god is emanuel and god is with us. he was there in that sanctuary when mother emmanuel, providing refuge to those who are evil, before, during, and after, he was they are holding their hands and whispering into their ears, in their last transition from god's earthly sanctuary to the great sanctuary above. and god will be certainly with us when evil is brought to justice in the state of south carolina for violating our sanctuary and god will be with us to forge a real conversation about hate, race, and division in this state when we take down the confederate flag. during the civil war, abraham lincoln once asked, whose side was god on? he replied, my concern is not whether god is on our side, but my greatest concern is to be on god's side. as i take my seat and encourage the senate to do the work we came to do on behalf of all people, all creeds, all colors, and the work of the people of south carolina, and as i reflect on district 42 in the aftermath of the shooting of walter scott in north charleston and the charlesto

wherever god is present, there is joy in the house. let's praise god. let's worship god. let's celebrate god. who brings victory out of seeming defeat. [applause] >> we will now have a musical selection by the mother emmanuel church choir. you have done so much for me. turn to somebody and say " you have done so much for me." he has done so much for me. ♪ >> ♪ he has done so much for me he has done so much for me he has done so much for me ♪ to helstart yos. >> it's all right to clap your hands now. it's all right to lift up your voices. we ought to give god some praise up in here. stand up and give god some praise. you got a reason to praise his name. hallelujah. ♪ return to somebody and say, it's going to be all right. before we have reflections from our various community partners let me acknowledged the presence of a delegation from the united states congress who is here. if you would stand and let us see you. my goodness, yes. [applause] my my. members of the general assembly of the state of south carolina why don't you stand and let folks see you. [applause] my, my.

god determines gender, god determines identity, and god's blessings cannot be found apart from god's boundaries. we were on cnn several times, dad called, i said, man, dad, we're getting called other all kinds of names. he said, did they say they are going to screw your mouth shut? i said no. he said, nen so what. just keep speaking. the scripture says, you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free. jason and i are entrepreneurs, job creators. people say what are you doing since you got fired? trying to create more 0 jobs. giving to charitable efforts. this is what we want to do, and this is what christians should be doing in every city across america. jason and i we traveled to tam pal florida to one of the groups that we sell a lot of properties for, tons of employees. we walk in and the human resource managers meet us and say, we are going to walk you around the office, and we want to let you know there are people in this office that don't like you guys anymore because they watch the news. we said, hey, we have been selling properties for these folks a long time. we w

god bless you. and the people of god shall say amen.y i'm going to ask everyone to rise in your respective places and receive the senior bishop of the african methodist episcopal. the right reverend john richard bryant. [applause] >> only god majors in snatching victory out of the jaws of seeming defeat. only god majors in following good friday with easter sunday. only god is able to take you through the wilderness in order to lead you into the promised land. this week, the eyes of the world have been on the african methodist episcopal. the oldest, historically black denomination in the western hemisphere. [applause] historically, we are the stones that the builders rejected. we keep rising. on behalf of the council of bishops, and our council president, richard julius mcalister sr. and our family friends, the senior bishops of the c.m.e. and a.m.e. zion church who sit amongst us, and an army of ecumenical friends who made it across the miles to be in this place to help us answer the question what kind of people are these? the nation ha

god-fearing people.e race who persevered, people of great faith. to the families of the fallen, the nation shares in your grief. our pain cuts that much deeper because it happened in a church. >> you're right. amen. amen. >> the church is and always has been the center of african-american life. >> that's right. [applause] president obama: a place to call out own in an too-often hostile world. a sanctuary from so many hardships. houses where the free couldn't gather together and shout -- could gather together and shout hallelujah. restaurants along the underground railroad. bunkers for the foot soldiers of civil rights. -- rest stops along the underground railroad. we continue to organize for jobs and justice. places of scholarship and networking. places where children are

god is with us.ussion. but i want to hear one of the last discussions we had and that discussion was about hope. because we are a hopeful church because living without hope is like living in continuous darkness. but hope peers through the darkness sees the light and waits until morning. good morning america. [ applause ] >> mother church say amen. say amen again. mother church say amen one more time. >> amen. >> this is truly a sanctuary, why don't you put your hands together and give god a praise because god is still worthy to be praised. now chris vaughn is a baptist, but i was pinckney's crazy ame friend. amen. and we have been brothers for more than 30 plus years. there is really no reason why clementa carlos pinckney and kylon jerome middleton should be friends. he came from jasper county, i came from charleston county. amen. we did not go to the same grade schools, nor did we grow up in the same area geographically. but it was through our connection in the african methodist episcopal church are

