Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 7

Getting Together

Another prejudice that needs to be addressed is our denominationalism. I’m not necessarily advocating that we join together as part of a great ecumenical movement. We don’t need to blindly embrace the minister down the street who believes Christ to be a good man but little more—and certainly not the unique Son of God. There are essential doctrinal differences that cannot be overlooked.

But that doesn’t mean that all in the true body of Christ, those who have received His saving grace, can’t learn to work together better. In our land the enemy is increasing in power. The strides Satan has made in recent years are frightening. Christians will never stop him if we can’t learn to cooperate more.

I am thrilled with reports I hear of ministers in many parts of the country praying together across denominational lines. We are not as far behind denominationally as we are racially, but that’s hardly a high compliment.

As I talk with church leaders, I am amazed how little Baptists know about Episcopalians, or Episcopalians about the Salvation Army, or the Army about what’s happening in Presbyterian circles. In many ways these are like different worlds which seldom interface unless something like a Billy Graham Crusade brings them together.

In a given town, churches and the people of those various churches so often are spiritually isolated from one another. Free Methodists don’t know who attends the local Church of God church, or the Missouri Synod Lutheran church, or the Evangelical Free church, or the Assembly of God church. There are exceptions, but on the whole we don’t really know the true body of Christ in our particular settings as I believe our Lord would like us to.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 6

There’s a strong white church, there’s a strong black church, and there’s a strong Hispanic church. But there isn’t nearly as much of a coming together racially as we might like to think. Most honest church leaders would say that as Christians we’re probably fifteen to twenty years behind where we should be on this issue.

Don’t misunderstand. I’m not equating the church with the Ku Klux Klan. I’m not overlooking the fact that some progress has been made. I’m just honestly pointing out that Christians should be a lot farther along than we are in terms of racial reconciliation.

Most churches or para-church organizations are not in a position to boast. More likely, they admit to finding the race issue an extremely difficult problem to work through. But if Christians ever expect to be heard as a viable voice in Chicago or in this nation or in North America, then racism in the church must be addressed. It’s a glass ceiling that needs to be shattered, and soon.

My conviction is that God still forces His people to confront the scandal of their prejudices when they stand in the way of His dreams becoming reality. As we plead with the Spirit for revival in the church, I believe this is one of the sins He will convict us of. Daring to dream again means breaking through the racial barriers that hold us back.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

Share and Enjoy

Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 5

Personal Cram Course

Have you ever tried to master some difficult subject by taking a cram course? Perhaps in a short period of time you were going to learn how to speak French or become an accomplished pianist.

What happened?

I could say I took a twelve-year inner city cram course on racial reconciliation. Now for some, twelve years might seem too long for a cram course. But when we realize that racism in this land has been hundreds of years in the making, twelve years is actually rather a short period of time in which to expect to master the subject!

What happened was that I founded an inner city, interracial church that which quickly grew to a Sunday morning attendance of 500. On my staff were a Chinese Filipino man, an African American man, and also a white woman. We did well, for a while—about eight years. But eventually all the blacks left. I confess that I, as senior minister, was as much involved and to blame for what happened as anyone. In retrospect, I would say I flunked the racial reconciliation course. On the other hand, I certainly learned a great deal, probably as much about my flaws as anything! So when I talk about personal racism or racism in the church, it’s not just another topic to me.

That church ministry began in 1967. At that time in Chicago there was minimal communication between the black church and the white church. Today, in this third largest of U.S. cities, there are ministries where blacks and whites work together in the church beautifully. I applaud those efforts. In fact, I stand and applaud. I rejoice. I shout, “Praise the Lord!”

But the truth is, when you look at the broader church picture, not much progress has been made toward racial reconciliation. When it comes to blacks and whites working together, the church lags behind the sports world, the entertainment world, the world of education, the world of business, the world of government, and on and on.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

Share and Enjoy