While Sunday is not to be a review of current events or a tragedy or an applause for something good that happened in the nation, this one hit so many hearts and has so many huge questions attached.
I would do one or more of these:
* Have a short section between songs of trust where you read a few verses + and then pray a prayer of faith that God will make all things come under his judgment someday, and for wisdom to believe His ways are best, and for comfort for the families …..and wisdom for lawmakers.
* Include it as a strong section of the P-R-A-Y (Praise, Repent or confess, Ask, Yield) pastoral prayer that the church and people need every week, asking God for comfort and us for a godly view of life and evil.
* Refer to it as an aside or direct application of one of the verses you are exposing in the sermon.
* Have it immediately as part of the greetings and welcome with a prayer then for the suffering…to deal with the elephant in the room.
(* Include thoughts in your next monthly pastoral letter to your people.)
The pastor looks around to see what is happening to the sheep.