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Here is what some of America’s religious leaders preached in their Sunday messages following the siege on the US capitol on January 6, 2021, offering guidance to Christians in the aftermath.
If there were any consistent themes among the sermons, it was that of putting Christ first, as well as worry over the suppression of free speech and the silencing of conservative voices, the Associated Press reports.
–Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Sacramento, California.
Reverend Rodriguez pointed out that we have made American politics more important than God and Jesus.
“We must all repent, even the church needs to repent,” Rodriguez said. “The American nation will be healed when the American church repents.”
“We must repent for making the person who occupies the White House more important than the one who occupies our hearts,” Rodriguez continued. “We must repent for permitting the donkey and the elephant to divide what the Lamb died for on the cross. “We must repent for voting for individuals whose policies run counter to the word of God and the spirit of the living God.”
Rodriguez added that he was praying for a season of “instead of.”
“Instead of destroying property, building altars,” Rodriguez explained. “Instead of confrontation, conversations … Instead of many under fear, one nation under God.”
– Rev. Tim Remington, The Altar Church, Coeur, D’Alene, Idaho.
Reverend Remington spoke about the effort to silence conservative voices.
“The next two weeks are probably the most important two weeks in the history of America,” Remington said. “I pray the army of the Lord is ready.”
“I rebuke the news in the name of Jesus,” Remington continued. “We ask that this false garbage come to an end … It’s the lies, communism, socialism. I don’t know how we’ve put up with it this long.”
“For them to suppress another person’s opinion — it’s wrong, it’s unconstitutional,” Remington added. “God have mercy.”
– Brian Gibson, pastor and founder of HIS Church, Owensboro, Kentucky
Pastor Gibson preached that freedom is under assault in America.
“I stand up and represent Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and I preach to stand for the First Amendment” Pastor Gibson said. “I intend to keep this nation a free nation. HIS Church, we intend to keep this nation a free nation.”
“So now I know some, some bad actors went in and I believe potentially there were antifa up there,” Gibson continued. “I think more and more I know there were antifa up there, insiders up there that started that action.”
“And I also know that some Trump supporters followed their lead without a shadow of a doubt because you don’t get 2 million people together without having some radicals in the crowd or some simple people in the crowd that you could lead anywhere, right?” Gibson asked.
– Rev. John Hagee, Cornerstone Church, San Antonio
Rev. John Hagee preached for a focus on democracy and the rule of law, including support for law enforcement.
“The Secret Service had to escort the Vice President of the United States to safety out of the Capitol building,” Hagee said. “Gun shots were fired. Tear gas was deployed in the Capitol Rotunda. People were killed.”
“This was an assault on law,” Hagee continued. “Attacking the Capitol was not patriotism, it was anarchy.”
This is what happens when you mob the police. This is what happens when you fire the police,” Hagee added. “This is what happens when you watch a policeman shot and belittle his sacrifice for the public – Wake up, America! America and democracy cannot function without the rule of law. We back the blue.”