wherever god is present, there is joy in the house. let's praise god. let's worship god.elebrate god. who brings victory out of seeming defeat. [applause] >> we will now have a musical selection by the mother emmanuel church choir. you have done so much for me. turn to somebody and say " you have done so much for me." he has done so much for me. ♪ >> ♪ he has done so much for me he has done so much for me he has done so much for me ♪ to helstart yos. >> it's all right to clap your hands now. it's all right to lift up your voices. we ought to give god some praise up in here. stand up and give god some praise. you got a reason to praise his name. hallelujah. ♪ return to somebody and say, it's going to be all right. before we have reflections from our various community partners let me acknowledged the presence of a delegation from the united states congress who is here. if you would stand and let us see you. my goodness, yes. [applause] my my. members of the general assembly of the state of south carolina why don't you stand and let folks see you. [applause] my, my. well, si

god-fearing people. the race, who persevered, people of great faith. to the families of the fallen, the nation shares in your grief. our pain cuts that much deeper because it happened in a church. the church is and always has been the center of african-american life. [applause] a place to call out own in an too-often hostile world. a sanctuary from so many hardships. houses where the free could gather together and shout hallelujah. restaurants along the underground railroad. bunkers for the foot soldiers of civil rights. -- rest stops along the underground railroad. we continue to organize for jobs and justice. places of scholarship and networking. places where children are loved and fed and kept out of harms way and told that they are beautiful and smart and taught that they matter. [applause] that is what happens in church. that is what the black church means. our beating heart. the place where our dignity as a people is inviolate. there is no better example of this tradition than mother emanuel. [appl

how did god give us this son to reveal god's vision to the world and lead the world to god?r us. what father could possibly envision that? god gave us the sun, god's own word and flesh, to live with us and for us. god gave us jesus to preach the kingdom among us and to rain for forgiveness. if that led to violence and rejection and poverty, both civil and religious, and it were's threatened, so be it. cheeses would not turn back. he remained true to his word in the very deepest sense, even to the cross, which made it possible for god once and ever to reveal the power of his forgiving love over even the cruelest death. death is so often cruel. we feel that today moving from good friday into holy saturday when all the silence and feelings are muted, grief and mourning take everything. beau is gone. but from our immediate vision only. for we live now not only after good friday and through holy saturday but in easter. and here is beau's great final gift to us. promising, as he most assuredly was, his death calls us to hear again that the promise that gift of life in tales. it is

god of our weary ears god of our silent tears.nto the light keep us forever in thy path we pray lets our feet stray from the places, our guard where we meant thee to the great grand and supreme architect of the universe to the one and only true god the eternal father and his son, jesus christ and in the holy ghost, we pray we gather this day symbolic of being knee bowed and body bend, and before the throne of grace, it is this day that we bow our hearts beneath our knees and our knees in some lonesome valley we have gathered for this homegrown celebration like an empty picture to a full fountain. no merits of our own, oh, lord open up a window of heaven for our blessings upon this awaiting congregation need not far or the battlements of glory and here, our sincere prayers. lord have mercy upon our souls with the forgiveness of our sins bless our gathering on this day ride by this morning, mount up on your milky white horse and in your ride, rise to save us from our sins and to create within us, a clean heart oh lord, bless our pre

it was god. said lord, you be the neurosurgeon and i will be the hands and that is where the title "gifted hands" came from. god is in charge. and i look at something like the vendor twins -- bender twins the first set of conjoined twins. such twins had never been before separated and survived. two months before i knew anything about the two ends -- twins, i have this obsession with conjoined twins and i started reading this literature, trying to figure out why the results were sowed -- so dismal. it was examination or bleeding to death. i started talking to people, to a friend of mine who was a chief of cardiac the rustic surgery. how do you keep them from bleeding out and he only about hypothermic -- he told me about hypothermic arrest. you cool the blood and then warm it up. that might work if we did it at the critical time. two months later, they showed up they were being presented all over the world to see if anybody had an idea of how they could both be saved. when i explained things, every

