The Rev. Raphael Warnock delivered his first sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta after his victory in the Senate.

“Whoever thought that in the state of Georgia we would see people in Georgia stand up and send an African-American who grew up in public housing, a pastor of this Ebenezer Baptist church where Dr. King preaches, and a young Jewish man, the son of an immigrant , in the US Senate? said Warnock.

Church services are provided without a personal audience and are published online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Warnock, the senior pastor at the church where Martin Luther King once preached, was predicted to win Georgia’s Senate run-off early Wednesday against incumbent Kelly Löfler. The election results are expected to be officially certified later this month.

Warnock grew up in Savannah, Georgia, in public housing, the 11th of 12 children. He was the first college graduate in his family to attend Morehouse College, a historic black college in Atlanta.

Warnock called the Capitol riots the “ugly side” of American history

Warnock focused his sermon on the story of John the Baptist, the “truth-teller,” beheaded for speaking out against the mighty ruler Herod.

“He caused a lot of trouble in the process. Telling the truth will make it difficult for you, but there can be no transformation without the truth,” Warnock said. “We cannot and will not change until we face or face the disease of our own situation. This applies to individuals, this applies to institutions, which applies to nations.”

Warnock also quotes from the Book of Matthew, where it says, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence.”

He said the tension in the verse – that something as sacred as heaven is still violent – was seen in a similar way on Wednesday when a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol hours after winning the Warnock election.

“We have witnessed this tension in such a powerful and so tragic way,” he said. “Just as we were trying to put on our shoes for the festivities, the ugly side of our history, our great and great American history, began to emerge. We saw the rude and angry, the disrespectful and the violent making their way to the people’s house.”

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

“So at this moment there is victory, at this moment there is violence, there is a fantastic opportunity and fierce opposition, and that reminds us that there is still a lot of work to be done,” he said.

He called on listeners to fight against the violence of prejudice and fear, the violence against 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 still has something in this world. So don’t give in to cynicism, don’t give in to fear. Don’t give in to hatred, don’t give in to bigotry, don’t give in to see xenophobia, because violence will never have the last word. “