we’re going to have to mention a few things historically. These are complicated issues we are facing in our time about race injustice. So may God really give us wisdom as we think together.”
Watch the whole sermon, “As Christians Address Racial Tensions” in the video below:
Source: As Christians Address Racial Tensions was part of the 6/28/20 Worship Service and Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.
Part 3: Am I Responsible for Other People’s Racism?
Pastor Steve Estes: “On the one hand, the Bible speaks quite clearly about unthinkingly, unfairly criticizing everyone for the sins of a few. It says in Proverbs 17:26, a passage we looked at last week, it is not good to flog officials for their integrity. Therefore to charge all law enforcement as being wrong because of the sins of some rogue cops is something the Bible doesn’t condone.”
“On the other hand, the Bible does address the responsibility of Christians to accept some responsibility for sins they did not personally commit, for wrongs of which a Christian may not be personally guilty of. Now as soon as we broach this subject, I will tell you right now, one of the things I feel so strongly is you can’t just say everything in a single sermon, you can’t say everything at once. This whole issue is complicated. Last week we looked at it like a ball of yarn. You want to deal with the red issue in the ball of yarn but there’s - it’s entangled with so many other issues of so many different colors that it’s hard to speak, and you try to speak about one issue at a time and it’s linked with all the other ones. I would plead with you if you did not hear last week’s sermon to please hear it because I consider today, last Sunday and the Sunday before as really three parts of a single sermon.”
Watch the whole sermon, “Am I Responsible for Other People’s Racism” in the video below:
Source: Am I responsible for Other People’s Racism was part of the 7/5/20 Worship Service and Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.