BREAKING: A Response to Today's Violence
In light of today's shootings, including a mass shooting just outside of DC city lines that appears to be politically motivated, we are postponing release of the next episode of our podcast and are instead inviting you to join us in prayer for the victims of these attacks and for the church around the country to make God's comfort felt.
We'd like to thank Rev. Glenn Hoburg, founding pastor of the Grace DC church network, for joining us and leading us in prayer on such short notice. Rev. Hoburg has ministered in DC for 14 years and supports and is known as a support and encouragement to pastors throughout the city.
Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;
He raised His voice, the earth melted.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has wrought desolations in the earth.
He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.
“Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Prayer
Glenn: God of peace, Lord of Mercy, today has been a painful reminder of a sin-scarred world, one which convulses and groans under evil. Both coasts of our country have experienced tragic violence. A congressman, a congressional aide, a lobbyist, and two capitol police officers attacked with a barrage of bullets while attending a charity baseball practice.
Then in San Francisco at a UPS facility, a worker turns two weapons upon his coworkers for seemingly no reason at all, resulting in death and carnage and both gunmen dead.
Lord, we know you take no pleasure in the death of those who commit wicked acts and that you hate senseless and selfish violence. We also know you have compassion upon all you have made and are a source of comfort beyond words.
Lord, we pray this day for the victims. Oh God, would you preserve their lives? Would you bless the hands of the working physicians? Would you save lives?
Lord, we pray for the grieving. Today, multiple loved ones have been marked by sorrow, loss, and trauma. Loved ones who lived and laughed have been unjustly taken from families and friends.
Lord, come near with your tears, strength and love. You are the great high priest. One well acquainted with sufferings, one who offered a prayers with groans. You have suffered and died and raised. You alone can intercede.
Lord, we thank you for the law enforcement officials who risked their lives to stop further violence. We thank you for the medical teams who responded quickly, that lives might be preserved. We thank you for restraining further evil.
And Lord we pray regarding the political strife that divides our nation, and for those who idolize their own political beliefs as the ultimate hope—and others' beliefs as beyond the reach of your sovereignty. Would the reality of your son's kingdom be our nation's source of hope and peace?
Draw near, Lord, today with your presence, with your salvation, with your kingdom that will not be stopped and the promise of a renewed world.
It was secured by your raised son, and it's in his name we pray. Amen.