1. LET US PREPARE OUR HEARTS FOR
WORSHIP

2. Immigration & Refugees
UGLY CHRISTIANITY
Immigration
& Refugees

3. A Hot Issue around the world

4. Who were some famous refugees?

5. Who were some famous refugees?
Middle Eastern family
Newborn baby
Fled terrorism
Though they were Jews, they had to live in an Arab country
for two years before it was safe to return home

7. What does the Bible say about how to treat immigrants?
“The Lord your God is the God of all gods and Lord of all lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who doesn’t play favorites and doesn’t take bribes. 18 He enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing. 19 That means you must also love immigrants because you were immigrants in Egypt.” Deuteronomy 10:17-19, CEB

8. Leviticus 19:33-34 ESV
33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

9. Deuteronomy 24:19-21 NIV
19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.

10. Leviticus 24:22 Holman
“You are to have the same law for the foreign resident and the native, because I am Yahweh your God."

11. U. S. Immigration System
“The current system and low number of visas available makes it impossible for low-skilled workers to legally and permanently enter the country to work.”
Wikipedia, “Illegal Immigrations to the United States”
“Congress hasn’t allocated visas for a single temporary foreign worker to legally enter our country for lesser-skilled year-round jobs — even if a business can’t find sufficient numbers of qualified and interested Americans through rigorous local labor market recruitment.”
Thomas Donahue, president of U.S. Chamber of Commerce
“The Reason Not to Give Up on Immigration Reform”
Washington Post, Nov. 18, 2014

12. Racism?

13. Fixing a broken system What values should be the starting point?
A Christian response must begin, not with fear, not with racism, but with compassion.
“God has no favorites.” We must treat the needs of others as just as important as our own.

16. Table Sharing
Have you ever been part of a neighborhood, school, workplace, etc., where you felt like an outsider?  What was that like?
Did anyone do anything to make you feel welcome?  If so, what?
What are some ways we can welcome outsiders?