Sunday, February 24, 2019

Making Black History


“I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up.”
 Rosa Parks

 Who do you have a lot in common with? Most of us think of our family. After that, perhaps we think of our community. Our political values and party would be on the list that either draws or divides us from others. Economic, marital and family status is another subdivision. Somewhere our church fits in. Our occupation and sports team loyalty is another partition.
  The New Testament is clear – believers have more in common with other believers than any other social group, even those of their own biological family, if they are not believers. Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Our unity in Christ is superior to all family, national, political, economic, cultural, occupational, or denominational loyalty. We are first brothers and sisters in Christ. Every other social partition is to be a very far second to the unity we have in Christ.
  Believers have something that we do not have with any other, even our own family. We are trusting in the cross and Christ alone for our salvation. With our brothers and sisters in Christ we have the same values, worldview and common blueprint of God’s Word. Ultimately, we have the same Home and final destination.
  There is a continual conversation about the growing division in America and really the world. For those who have trusted in Christ alone, there must be no division. Believers trust the same Savior, though we’re from different cultures, languages and even nations, we have more in common than either of us have with our neighbors across the street who have not trusted Christ.
  Sixty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made a sad accusation of the Church, “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning.” Jesus died for us so that we’d be One Body in Him. Unity is imperative and of utmost importance to God. Just a sidebar, it’s one reason that at Grace, we have gluten-free communion crackers. Communion is about our unity in Christ. We believe then that it’s vital we symbolize that even in the elements of communion.
  February is Black History Month. There are many African-American brothers and sisters that you may be unaware of who, though they may not be making history, are making history in eternity. If you’re a reader, pick up their books. If you’re a listener, find them on the radio or a podcast or even on YouTube.
  Tony Evans is the founding pastor of Dallas’ Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, which began in his home in 1976 and has grown to a membership of almost 10,000. He’s the first African-American to earn a doctorate in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. You can hear him on both radio and television. He’s been the chaplain for 30 years for the Dallas Mavericks. He has authored over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies.
  Jackie Hill-Perry is a writer, speaker and artist. Since coming to know Christ at the age of 19, she’s shared the light of gospel truth through teaching, writing, poetry and music. She released her debut album The Art of Joy in 2014. Growing up fatherless, Jackie experienced gender confusion. She abused marijuana, loved pornography, and embraced both masculinity and homosexuality. She knew that Christians had a lot to say about all of that, but was she supposed to change herself? How was she supposed to stop loving women, when homosexuality felt more natural to her than heterosexuality ever could? In her 2018 book, Gay Girl, Good God, she shares her story, offering practical tools that helped her in the process of finding wholeness. Coming to Christ, she came face-to-face with what it meant to be made new…not in a church, or through contact with Christians—God broke in and turned her heart towards Him right in her own bedroom in light of His glorious gospel.
  Thabiti Anyabwile trusted Christ when he was 25 years old. Greatly influenced by Pastor Mark Dever, he served as an assistant to him at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in D.C.. Currently, he’s the pastor at Anacostia River Church in southeast Washington, D.C. Our leadership read together and we give his book, What is a healthy church member? to everyone who attends our New Members’ class. His writings as a black believer about peace and racial reconciliation continually challenge me. Let me share just one quote: “The only way to live responsibly in the world is to commit ourselves to the kind of peacemaking that begins with things as they really are. We must learn to cope with the tools of the gospel and the Scripture, and that’s going to require a bunch of humility and faith.”
  Priscilla Shirer is an author and conference speaker. As a freshman at the University of Houston, she interned with a Christian radio station. Soon listeners were calling the station, inviting Priscilla to speak at their Bible study groups and other events. She was invited to lead a weekly Bible study at the Zig Ziglar Corporation and join its speaker team. She calls Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham, her mentor in ministry. Priscilla Shirer will tell you that she is a wife and a mom first. God used her to launch Going Beyond Ministries and she has authored over a dozen video driven studies for women and teens on a myriad of biblical characters and topics. 
  There are many others I could add to this list. Will we always agree with them? No. God’s Word is the final standard. We hold without apology Sola Scriptura, the Bible is the only authority for faith and practice. Yet, in a polarized America, a polarization that’s often contaminated the Church, we’ve forgotten that God’s Word is cross-cultural, written primarily by Middle Eastern Jews thousands of years ago. If God can use the Bible to bridge that great divide and bring about unity, there’s no question our awesome God can bring about unity in His family today, if we’ll let Him.  

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

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