"ethnicity" Tagged Sermons
The Household of Christ
In chapters 14 and 15, the apostle Paul/Saul directly addresses the conflict between factions in the house churches of Rome. Namely, he points out that there is division among them along cultural and ethnic lines after the Jewish disciples who were expelled from Rome begin returning only to find a gentile-dominated church that no longer feels like home. The factions, which Beverly Roberts Gaventa lovingly refers to as the “lettuce-eaters” and the “garbage-bellies,” are deriving their identities from sources other…
Beyond a Flannel Graph Christmas
Far too often, the Christmas story is haunted by the lingering effects of our Sunday School, two-dimensional, “Flannel Graph” understanding of the story. We have sanitized and domesticated the story, stripping it of its politically-charged, scandalous, and awe-inspiring power. We have removed the cultural and socioeconomic dimensions, to safeguard the status quo. And we have disenchanted the story to appease our skeptical, modern minds. In this message, Pastor T. C. invites us to journey beyond a “Flannel Graph Christmas,” with…