thank god! for saving me. god is our refuge. and strength. and then the first point you ought to remember from this brief message is that we ought to put our hope and trust in god. stock markets may crash, friends may leave you. mom and daddy may be called back home to god himself. but if you keep your hand in god's hand turn somebody and say he'll make a way somehow. and the second point i want you to remember from this sermon that god is our refuge and strength is that praise for the great things for he has already done. god has a track record. turn to somebody and say, god has a track record. yeah yeah yeah yeah. i just want to share with you. i've got to praise. how many of you have a praise in this room? and i don't go through a whole litany of things early in the morning. i've got five things i say, and sometime it gets to ten. and here is what i say. the reason i praise him. he woke me up this morning. [ applause ] >> can i get a witness. >> yes! >> the second reason i say, all right, he woke me up this morning. and the third reason i

god. i wish i had a witness here. when evil is in the world, you and i may not be able to control evildoers, but i want you to know the day that i know a man who is able to handle all of our problems. some of us are still trying to seek answers to what happened last week wednesday. i've been there and done that and spent the night. i've decided to turn it over -- you all aren't hearing me. i decided to turn it over to jesus. you mean we ought to forget what happened? no don't forget. but to remember that the god who created our soul and a god who will make a way out of nowhere. there are answers we're still waiting for but answers by leaving our hand in the hand of god. i'm reminded by some news media persons that wonder why the nine families all spoke of forgiveness and didn't have malice in their hearts. on this father's day, you ought to know the nine families guided. nine families guided you will know how the children are behaving. we ought to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. i

he has sought to please god so god has loved him. he has been taken out. he has been carried off so that evil may not warp his understanding or trenchry seduce his soul. the whirl wind corrupts the simple heart. he achieves long life. his soul being pleasing to the lord. he has taken him quickly from the wickedness from around him. the word of the lord. >> thanks be to god. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> a reading from the second letter of st. paul to the corinthians. brothers and sisters, we know that if our earthly dwelling a tent should be destroyed, we have a building from god. a with dwelling not made with hands. eternal in heaven. we are always courageous although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the lord. for we walk by faith, not by sight. yet we are courageous. the word of the lord. >> thanks be to god. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ hal lulieuia ♪ >> the lord be with you. >> and with your spirit. >> a reading from the holy gospel according to john. now, when jesus came to bethany, he found that lazarus had already be

how did god give us this son to reveal god's vision of the world and lead the world to god.or us. what father could possibly envisage that. rather god gave us the son, god's own word and our flesh to live with and for us. god gave us jesus to preach the kingdom among us. a reign of reciprocity, forgiveness, healing and fulfillment. if that mission led to violent rejection by authorities, civil and religious, whom it threatened. so be it. jesus would not turn back. he remained true to his word and the very deepest sense. even to the cross. which made it possible for god once and forever to reveal the power of his forgiving love over even the cruelest death. death is so often cruel. we feel that today, when all is silence. feelings are muted, grief and mourning overtake everything. but was gone. but from our immediate vision only. for we live now, not only after good friday and through holy saturday but in easter. and here is beau's great final gift to us. promising as he most assuredly was, his death calls us to hear again, that the gift of life entails. it is the promise fir

but god can use anyone. a lot of people think noah had to be a holy guy because god used him to repopulate the world. no, noah was a drunk. they say moses had to be holy because god used him to free his people. moses was a murderer. i am too old to do anything. abram was 75 and god says i am going to make you a father of many nations. we are all called. it's a universal call. we are just regular people. i am just a regular guy. i don't have a ph.d in sacred theology but what i do have is a first peters 3:15 story. what i do have is a reason for my belief. if someone asks me why i am catholic it is not because my parents were catholic or i was baptized. i am cath like because i believe in the eucharist, believe in the body, blood, soul, divinity of jesus christ. that's why i am catholic. i want everyone else to understand that encounter. i live this life, and i go and minister to so many people that are hurting. i was ministering in richmond, california last week to a 17 year old young man in one of the neigh

is there such a thing called god? does god love me? does he know my name? will the answer me -- he answer me? did jesus really live on the earth? was he really the son of god? no more rabbit's foot for me. no more. i got to the get to the bottom line and either i believe it or i don't. that was 28 years ago. for 28 years, not quite like ja son i've wrestled with it all. the more i wrestled, the stronger i get. the more i wrestled, the chandra the foundation -- stronger the foundation i'm trying to build my house on. i did not come here for politics. rowralph reed asked me to come here. i was in utah doing an interview with a young woman the other day. she said sometimes you talk about faith. a a lot of people don't like it when you talk about they. she said why do you do it? i said i will let you in on a little secret. the storms of life will come inevitably. how is your house built? the lord is there to be with you, to support you, to give you strength. over the last 28 years, i have been debt-free. people say john kasich, he takes positions and sometimes

