Hurricane Ike – 19: Sunday Services

Our Sunday morning worship service was considerably different this week than it was last week. Last Sunday we were just starting recovery from the storm. Many of our folks were still out of town and of those who attended, none had electrical power at their homes and just about all had tree limbs down, had lost entire trees, had fences down, and other damage at their homes. This morning we had around 80% of our regular crowd. The church has power, so aside from the damage to the building, it felt like a regular service. The music focused on praise and thanksgiving and I spoke on prayer and hurricanes, of God’s grace in the storm, and the wonderful gift of his peace in our lives. We concluded the service by making a large circle of prayer. Many offered prayers of thanksgiving and we concluded the service by singing “Always Remember Jesus” – a chorus we sing at the conclusion of most services.

Each Sunday we have a “meet and greet” time as part of the worship service. I often give humorous directions, like “shake hands with someone taller and someone shorter than you and tell them you’re glad they came to church today.” This morning I gave everyone a choice. They could either say, “Rejoice with me, we have electricity at our house” or they could say, “Woe is me, we have no electricity.” That caused some good natured laughter.

I’m still on the “woe is me” side of things.

Lots of photos here.