To My Favorite People,
It has been my practice for many years to invite minority pastors to preach the four Sundays of January, referring to the series as “Gospel Priorities.” This title was inspired by Luke 4:18-19 as Jesus is giving his inaugural sermon at Nazareth, announcing his priorities and thus the Church’s priorities. (The King James Version is my favorite):
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;
he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised.
According to Jesus, these are the priorities of the gospel. Therefore, it is important to begin each year by revisiting these priorities. Why invite minority preachers to retell the gospel priorities every year? Because the final goal of redemption is a Church composed of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (Revelation 7:9). Jesus defined these priorities to shape our earthly ministry to reach this goal: a new humanity united in Jesus for the praise of his glorious grace.
Adam and Eve’s sin of trying to become like God not only marred their beautiful relationship with God, it broke their relationship with each other. Since then, history has continued to unfold with example after example of one group of people treating another group as if they are lesser bearers of the image of God. The gospel is good news because it is the story of God’s Son, Jesus, who by his cross, not only reconciles us to God but to others objectively in the Church. The gospel is the only force powerful enough to unite former enemies, whether divine or human.
The priorities of the gospel are proclaimed from our pulpit at the start of each year by diverse preachers who will encourage us to keep striving to reflect the complexion of heaven within our congregation. While the word of God always challenges us, our emphasis is on celebrating the good news of Jesus who alone can bring true loving unity in diversity, something the world is in desperate need of and will never find outside of the gospel.
This year our guest preachers are Sean Boone, Vermon Pierre, Joe Kim, and Walter Strickland. You can find their biographical sketches HERE/BELOW. Each of these pastors not only powerfully proclaims Jesus, but together they represent what it looks like to pursue gospel priorities in urban, suburban, denominational, and academic settings. I am eager for them to visit because you are such a hospitable and encouraging congregation. Let us open our minds, hearts, and wills for King Jesus to refresh our priorities for life and ministry in 2024!
Blessings,
George