"violence" Tagged Sermons
From Zeal to Hospitality
Romans 13 is a famous text that has been used as a proof-text to justify state-sponsored violence for millennia. By reading Romans “backwards” (in light of the conflict between the factions in the house churches of Rome), we can more clearly see Paul’s purpose for writing this passage. Rather than sanctioning state-sponsored violence, Paul was transforming the zeal of the so-called “Weak” into love, honor, and hospitality. Paul was also reminding the disciples in Rome of Jesus’s teachings of enemy-love…
Swimming Lessons, Week 4: “The Rise of Babylon”
The fourth sermon in the “Swimming Lessons” teaching series entitled “The Rise of Babylon,” this message presents an interpretation of the “Tower of Babel” story in Genesis chapter 11 as the genesis of empire and cultural captivity. This message challenges viewers to examine the ways we capitulate or participate in cultural captivity. How many times have you heard that Pentecost “reversed the curse” of Babel? Did you know that the word “curse” never appears in the story? What if diversity…
Swimming Lessons, Week 3: “City of Cain”
The third message in the “Swimming Lessons” series builds upon the previous two, by continuing to chart the descent of human culture into greater and greater brokenness. In this message, Pastor T. C. shows how human culture disintegrated from the original “Garden Culture” to Cain killing his brother Abel. But, the shattering of shalom isn’t confined to individuals. After God marks Cain for his own protection, the story says Cain built a city. Our judgment of and violence toward one…