![]() Therefore, as we being the church, as long as we are getting stronger in the Lord as individuals of the church, together in unison … we will always be stronger as Sutherland Springs.” We assemble together as First Baptist Sutherland Springs. Each one of us individually is the church. “Whether I’m here physically or not does not change the fact that God does not leave,” he told the congregation. Pomeroy’s goal was to stay at First Sutherland Springs as long as the Lord willed, he told the congregation of 200 during the farewell sermon September 25 from Acts 20:17-35. And that is what God has chosen to honor and bless.” “Because of my knowledge of You (God),” he said, “I will take what You have given us that tastes so bad, but I will still use it to share the Gospel for Your glory. Pomeroy encouraged the church to embrace humility, which goes beyond individual pain. …’ Why is that happening? Because we chose to lift up Jesus.” “We still get letters that say, ‘I was an atheist, but because of the way you guys handled this situation. … I don’t understand, but I know I can’t go back and change what’s already done, but I choose from this day forward to say, ‘Lord, You are in control.’ And God has taken that, has made Sutherland Springs a lighthouse on a hill. We choose to put our faith in something greater than ourselves. “We could have been validated by the world to choose hate and ugliness and play the victim card,” he preached, “or we could choose to say we are not victims, we are victors. The church survived the tragedy by choosing victory, Pomeroy said. Kelley fled the scene and fatally shot himself. Their 14-year-old daughter Annabelle was among those killed when Devin Kelley walked in the church and began shooting indiscriminately in what remains the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history. Pomeroy and his wife Sherri have sold their home to their youngest son Korey and daughter-in-law Ashley, downsized their belongings to a camper trailer and are planning a brief road trip before returning to Texas, perhaps for a campground ministry. And the defining thing would be that that church is not the building, it’s the body, and the body should be out including everyone.” “I think again, if we can be remembered as promoting and making sure everyone knew that that pulpit was never my pulpit, it’s always God’s pulpit,” he said, “and as being God’s pulpit, he’s reaching out to whomsoever that will listen. And that’s the thing I think I cherish the most, is that love never fails, as Paul said, and that love will extend to everyone who will come and listen to the Word. “High on the mountain or low in the valley, there’s always been a true sense of family with those in the community. “And therefore, we have always been very inclusive of the community, and that the church would be the center of the community, whether it was during a tragedy or in the good times. “What really brings Sutherland Springs together over these 20 years is that there really is a true sense of relationship and family,” he said. But First Sutherland Springs has ministered since 1926 in the small community of less than 1,000 people, 20 years under the leadership of Pomeroy. The tragedy First Sutherland Springs weathered when a gunman killed 26 worshipers and wounded 22 others on November 5, 2017, is perhaps the memory the church’s name most readily provokes. “But God kept bringing me back to, this was an opportunity for me to share what’s important for the church to continue on,” Pomeroy told Baptist Press, “and that’s when He … led me to Paul’s letter to Ephesus (Acts 20) and we just went from there.” Frank Pomeroy was hunting in the wet and cold Alaskan bush when the Lord gave him his final sermon as senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs.Ĭonsidering the grizzlies, black bear, wolves, and rain, Pomeroy suspected the message would somehow encompass creation. ![]()
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