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Explore Dwelling in the Word, a communal way of engaging Scripture that helps people encounter God, fellow dwellers, and other neighbors. The change happens over time as people repeatedly listen to and discuss the same passage.
Dwelling in the Word is a tool for helping people of all ages—even children—to read and reflect on the Bible together. Doing so helps them to see the Bible as an ongoing story in which God invites us to participate in God’s mission for the world.
Biblical scholar Dru Johnson explains how churches and even the U.S. criminal justice system might be different if more people who identify as Christian were more familiar with the whole of Scripture.
Some Christians think that even talking about racial differences is racist. But the church has a crucial opportunity to promote honest cross-cultural conversations that help people recognize the image of God in every person.
Christians often wonder how to use their God-given gifts to address an issue that God cares about. Ronnie Farmer Jr., an artist and pastor, explains how the path is sometimes revealed just one step at a time. Gradually we develop our imagination to see how the Lord intends for us to use our gifts and experiences.
For many Christians, Bible verses and passages are often easier to memorize when set to music. 91 pastor Ken Boer designed the website Biblevox to help people find word-for-word scripture songs.
Memorizing Bible verses and passages can enrich family, school, and church communities. Internalizing God’s Word, whether by music or another method, helps Christians meditate, pray, and grow closer together with God and each other.
Christians sometimes believe that because God forgives our sins, we should always appear happy and should not talk about pain and anger. But Christians involved in the Healing Hearts, Transforming Nations ministry of reconciliation explain how inviting the Holy Spirit to surface our wounds can eventually lead us to see more facets of God’s glory.
As in many denominations with a single ethnic majority, the Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH) is working to be more welcoming to other cultures. As leader of the RCH Roma Ministry, Szabina Sztojka focuses on reconciliation, health, and hope to nurture Roma gifts and leadership in churches and schools.
Kizombo Kalumbula and Artie M. Lindsay Sr. helped found a church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, modeled on leading by giftedness. Gradually Tabernacle Community Church realized that their natural diversity was a gift from God meant to be stewarded during “such a time as this” in American culture.
Valuing diversity in worship includes but goes beyond multiethnic considerations. It also means helping people of different ages, abilities, and vocations see themselves as living out their part to usher in God’s shalom. Two pastors offer practical insights for congregations interested in work and worship.
Artie Lindsay is the teaching pastor at Tabernacle Community Church, a multiracial congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In this edited conversation, he talks about the joys and challenges of serving the Alger Heights neighborhood.
