Staying at the Table: Courage Over Comfort
This week we stepped into our work together at the table by talking about racism and asking what it looks like to live the Way of Christ by choosing courage over comfort. Over the course of the sermon Pastor Clare shares about her experience on our high school mission trip to Birmingham, Alabama, reflects upon what it means that we are all created in the image of our God, and seeks to paint an honest picture of the construction and preservation of racism in our land. She shares the call God placed upon her heart to move out of her comfort by practicing courage, and then seeks to do just that by living out one of the oldest definitions of courage, “speaking one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.” At the close of the sermon, the call to courage over comfort was extended to us all as we lean and live toward the vision that comes to us in Revelation 7:9—where we will finally see the culmination of God’s gathering a diverse people unified by the love and grace of Jesus Christ.
To listen to the sermon or share it with others, click on the link below. If you want to read more or dig deeper here are links to things Pastor Clare referenced.
Scripture - Genesis 1:26-27 and 31 and Revelation 7:9
The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby.
Brené Brown’s definition of courage from her book, I Thought it was Just Me: Women Reclaiming Power and Courage in a Culture of Shame—
“Courage is a heart word. The root of the word courage is cor - the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant "To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart." Over time, this definition has changed, and today, we typically associate courage with heroic and brave deeds. But in my opinion, this definition fails to recognize the inner strength and level of commitment required for us to actually speak honestly and openly about who we are and about our experiences -- good and bad. Speaking from our hearts is what I think of as "ordinary courage.”