"oh, god, my god, why hast thou forsaken us?" the beating finally stopped when my father was motionless except for his lips. i saw that he was trying to say something. and i came close, and then i heard he was reciting the declaration of faith of the jew to god. "hear, o israel, the lord our god, the lord is one." then he became very silent. he didn't speak no more. he didn't move no more. we went, my brother and i went off to the salt mine. the first time in my life i lost faith in god. i was born in an orthodox family. my father was a wonderful, wonderful human being, very pious jew. he would not harm a soul. in fact, in the concentration camp, he kept people alive. really alive. lots of them went and touched his barbed wired to end. he could not stand it any longer. and he used to say "no, no you'll see. like god sent moses to get the children of israel out of egypt, out of bondage, you'll see he will send somebody to treat us and in fact to take us back to our homeland, israel." it was like he foresaw that. like it was a pred

god of our weary ears god of our silent tears, thou who has by the night led us into the light, keeply true god, the eternal father and his son jesus christ and in the holy ghost we pray. we gathered this day symbolic of being bound before the throne of grace. it is this day that we bow our hearts beneath our knees and our knees in some lonesome valley. we have gathered for this home going celebration, like an empty pitcher to a full mountain. oh lord open up a window of heaven pour out thy blessings upon this awaiting congregation. neither far over the glory and hear our sincere prayers. lord have mercy upon our souls with the forgiveness of our sins. blessed our gathering on this day. ride by this morning, mount up on your milky white horse and ride to save us from our sins and create within us a clean heart. oh lord bless our president, the president of the united states of america, president barack and first lady. pin his ears to the wisdom post continue to make his words as sledgehammers of truth. put his eyes to the telescope of eternity and let him look upon the paper walls of

god. i do not need the bible to tell me what god tells me. all these people are calling saying, it is about procreation and one man and one woman. god didn't make every heterosexual couple fertile. i have never heard someone say, for tiles couple -- for infertile couples should not marry. it is all about discrimination and stupidity. i would love to have you have a call on what do you think of stupid people getting married. i've got this can no longer be an issue. c-span should never no longer have callers on this. this is a blessed day. host: do you think yesterday's decision resolves everything? do you think this issue will be finalized because of the decision from the court? caller: it is a great start. it gives a lot of legitimacy to our existence. for all these people that say god created adam and eve -- go back and read your bible. in the beginning, god created adam, that was it. he was just a rib. if you want to use your bible for all of your bigotry, think of -- let's get off this.

to god be the glory!e clergy and layity throughout the world. we thank you for your unwavering support and prayers. we also want to thank the ecumenical community for standing strong, not only here in the city of charleston but around the world have sent their heartfelt sympathy and prayers our way. but then i want to thank the good people of the city of charleston and the state

he has sought to please god so god has loved him.en out. he has been carried off so that evil may not warm his understanding or treachery seduce his soul. for the fascination of evil grows good things into the shade and the desire corrupts a simple heart. >> coming to perfection in so short a while, he achieved long life. his soul being pleasing to the lord, he has taken him quickly from the wickedness around him. the word of the lord. ♪ my shepherd is the lord nothing indeed shall i want ♪ ♪ my shepherd is the lord nothing indeed shall i want ♪ ♪ the lord is my shepherd there nothing is i shall want ♪ ♪ fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose ♪ ♪ i rest by waters revives my spirit ♪ ♪ my shepherd is the lord nothing indeed shall i want ♪ ♪ he guides me on my path for his namesake ♪ ♪ in the body of darkness you are there with your heart ♪ ♪ and your staff within you give me comfort ♪ ♪ my shepherd is the lord nothing indeed shall i want ♪ ♪ you have prepared a banquet for me ♪ ♪ in -- my head you have anointed with

god told me to do this. god told me to do that. we accepted that. >> god speaks to me. i have a message to present. >> to outsiders koresh soon transformed the davidian church into a cult. >> the most important element of the cult is the leader. and they always describe the same way as being charismatic. >> i mean, there are some things that god has concealed in his written word that are to be brought to do right before the end of time. >> koresh preached end of day philosophies to his followers, a belief that was centered around a battle between evil armies led by a messianic leader who was the second coming. >> his role was to open the seven seals that are mentioned in the book of revelation. >> in revelation the seven seals represent the apocalypse. the biblical end of days. in the bible only the lamb of god can open the seals. koresh preached that he had that power. by january 1992 disturbing rumors about the self-styled prophet had surfaced. the local newspaper, the "waco tribune herald" began to investigate koresh and his hold over the davidians. >> he had what wa

