Brainstorming for the Racism Study

Week 1 - You are loved

Romans 8:38–39 NRSV

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And there is no thing or no one who They can’t separate you from the truth That you’re someone, you are family You are meant to be a child of God By Mark A. Miller

Link to the video for it - https://r-squared.squarespace.com/library/lenten-study-1-child-of-god

We try to put people that are “in” or “out”, but no matter if you feel like you are in or out, you are a beloved child of God. This is an easy entrance to the series because it affirms the blessedness of all people

Week 2 - How long?

Psalm 137 NRSV

By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem’s fall, how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!” O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!

We wait for your coming We wait for new life We wait in our despairing We wait through the strife. But how long? How long? By Mark A. Miller

Link to the video for it - https://r-squared.squarespace.com/library/lenten-study-session-2-how-long

This is a time to reflect on our history as a nation. Particularly I think about the phrase “How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? “ We all find ourselves in familiar lands sometimes and foreign lands other times. It can be hard to worship in a place where we are uncomfortable. We must come to terms with the fact that the lands that are familiar to us are foreign to others. The pews of our church may be familiar to us, but foreign to most of the community in Ankeny. In the ways that we witness to the community around us are we asking them to sing our song, or are we listening intently to the song that they are singing. In this passage do we find ourselves as the people of Zion or the people of Jerusalem. Hint: The people of Jerusalem were the religious people that thought what they were doing was right.

Week 3 - I dream of a Church

Matthew 25:31–46 NRSV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

I dream of a church where everyone is welcome I dream of a place we all can call home. I dream of a world where justice is flowing With hope and piece growing Where God’s will is done. By Mark A. Miller

Link to the video for it - https://r-squared.squarespace.com/library/lenten-study-session-3-i-dream-of-a-church

In this passage Jesus dreams up a kingdom of God (and likewise a church) that looks a lot different than our churches look today. It is a church where we are able to recognize the Christ that is in each person. Whether they go to the same church as us, whether they have the same skin color as us, have the same gender identity as us, or like the same types of people as us, there is a bit of Christ in them. This is a week where we might consider looking at each person in the city that we live in and honestly be able to say the words “Christ died for you.” Our legacies will determined in Gods sight