First Responder Sunday

This Sunday we will have the privilege of hosting nearly 70 Hometown Heroes at our bi-annual First Responder Appreciation Day. If you count the family members who will be with them, that will be approximately 1guests that we will have the opportunity to minister to. Allow me to tell you some things about our guests. First of all, they are a unique group of people. They go to work every day, unlike most of us, with the real possibility they may not return home to their families. The work of first response is becoming increasingly more dangerous. From being ambushed in their vehicles, to being attacked by patients they are trying to help, to drivers who are
becoming more and more distracted by technology as they drive, the chances that one of these men and women will be injured or killed while on duty are getting greater all the time.

Secondly, the emotional toll their jobs take on them is unbelievable. All the general public sees and hears about is how the officers and firefighters and EMS folks arrived on the scene, performed their respective duties with the utmost bravery, skill ,and professionalism, and then they all went home safe. But what you don’t hear about is what often happens after the call. The mental and emotional battles these men and women fight are not something that is ever advertised. Those moments in time are not celebrated. They are never part of any recruiting videos. But they are real! And they take their toll! When I say they “take their toll,” here’s what I mean. Statistics reveal that first responders are more likely to die by taking their own life than by having their life taken. A total of 167 first responders died by suicide last year (2023) according to Blue H.E.L.P., a nonprofit that tracks such statistics.

Church, let’s not forget that while first responders are some of the bravest and most courageous individuals you will ever meet — individuals who run towards danger every day in order to save the lives of others — they are also human beings who are often adversely impacted by the stresses and
strains of their chosen occupation. So much so, it makes them to despair even of their own life at times.

Thirdly, because of these things, and others I don’t have space to mention, those who will join us on Sunday just need an place where they can be like us . . . an average citizen who gets to enjoy a day in church with their family. Yes, we are going to recognize them and honor them, as well we should.
But more than that, let’s love them. Let’s practice what our pastor preached a couple weeks ago about how we should go out of our “comfort zone” and go out of our way to welcome strangers.

One final thought. I have participated in many events like this all over the nation, and none of them, that I can remember, have produced any visible spiritual fruit on that day. The key word being “visible.” Who knows what God may do in their hearts? So please do not think that any investment
you, or our church as a whole, has made in this day is in vain. The fruit will be in the weeks and months to come as they relive their experience over and over in their hearts and minds and decide to give Fellowship another visit, then another, then another.

Please pray for myself, and other first responders in our church, as we try and follow up with these guests at work. Pray that God will open doors for gospel conversations!