Great love is our only hope

Dear HPUMC,

Even on the other side of the world, the news of the tragedy in Dallas has hit like a hammer. While I'm in Zambia my heart is back in our beloved community, and I am eager to return to join all of you in our collective effort to help our city heal. I awoke this morning missing our church more than ever as we process this unspeakable act.

The scriptures remind us that "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:13). Along with those in the armed forces, there is no group willing to do that more willingly than the remarkable men and women in law enforcement. May God bless the families of those who lost loved ones last evening. And may God bless all those who wrestle with the pain of a world that seems more broken each and every day.

To be sure, great love is our only hope. It is the only antidote to the problems of hatred and violence.

I hope you'll join me as we hold fast to our faith and bind together in overwhelming the power of evil with the power of love. We will overcome this challenge, and we will look to God to redeem what we can scarcely fathom.

Rev. Paul Rasmussen
Senior Minister
Highland Park United Methodist Church