Do Justice | Love Mercy - Week 3

Dear church family,

     Peter gave a great reminder to a suffering church in 1 Peter 1:6-7.  He said, “…though now for a little while … you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold…”  It is great news that God takes our trials and suffering and refines and purifies our faith like gold in a furnace.  Today, we can celebrate the fact that God is doing a work on in us in the midst of these turbulent times. 
    This past Sunday I shared that one of our first steps in the current conversation about social justice is that we need to listen well by having empathy.  There are two resources that I want to suggest that I believe will help us further the conversation.  First, is a 25 minute message by Dr. Tim Keller about racism and corporate evil.  Here is the link to that video. I found this very helpful and caused me to think through many things.  I pray that this will help you.   
      The second resource is an article by a pastor named John Piper.  This article was written in 2016 to talk about the existence of structural or systematic racism.  The article is deep, well-thought out, and theologically solid.  You will need to be ready to think as you read this article.  As you read this article, please guard your heart from defensiveness.  Do not let the toxic rhetoric of the today blind you from considering his arguments from the Bible.  Here is a link to that article. I pray that as you read this it will help you think more deeply about our need for a Savior and the brokenness of our world’s systems. 
 
For His Name's Sake, 
​
Fayez Ayoub