Sound Words

 Is the Easter story too violent for preschoolers? Should we protect them from notions like death and dying? At least one evangelical publishing house bluntly states that the Easter story is too violent forpreschoolers. But the truth is we all have a tendency to want to sentimentalize Christianity and make it about being good people with good manners and values. Christianity is a lot less disturbing without the blood, gore, and wrath bearing of a torturous cross and an empty tomb and that is true whether you are 5 years old or 95 years old. Some would suggest that we just need to stick with light, exciting stories for our children from which we can pull moral principles like we find in the book of Jonah. Listen as Pastor David explains that if the crucifixion and resurrection is out of bounds, Jonah is too (Matthew 12:38-41).

Russell D. Moore is Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration and Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he also serves as associate professor of Christian theology and ethics and as executive director of the Carl F.H. Henry Institute for Evangelical Engagement. Pastor David has the privilege to teach preaching with Dr. Moore at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Dr. Moore is a longstanding friend of Sound Words. In fact, without his friendship and partnership in the gospel of Jesus Christ Sound Words might not even exist. It was the joy of Pastor David and Ashland Avenue Baptist Church to host Dr. Moore for Commission Sunday as they celebrated God’s provision of a new church meeting facility. Dr. Moore challenged Pastor David and the congregation to use the new facility as a Great Commission Center for the glory of Jesus Christ. He issued this challenge with two sermons from Genesis that represent the kind of Christ-centered, Kingdom-focused, Bible saturated sermons we treasure at Sound Words. Listen to Dr. Moore’s sermon from Genesis 32:22-32.