Allen Jackson Delivers Powerful Message on Faith and Perseverance After Charlie Kirk's Passing
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Allen Jackson Delivers Powerful Message on Faith and Perseverance After Charlie Kirk's Passing
Allen Jackson addresses a grieving community following the loss of Charlie Kirk, offering spiritual guidance on how to process tragedy while maintaining faith and commitment to truth. Speaking from the pulpit, Jackson walks through the stages of grief, emphasizes the importance of prayer for Kirk's widow Erika and their two children, and challenges believers not to retreat into silence. He delivers a stirring call to continue championing the principles Charlie Kirk stood for, freedom, truth, and biblical values, while refusing to let anger, denial, or discouragement take permanent root. This message combines pastoral wisdom with a rallying cry for resilience in the face of loss.
Allen Jackson opens with a profound statement about the enduring nature of truth and freedom, arguing that faith becomes even more significant when tested by tragedy rather than celebrated in success. He emphasizes that this moment calls for a deeper understanding of faith's value and weight, urging those who hold it to embrace it more closely rather than standing in the shadows hoping someone else will speak up.
The question Jackson hears most often—"What can we do?"—takes on urgent relevance in this moment. He acknowledges that the answer isn't singular and will unfold over several days, but he begins with immediate action steps for those processing this loss.
Practical Steps: Prayer and Family Conversation
Jackson's first directive is prayer—for Charlie Kirk's widow Erika and their two children, for the extended family, for the entire Turning Point USA organization and its subsidiaries that have played such a significant role in the lives of young people across the nation, and for the country itself.
He gives a specific assignment to those with teenagers at home: gather them together, don't let the media drive the narrative, and help them bring their faith to bear in the midst of this tragedy. Don't just live past it or simply be angry—engage with it spiritually and as a family.
Understanding the Process of Grief
Jackson candidly shares that he's still caught in a place of denial, where the reality doesn't seem real. He and his team had been planning a conference and doing other work, and now they must acknowledge that grief is where they are.
He describes grief as a visitor—an appropriate visitor—explaining that all the different emotional responses will come visiting in the days ahead:
The shock and sense of unreality
The anger that follows, asking "how come" and "what if"
The attempt to find silver linings or bargain with the situation
The discouragement, heaviness, or depression that can follow
Eventually, acceptance
Jackson emphasizes a critical distinction: any of these visitors is appropriate to come visit, but you don't want to welcome them to stay permanently in your heart. You can't afford the luxury of staying angry, staying in denial, or remaining mired in disappointment or depression. Each stage will come, but don't invite your visitor to stay.
The Danger of Staying Frozen
Jackson warns about people he's met who have been frozen in some stage of grief for decades—held captive by some tragedy, some uninvited intrusion, some tremendous disappointment, or some expression of evil. He points out that there are voices in culture that will borrow the suffering of previous generations to try to capture people in some emotional stage of grief. Believers must be wiser and more faithful than that.
Ultimately, the goal is to accept the reality of Charlie Kirk's gift—what he shared with the world—and his absence, while continuing to move forward.
Life Must Continue Forward
Jackson addresses the awkward truth he's encountered dozens of times while sitting with families walking through tragedies: life continues, and so must we. When there's a death, getting up the next day and continuing forward is not inappropriate, disrespectful, or denial. The grass still has to be mowed, kids still need to be fed and gotten to school, and truth still has to be celebrated and shared broadly.
The routines of life bring strength that helps us make it to the next step. Without routines, we would completely deconstruct. So rather than raging against routine, Jackson encourages going into that routine with respect and reverence for what Charlie Kirk represented and what he said.
Tomorrow Would Be a Good Day
Jackson issues a direct challenge: If you've been afraid to be Charlie's friend in public, tomorrow would be a good day to change that. If you've been afraid to be a friend of the truth in public, tomorrow would be a good day to start.
