I respectfully ask again for the Safe Church ministry to reconsider this list of messages provided by Sojourners. More specifically, to remove at least the 6 Unitarian Universalist messages from the “sermons” listed. If those specific messages cannot be removed from this list, then I ask that the Safe Church ministry provide a disclaimer on this page explaining that many of these examples of preaching, which this denominational ministry still recommends as “resources on how to preach on the topic of domestic violence” are anti-Christian and do not proclaim a scriptural Christ.
Certainly the Safe Church ministry can agree that recommending preaching that addresses injustice without any appeal to the gospel of Christ crucifying our sin and resurrecting the faithful to new life will hinder the goals of awareness, healing, and transformation this ministry aims to promote. Certainly the Safe Church ministry can agree that the Christian Reformed Church needs to be clear about the gospel and the true means of grace, healing and justice on Earth.
With respect to Christ and the hope of this denominational ministry, please remove – or at least properly identify – the anti-Christian messages provided on this page.
Thank you for posting the disclaimer! This gets me wondering: Why Sojourners? If SoJo has such a hard time discerning a Biblical sermons from unBiblical (or anti-Biblical, even), maybe there’s a better source? I’d be more than willing to take time to help you find some, or contribute my own before throwing up a grab bag of messages that may or may not help the Church.
I ask the Safe Church Ministry, carefully and respectfully, to please, please reconsider this “sermon” list.
If we are the Church that admits with Jesus (and the Prophets and Apostles) that the Word of God is the gift that washes, redeems, and transforms us, then we can agree that an overwhelming number of these messages are not “sermons.” Many of them simply deny the inspiration of scripture – the first in the list being the most offensive (yet). Others pay little or no attention to The Word of God at all. Few have any Good News of Christ’s sacrificial redemption by faith. These may be speeches, or even timely cries from the heart, but they are not “sermons.” Many of these messages are not able to be preached by pastors who not only know Christ, but have signed The Covenant of Officebearers promising their teaching and preaching be in alignment with The Word as well as our Creeds and Confessions.
I am with you in admitting that addressing this very topic from the pulpit is necessary. But as Christians, we must do it as Christians, and that means being bought and formed by The Word God sent to us. That means being taught, reproved, corrected and trained for righteousness by that Word – not standing in place of God by correcting and reproving The Word. The hope and healing we and our congregations need will not come when we deny The Word and Spirit God has given us for that exact work.
Thanks, Amanda. I appreciate much of what you said here. Unfortunately, none of what you wrote was included in the recommendation in this post. In fact, the post recommended these messages as if they are in line with, or a continuation of, the CRC’s work in addressing abuse and violence with the same attention to being Christians finding Christian hope and solutions until Jesus returns. Unfortunately, as an organization, Sojourners cannot be relied on to provide specifically Christian hope and solutions.
I am all for reading “outside our own tradition” (I wasn’t raised Christian, much less CRC) and I do it all the time. However, we need to be honest about it. It only leads to more questions and confusion when a CRC ministry recommends “sermons” without any of the disclaimer you responded with. As a pastor, I am desperately trying to help the people God has given into my care and orbit see the difference between what is of Christ and what is anti-Christ – and to run toward Christ. Maybe because of this work I hope to have more support from the denomination, but assumptions and/or poor recommendations from a denominational ministry doesn’t help a pastor’s work. Perhaps amending the post would provide a more honest reason for why these messages were recommended, and what there usefulness may or may not be.
Thanks for posting, Viviana. I have a few of questions. This looks to be self-guided; is there help from a facilitator or ministry leader? What is the objective of the workshop? What curriculum is being used? Is there a biblical theme/narrative/premise that this workshop is based on? Sorry, but I’m not seeing a lot of information on what this really is, and for $85.00 I’d like to know. Thanks!
Seriously, this link needs to be taken down. I can’t show this to my youth group leaders, much less my church’s kids – and certainly not my daughter.
