November 4, 2018
with Pastor Terrell
“Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands...” Isaiah 49:16 (ESV) It has been another one of those weeks. Another mass shooting at a house of worship — this time it was last Saturday in Pittsburg, PA at the Tree of Life Synagogue, where 11 were murdered and 7 were wounded. It was just one year ago in Souterland Springs, TX at First Baptist Church where 26 were murdered and 20 wounded. What are we to think? What are we to do? Sometimes it seems the very foundations of our lives and of our faith are shaking. In answer to those questions, let me share an article written by Joe Carter, the editor for the Gospel Coalition. He wrote following the Texas shooting… PASTORAL STAFF
“In the wake of this tragedy, Christians are likely to experience two competing emotions — grief and fear. As Ray Ortlund said on Twitter, ‘The San Antonio shooting prompts two sobering thoughts. One, it could have been any of us. Two, it was us. In Christ, we are one.’ The appropriate response to the news is to grieve. We should mourn the loss of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and weep with their loved ones. We can also soberly reflect on the fact that it could have been of us who were directly and intimately affected by the massacre. What we should not do, however, is let this act of terror cause us to be afraid of gathering with our fellow believers in worship. While it may be tempting to give in to the fear, we should recognize that church shootings are extremely rare events. Let’s [consider] media reports involving only shootings that occur within the church and look at the period from 2006 to June 17, 2015 — the day of the mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. During that nine-year period, we find approximately 24 church shootings, an average of 2.7 per year. If we assume that approximately three church shootings occur every year in the United States, what is the probability they could occur at any particular church? Church shootings are rarely random, and many are spillovers of domestic violence. But for our calculation let’s assume the targets are randomly distributed across all congregations.
Terrell Eldreth, Senior Pastor Scott Terry, Worship Pastor OFFICE CONTACT & HOURS Monday — Friday 8:30 A.M. — 4:30 P.M. Phone: 928-772-7218 Email: fsbcpv@firstsouthernpv.org SUNDAY SCHEDULE • Bible Study
9:00 A.M. • Morning Worship Service
10:30 A.M. • Evening Worship Service
6:00 P.M.
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