There are times and circumstances in which our prayers arise with groans and sighs too deep for words. This is one of those moments. We come before the Lord grieving for the families, loved ones, friends and neighbors of our precious brothers and sisters in Christ slain in their church in Charleston last night.
We pray also for the perpetrator to be brought to justice, recognizing that the taking of a life can never be truly justified this side of heaven.
We cry out to the Lord asking that he would send the comforting power of His Holy Spirit and bring peace where chaos threatens to reign. May the churches of Charleston and our brothers and sisters in Christ of every color find in this an opportunity to make the Gospel visible and beautiful; living into the profound reality that having been reconciled to the Father through the Son by the power of the Spirit we are indeed ministers of reconciliation with the responsibility to bear the truth to the world that in Christ we are One.
In the name of the one who alone is the Prince of Peace, Jesus the Christ we pray, amen.
Related articles:
Charleston church shooting: 9 killed in what officials call a hate crime (CNN)
Manhunt on for gunman who killed 9 at South Carolina church prayer meeting (Fox News)
Franklin Graham: Join me in praying for Charleston
Clementa C. Pinckney (1973-2015), pastor of Mother Emanuel A.M.E. in Charleston, S.C.
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On Sunday June 21, 2015, churches everywhere should pause in their Sunday morning worship services and pray for our Sisters and Brothers in Christ in Charleston for the pain that they have suffered. May we follow the example of God’s Kingdom–Lions lying down with lambs–wolves lying down with sheep.