Weekly Update// Pastor Chris
Dear Asbury Family,
I was 14 when 9/11 happened. I had just started my first year of high school a few weeks beforehand. Actually, I wasn’t even in school that day. Instead, I was at a hotel.
At the time, my dad was in business. The company he worked for was holding a conference at the historic Don CeSar Hotel in St. Petersburg. Since the company was already paying for a room, my dad thought it'd be fun if our whole family could enjoy the luxury hotel. So that's what we did. All five of us - my mom, dad, younger brother, older sister, and I - piled in my dad's 1990 Toyota Corolla and made the drive from Fort Lauderdale to St. Petersburg.
We arrived at the hotel the evening of September 10. The next day was supposed to be the conference. Only the conference never happened. Early on September 11, just before 9:00AM, my brother and I left the room to "get ice" (which was really just an excuse to explore the hotel). When we returned, our parents' eyes were glued to the TV as they watched with horror the events of that day.
I’m sure all of us (if we were alive then) can remember where we were on September 11, 2001. Though 9/11 is now twenty years in the past, the memory of that day is forever etched in our minds.
This Sunday in worship (September 12), we’ll set aside time to remember 9/11 and pray for those for whom this anniversary is especially difficult. For now, I leave you with this prayer, which was crafted by Jeremy Pridgeon, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church of Panama City, FL. I hope this prayer comforts you and helps you meditate on God who is both with us and for us.
O God, our hope and refuge,
in our distress we come quickly to you.
Shock and horror of that tragic day have subsided,
replaced now with an emptiness,
a longing for an innocence lost.
We come remembering those who lost their lives
in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.
We are mindful of the sacrifice of public servants
who demonstrated the greatest love of all
by laying down their lives for friends.
We commit their souls to your eternal care
and celebrate their gifts to a fallen humanity.
We come remembering
and we come in hope,
not in ourselves, but in you.
As foundations we once thought secure have been shaken,
we are reminded of the illusion of security.
In commemorating this tragedy,
we give you thanks for your presence
in our time of need
and we seek to worship you in Spirit and in truth,
our guide and our guardian. Amen.
Blessings,
Chris
p.s. In addition to remembering 9/11, we’ll continue in our series called “The Short of It: The Entire Story of the Bible from Creation to New Creation.” In this series, we’re trying to glean a big picture view of the Bible. We're doing so by focusing on six major movements of Scripture. The movement we’ll focus on this Sunday is Jesus, whose life and ministry is recorded in the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Finally, this Sunday, we’ll hear from Dee Woolford of OurLegacy, an organization committed to organ and tissue donation. Dee will speak to us about the importance of becoming an organ and tissue donor. Join us in person or online for what’s sure to be an inspiring day of worship.