FROM ISOLATION TO DIVERSITY (3 OF 5)
Scripture: Luke 4:14-30
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From Isolation to Diversity (3 of 5)
Series: Lent 180
Dave Gustavsen & Mike Bethune
Luke 4:14-30
DAVE: Good morning.
We are about halfway through the season of Lent. And one of the historical purposes of Lent is to allow God to identify any sins or faults or blind spots in us, and then to repent of those things. Do you know what it means to repent? The most basic meaning: it means to turn around. So it's a decision to change your mind about something, so much so that you turn around and head in a different direction. Which is why we're calling this series ''180.''
J.I. Packer, the writer, said that the essence of repentance isn't moaning and remorse (like, ''Oh, I feel so awful about that; I hate myself); the essence of repentance is turning and change. Or, here's a much simpler quote: ''Repentance doesn't mean anything if you keep doing what you're sorry for.''
So...all through this series, we're allowing the words of Jesus to reveal the places we need to repent. And we believe that for a lot of us, one of those places is our tendency to be racially isolated.
I grew up in the suburbs: Kinnelon, New Jersey. Beautiful town. And in my school there was a small handful of Asian-Americans, a smaller handful of Latino-Americans, and one African-American. And a whole lot of white kids. So I was part of the clear majority, and I didn't really think that much about it. Today, I pastor a church that is not a whole lot more diverse than the town I grew up in, but I'm thankful that we're slowly becoming more diverse.
MIKE: I grew up in the city: Paterson, New Jersey.
.....The Diversity of Paterson...
• School # 24 - very diverse; Best friend was an Irish kid named Schyler Berdan (briefly tell the story), we're still friends till this day...he introduced me to corned beef and cabbage; and I introduced him to black-eyed peas and cornbread...lol
•
• The church that I came from is the exact opposite of this church in terms of diversity, with Af ...
Series: Lent 180
Dave Gustavsen & Mike Bethune
Luke 4:14-30
DAVE: Good morning.
We are about halfway through the season of Lent. And one of the historical purposes of Lent is to allow God to identify any sins or faults or blind spots in us, and then to repent of those things. Do you know what it means to repent? The most basic meaning: it means to turn around. So it's a decision to change your mind about something, so much so that you turn around and head in a different direction. Which is why we're calling this series ''180.''
J.I. Packer, the writer, said that the essence of repentance isn't moaning and remorse (like, ''Oh, I feel so awful about that; I hate myself); the essence of repentance is turning and change. Or, here's a much simpler quote: ''Repentance doesn't mean anything if you keep doing what you're sorry for.''
So...all through this series, we're allowing the words of Jesus to reveal the places we need to repent. And we believe that for a lot of us, one of those places is our tendency to be racially isolated.
I grew up in the suburbs: Kinnelon, New Jersey. Beautiful town. And in my school there was a small handful of Asian-Americans, a smaller handful of Latino-Americans, and one African-American. And a whole lot of white kids. So I was part of the clear majority, and I didn't really think that much about it. Today, I pastor a church that is not a whole lot more diverse than the town I grew up in, but I'm thankful that we're slowly becoming more diverse.
MIKE: I grew up in the city: Paterson, New Jersey.
.....The Diversity of Paterson...
• School # 24 - very diverse; Best friend was an Irish kid named Schyler Berdan (briefly tell the story), we're still friends till this day...he introduced me to corned beef and cabbage; and I introduced him to black-eyed peas and cornbread...lol
•
• The church that I came from is the exact opposite of this church in terms of diversity, with Af ...
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