oh but god works in mysterious ways. (applause) god has different ideas. he didn't know he was being used by god. blinded by hatred the alleged killer could not see the grace surrounding reverend pinckney and that bible study group. the light of love that shown as they opened the church doors and invited a stranger to join in their prayer circle. the alleged killer could have never anticipated the way the families of the fallen would respond when they saw him in court in the midst of unspeakable grief with words of forgiveness. he couldn't imagine that. (applause) the alleged killer could not imagine how the city of charleston under the good and wise leadership of mayor riley how the state of south carolina how the united states of america would respond, not merely with revulsion at his evil act but with big-hearted generosity and more importantly, with a thoughtful introspection and self-examination that we so rarely see in public life. blinded by hatred he failed to comprehend what reverend pinckney so well understood the power of god's grace. (applause)

oh, my god! oh, my god! like somebody had smashed concrete blocks on the back of my truck. it was this loud shattering sound out of nowhere, with no warning whatsoever. it shot like orange and purple sparks out over the front of the windshield. it instantly filled the interior of the truck with smoke. i swore my head off. >> the car was just struck by lightning! >> i was terrified because i realized what had just happened. i thought i was going to be electrocuted or suffocating in smoke. i totally thought i was going to die. i absolutely panicked. >> even for a battle-scarred veteran storm chaser taking a direct hit like this is a bone chilling moment. >> i started honking on the horn because there was an rv in front of me. i thought i would try to get their attention, but they just sped on ahead and i actually don't blame them at all because they might have thought that they were next. >> alone, john pulls out his cell phone. >> i need to stop. i need to call 911 right away. as john calls for help, his foot

we've got to build our life on what god says. god is worthy. the truth. >> god allowed me to provide this word in this prison: i have enough faith right now to know that god has everything ready for me. >> narrator: fames leads bible study and is regarded as a jailhouse pastor. but in another unit, michael lesher pledges allegiance to a different entity. >> you have lucifer and satan. in death i found life and hell is my paradise. this is my paradise. his life is illuminated by all of his tattoos. >> it's better than some of the scratches i've seen on some inmates. but it's really not all that extravagant. it's definitely not street-quality work. it was all single needle. >> i was 24 when i got the tattoo on my head. the horns, itself, it's just me being an outlaw. somebody that's a little devil himself. >> at the time that i got that tattoo, i had a real strict belief in being antichristian. i believe if there's a god looking down at me, he's got something looking right back up at him. my original belief is satanism, as in the original terms o

god bless you all. [applause] thank you so much. >> we will have more from the faith and freedom conference in just a moment there we will be live with nikki haley after a shooting in the church late last week. number of political leaders are calling for the removal of the federal flag for the state capital. it plans to fight any effort to remove from the grounds of the south carolina statehouse. we will take you live to the remarks of the governor right here on c-span. live from capitol hill tomorrow a senate hearing on a cyber security breach millions of federal employees and federal contractors. we will have live coverage tomorrow morning starting at 10:30 eastern. >> like many of us, first families take vacation time. what better book than one that appears inside the personal life of every first lady in american history? "first ladies." inspiring stories of fascinating women who survived the screw near the white house. a great summertime read. available as a hardcover or e-book through your favorite

god.acre occurred in south carolina, they wrote the same belief that a church should be sanctuary. last year we brought you the story of daniel luis is emigrated with no documents. after being stopped in tucson arizona in his neighborhood in 2011, ruiz faced a deportation order in 2014. just as the threat of leaving behind family and community he calls home neared tucson's church offered sanctuary for ruiz. the pastor of the church told us what inspired the decision to offer sanctuary. >> we're responding to two scriptures who call us to take care of the widow and the orphan, and we're saying we need to act sooner than that and create our broken system from creating widows and/or orphans all through our communities. so we are hoping other churches would step up. >> customs enforcement grand ruiz to stay on the deportation order. when the stakes fired at another church answered the call first christian church in tucson offered daniel sanctuary. they offered to review his state of deportatio

