DALLAS, TEXAS / ACCESS Newswire / June 22, 2025 / Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of the 16,000-member First Baptist Church in Dallas - one of earliest megachurch pastors to support President Trump more than 10 years ago - addressed congregants in both Sunday worship services this morning, expressing support for Israel and recent U.S. strikes against specific targets in Iran.
The congregation interrupted Dr. Jeffress' statement several times with rousing applause and responded with a standing ovation, expressing solidarity with their pastor's remarks and agreement with President Trump's actions, before kneeling for prayer for the President, the American military, the people and leadership of Israel and the American people.
Dr. Jeffress stated the following:
"I wanted to take just a few moments and say a few words about what we all witnessed last night in the strikes against the nuclear facilities in Iran. There has been a lot of debate in our country, especially in the last few months, about whether America should support Israel and to what extent we should support Israel."
Referencing a recent debate between Tucker Carlson and Senator Ted Cruz in which the podcaster challenged the Senator's contention that Christians have an obligation to support Israel, asking where the Bible states that and what it means to support Israel, Jeffress provided further context.
"To support Israel first-of-all means to support Israel's right to exist. The nation of Iran doesn't believe Israel has the right to exist. Iran has as its stated objective to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, and there are other countries who believe that as well.
"But in doing so, they are going against God himself. Unlike any other nation in the world, God created the nation of Israel. Israel was His idea, and He said Israel will endure forever. No other nation, including the United States has that promise, but Israel has that promise.
"Secondly, to support Israel means to support Israel's right to exist in her land. You listen to the Left, to what's been taught on college campuses, they would have you believe that this land belongs to the Palestinians, (saying), 'It's been theirs and just in the last 50 years Israel tried to come and steal the land that belonged to the poor Palestinians.' Nothing could be further from the truth.
"You look not just at the Bible but at secular history, look at archaeology; we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Israel occupied that land at least 3,000 years ago. It was theirs because God gave it to them, and He said, 'This land will be yours forever.'
"History is very clear on this. Those who oppose Israel are always on the wrong side of history, and most importantly, they are on the wrong side of God; and I thank God we finally have a president who understands that truth in Donald Trump.
"I was watching the news this week and saw the President getting hit from all sides, including his own coalition, about Israel. Thursday I texted him and just reminded him that there are millions of Christians who pray for him every day, 'Mr. President, the vast majority of those Christians are going to trust you and support whatever decision you make.'
"Last night, we saw President Trump make the right decision. In going against Iran, he not only removed a menace and a threat to the nation of Israel, but he removed a threat to America and the entire world. He did something other presidents have dreamed of doing, have talked about doing, have wanted to do it, but only President Trump had the courage to make that hard decision. And he ought to be thanked for doing that, but he also needs to be acknowledged for the way he accepted victory last night.
"In that statement he said, 'I want to thank everybody, but in particular I want to thank God, and I just want to say, 'We love you, God.' Have you ever heard another president say that - Republican or Democrat? No other president has said that before.
"I think I speak for the vast majority of the members of First Baptist Church Dallas when I say, 'Thank God for the courageous and godly leadership of our President Donald Trump.' God bless you, Mr. President, in what you've done."
In his prayer before continuing with the remainder of the service, Executive Pastor Ben Lovvorn said, "Lord, we thank you that today the world is a safer place. We recognize that what we see on the news is not all there is to this struggle; this is not just a matter of temporal events. We know that there are spiritual forces that are acting behind these nations - spiritual forces of good and spiritual forces of evil.
"This is a cosmic clash, and we know that those same spiritual forces are at work in our churches and at work in our lives," Lovvorn continued. "Help us to submit to You and follow You, so we can stand against the spiritual forces of evil in this world so that we can glorify You."
For more information, visit www.firstdallas.org, and see Dr. Jeffress' remarks at https://vimeo.com/1095421967/b04c0b36e3?share=copy.
About First Baptist Dallas
First Baptist Church has been a landmark in downtown Dallas, covering six blocks of the city, since its founding in 1868. First Baptist Dallas named Dr. Robert Jeffress as pastor in 2007. Under his leadership, the church has grown to a 16,000-member congregation, the largest in its history. First Baptist Dallas focuses on reaching the city, nation, and world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The church's mission is to transform the world with God's Word one life at a time through its ministries, including its international broadcast of "Pathway to Victory" and its iCampus, which reaches millions of listeners and viewers worldwide.
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Media Contact: Abigail Miller at amiller@firstdallas.org or 214-663-9933.
SOURCE: First Baptist Dallas
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/education/leading-evangelical-church-expresses-support-for-israel-and-trump-strike-in-iran-1041810
