Michael W Smith leads worship in NYC's Central Park: ‘Where are you God in midst of plague?’
Legendary worship leader Michael W. Smith co-hosted an Easter worship service alongside Christian evangelist Franklin Graham in New York City's Central Park on Sunday.
At the event broadcast nationally on Fox News, Graham and Smith stood at the center of a field hospital Samaritan's Purse built adjacent to Mount Sinai Hospital in Central Park’s East Meadow to help care for patients during the city's COVID-19 outbreak.
“We have patients in this hospital, and some are struggling for every breath that they take. This is a very dangerous virus,” Graham stressed.
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Before introducing Smith, Graham said the musician has been a longtime friend of the family and a close friend of his late father, Billy Graham.
Smith kicked off worship with his song, “Sovereign Over Us.” Following the song he somberly shared a message of encouragement.
“Here we are America, and everyone watching around the world and here we are, where calamity and hope collide and where your sin and mine collide as well,” Smith said.
Seated in front of his keyboard, Smith said he was on the ground where the “battle is perhaps fiercest against this foe we all face in common.”
“I think about Jesus when He was hanging on the cross, on another collision course, Heaven and Hell, life and death,” he said. “There was a moment when Jesus cried out 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And I think many of you out there [are] probably asking the same thing. With suffering and death touching everyone alike, you might be saying the same thing. 'Where are you, God? Where are you in the midst of this plague?”
The Nashville-based musician said while he doesn’t have all the answers, he's keeping himself focused on the resurrection of Jesus.
“Today is a celebration of the greatest love story, the world has ever known. When God Himself gave the Son, He sent to Earth to show the world what love is, only to die on the cross for the sin of all,” Smith declared.
“Jesus endured the suffering of the cross because He knew that it was temporary. Three days later, He would overcome death, and bring hope to all who believe,” he added.