we have to live our life on what god says because god's word is the truth. >> amane. >> god allowed meide his word in this prison. i have enough faith right now to know that god has everything ready for me. >> james chapter 4. >> thames leads bible studies for the men in his housing unit and regarded as a jailhouse pastor, but in another unit, michael lesher pledges allegiance to a different entity. >> luis lucifer and satan. death i found in life and hell is a paradise. this is my paradise.cifer and s. death i found in life and hell is a paradise. this is my paradise. >> his belief in satanism is demonstrated by his tattoos, all of which were accumulated during his various prison stays. >> it's better than some of the scratches i have seen on some inmates but it's really not that extravagant. not street quality work. it was all single needle. i was 24 when i got the tattoo on my head. the horns itself, that's just me being an outlaw. somebody that's a little devil himself, you know what i mean? at the time i got that tattoo, i had a real strict belief in being anti-christian. i believ

. ♪ ♪ father-like god tends and spares us; ♪ ♪ glorious in his faithfulness. ♪ ♪ father-like god tendsfrom all our foes ♪ ♪ alleluia! ♪ ♪ alleluia! ♪ ♪ widely yet his mercy flows. ♪ ♪ alleluia! ♪ ♪ alleluia! ♪ ♪ widely yet his mercy flows. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ angels in the height adore hime ♪ ♪ ye behold him face to face ♪ ♪ saints triumphant bow before him; ♪ ♪ gathered in from ev'ry race; ♪ ♪ alleluia! ♪ ♪ alleluia! ♪ ♪ praise with us the god of grace ♪ ♪ alleluia! ♪ ♪ alleluia! ♪ ♪ praise with us the god of grace ♪ ♪ ♪ amen! ♪ ♪ amen! ♪ >> opening our broadcast today, the choir was joined by members of the orchestra at temple square in ryan murphy's new setting of the hymn "praise, my soul, the king of heaven." next, we hear the merging of chant-like melodies in the "sanctus" movement from maurice duruflÉ's requiem. at the tabernacle organ, andrew unsworth then performs "carillon de westminster," an evocative work by louis vierne inspired by the bells of london. and the choir follows with a peaceful setting of "o holy jesus," a beloved prayer from the thirteenth century. ♪ ♪ sanctus, sanctus, s

the power of god's grace. [crowd cheering] [applause] this whole week i've been reflecting on this idea of grace. the grace of the families who lost loved ones. amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. i once was lost. but now i'm found. was blind but now i see. [crowd cheering] [applause] or their spirit. there are banners up that say the wrong church, wrong people, wrong day. and >> grace is not merited. it's not something we deserve. rather, grace is the free and benevolent favor of god. [applause] [crowd cheering] >> as man invested in the salvation of sinners and the giving of blessings, grace. as a nation out of this terrible tragedy, god has visited grace upon us. for he has allowed us to see where we've been blind. he's given us the chance where we've been lost to fiebd our best self-s. -- find our best selves. we may not have earned it but we got it all the same. he gave it to us anyway. he's once more given us grace. but it is up to us now to receive it. for too long we were b

oh, but god works in mysterious ways. god works in different ideas -- god has different ideas. he didn't know he was being used by god. [applause] pres. obama: blinded by hatred, the accused killer could not see the grace surrounded by reverend pinckney and the church group permit they could not see the grace that surrounded those who opened their doors and invited him into their prayer circle. this killer had never anticipated the way that they followed him in and sat with him , and he could not have imagined the way the families for gave him in the midst of unspeakable grief. [applause] pres. obama: the killer could not have imagined how the city of charleston could rise from this. how the state of south carolina how the united states would respond, not merely for propulsion -- nearly four rubles and of his evil act, but also reflecting and having self-examination that we rarely see in public life. blinded by hatred, he failed to understand what the reverend tried to get others to understand. the power of god's grace. [applause] pres. obama: in this whole week i have been ref

the power of god's grace. [applause] president obama: this whole week i've been reflecting on this idea of grace. [chatter and applause] president obama: the grace of the families who lost loved ones. the grace that reverend clementa pinckney would preach about in his sermons. the grace described in one of my favorite hymnals, the one we all know. amazing grace. [applause] how sweet the sound. that saved a wretch like me. i once was lost, but now i'm found. was blind, but now i see. ♪ president obama: according to the christian tradition, grace is not earned. >> no sir. president obama: grace is not merited. it's not something we deserve. >> [crowd] no! president obama: rather, grace is the free and benevolent favor of god. [applause] president obama: in the bestowal of blessings grace. as a nation out of this terrible tragedy, god has visited grace upon us. for us has allowed us to see where we have been blind. [applause] he has given us the chance where we have been lost to find our best selves. we may not h

