Practicing Justice & Mercy

Practicing Justice & Mercy Sermon Series

Social Justice. 

The very words are more than enough to cause a good deal of consternation, misunderstanding, irritation, and, among some, even anger.  And yet, they don’t have to, especially when we consider what Scripture actually teaches concerning how God’s people ought to regard and treat the vulnerable.  While ‘social justice’ can be a sensitive term in our current moment, the theme of biblical justice is a rich, frequent, and beautiful one found throughout Scripture. 

Our series on mercy and justice will begin a journey into the heart of the living God, prayerfully leading us to consider why He expresses His deep care and concern for the vulnerable with such passion and fervor.  We’ll see how the Lord used His word to imprint a culture on His ancient people that reflected His love for the vulnerable, to the extent that it was woven into the fabric of their society. 

Please keep in mind that our series is not designed to influence our fellowship to adopt any particular political positions. Rather, the intent is to encourage us to embrace God’s word in this vital area to the extent that our minds, hearts, and actions increasingly reflect our Lord, who works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed (see Psalm 103:6). 

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Race & Biblical Justice Team

The Race & Biblical Justice Team exists to advise and resource the session, staff and volunteer leaders of All Souls as we seek to incorporate racial reconciliation as part of our ongoing spiritual formation. We meet 1-2 times a quarter to pray, discern All Souls’ needs on the journey of race and Biblical justice, and identify the tools/disciplines/experiences/practices necessary to accomplish our vision.

Questions? Contact tafanie@allsoulsfellowship.org.

Vision and Mission - Practicing the Way of Jesus

In his ministry, Jesus reveals a God who establishes the peace and righteousness of his kingdom; who is angered by the presence of injustice and evil in our world and who brings healing to the oppressed as a sign of the flourishing he intends for all creation. In Him, we witness a God who listens intently, grieves deeply, and mourns with the hurting. As his disciples, we are called to embody the life of his Kingdom in our fellowship together.

The unhealed wounds of racial injustice in our country have become too heavy to ignore and too numerous to leave unacknowledged. These wounds, laid with the foundations of our country, continue to cause great pain and trauma for our black brothers and sisters. As an evangelical fellowship of predominantly white men and women who gather in the name of Jesus, we lament over this pain; over our inability to “bear one another’s burdens;” (Galatians 6:2) and over the ongoing racial injustice in America and within the church. We sense God's invitation to be a place of hope and healing for “all souls” and to reflect the fullness of His Kingdom in Decatur through repentance and by confronting the damage of racialized divisions in our community. We believe that participating in the renewal of all things includes rooting out the evil of racism in our thinking and taking action against injustice in the present so that our fellowship may be a hopeful sign of the kingdom that is coming, where “every nation, tribe, people and language, stand before the throne” (Revelation 7:9) together in worship of the risen King.

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Further Resources

  • Foundational Theology:

    • Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman

    • Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just by Timothy Keller

    • What If Jesus Was Serious about Justice?: A Visual Guide to the Good News of God’s Judgment and Mercy by Skye Jethani

    • Christ over Culture: A Gospel Journey to Racial Redemption by Dan Crain

    Historical:

    • All God’s Children: How Confronting Buried History Can Build Racial Solidarity by Terence Lester

    • The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery by Siddharth Kara

    • (Lance’s favorite) God’s Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights by Charles Marsh

    Biographical:

    • The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance by Jemar Tisby

    Autobiographical:

    • How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family’s Story of Hope and Survival in the American South by Esau McCaulley

    • Let Justice Roll Down by John Perkins

    Economic Injustice:

    • The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

    • The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee

    • There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America by Brian Goldstone (local author, current issue)

    Educational Injustice:

    • From Dropout to Doctorate: Breaking the Chains of Educational Injustice by Terence Lester (local author, current issue)

  • Making Peace: A Lament for Justice

Stories of Reconciliation

As we practice the way of Jesus for the renewal of all things, we see God working in our midst. Check out these videos to learn how God is shaping our congregation into a community of reconciliation.