"unity and diversity" 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…
Subversive Peace
This is the first message in a new teaching series, exploring the letter to the church at Rome, written by the apostle Paul/Saul. In this message, Pastor T. C. introduces the series and explains why reading Romans “backwards” helps keep the theology of the letter in its social and ecclesial contexts, as well as making it more easily applicable in our contemporary contexts.
Oneness in Christ
What is “oneness in Christ” and what does it teach us about the relationship between men and women in the church? In this message, Pastor T. C. shares some of the story about how his view changed from “Complementarianism” to “Egalitarianism”.
Kingdom Hybridity
In the second half of chapter 2, Paul teaches that the cross of Jesus does more than just reconcile people to God, it also reconciles people groups to one another. Namely, Jesus’s life of self-sacrificial love shows us the way to peace and tears down the divisions between people of different cultures. The Way of Jesus creates an entirely new kind of human community. But, multiethnic churches might fall into the trap of thinking “multiculturalism” is what this text prescribes.…
Swimming Lessons, Week 1: “Garden Culture”
This message kicks off a new teaching series exploring the ways we are formed and malformed by culture. In this first message, Pastor T. C. lays a foundation for the series by starting where the biblical story starts: in Genesis chapter 1. In the story of Genesis 1 and 2, God creates humanity in God’s “image.” This “image of God” (Latin: imago Dei) is less about attributes humanity possesses and more about a calling with which humanity is blessed. God…