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Jeff Warren: Sermon for Day of Unity and Justice (Micah 6:1-8)
Jeff Warren, senior pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, recounted Herbert Howard’s annual sermon titled “Everybody, Somebody.” Howard, pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church from 1948 to 1978, led the church through the Civil Rights era. Howard, subsequent pastors and the church itself advocated for integration when other pastors and churches championed segregation.
Warren touched on several controversial topics, including the distinction between the “Black lives matter” movement and the Black Lives Matter organization, Dallas’ racist history and its conflation with Christianity, and white privilege.
“What would Jesus do” is the core question for discussing justice, Warren said, and the gospel is central to reconciliation. He described two Hebrew words for justice: tsedeq and mishpat. The first is the ethical standard of righteousness. The second relates to the social expression of justice. The church needs to be involved, Warren asserted.
To read more about what justice looks like, see the Baptist Standard’s “Justice looks like …” series in the Texas Baptist Voices column.
This sermon was delivered online on Aug. 9, 2020, to observe Dallas Day of Unity and Justice during the morning worship service of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas.
Dallas Day of Unity and Justice grew out of the efforts of Pastor Jeff Warren of Park Cities Baptist Church, Pastor Bryan Carter of Concord Church, and other Dallas-area pastors to join together in 2014 to engage racial inequities in their community.
Dallas Day of Unity and Justice prayer guide is available here.
A companion sermon by Pastor Bryan Carter of Concord Church in Dallas is available here.
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