I have been saying for 5.5 years, since I moved to Lititz, how much I miss the snow. So I for one have thoroughly enjoyed the snowstorms that have blanketed Lancaster County this winter. And as you know, it is our policy here at Grace to never cancel all Sunday morning services unless the authorities declare a state of emergency and ban all travel on the roads. We have, like was the case last Sunday, cancelled only the first of our three services, but snow does not cause us to stop worshipping here at Grace.
And God always seems to bless that mind-set. In fact, snowy Sundays are some of my favorite times of worship here at Grace. Last Sunday, while most churches in the areas closed (and that is completely understandable – I am not looking down my nose at them at all), we still had 845 in the auditorium on Sunday and well over 1,000 in attendance when you add in the kids down in our children’s ministry.
And get this - we also had 153 computers logged on to our live webcast last Sunday. If you estimate and average of 2 viewers per computer that is another 306 that watched our service Sunday live on the web. And here is what is really amazing about our live webcast. We had live viewers last Sunday from Spain, Switzerland, Germany, The United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea and Canada.
In fact, we average 12 computers logged on to lour live feed every Sunday from Canada (so I guess I better be careful poking too much fun at our neighbors to the north during this Olympic themed series). But doesn’t that just blow you away that we are ministering every Sunday, live on the web to people not only in Lancaster County but all around the world? Now that is what I call “meeting people where they are and moving people to where God wants them to be.”
I really appreciated all the work that our staff did in getting the building ready for last Sunday. If you would have seen the drifts that were in front of the church last Saturday you would have known what they were up against. I very much appreciated this e-mail that I received from Craig Peters, our facility manager:
“As I drove in this morning (Sunday) and heard the announcements from WJTL of church after church having cancelled programs for today, I reflected on my fire-fighting days and the 24/7/365 posture we took in ‘making it happen’, getting whatever needed to get done completed so that we were ALWAYS at the ready to respond. In similar storms, whenever the possibility that travel may be questionable, several of us volunteers would leave the comforts of our homes and spend a night, or two if warranted, to sleep at the fire house to be at the ready. Saving physical lives and property certainly is important, but even more so is saving spiritual lives for eternity. I am proud to be a member, and an employee, of a church which is totally committed to having services on Sunday, short of a ban on being on the roads ("state of emergency" being declared).”
So, even if it snows, whether it’s here in the auditorium or live via the web, GRACE IS ON!
And God always seems to bless that mind-set. In fact, snowy Sundays are some of my favorite times of worship here at Grace. Last Sunday, while most churches in the areas closed (and that is completely understandable – I am not looking down my nose at them at all), we still had 845 in the auditorium on Sunday and well over 1,000 in attendance when you add in the kids down in our children’s ministry.
And get this - we also had 153 computers logged on to our live webcast last Sunday. If you estimate and average of 2 viewers per computer that is another 306 that watched our service Sunday live on the web. And here is what is really amazing about our live webcast. We had live viewers last Sunday from Spain, Switzerland, Germany, The United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea and Canada.
In fact, we average 12 computers logged on to lour live feed every Sunday from Canada (so I guess I better be careful poking too much fun at our neighbors to the north during this Olympic themed series). But doesn’t that just blow you away that we are ministering every Sunday, live on the web to people not only in Lancaster County but all around the world? Now that is what I call “meeting people where they are and moving people to where God wants them to be.”
I really appreciated all the work that our staff did in getting the building ready for last Sunday. If you would have seen the drifts that were in front of the church last Saturday you would have known what they were up against. I very much appreciated this e-mail that I received from Craig Peters, our facility manager:
“As I drove in this morning (Sunday) and heard the announcements from WJTL of church after church having cancelled programs for today, I reflected on my fire-fighting days and the 24/7/365 posture we took in ‘making it happen’, getting whatever needed to get done completed so that we were ALWAYS at the ready to respond. In similar storms, whenever the possibility that travel may be questionable, several of us volunteers would leave the comforts of our homes and spend a night, or two if warranted, to sleep at the fire house to be at the ready. Saving physical lives and property certainly is important, but even more so is saving spiritual lives for eternity. I am proud to be a member, and an employee, of a church which is totally committed to having services on Sunday, short of a ban on being on the roads ("state of emergency" being declared).”
So, even if it snows, whether it’s here in the auditorium or live via the web, GRACE IS ON!
2 comments:
You can have the snow, I can not wait for spring, lol!! God Bless!
Thanks,Wayne. Now that players are reporting to baseball spring training camps, i am ready for spring as well.
Post a Comment