CONNECT TO MISSION
A Firm Foundation Anchoring the journey to racial justice
BIBLICAL KEYS FOR SOLUTIONS To Deal With The Fear, Hurt, Anger And Hopelessness Exposed By Racial Unrest WHILE MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT IN YOUR CHURCH
KEY #1: THEY WERE CRUSHED
Peter's Pentecost Message helped his listeners understand their personal role in crucifying Jesus. 3000 of them willingly admitted their complicity. Acts 2: 37a The Passion Translation (TPT)
KEY #2: THEY WERE DEEPLY MOVED
Once admitting the part they played (directly or indirectly), the people allowed themselves to feel the full spectrum of emotions: Guilt, Sorrow, Compassion... Acts 2: 37b The Passion Translation (TPT)
KEY #3: THEY BUILT THEIR AWARENESS
Asking "What do we need to do?" is the first step toward real change. Awareness is where education and repentance intersect and true transformation begins. Acts 2: 37c The Passion Translation (TPT) KEY #4 THEY TOOK HOLD OF THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
It is one thing to be offered a gift and another thing to receive it. Once the people accepted the facts of Peter's sermon, in response they also needed make a change and demonstrate true commitment. Acts 2: 38 - 41 The Passion Translation (TPT) KEY #5 THEY BUILT RELATIONSHIPS
With soul, heart, mind, spirit, and body engaged, the believers grew in true community marked by mutuality, shared experience and Divine favour. Acts 2: 42 - 47 The Passion Translation (TPT) Pentecost is Not an Event...It is a Lifestyle! www.mydivineappointment.ca
10 live • March - April 2021
Since the unprecedented international response triggered by George Floyd’s murder in the United States, Canadian eyes are opening to the anti-Black racism that’s alive and well in our own communities and churches. It has been especially unnerving for white mainstream Christians, many of whom have little or no knowledge of the historical Black experience in the Canadian Church, never mind its impact on “lay empowerment, leadership development and the spiritual dignity essential to those who unite together as the Body of Christ.”1 In the current climate, the Canadian Church’s response has varied. We’ve noted the flurry of catch-up activity seen on denominational levels, demonstrated by the issuing of statements and making of quick tweaks to policies that have sustained white privilege for centuries. On the other hand, many local churches tiptoe around the pain of Black congregants in order to maintain a level of silence that is deafening and yet familiar. (Martin Luther King Jr. identified the complicity of collective white Christian silence when he said: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”) The weight of “white guilt” has bubbled up and many Christians of all racial backgrounds are defaulting to a posture that shelves the hard conversations we need to have about the sin of racism, opting instead for a watered-down brand of chats on racial reconciliation.
