A Turning Point in Life

A reaction, and how do we respond

On June 14, 2025, Minnesota Democratic Representative Melissa Hortman, and her husband were shot down in their own home.

On August 22, 2025, Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian political refugee, was brutally stabbed to death on a light-rail train as 5 other passengers sat by and watched and did nothing.

On August 27, 2025, a mass shooting devastated Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, MN. Two children, Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski, died in the shooting. Twenty-one other people were injured, including eighteen schoolchildren and three senior citizens. The shooter eventually ended his own life by a fatal gunshot to the head.

On September 10, 2025, a teenage gunman opened fire on Evergreen High School in Evergreen, CO, shooting two students, and then turned the gun on himself, ending his own life.

And most noteworthy of all, Charlie Kirk was horrifically shot and killed why speaking at Utah Valley University on September 10 as well.

It seems as though political violence, mass murders, and heartless acts of violence are at an all-time high. And these that I mentioned are simply the ones gaining regional and national headlines. This doesn't recognize the countless hundreds of instances that happen each and every day throughout this country.

But I will say, Charlie Kirk's murder, because of how it happened, where it happened, and the kind of man Charlie was, his death is sparking something within American society that is simply unmatched and truly unique, because of the amount of influence he had on so many in our country. This doesn't diminish the importance of the other lives that were lost, but this does magnify certain cultural, political, and religious matters that are permeating throughout society today.

But before we address those matter, and start to seek answers to certain questions or to attempt to make sense of all this…..its good to begin by acknowledging how we're feeling and what we're thinking. Part of the therapeutic process following tragedy is communication and processing….expressing how we're feeling and simply airing out everything that is welling up within us.

And the following emotions are very normal to experience in times like we've faced over the past few days.

But before we get to those basic and shared emotions that are common amongst most….I want to take some time as a church family to just talk…..

How do we normally respond to tragedies like this?

(Have individuals read these passages from their bibles)

Grief

- Psalm 34:17-18

- John 11:28-35

Anger

- Ephesians 4:26-27

- James 1:19-20

Fear

- Isaiah 41:8-10

So how do we respond?

Some believe we need to continue to legislate our way to the solution......that through political activism and policy change (gun laws, social reform policies, improving access to information and resources), we won’t experience so much tragedy.

However....this is missing the point related to a deeper issue. The issue isn’t gun laws.....the issue isn’t public policy.....the issue is the brokenness of the human heart.....its the depravity of the human condition that has been systematically cut off from the Creator and Sustainer of life.

And its only then can we properly identify who the real enemy is (Ephesians 6:12), and how to fight him.

Four things we need to keep in mind to continue to fight the good fight:

1. Truth

a. (SLIDE) "We live in a civilizational moment" - Os Guinness

b. What is truth?

i. John 18:35–38

1) Pilate's question has echoed through human civilization for the last 2,000 years

2) Its literally the question that has been discussed in the last generation, and what many are trying to argue is no longer relevant

ii. John 14:5-6

1) Jesus is the way….the TRUTH…..and the life

2) Notice the question that Jesus answered……"How can we know the way?"

iii. 1 Timothy 3:14-15

1) The church is the pillar and buttress of the TRUTH - the gospel, by protecting, contending for, and conforming to the gospel

iv. Ephesians 4:11-15

1) The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor/teacher equips the saints…..

a) To do ministry

b) To build up the body

c) Attain unity in faith and knowledge

d) Christian maturity

e) No longer so easily swayed and deceived

v. This is a worldview and spiritual issue more than it is a political or social issue

2. Identity

a. Who am I?...........What is humanity? - a biblical anthropology

How does the world currently seek to identify individuals?

Race, gender, political affiliation, socioeconomic status

b. (SLIDE) "Every man is in tension until he finds a satisfactory answer to the problem of who he himself is." - Francis Schaeffer

i. Genesis 1:26-27

1) Imago dei

ii. Lyrics to "Who am I?" - Casting Crowns

1) "Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name? Would care to feel my hurt? Who am I, that the bright and morning star would choose to light the way for my ever wandering heart?

iii. Psalm 8:3-6

1) As we consider the splendor of God's creation, we should marvel in the fact that He particularly delights in us.

2) Why is man set apart from the rest of creation?

iv. Psalm 139:13-16

1) Wonderfully and fearfully made from the moment of conception

2) Life is intricately and carefully woven together because God is intimately involved in His creation of a human being (as opposed to blind, meaningly mutation)

3) God numbers our days from the very beginning, giving life meaning and purpose

3. Calling

a. 1 Peter 2:9-10

i. Begins with who we are (identity)

ii. Royal, holy priests - we are set apart from the rest of the world in order to bless the world and act as intercessors between God and mankind

1) Prayer, sacrificial living, serving

iii. Gospel proclamation

1) Christ's ambassadors

2) Grace (we are now God's people) and mercy

4. Hope

a. 1 Peter 1:3-7

i. Hope is connected to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why? Because if we are found in Christ, then his resurrection becomes our resurrection.

ii. Our inheritance in heaven is imperishable (cannot be corrupted or destroyed), undefiled (its perfect and pure), and unfading (will not wither away over time)

iii. Therefore, we rejoice in suffering as a testing of the genuineness of our faith, so that we may obtain our salvation in the end

b. The opposite of hope is despair

c. (SLIDE) "We have not the right to despair….We have not the reason to despair." - Richard John Neuhaus