what you make of yourself is your gift to god. i did not feel particularly gifted as a young girl or a young woman. so, my moms words were like a promise to me. that i had god's gifts. they were a challenge as well. i needed to find them and use them. i have traveled lived, worked on business, charity, and personal work all over the world. i know with absolute certain to and he -- certainty, that it is only in the united states that the young woman can start as i did, typing in answering phones for a little real estate business and go on to become the chief executive of the largest technology company in the world and run for the president of the united states. that is only possible in this great nation. [laughter] and, it is possible because the founders knew what my mother taught me. they knew everyone has got-given gifts. they knew everyone has potential. i have learned over and over in my life that, indeed, everyone does have got-given gifts and potential. usually far more than they realize. our founders build a nation on this.

in the house of god. our hearts ache for the families of the victims. our hearts ache for the citizens of charleston, south carolina. our hearts ache for our nation. and we pri and ask that god would somehow use up to end the insanity of violence that we see. our hearts ache because the alleged murderer killed without mercy. it didn't matter regarding gender. it didn't matter regarding this, because in the future people will feel fear in the house of god, when they should feel peace and serenity. our hearts ache because we must acknowledge that we all to some extent play a part in the pathology that we see in our land. john dunn said, every person's death diminishes us for we are a part of humankind therefore send not to ask for whom the bell tolls. it tolls for us. our hearts ache because we seem to have forgotten that righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. and our hearts ache because we have neglected the promise of second chronicle chapter seven verse 14, if my people calle

god bless you, god bless america. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ >> president obama speaking in san francisco, heading two fundraisers to an eye, including house minority leader nancy pelosi. even though the two were publicly at odds over the fast-track trade agreement in congress. if you miss the president's remarks, you can watch them tonight. we will show them right here again on c-span at 8:00 eastern time.

she loved her god. she was the matriarch, if i can use that word, and our mother and father are deceased. so her being the oldest girl she kind of pulled the family together at times when we needed that. >> pelley: why would she have been in that meeting on a wednesday night? >> because she's a christian. we were born and raised in emmanuel a.m.e. church. my mother and father attended that church. we got baptized in that church. so it didn't surprise me that, on a wednesday night, she would be there. >> pelley: i'm sorry about this terrible loss. this is the moment in the community when the first numbing shock gives way to the sorrow of realization. pastor steven singleton was the minister at emmanuel just before reverend pinckney. >> this is evil, and one of the things we embrace in the faith community is that there is a god, and there is evil. to call it anything else is just not doing it justice. >> pelley: liz alston is the church historian. >> i wish i knew what possessed this 21-year-old man to wa

oh but god works in mysterious ways. god has different idea ss.sed by god. blinded by hatred the alleged killer could not see the grace surrounding reverend pinckney and that bible study group. the light of love that shown as they opened the church doors andvited a stranger to join in their prayer circle. the alleged killer could have never anticipated the way the the families of the fallen would respond when they saw him in court in the midst of unspeakable grief with words of forgiveness he couldn't imagine that. the alleged killer could not imagine how the city of charleston under the good and wise leadership of mayor reilly how the state of south carolina how the united states of america would respond not merely with revulsion at his evil act but with generosity and more importantly, with a thoughtful introspection, self-examination that we so rarely see in public life. blinded by hatred he failed to comprehend what reverend pinckney so well understood. the power of god's grace. this whole week i've been reflecting on this idea of grace. the g

god bless you and god bless the united states of america. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> they've asked me to be the skunk of the garden party. we have a wonderful capper for today's luncheon speakers. my client, my friend congressman, he was first elected in congress in 2000, after having been a small business owner who was audited by the i.r.s. true. congressman king and his wife marilyn, have three grown sons and seven grandchildren and counting. congressman king represents mason city, fort dodge, sioux city and the spencer areas. he's known for his steadfast support of traditional marriage, life, strong national defense and constitutional principles. in 2012 congressman king defeated a former first lady and a wife of a sitting cabinet secretary in president obama's cabinet, despite the success of the cynical so-called war on women in many other races. and he won by eight poin

