A Scary Moment

On Sunday, April 18, I preached about 15 minutes longer than usual. Little
did I know that just around the corner from our church was tragedy and danger.

A Scary Moment

"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you
great and mighty things, which you do not know."

(Jeremiah 33:3)

On Sunday, April 18, a former SWAT team member and detective killed his ex-wife, his stepdaughter, and her boyfriend in a shooting rampage. It was a horrible scene, and all of this took place a few blocks from Great Hills Baptist Church, where I serve as pastor and where we were in the middle of our usual Sunday worship service at that time. During the Invitation, a staff member informed me that there was an active shooter, and he had not been apprehended. I shared with our church what was happening and asked that they shelter in place. Our people responded magnificently, staying calm, cooperative, and prayerful. It was a scary moment for us all.

After about an hour, two Austin Police Department officers and some of the men on our security team began to escort people to their cars. The next day, the police caught the shooter and arrested him.

There are a few things I have been thinking about in light of this tragedy. It had been months since I had preached a sermon that went as long as it did on that Sunday. I even made the comment, "I don't know why I am preaching so late." Now, I do know why. Had we gotten out of church at the normal time, there is a very good possibility that some of our people would have come upon this shooting just blocks from our church. I praise the Lord for His protection and watching over us!

I wrote in my weekly newsletter the Friday following the events on Sunday that there are many reasons why we as a church need to be in prayer. Here is what I wrote to our church:

God is so good to us, Great Hills. He is blessing and protecting us in ways we see and do not see. For example, of all Sundays for me to preach 15 minutes later than I have for months, this past Sunday was the very day a man was killing three people just blocks from our church. There was a good possibility that some of our people would have come upon that shooting had we finished at our normal time. Thank you for being patient and flexible as we sheltered in place for about an hour on Sunday. You are the best!

Pandemic, catastrophic flooding, shootings—have you ever seen such days? Do you think there is a spiritual battle being waged with our church right in the center of it? I do! Therefore, God has called me to call you to pray. Seriously, we need God. We need the hand of God, the favor of God to be upon us and our church. In these hard times, will you tarry with me for one hour on Tuesday nights? Much is at stake, far more than you can imagine.

Jeremiah the prophet preached the message of the LORD to the people of Israel. God called on His people to pray then, and I know God is calling His people to pray today. Notice what happens when we pray: God answers us, shows us far more than what we could imagine: "great and mighty things." God does amazing and powerful things when we pray, like on Sunday, April 18, when He protected us from harm we didn't even know existed.

Praise God for His goodness to His people!

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Readings and Homilies in Romans, Pt. 1

Pastor Danny begins a new series, reading through the book of Romans one chapter at a time and afterwards offering a homily (a brief commentary on the Scripture that was just read). We hope this new series will nourish your soul with the truth of God's Word and help you to focus on it in a new way that you may not have focused on it before!

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