Black Lives Matter.
Micah 6:8 - He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
It's impossible to be unaware of the groaning in the world over racial injustice, inequality and division right now. That's how I'd describe it, a groaning. Maybe that's an imperfect word to describe the anguish, anger and pain that the death of George Floyd (and others) has recently unleashed. This groaning described in Romans 8:22 is a picture of the church longing for the fullness of the promises of God, longing for the glory of God which will ultimately end all injustice, inequality and division. As Christians we know there is something coming, someone coming. It is in him, Jesus Christ, that we hope. With that, it is our duty to anticipate what's to come and be apart of unleashing the kingdom of God in the here and now. The church sharing with the world a foretaste of the glory of God which does not tolerate racism in any form. Which does not tolerate injustice and which pursues unity. At Life Church, we believe that in Jesus, we have the answer to every groan. While we await that day, the text goes on to describe the Spirit interceding on our behalf over "groanings too deep for words". That is to say, we don't have all the words, all the right responses or answers but we carry with us Him who does.
As each of us are journeying with this in different ways, with different backgrounds and experiences can I encourage us to act gracefully and sensitively to one another whilst ultimately pursuing what Jesus died for. Our approach as a church has been to pray, to listen and educate ourselves. We stand together groaning for an end to racism. We declare together BLACK LIVES (MORE THAN) MATTER.
Finally, may I suggest three things that I think will help us in this pursuit:
Pray for racial reconciliation
Talk to one another
Educate yourself
Below there will be a button which will take you to our website which will have resources on how to educate yourself further, with recommendations for books, documentaries, podcasts, TV shows, children's resources and more. This will keep being updated over time so keep checking back.
Bless you all
Pastor Jacob
