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Tragedy |
Dear Brethren,
What has happened to the Church of God? This tragedy is the worst catastrophe to strike God's people in modern times. Has God forsaken his people? Has God removed His promised protection? We have always been taught to believe that we did not need to worry about disasters like the one that befell our brethren in Wisconsin. What has changed? What is God trying to tell us?
It happened to God's people. It happened on God's Holy Sabbath - a day of worship - not death. The tragedy violated our day of rest and peace - and everything we live for. Will the Sabbath ever be the same again? There seems to be no explanation or reason for this happening to us. In the most turbulent years of God's Church, in the 50's, 60's and 70's, nothing like this ever occurred. We cannot grasp it. Parents lost children, wives lost husbands, children lost their future.
Why did God allow this tragedy to come on His Children? Is God displeased with His Church. Are we doing something that God is not pleased with? Have we displaced God's wishes with our own designs? We know that God gave us end-time warnings - are we ignoring them? Is this a wake up call to the saints of God?
This is not the time to blame a lone shooter - may God have mercy on him. Please show compassion to his family. God is fully capable of protecting His Flock from hazards much worse than this - and always has. Something momentous has changed. We, the Church of God, have something to learn - something to do differently. What is it that God is telling us?
Perhaps we think that the tragedy "happened to that other Church." Brethren, that's the point! God has only one Church. Please realize that the attack on God's Church affects each and every one of us - profoundly. It is a wake up call for all of God's people - wherever they are.
Artificial walls of separation between brethren came down this weekend as phone calls of concern for those killed and hurt spread across the nation - regardless of organizational borders. That is a good thing. Those responsible for maintaining the separation of God's people had better heed this corrective warning. We all need to work for healing, unity and peace in the whole Church. "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling." (Ephesians 4:4) This is no time to point fingers - except at ourselves, as we do at Passover when each of us should admit, "I killed Jesus Christ." We should each be saying, "I" am responsible for loving my brother - no matter how many walls have been erected between us.
Pray that this tragedy serves to bring the greater Church closer as a body, and to one another. One of Jesus' last requests was, "Let them be 'One,' Father." Could Jesus be disappointed with the fact that we are so self-satisfied with our status quo separations in His Church? We are a scattered and separated people, and there are precious few who are working to rectify the problem. (Request the booklet, "That They May be One")
God's doctrine has been given to us all, but we need to put our brotherly love for all saints into practice. If they are led by God's Holy Spirit, and they are, then they are our brethren. What a costly lesson God is teaching us. Will we heed it? The members of the Body of Christ are what the Church of God is all about.
Will tragedy strike again? It could happen to any of the groups. This tragedy is indeed a wake up call for all of us. Now is the time for each and everyone of us to fast and pray that we may quickly learn what God is teaching us. Herbert W. Armstrong said, " The Church always moves forward on its knees."
This Sabbath's sermon will address the answer to this question, "Why did God allow tragedy to strike His people?
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Sermon: "Be Ye Holy"
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