“Slavery, the Bible, and God’s Redemption”

Tomorrow (Sunday, June 10) at Jesus Center Community Church, I will begin a new series of sermon on “Slavery and the Bible” to continue our exposition on the Book of Ephesians. It will be a three-part series.

On Sunday, June 10, I will teach on the “Nature of Slavery in the Greco-Roman world.” Thanks to Dr. Craig Keener for providing a detailed background analysis on this topic in his excellent text: “Paul, Women, and Wives” (pp. 197-224).

The following Sunday, June 17, I will talk about “Biblical Slavery and God’s Redemption.” I will make some comparison between biblical slavery and American slavery. Thanks to William J. Webb for writing one of the most engaging and challenging books on this topic: “Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals.”

I will close the last sermon in the series with an emphasis on “Slavery in the Letters of Paul,” with a particular focus on Ephesians 6: 5-9.
Thanks to Jennifer A. Glancy and Cain Hope Felder for providing us with alternative interpretive lenses to make sure of the complex issue of biblical slavery: “Slavery in Early Christianity” (Glancy); “Stony the Road We Trod: African American Bibilical Interpretation” (Felder).

This is going to be both a challenging and exciting teaching series for me. Pray to the God of knowledge and wisdom on my behalf for greater clarity, understanding, and humility as I seek to interpret accurately the institution of slavery as one of the most perplex human practices in human history and one of the most challenging issues in biblical ethics and theological anthropology.

Consequently, I would like to extend my invitation to you to join us tomorrow morning in corporate worship at Jesus Center.

Our worship service starts at 10:00 am.