I see you're taking requests for better information I'll happily take some time and post those things here, and also as a separate article on the Network to correct this link if it's not taken down.
Now I have more reading to do. Thanks, Ben. This sounds like an interesting categorization of ministry, especially in light of the Great Commission: The “what” has to have a “how.”
This is a curious statement. I believe the Church did make large strides under a Roman government which codified slavery in various ways, as well as considering The Way to be an ‘outlaw’ religion. Certainly believing slaves in Philippi and believers within “Caesar’s household” [Phil. 4.22] were not considered “equals” under the law of Rome – and yet they aknowledged each other (perhaps secretly!) as brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the miracle and the power of hearts won out of a fallen world by the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of a resurrected Christ transcends barriers that humans erect against it.
So, are the premises of the Belhar faulty? In which ways? If we answer “yes”, then we need to examine ourselves to see on what level we can – or cannot – “confess” a not-quite-so–exact document.
The author seems not to be aware that CRT has different definitions and outworkings, despite quoting the ABA. Nor does the author understand the difference between political enemies and differences among brothers and sisters in the Church regarding the scope and purpose of confessions. Understanding these differences and working with them would go much farther with more constructive solutions for the Church.
The author seems not to be aware that CRT has different definitions and outworkings, despite quoting the ABA. Nor does the author understand the difference between political enemies and differences among brothers and sisters in the Church regarding the scope and purpose of confessions. Understanding these differences and working with them would go much farther with more constructive solutions for the Church.
Posted in: Sermon Resources: Preaching on the Topic of Domestic Violence
I respectfully ask again for the Safe Church ministry to reconsider this list of messages provided by Sojourners. More specifically, to remove at least the 6 Unitarian Universalist messages from the “sermons” listed. If those specific messages cannot be removed from this list, then I ask that the Safe Church ministry provide a disclaimer on this page explaining that many of these examples of preaching, which this denominational ministry still recommends as “resources on how to preach on the topic of domestic violence” are anti-Christian and do not proclaim a scriptural Christ.
Certainly the Safe Church ministry can agree that recommending preaching that addresses injustice without any appeal to the gospel of Christ crucifying our sin and resurrecting the faithful to new life will hinder the goals of awareness, healing, and transformation this ministry aims to promote. Certainly the Safe Church ministry can agree that the Christian Reformed Church needs to be clear about the gospel and the true means of grace, healing and justice on Earth.
With respect to Christ and the hope of this denominational ministry, please remove – or at least properly identify – the anti-Christian messages provided on this page.
Posted in: Sermon Resources: Preaching on the Topic of Domestic Violence
Thank you for posting the disclaimer! This gets me wondering: Why Sojourners? If SoJo has such a hard time discerning a Biblical sermons from unBiblical (or anti-Biblical, even), maybe there’s a better source? I’d be more than willing to take time to help you find some, or contribute my own before throwing up a grab bag of messages that may or may not help the Church.
Posted in: Sermon Resources: Preaching on the Topic of Domestic Violence
I ask the Safe Church Ministry, carefully and respectfully, to please, please reconsider this “sermon” list.
If we are the Church that admits with Jesus (and the Prophets and Apostles) that the Word of God is the gift that washes, redeems, and transforms us, then we can agree that an overwhelming number of these messages are not “sermons.” Many of them simply deny the inspiration of scripture – the first in the list being the most offensive (yet). Others pay little or no attention to The Word of God at all. Few have any Good News of Christ’s sacrificial redemption by faith. These may be speeches, or even timely cries from the heart, but they are not “sermons.” Many of these messages are not able to be preached by pastors who not only know Christ, but have signed The Covenant of Officebearers promising their teaching and preaching be in alignment with The Word as well as our Creeds and Confessions.
I am with you in admitting that addressing this very topic from the pulpit is necessary. But as Christians, we must do it as Christians, and that means being bought and formed by The Word God sent to us. That means being taught, reproved, corrected and trained for righteousness by that Word – not standing in place of God by correcting and reproving The Word. The hope and healing we and our congregations need will not come when we deny The Word and Spirit God has given us for that exact work.
