HOW TO WIN EVERY RACE (4 OF 4)
Scripture: James 2:1-12
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How to Win Every Race (4 of 4)
Series: Elephant in the Room
James Merritt
James 2:1-12
Introduction
1. It was a conversation I will never forget and one of the saddest and most enlightening conversations I've ever had. I was talking to a member of one of the churches I pastored and I've pastored five different churches in three different states, so you will never know which one it was. I would have considered this man to be a very good friend, plus one of my most faithful members. We were together on many occasions. We were driving down the road and he brought up the issue of interracial marriage and to my shock he told me he had left a church one time where he had been a member for many years, because his pastor had performed an interracial marriage.
2. That led to (let's just say) a very heated conversation over race and it culminated when I asked him this question: ''Would you rather your daughter marry a black man, who was on fire for God, who loved Jesus with all of his heart, who was a man of deep faith or a white atheist? Without even hesitating he said, ''I would rather she marry a white atheist. If she married a black man I would disown her immediately.'' I not only wanted to kick him out of my car, but I wanted to kick him out of my church.
3. We are finishing a series that we have called ''Elephant in the Room'' and the issue we are dealing with today is racism. I want to begin by stating the obvious (in case you haven't noticed). I am a white guy. I have never experienced racism. I am going to ask at the beginning of this message that every minority and in particular every African American, give me some grace in this message. I am the first one to admit, though I want to empathize with you, I cannot in one sense sympathize with you, because I can never feel what many of you have felt.
4. I am thankful for the conversations I had with two black men who have become super close to me - our campus pastor here, Jason Caine and another b ...
Series: Elephant in the Room
James Merritt
James 2:1-12
Introduction
1. It was a conversation I will never forget and one of the saddest and most enlightening conversations I've ever had. I was talking to a member of one of the churches I pastored and I've pastored five different churches in three different states, so you will never know which one it was. I would have considered this man to be a very good friend, plus one of my most faithful members. We were together on many occasions. We were driving down the road and he brought up the issue of interracial marriage and to my shock he told me he had left a church one time where he had been a member for many years, because his pastor had performed an interracial marriage.
2. That led to (let's just say) a very heated conversation over race and it culminated when I asked him this question: ''Would you rather your daughter marry a black man, who was on fire for God, who loved Jesus with all of his heart, who was a man of deep faith or a white atheist? Without even hesitating he said, ''I would rather she marry a white atheist. If she married a black man I would disown her immediately.'' I not only wanted to kick him out of my car, but I wanted to kick him out of my church.
3. We are finishing a series that we have called ''Elephant in the Room'' and the issue we are dealing with today is racism. I want to begin by stating the obvious (in case you haven't noticed). I am a white guy. I have never experienced racism. I am going to ask at the beginning of this message that every minority and in particular every African American, give me some grace in this message. I am the first one to admit, though I want to empathize with you, I cannot in one sense sympathize with you, because I can never feel what many of you have felt.
4. I am thankful for the conversations I had with two black men who have become super close to me - our campus pastor here, Jason Caine and another b ...
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