Joel Osteen Preaches Hope in Teary First Sermon After Church Shooting

Joel Osteen delivered his first sermon after the deadly shooting that rocked his Texas megachurch last week, preaching faith over fear on Sunday morning. The celebrity pastor thanked God for “watching over each one of us,” and prayed for mercy for the shooter , Genesse Moreno , and her 7-year-old son Samuel, who was shot in the crossfire. “I just ask you, Lord, to heal the hurts in that family,” he said as he broke out in tears. He called for the congregants to hold hands as they prayed and thanked the responders, two armed off-duty cops who shot and killed Moreno just after she fired the first rounds, for intervening. “As a church we can shrink back, ‘It’s dangerous, let’s hide our life. Let’s just go under the radar,’” Osteen said. “But this is a time to shine brighter than ever, to share more hope, to dig down deep and say, ‘We will not fear, for our God is stronger, our God is greater.’”

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