Do You Remember the Days After 9/11?

I still remember the first Sunday after the bombing of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11/01. I saw people in our congregation that I hadn't seen in months. There was also a group of people that I had never seen before. There was a sense of expectancy, a sense that people were there to connect with God. There was urgency and a little despair. I think as a country, we realized that the "war" had come to our shores and it was possible for it to touch us right here in the middle of the country.

While we didn't see a lot of new people in our church services immediately after the revelation of our national financial crisis, I'm getting some of the same feelings from people that were present after 9/11. I think this is another wonderful opportunity for God's church to demonstrate to a watching nation what real trust and security in Christ is all about. While we do not have an "inside track" to knowing the future, we know the One who knows the future. We can depend on His word that tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us. His Word tells us that when we gather in His name, His presence will touch us, inspire us and help us worship Him.

Now, with an incredibly important national election just 3 weeks away, and our shaky economic outlook, we need to help people understand that God really does care. We need to share the fact that He is interested in our individual lives and He is simply waiting for us to call out to Him. Sadly, sometimes it takes a crisis for some people to draw near to God. Regardless of what it takes, let's do everything we can to help people find Him.