The Rev. Raphael Warnock delivers Ebenezer Atlanta Baptist Church’s first sermon since winning the Senate

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“Whoever would have thought that we would see the people of Georgia in the state of Georgia rise up and put an African American man who grew up in public housing, the minister of this Ebenezer Baptist Church where he preached Dr. King, and a young Jewish man, the son of an immigrant, to the U.S. Senate? “Warnock said.
Church services were delivered without a personal audience and were put online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Warnock, the prime minister in the church where Martin Luther King Jr. is. During his sermon, he was expected early Wednesday to win the Georgia Senate runoff election against Kelly Loeffler, who surrendered the race. The results of the election are expected to be officially confirmed later this month.

His win, coupled with Ossoff’s expected victory, means the U.S. Senate will be split 50-50 between the two parties, with an unbroken vote by Vice President Kamala Harris taking control for the Democrats in the chamber.

“You need to know that this is a vision of God’s vision of a more inclusive humanity that includes all of God’s children. I am just grateful to be a part of this. I am just grateful because I am just to serve, I just want to be a vessel, I just want to be an instrument, I just want to be a prism of God’s glory so that the glory of God can shine through me, “he said. Warnock.

Warnock grew up in Savannah, Georgia, in public housing, the 11th out of 12 children. He is the first college graduate in his family, having attended Morehouse College, a historically Black college in Atlanta.

Warnock calls the Capitol riot ‘the ugly side’ of the American story

Democrats Jon Ossoff (left), Raphael Warnock (center) and U.S. President Joe Biden will hit elbows on stage at a gathering in Atlanta on January 4, 2021.

Warnock was based on his sermon on the story of John the Baptist, the “troublemaker of truth” who was beheaded for speaking out against the powerful ruler Herod.

“He created a lot of trouble for himself in the process. If you tell the truth you get in trouble, but transformation cannot exist without truth,” Warnock said. “We cannot and will not change until we resist or become ill with our own situation. That applies to individuals, who belong to institutions, who belong, who belong. to countries. “

Warnock also quotes from the Book of Matthew, which states: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence.”

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He said the tension in that verse – that something as sacred as heaven is still suffering violence – was also seen Wednesday when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol hours after Warnock’s election win.

“We saw that tension in such a powerful and engaging way,” he said. “Just as we were trying to put on our celebration shoes, the ugly side of our story, our big and big American story, began. . We saw the raw and the angry and the honorable and the violence breaking into the house people. “

When the old order slips away, people sometimes react violently and in distress, he said.

“So there is an impact at this stage, there is violence at the moment, there is a great opportunity and real providence, and it reminds us that there is still a lot of work to be done,” he said.

He called on audiences to fight the violence of prejudice and fear, the violence of poverty, and the violence of our politics.

“Violence in this world is real, don’t be dishonest about it, but violence doesn’t have the last word,” he said. “God is still responsible for something in this world. So don’t give up ancestry, don’t be afraid. Don’t hate, don’t give in to many, don’t give in see the xenophobia because violence will never have the last word. “

CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi and Deanna Hackney contributed to this report.

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