On Sunday, August 9, 2015 I preached my first sermon at Grace Christian Fellowship in Philadelphia, PA under the guidance of Rev. Cean James, pastor and founder.
Check it out here.
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| Click here to view the full sermon. |
I mention this at the beginning of my sermon, but I modeled it after Jesus' initial sermon, found in Luke 4:14-30. In this passage Jesus proclaims what his ministry on Earth is going to look like. He describes who He is and what He came to accomplish, saying:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed meto proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
-Jesus (Luke 4:18-19)
I, too, with my initial sermon, lay out who I am and what I understand my calling to be. The Lord has given me a burden for restoring people to right relationship with God, bringing people together, and pursuing justice--all summarized in one word: reconciliation.
Through my public declaration of this calling I have already learned so much on many levels, and I look forward to everything else I have to learn--about myself, about the Church, and about the prophetic voices that have come before me in the ministry of reconciliation.
Thank you for your support and prayers as I continue to explore my calling and seek out knowledge and experience to push me further into what God has in store for me.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
-Paul (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)