Posted in: Sermon Resources: Preaching on the Topic of Domestic Violence
Thanks, Amanda. I appreciate much of what you said here. Unfortunately, none of what you wrote was included in the recommendation in this post. In fact, the post recommended these messages as if they are in line with, or a continuation of, the CRC’s work in addressing abuse and violence with the same attention to being Christians finding Christian hope and solutions until Jesus returns. Unfortunately, as an organization, Sojourners cannot be relied on to provide specifically Christian hope and solutions.
I am all for reading “outside our own tradition” (I wasn’t raised Christian, much less CRC) and I do it all the time. However, we need to be honest about it. It only leads to more questions and confusion when a CRC ministry recommends “sermons” without any of the disclaimer you responded with. As a pastor, I am desperately trying to help the people God has given into my care and orbit see the difference between what is of Christ and what is anti-Christ – and to run toward Christ. Maybe because of this work I hope to have more support from the denomination, but assumptions and/or poor recommendations from a denominational ministry doesn’t help a pastor’s work. Perhaps amending the post would provide a more honest reason for why these messages were recommended, and what there usefulness may or may not be.
Posted in: The Ideology of Whiteness Workshop
Thanks for posting, Viviana. I have a few of questions. This looks to be self-guided; is there help from a facilitator or ministry leader? What is the objective of the workshop? What curriculum is being used? Is there a biblical theme/narrative/premise that this workshop is based on? Sorry, but I’m not seeing a lot of information on what this really is, and for $85.00 I’d like to know. Thanks!
Posted in: February Is Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month (TDVAM)
Seriously, this link needs to be taken down. I can’t show this to my youth group leaders, much less my church’s kids – and certainly not my daughter.
I see you're taking requests for better information I'll happily take some time and post those things here, and also as a separate article on the Network to correct this link if it's not taken down.
Posted in: Apest: We Need It for Full-Orbed Jesus-Incarnating Ministry
Now I have more reading to do. Thanks, Ben. This sounds like an interesting categorization of ministry, especially in light of the Great Commission: The “what” has to have a “how.”
Posted in: Who's Ecclesiastical Authority Is an Interfaith Minister Responsible To?
What person or official body would do the ‘licensing’ and ‘ordaining’? I think that answers your question.
...not to mention the fact that they’d be accountable to God for the gospel, so there’s really no such thing as an ‘interfaith’ minister.
Posted in: Any research on the relationship between worship and evangelism?
I believe there is a DEEP connection, but I have no definite sources to provide (yet). I'd like to see if this thread goes anywhere.
Posted in: Can unity be established under constraint?
This is a curious statement. I believe the Church did make large strides under a Roman government which codified slavery in various ways, as well as considering The Way to be an ‘outlaw’ religion. Certainly believing slaves in Philippi and believers within “Caesar’s household” [Phil. 4.22] were not considered “equals” under the law of Rome – and yet they aknowledged each other (perhaps secretly!) as brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the miracle and the power of hearts won out of a fallen world by the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of a resurrected Christ transcends barriers that humans erect against it.
So, are the premises of the Belhar faulty? In which ways? If we answer “yes”, then we need to examine ourselves to see on what level we can – or cannot – “confess” a not-quite-so–exact document.
Posted in: Fear, Flukes & Critical Race Theory
The author seems not to be aware that CRT has different definitions and outworkings, despite quoting the ABA. Nor does the author understand the difference between political enemies and differences among brothers and sisters in the Church regarding the scope and purpose of confessions. Understanding these differences and working with them would go much farther with more constructive solutions for the Church.
Posted in: Fear, Flukes & Critical Race Theory
The author seems not to be aware that CRT has different definitions and outworkings, despite quoting the ABA. Nor does the author understand the difference between political enemies and differences among brothers and sisters in the Church regarding the scope and purpose of confessions. Understanding these differences and working with them would go much farther with more constructive solutions for the Church.