Practical Spiritual Disciplines
Jackson then moves to pragmatic coaching, encouraging specific actions:
Get your Bible out and read it daily
Do the daily reading available on church websites or apps
Spend 15 minutes in the Word of God—it's more important than regular exposure to vitamin D in the sunshine
Take the daily devotional and share it with a friend
These are simple things available to everyone to push back against darkness and be a light—actions that aren't filled with negative emotion or commentary. Anyone can be an advocate for the eternal truths the church represents.
Keep Your Focus on What God Is Doing
Jackson emphasizes thanking God for the good things that remain in life, no matter what the tragedy is. The way through tragedy is to maintain focus on what God is doing and not on the expressions of evil in the world. Evil will not relent, and ultimately the only thing evil will yield to is a power greater than itself—not us, but the one we worship. This is why our connection to the Lord matters so much.
Don't Take Freedom or Kindness for Granted
Jackson submits that we shouldn't take our freedom or the kindness we can show one another for granted. We lead presumptive lives, and we need to come back to a place where freedom and kindness are celebrated rather than assumed.
He uses a humorous illustration of five- or six-year-olds at a baseball game to make his point about distraction. The only people who know they're playing baseball are the adults. The kids understand they have a costume, a glove, and a hat, but beyond that need to be pointed where to run. Those in the outfield are far more engaged with what's growing in the grass or flying overhead than with the actual game.
Jackson suggests our focus on the eternal things of God resembles those six-year-olds at a ball game. We get the uniform, we know where to show up, we roll into church, but it's hard not to get distracted by who sat in our seat, who parked in our spot, or whether we liked the worship song.
The Purposes of God Are Not Diminished
Jackson returns to the central message: Evil was given a place front and center in this tragedy, but the purposes of God are not diminished. The messages that Charlie Kirk stood up for and reminded college students of are no less true in this moment. It's no less necessary to continue repeating them. They didn't begin with Charlie, and they won't end with his stepping out of time.
Hatred for the biblical worldview and the fundamental principles of scripture is not new to this generation and won't be new to the next. But there's an opportunity in that reality.
We Will Not Stop
Jackson references a proclamation the church has used for more than a decade, noting that he thought a portion of it was appropriate for this moment. He points out that his outline was written the day before this tragedy, highlighting how unprophetic that timing was—yet providentially, they had this declaration ready.
He emphasizes that the community will have to walk through this for more than just one day. There's a horrible habit of being caught in a 24-hour news cycle where the tragedy of the day gets swept aside by whatever's viral tomorrow. The reality of this day cannot be allowed to fade that way.
Something happened in this moment—not to keep people angry, not to promote belligerence, and certainly not to incite violence—but the lesson must be lived forward.
Jackson then leads the congregation in declaring together the last stanza of their church's proclamation—a declaration of intent taken from scripture:
"We know not all will go with us. We recognize the journey is long and there is a price to pay. We are aware of an adversary. We wrestle with the inconsistency of our own hearts. We see many temptations. We weep for the pain and suffering around us. Our plans are made. Our course is charted. Our heart is fixed. The one who promised is faithful. The one who called us will deliver us to our destination. The author of our faith is also the completer of our story. His strength is sufficient. His wisdom is transcendent. His watchfulness is flawless. His presence is permanent. His joy is our strength. We will not stop."
A Message for Moving Forward
Jackson's message provides both pastoral comfort and prophetic challenge. He doesn't minimize the grief or rush past the shock of loss, but neither does he allow the community to camp in any single stage of grief. Instead, he charts a path forward that honors both the emotional reality of tragedy and the spiritual responsibility to continue championing truth, freedom, and biblical principles.
The sermon serves as a model for how faith communities can respond to unexpected loss—with honesty about the pain, practical steps for processing grief, and a clear vision for continuing the mission that transcends any single messenger. Jackson's words remind listeners that while individuals may fall, the truth they championed remains, and the responsibility to carry that torch forward passes to those who remain.
