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Sunday
Mourning
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We all remember where we were when we heard the news about the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania plane crash. The one-year anniversary is a time for all of us to reflect on what’s happened and what has been learned. We go now to John Street United Methodist Church, the oldest United Methodist church in lower Manhattan … and the closest to Ground Zero. | ||
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Sunday Mourning – Story:
“O God our help in ages past…”
JOHN STREET UNITED METHODIST CHURCH IS OLDER THAN THIS HYMN.
ON THIS REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY, HOWEVER, THIS HISTORIC CONGREGATION IS THINKING ONLY OF RECENT EVENTS.
PASTOR JIM MCGRAW SETS THAT THEME BY READING “MEET ME IN THE STAIRWELL.”
The Rev. Jim McGraw: “I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor … I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer … I will be in the stairwell of your final moments, for I am God.”
“I’ll walk with God …”
JOHN EASTERLIN SANG THIS SAME SONG ON THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE ATTACK, WHEN JOHN STREET UNITED METHODIST – FOUR BLOCKS FROM GROUND ZERO – STILL HAD NO ELECTRICITY.
THE TERRORISTS DIDN’T MISS THIS OLD CHURCH BY MUCH, YET MEMBERS HERE GET A WARNING TO RESIST THE URGE FOR REVENGE.
The Rev. Jim McGraw: “Raise God’s shofar to your lips, O Christ, and call us again, ‘No war, not even a holy war.’”
WORDS HAVE OFTEN SEEMED INADEQUATE IN THE PAST YEAR … AND ESPECIALLY THIS ANNIVERSARY WEEK.
The Rev. Jim McGraw: “I think what you don’t do is make it an opportunity for cheap patriotism. You really probe the faith … nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus Our Lord.”
AND AGAIN, THAT HYMN FROM 1790 ABOUT TRUSTING GOD.
A 236-YEAR-OLD CONGREGATION, LIKE JOHN STREET UNITED METHODIST, CAN TEACH US A LOT ABOUT TRUST.