Many people recall where they were when terrorist-guided commercial planes crashed into the World Trade Center and other locations in the United States on September 11, 2001. I was in the church office preparing a sermon when my church treasurer called to tell me about what many Americans refer to as “9/11.”
I didn’t fully grasp what happened until later that day when I watched the news coverage from my living room. I remember feeling helpless. I remember the sense of security being unilaterally snatched from my cul-de-sac. I remember coaching on a soccer field and looking into the unfriendly, silent skies during the mandatory grounding of all airplanes in North America. I remember the trauma on our children as the public schools held mock “attack” drills every day that week. I remember 9/11, but perhaps like me, you need to be reminded of a few other things today:
Remember that Jesus loves you. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ. Our sin and disobedience will separate us from God, but he will continue to offer his love for us at all times.
Remember why you exist. All of us are created to be at one with God and bring glory to him. How is your life making God look good today?
Remember to love your neighbor. That includes loving the person next door as well as the nation across the sea. How can you show the love of Christ in tangible ways in your own backyard as well as God’s great big yard?
Remember that someone told you about Jesus. Now it is your turn to tell someone else about his saving grace that transforms lives, churches, and communities.
Remember to give God thanks in all things. The Scriptures do not say we are to be thankful for all things. I’m not thankful for all things. Yet, the goodness of Jesus and the hope of heaven give us reason to be thankful in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Jim Dunn is executive director of Church Multiplication and Discipleship for The Wesleyan Church.
