Credit: Thomas R Machnitzki, Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0
A major fire at First Baptist Dallas on Friday, July 19, 2024, one of the largest Southern Baptist churches in the US, has destroyed the sanctuary, the Christian Post reports.
The church, which was founded in 1868, is currently pastored by Robert Jeffress and has over 13,000 members. There have been several significant expansions to the facility since the church was first constructed in 1890.
The fire forced the church to move its Sunday service to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
“This last Friday night, it looked like the gates of Hell were prevailing, that Satan was going to win,” Jeffress told the congregation. “That was Friday night, but ladies and gentlemen, it is Sunday morning. It is a day of resurrection.”
“It’s not a day of death,” Jeffess added. “And I am pledging to you, we’re going to rebuild that sanctuary. We’re going to recreate it as a standing symbol of the truth, the unchangeableness, the endurance of the Word of God.”
In an interview with Fox News, Jeffress added that he has been mocked by online trolls since his church burnt down. This was due to comments that Jeffress made a few days earlier on how God had spared the life of Donald Trump during the Monday assassination attempt.
“This week, I’ve received several requests [from] some scoffers mocking, saying, ‘Last week you were up there telling everybody in America that God thwarted an assassination attempt. Where is that God now? Is that same God responsible for allowing that fire in your church?’ Jeffress stated. “To which I say, ‘Absolutely, it’s the same God.’”
Though arson is not suspected, the fire is being investigated.
Famed American evangelist Billy Graham became a member of First Baptist Dallas in 1953. He remained a member of this historic church until 2008, when at age 90, Graham switched his membership to the First Baptist Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina, because it was closer to his home.
OpentheWord.org 
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