The Gospel and Race

Many of us will be voting in the elections this coming week. While your pastors are not experts in political theory, we do believe that the Scriptures are sufficient for everything we need for life and godliness. So, if Christ is Lord over all our lives, his Word can help us honor and please him even during this election season. Here are three election exhortations we would ask you to consider while seeking to navigate this election season as elect exiles.

How can you personally grow in deepening your relationships with others at church. Since we do not have Community Groups as a formal ministry of the church in this season, we want to encourage each of you to take the initiative to invest in relationships outside our weekly rhythm of Celebration Gatherings on Sundays and Mid-Week Gatherings on Wednesdays.

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

In this book, Shai aims to show us shows how the gospel applies to the pursuit of ethnic unity. When it comes to ethnicity, Shai suggests that Christians today have to fight against two tendencies: idolatry and apathy. Idolatry makes ethnicity ultimate, while apathy tends to ignore it altogether. But there is a third way, the way of the Bible. Shai wants to help us chart a new way forward in addressing the critical question of what it means for people of all ethnicities to be the one people of God. In this review, I will briefly outline his main points along with some application for us as a church.

In this book, Williams draws from a diverse range of theologians, sociologists, artists, and activists to make the case that we must be discerning if we are to “truly execute justice” as Scripture commands since not everything called “social justice” today is compatible with a biblical vision of a better world. In this review, I will briefly outline his main points and chapter summaries and then conclude with some takeaways for us as a church.

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

A summary and analysis of the book, Weep with Me: How Lament Opens a Door for Racial Reconciliation by Mark Vroegop

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

This month’s book in the Gospel & Race project is, From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race, which is written by Daniel Hays and edited by D. A. Carson in the New Studies in Biblical Theology series. This book traces the theme of race/ethnicity that runs throughout Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, constantly pointing to the global and multiethnic dimensions inherent in the overarching redemptive plan of God.

A summary and analysis of the book Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

A summary and analysis of the book How to be Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's sermon with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.

A summary and analysis of the book Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby. This is a book focused on the historical role of the American church in compromising its gospel witness by failing to speak out against racism and even promoting racism in many cases. Before we can consider the victories of racial equality that Christians have promoted, we must take time to recognize what went wrong with the church in America concerning race.

Summer reading plan for the Gospel and Race project focused on history and secular perspectives.

How do our negative assumptions about other people's motives create havoc in our relationships? What is root cause of all our frustrated desires? This week we continue with the final two principles in the book Respect the Image – Think the Best, and Examine Your Heart.

What are two words you should never say in an argument? Is there a contradiction in the slogans "Black Lives Matter," and "All Lives Matter?" What is one quality our words should always dispense? This week we consider the next three principles in the book – Mean what you Say, Understand What You Hear, and Nourish with Grace.

How could our conversations across racial and political divides look if we implemented the G.R.A.C.E principles that Tim Shorey recommends?

Some concluding thoughts and application for our church from the book Bloodlines by John Piper

Why is ethnic diversity something that we should aim to pursue in our church? Is this simply diversity for diversity’s sake or maybe something that our culture tells us we ought to do? We ought to be able to see the beauty of ethnic diversity through the lens of the gospel instead of something that the church is trying to do to keep in step with the culture.

We need to be able to think though issues of racism primarily from a gospel lens before we can see it from an economic and political lens. Let's consider how the gospel exposes the roots of racism and replaces it with abounding hope.

The solutions proposed by advocates of personal responsibility vs. systemic intervention has been the source of an explosive debate on race. What is this debate about? Is any ultimate hope in these solutions?⁠

A few reasons that ought to motivate us to learn about the implications of the gospel on race and ethnic issues.

A discussion on definitions of race and ethnicity in the book Bloodlines by John Piper

An introduction to the impetus behind the Gospel and Race Project at Sovereign Grace Church Dayton

A weekly follow-up of Sunday morning's message with links, scripture text, the main point, and thoughts regarding application.