Page 28 - March 2014 Catalyst

First service By Joe Grimaud | Continued From Page 5
and Larnelle Harris singing “Teach Us to Love”. Jeannie Sharpe sang “ at We May Be One,” written by her husband as the Crusade theme song. Dr Steve Phillips, choir leader for First Baptist Church, led a large choir that was composed of churches from throughout the midlands. And Keith Showalter led the congregational singing.
But the real impact of the Crusade was felt through the spirit lled sermon by Dr. Tony Evans. Dr. Evans left no stones unturned as he addressed the racial and cultural di erences that divide us. “ ere is pain in our hearts, and pain in our homes, but there is only one problem,” Dr. Evans told the crowd. “You have not put God in His proper place. Until you do and deal with the sin in your life, you can’t x it. We have all of these churches on all of these corners and we have all of these problems. ere must be a monkey on the line somewhere.”
“When we talk about unity, God is not ask- ing you to become something you are not,” he said. “He is not asking blacks to become white and whites to become black.” But he said the story of Jesus meeting the Sa- maritan woman at Jacob’s well illustrates how crucial it is to put spiritual needs be- fore racial, cultural and class di erences. Samaritans were considered unclean by the Jews of Jesus’ time. For Jesus to drink from her cup and o er her the living water
of God was a radical act. But Dr. Evans said it is time Christians become radical.
“If you want a better country, you need to have a better state. If you want a bet- ter state you need a better county. If you want a better county, you need a better city. If you want a better city, you need a better neighborhood. If you want a better neighborhood, you need a better church. If you want a better church, you need a better family. If you want a better family, you need a better mother and father. So, when you want a better country you need to get right with God and give your heart to Jesus. It all starts with YOU.”
Dr. Evans also said if you do not get the foundation right, you will just always be doing patchwork.
He gave an example of a web of cracks on his wall. And those cracks started having little cracks. He called a plasterer out to x the wall and get rid of the cracks, but the plasterer told him, “You don’t have a problem with cracks. You have a problem with your foundation. Until you get the foundation xed, you will keep having cracks on the wall.” “And that is the way our lives are,” says Dr. Evans. “We need our foundation xed.”
“And Jesus Christ is the one who can x your foundation. When He comes into
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