When Words Aren't Enough

Jesse Printz (0:00)

Hey, this is Jesse Printz, Executive Pastor here at Grace Outreach Center with Gerald Brooks.

Sometimes we get asked the question, how do you respond when events unfold like they did last week?

I wanted to share with you the message that Pastor Brooks did to our church in hopes that it will be a great template for you to follow in the future. We pray this is something that blesses you and helps you. And if you do find it helpful, we would love for you to subscribe to the podcast. Also pass it along to those that you think might benefit from the things that Pastor Brooks has to say. God bless you. Have a wonderful week. Enjoy the podcast.

Gerald Brooks (0:45)

It was at 1.3 on Friday morning that I was sitting as the events continued to unfold. I was sitting there knowing that my job was to stand up and to talk to you and to somehow try to take the events that were unfolding, to say something to you that was going to make you feel better, to say something to you that was going to make you feel good about life. I've done this a long time. I've stood up after September 11th. I've stood up after the Challenger. I've stood up when our nation went to war. I've stood up when people who went to war came back and they did not come back alive. And I've stood up on so many multiple times. But as I was watching the events unfold, I understood that words were not enough. I didn't realize how last night was going to unfold, but each one of our different services, there's people who typically come to that service and that service alone. But last night, our Saturday service was going to be unique. There were going to be people who were going to be in that service that would usually be in this service or maybe the first service. And I thought, you know what? This is such a unique thing that is unfolding. Because I looked about halfway back in this intersection on this side, and I saw a man, his name's Kenneth. And I knew that Kenneth had been a police officer in Detroit for over 30 years. I knew that Kenneth was an individual that had been shot three times in the line of duty. I knew that Kenneth was a man who had told me some of the most fascinating stories about life. About that store owners would just be so happy to see a police officer, that they would literally give them food and they would give them things to drink and they would give them clothing. But most of the time, they seldom took it. But that the store owners would just literally say, no, we want to say thanks to you. I remember how Kenneth would just sit there and he would tell me, we would just put everything in the trunk of our vehicle. And when we were going down alleyways and we would find someone who was homeless, someone who didn't have a jacket, we would literally open our trunk from the things that had been given to us and we would give them food. And I thought, here's a man that in the midst of all of his life, he had learned to reflect Christ by being such a giver in most difficult times. But I was thinking about Kenneth and I was thinking, how do I say something to a man like that? How do I say something on this weekend to an individual like that? But really what I didn't know how to say was that a few months ago, he was talking to me about his son. His son pastors a great church in Michigan. And he said, pastor, he said, my wife and I, Edda, we're thinking about going up there because we want to see our son. But he said, I really don't think we want to drive. I looked at him, I said, why do you not want to drive? He said, he says, I know that if I go from Dallas to there, that I will be pulled over. And I said, well, why will you be pulled over? He said, even though I've served as a police officer for 30 years in an inner city, I'll be pulled over because I'm black. And he said, it'll make me mad and it'll frustrate me. Doesn't matter how many times I've been shot, doesn't matter, I will be driving through places and I'll be pulled over. The same time I looked out there on the same section, there was a lady. She's a beautiful lady who's a part of our church. But this lady, she served as a part of the Dallas SWAT for years. When she came in last evening, I saw her coming and I hugged her. And she said, this is hard because several of the individuals that were wounded were my friends. And I thought, what am I gonna say to her? Then I looked down and there was a couple. Now, this couple is a very unique couple in our church. They live over in where Bill Shattuck had built the homes over to the left, right behind where our admin is. And honestly, they have a house that's what I thought when we get to heaven, we got. And they apparently got theirs earlier than I got mine.