"I miss the America of 9/12": Two steps to transforming purpose and unity
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 13 September 2021
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this day twenty years ago, the church Dr. Jim Denison pastored led a 9/11 response service attended by more than two thousand people. In The Daily Article for September 13, 2021, Dr. Denison explains the appeal of the service and the need for unity today, identifies two steps that lead to God's transforming purpose, and closes with life lessons from a Ground Zero chaplain.
The Daily Article is written by Dr. Jim Denison and narrated by Chris Nichter.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the Daily Article podcast, published by the Denison Forum for Culture-changing Christians. |
| 0:07.8 | To receive the Daily article directly to your email inbox each weekday morning, visit |
| 0:12.5 | thedailyarticle.com. Now here's today's news, discerned differently. |
| 0:19.4 | On this day, 20 years ago, the church I pastored in Dallas held a community |
| 0:24.4 | service in response to the 9-11 attacks. We invited ministers from across the denominational spectrum |
| 0:31.2 | to lead in prayer, worship, and proclamation. Our sanctuary, which seats 2,200 people, was filled to overflowing. |
| 0:40.2 | There was something in us that knew we needed each other. |
| 0:43.7 | Many of the retrospectives I saw on the 20th anniversary of 9-11 made this point. |
| 0:49.3 | One person wrote, I miss 9-12. |
| 0:52.5 | I would never want another 9-11, but I miss the America of 9-12. |
| 0:58.2 | Stores ran out of flags to sell because they were being flown everywhere. People were |
| 1:03.3 | Americans before they were upper, lower class, Jewish, Christian, Republican, Democrat. |
| 1:10.0 | On 9-12, what mattered more to us was what united us, not divided us. |
| 1:16.1 | In times of crisis, we discover that we cannot do life on our own. |
| 1:21.1 | We were made for community. |
| 1:23.2 | A coal taken out of the fire goes out. |
| 1:26.6 | What was true 20 years ago is just as true today. |
| 1:30.3 | We find unity when we admit that we are facing challenges greater than our individual capacities |
| 1:39.3 | and respond by turning to a transforming power we trust and serve together. Are we facing challenges |
| 1:46.6 | greater than our capacities today? People in New York City exposed to toxic pollutants from 9-11 |
| 1:53.3 | are still getting sick. More than 111,000 people are enrolled in the World Trade Center |
| 1:59.7 | Health Program, which gives free medical |
... |
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