The Day America Went to Church, Part 2

I remember that week very well.? It seemed that everyone spent hour upon hour watching the tragedy.? Praying that people would be found.? Praying for those who hadn’t heard from loved ones.? Watching the dedication and honor of the rescue workers.? I can remember one of my first statements in my sermon on 9.16.2007.? I said that I feel totally exhausted from watching the horror over and over.? It was amazing that we would stay up until the early hours in the morning just shocked with the pictures and video.

I remember using Isaiah 25 as the text of my message.? An unbelievably powerful message of restoration and hope.? Here are some excerpts:

1 O LORD, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done marvelous things,
things planned long ago.

4 You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in his distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
is like a storm driving against a wall

5 and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners;
as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is stilled.

6 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine?
the best of meats and the finest of wines.

7 On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;

8 he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people
from all the earth.
The LORD has spoken.

9 In that day they will say,
“Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

I can still remember the fact that America was coming to church today.? What do you tell America when you have one shot?? What do you say in the midst of this tragedy?? Why is God putting me in this position right now?? I’m only 28 years old!!? I’m “just a youth pastor” for crying out loud!

What do you say to a people when all you have is possibly one shot?

You tell them the gospel.? That God created everything–including them.? You tell them that God loves them more than anything in the world!? You tell them the truth of the reality that we all live in a fallen world and that my sin and their sin caused the problem.? But there is a way out!!? There is a Savior that has come to take away the sins of the world!? I didn’t say that He would take away the pain.? But He will grieve with us.? There is a great message I heard yesterday from Louie Giglio preached from Northpoint Community Church that is the same message of hope in the midst of pain.? His point–the Cross and the atonement that we have because of the resurrection is the anchor of our hope.? Listen, or even better watch it if you have high speed internet, here.

Jesus explains it this way in John 16:33.? . .

33“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Things really haven’t changed have they?? People still have trouble and pain and we all need a Savior.? Thanks be to God for our Savior who has overcome the world!

Tomorrow–The Day America Went to Church, Part 3–They stopped coming!? Why?