A Sunday without snow

For the first time in three weeks we woke up and the skies were clear. No snow today but the temperatures were hovering around 0 degrees. That didn't stop us from having Sunday School and Church today. It was a great day and it felt good to see everyone.

George Rezendes had everyone up and singing for the opening exercises. Sandra Lucien brought orange juice and cookies to share with everyone in order to celebrate both Noah and Sebastian's birthdays.

At church Lori Lord was the worship assistant and she greeted everyone and got us up and singing that old favorite, "I Love to Tell the Story." The praise team lead us in singing a few very familiar songs, including "Lord I Lift Your Name on High." They also led us in singing "God Bless America" to mark the occasion of a new administration in Washington DC. The choir sang a song that was perfect in light of my message today.

I preached on Jonah and spoke about God and the way he reaches out to all of us with second and third chances. I noted that our failures are not final. We can always ask forgiveness and begin again. Then as we sang "Standing on the Promises" I invited people to come forward who wanted to ask God's blessing on a fresh start in the new year. It was a moving moment to end the service.

It was good to be in church today.

Cal