by taking down that flag we expressed god's grace. [ applause ] i don't think god wants us to stop therefor too long we've been blind to the way past injustices continue to shape the present. perhaps we see that now. perhaps this tragedy causes us to ask some tough questions about how we can permit so many of our children to languish in poverty or attend delapitated schools, perhaps it causes us to examine what we're doing to cause some of our children to hate. [ applause ] perhaps it soften hearts towards those lost young men. tens and tens of thousands caught up in the criminal justice system and lead us to make sure that system is not affected by bias that we embrace changes in how we train and equip our police so the trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve make us all safer and more secure. maybe we now realize the way racial bias can infect us even when we don't realize it. so that we're guarding against not just racial slurs but we're also guarding against the subtle impulse to call johnny back for a job interview but not jamal. [ applause ] er for some of our

god-fearing people. of life and so full of kind nessness, people who ran the race who persevered people of great faith. to the families of the fallen the nation shares in your grief. our pain cuts that much deeper because it happened in a church. the church is and always has been the center of african-american life. [ applause ] a place to call our own in a too often hostile world, a sanctuary from so many hardships. over the course of centuries, black churches served as hush harbors, where slaves could worship in safety praise houses where their free descendants could gather and shout "hallelujah!" rest stops for the weary along the underground railroad bunkers for the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement. they have been and continue to be community centers where we organize for jobs and justice, places of scholarship and network, places where children are loved and fed and kept out of harm's way and told that they are beautiful and smart and taught that they matter. [ applause ] that's what happe

god works in mysterious ways. [applause] god has different ideas. he did not know he was being used by god. blinded by hatred, the alleged killer could not see the grace surrounding reverend pinckney and that bible study group. as light of love that shone they opened the church doors and invited a stranger to join in their prayer circle. the alleged killer could never have anticipated the way the families of the fallen would respond when they saw him in court in the midst of unspeakable grief with words of forgiveness. he couldn't imagine that. [applause] the alleged killer cannot imagine how the city of charleston under the good and ,ise leadership of the mayor how the state of south carolina, how the united states of america would respond, not merely with revulsion at his evil act, but with bighearted generosity and more importantly, with a thoughtful introspection and self-examination that we so rarely see in public life. blinded by hatred, he failed to comprehend what reverend pinckney so well understood. the power of god's grace. [applause] for

there is no way that you can equate earthly issues with god issues.e the people, we make laws based on the people to protect and serve all the people. it's not just there for church folks. we answer to a higher calling. we are called to a higher calling. we are supposed to love those. we have to realize that that separation is not based on individual ideology. the government has to step in and say these things are legal. we are free to have different ideals. we won't have to worry about whether a person is gay or lesbian. we learn to love people. host: president obama is tweeting. big step in our march toward equality. gays and lesbians have the right to marry just like everyone else. the president will come out with a statement in about half an hour. you can tweet is set c-span. you can join the conversation on facebook. a couple of comments coming on facebook. patty writes civil union yes marriage no. marriage was instituted by god in the bible. kevin is in mississippi. caller: i think it's a sad day in this country. the supreme court would go again

oh, but god works in mysterious ways. [cheering and applause] god has different ideas. he didn't know he was being used by god. blind bid hatred the alleged killer could not see the grace surrounding reverend pinckney and that bible study group. the light of love that is shown as they open the church doors and invited a stranger to join in their prayer circle. the alleged killer could have never anticipateed the way the families of the fallen would respond when they saw him in court in the midst of unspeakable grief with words of forgiveness he couldn't imagine that. the alleged killer could not understand how the city of charleston under good and leadership of the mayor -- have a state of south carolina, how the united states of america would respond not merely with his evil act but with generosity, and more importantly with a thoughtful introspection and self-examination that we so rarely see in public life. blinded by hatred, he failed to comprehend what reverend pinckney so well understood. the power of god's grace. [applause] all week identify been reflecting on th

the word of god for the people of god. [applause] >> thank you to all of the established protocol of this day. we come not as those who have no hope but we come reassured that nothing separates us from the love of god. and, therefore, we press on to do those things which are acceptable in the sight of god. now, even a presiding bishop has sense enough to know not to block the way when the president is waiting to speak. i ask you to give me just about 40 seconds to say to you how grateful we are to each of you for what you have done and for what you continue to do. i stand to say that the nine who lost their lives had bible study. i'm calling upon the board of trustees of allen university to raise a memorial on the campus of that institution in memory of the nine who lost their lives. i am persuaded that coming generations who will study on the campus of allen will be reminded of the importance of what happened during this period of time. i close by saying to you that we are convinced that south carolina rose to its greates