Today, our hearts break at the news coming out of Las Vegas. We grieve the violence that has taken lives and caused injuries and created pain too deep to explain in words. We have no answers to give, only prayers to offer as we ask for the grace and mercy of Jesus to cover this nation.
Father – Son – Spirit, Triune God of faithfulness,
we ask right now for your hand of mercy.
Holy Spirit, bring comfort, compassion, and love to all in Las Vegas.
Restore peace, bring hope, extend grace.
Strengthen first responders, law enforcement, and medical personnel as they seek to provide resources and services to those in need.
Father, unite Your churches to provide places of rest and prayer, hope and healing.
Allow your followers, Jesus, to be a blessing in any way possible.
And help everyone across the world to lift up in prayer this community in need of your love and light today. We join in solidarity and cry out for mercy and healing.
You are able, Lord God of the Universe.
In the powerful and compassionate name of Jesus, Amen.
Las Vegas and the Human Story
The tragedy in Nevada reminds us of the broken nature of humanity. As we grieve and find ourselves lost with the lives lost and families impacted forever due to senseless violence, we seek out our Lord for hope. We know the gospel brings light into this dark world.
Every week we provide a free resource from a previous event. Today’s resource, Preaching to the Human Story, featuring Howard John Wesley and Brian Zahnd from from our Truly Human event.
The Bible offers to us a grand narrative of God’s relationship with humanity. Right at the center of that narrative is the drama of the loss of our true humanity in forsaking God, our flailing attempts to recover it on our own, and God’s intervention in and through Jesus to disclose and make a way for the restoration of the imago Dei. In preaching the biblical narrative as the “Human Story,” we give our hearers the possibility of imagining the world – our place and identity in it – in fresh new ways… ways made possible by the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
May today’s resource speak the truth of Jesus into the fallen human condition we find ourselves in today!
This resource is available for free until October 8.
You can download any of the individual talks from the conference here, or just grab the whole bundle!
About Brian Zahnd
Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church, a non-denominational Christian congregation in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Brian and his wife, Peri, founded the church in 1981.
Brian is also the author of several books, including, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Water to Wine, A Farewell To Mars, Beauty Will Save the World, and Unconditional?: The Call of Jesus to Radical Forgiveness.
Follor Brian Zahnd on twitter here, or click here to visit his website.
More From Brian:
Missio Update: Another Great Post About the Bible from Brian Zahnd
Seminary Dropout 131: Brian Zahnd
Reclaiming the Resurrection (Being Truly Human)
How Does the Church Differ From America?
About Howard-John Wesley
Dr. Wesley is the proud pastor of the historic Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA. He is only the eighth pastor in the church’s 214-year history of worshipping Christ while serving humankind. Under Dr. Wesley’s extraordinary leadership, Alfred Street Baptist Church has grown from about 2,500 to more than 7,000 members, serving the community and members through 83 active ministries with an emphasis on children’s ministries and missions. Dr. Wesley is regarded as one of the most prolific and prophetic voices of justice and grace in our generation. His work has been referenced in Time Magazine and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, DC.
More from Howard-John
When God Doesn’t Make Sense- Thoughts by Howard John-Wesley
Howard John-Wesley on Trayvon Martin & LGBTQ
Understanding Leadership & The Future Through Dr. Martin Luther King- Howard-John Wesley