Sermon Central
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Redemption And Restoration In Real Life
Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022 (message contributor)
Many years ago at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, there was a shooting of several people in the church parking lot and building that left three dead and three wounded. The young man, who had done the shooting, killed himself after being shot by a security guard. Earlier that day, he had entered Youth With A Mission Headquarters in suburban Denver, shooting four and killing two. His name was Matthew Murray, and he had been raised in a Christian home.
In a recent Christianity Today article, it was told that after granting the interview to talk about that day and its after effects, it was revealed that the Senior Minister, Brady Boyd, called Murray’s parents and asked if they would like to come to New Life and see where ‘their son had passed away.’ They were also asked if they would be willing to meet with members of the family who had lost two teenage daughters that morning. They said they had wanted to, but had refrained from doing so because of their concerns for the church.
After showing the Murrays around the church where the tragic events took place, they met with the families in Boyd’s office. “What happened there in the two hours in my office...was the most significant ministry moment I’ve experienced, maybe in all of my life,” Boyd said. When they first entered the office, the two families embraced. They sat, wept, and cried together, Boyd said, for “I don’t know how long.” Then they prayed.
Later Jeanne Assam [the security guard who shot Murray] was invited to join them. When Jeanne, who had undoubtedly saved many lives but had been forced to shoot the Murray’s son, walked into the room, the Murrays embraced her and hugged her, and released her from any guilt and remorse. The dad looked at Jeanne and said, “Please know we're so sorry that you had to do what you did. We’re so sorry.”
The article concludes with these words from Boyd, “We can talk philosophically about repentance and redemption and going forward with God, but what I saw in that room in my office was the greatest testimony of forgiveness and redemption I have ever seen. It was a testimony that God really can restore and redeem.”
(Taken from an illustration by Jim Kane, entitled “Redemption And Restoration In Real Life”, on 9/27/2008, https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/69071/forgiveness-for-others-by-jim-kane)
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