Gospel in Black & White
Posted by dsmith in Uncategorized on February 26th, 2009
Here are the sermons and videos from The Gospel in Black & White:
Amazing Grace with over 50,000 men
Posted by dsmith in Uncategorized on February 13th, 2009
Check out this you tube below which talks about the black keys. I WAS THERE with Dad and Granddad in 1995 @ RFK singing amazing Grace!!!!!! Whitley talks about the black keys on the piano.
It’s amazing. (-: peace.
From Ron Whitt - College Hill Impact - City Cure and Christ Community College Hill
Unity in Diversity
What is it that can unify diverse people, and will one day bring them together before God’s throne to worship Him together? Find out as you listen to this sermon from Rev. Charles L. King, Jr.
Check out this recent discussion
If you follow this link you’ll find a very interesting article about race and church but be sure to read the blog responses there. Shows the challenge of walking across the rubble. One can fall off to either side - trying too hard or not trying at all. Check it out.
Racial Reconciliation: A Necessary Conversion
Racial Reconciliation: A Necessary Conversion
by Lynne Hybels 01-15-2009
In 2001, my husband Bill was jolted out of racial complacency. Through books he read and conversations he had with African-American pastors, he was broken by the reality of ongoing racial injustice in the U.S. He describes it as having a kind of “second conversion,” where the scales fell off his eyes and he suddenly saw with horrible clarity of something that broke the heart of God and ought to break his heart.
In response to the stirring in his spirit, he began to study and then to teach our congregation the history of slavery and the ongoing reality of discrimination and systemic injustice. He read the works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and became outspoken about racial reconciliation and our need to intentionally pursue greater racial diversity in our church.
He didn’t just speak on these issues once or twice; these themes began to bleed through every dimension of our church life. In fact, the church leadership team decided to “institute” the value of racial reconciliation by dedicating an entire weekend service each January to the values taught by Dr. King.
The first time we did an MLK service, Bill received letters from people who said, “We don’t come to church to hear your left-wing politics.” Bill and I were horrified by that response, but it just fueled Bill’s passion to help our congregation understand that racial reconciliation and the fight against injustice are every bit as important as evangelism, small groups, prayer, Bible study, and all the other practices and disciplines Christians leaders so enthusiastically lift up.
This weekend, as I was considering the approach of MLK day, I re-read some of Bill’s past MLK messages on racism, systemic injustice, the working poor—and on God’s call for us to join him in fixing whatever is broken in our communities and in the world. This year our MLK service will fall during a teaching series on family. The weekend message will focus on how to create truly inclusive homes and raise children committed to celebrating diversity and pursuing justice. I pray that many people will experience a “second conversion” that compels them to reach their hands—and extend their lives—across the racial divide.
While Willow has a long way to go in every measure of spiritual maturity—including racial reconciliation—our congregation is no longer the white suburban church it used to be. The racial diversity of our congregation now reflects the increasingly diverse demographic of our community, and we are experiencing both the challenges and the blessings that always accompany a journey closer to the heart of God.
Lynne Hybels is the Advocate for Global Engagement at Willow Creek Community Church and author of Nice Girls Don’t Change the World .
You can download PDFs of some of Bill Hybels’ sermons on racial reconciliation at these links:
Bridging the Racial Divide – 2001
Life’s Missing Ingredients: Freedom – 2003
The God Who Hates Injustice – 2005
The Animal Odd Couple
Posted by dsmith in Uncategorized on February 6th, 2009
CBS News reported this heartwarming story a month ago. It is the story of a remarkable friendship between an elephant and a dog …
Unconditional Love is Hard Work!
Posted by dsmith in Uncategorized on February 6th, 2009
Loving others who have hurt you is not easy. Rev. Sherman Bradley has experienced that himself, and takes you through the steps that can make a dramatic change in your life…
Questions You Are Afraid to Ask
Posted by dsmith in Uncategorized on February 5th, 2009
This entire enterprise requires perseverance because it is so hard. The churches of the US have largely passively lived in segregated worlds - in life and in church. We haven’t actively worked to live out our unity in Christ in relationships with one another. That’s the way it’s been for 200 years. So now as we intentionally try to live out Biblical theology - see Ephesians 2 or the first sermon in this series (the cross destroys ALL the walls we erect) - we are going to have some hard questions. They may be hard to ask or even answer but we need a safe place to ask them. Here’s the place. If you’d like you can submit them here or if you’d like you can send them to me at dsmith@chpc.org. If you send your questions via email they will be posted anonymously. So be warned - if you are ready for the tough questions then here’s the place. Ask and then listen. Remember, our goal is to listen and understand more than to speak and be understood. We are not trying to debate or convince but we are simply trying to understand one another. It’s not easy but let’s keep walking across the rubble.
Winton Hills/College Hill exploration questions
Posted by dsmith in Uncategorized on February 4th, 2009
We have in the works a whole different page for these questions and concerns, but for now we will ask them here and when the forum gets up and running we will move them there. BECAUSE these two items were not intentionally set up together. Actually, the Gospel in Black and White series was born almost a year ago with some staff conversations. Then six months ago, I started to ask folks to guest preach - Pastor Chip, Bishop Todd and Rev. King. They all wanted not just to pulpit swap but to worship together. THEN, 3 months ago Pastor Chip asked me about considering merging our congregations. So - here we are today not by our plan. Of course the question we are asking in this exploration - Is this God’s planning? Is this God’s leading?
So - please ask your questions here. In time we will post the FAQ’s that have already been distributed and add to it the questions and answers from the Exploration Team. So ask away - as we seek together God’s leading.