sermon illustration

The Psalm That Sustained Slaves - Black Church (Psalm 23)

Source: Historical reflection78 words

Enslaved African Americans clung to Psalm 23. "I shall not want"—when they were denied everything. "Green pastures"—while working fields that weren't their own. "Valley of the shadow of death"—under threat of the lash, the auction block, the lynching tree. Yet they claimed this psalm as their own. The Shepherd was WITH them when everyone else was against them. The table was prepared in the presence of oppressors. This psalm was survival, was resistance, was hope. It still is.

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The Mission: Shepherd Into Mission Territory - Missional (Psalm 23)

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Babette's Feast: The Shepherd's Table of Grace - Lutheran (Psalm 23)

The villagers receive a feast they didn't earn—green pastures and still waters of grace served to those who'd been spiritually starving. Lutheran theology sees Psalm 23 as pure gift: "The LORD is my s

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Howard Thurman on Tears of the Oppressed - Black Church (Revelation 21:4)

"God wipes the tears of the oppressed—tears from slavery, from lynching, from exile. The spirituals sang of this: 'No more weepin' and wailin'! No more death from injustice; no more mourning from viol

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