The newspaper called it “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” but it was magic for those who managed to make it to the Sunday services on December 22, a day that will be remembered for one of the GTA’s most damaging and crippling ice storms.
Forty persons made it to the 9 a.m. service. All who were scheduled to make coffee showed up, as did almost all of the musicians and the sound guy. Others volunteered to greet and hand out bulletins; one of our teens, Danielle, stepped up to look after the LCD. Doors were flung open to welcome groups of people walking arm in arm to keep from falling on the ice-covered sidewalk. Joan offered Jam City to Lukah, the only child who showed up. In church we clustered together in the middle section, and when it came time for communion, we formed a small but intimate circle in the front.
Between services, Al, who happened to have salt and sand in the back of his pickup, took care of the sidewalk. The one hundred people who showed up for the 11 a.m. service were welcomed like conquering heroes. Once again, Joan took it upon herself to work with a small number of children who made it to church with their families. Again, most of us sat together in the middle, and during communion we stood and formed a larger but still intimate circle along the front, up the aisles and behind the sound booth.
The songs and message focused on Christ as a mighty and compassionate King who is hypersensitive to human suffering. Compassion, the queen of virtues, is the willingness to suffer with someone else. I can’t say that we suffered together on this memorable icy Sunday morning. After all, we had heat and hydro, unlike so many thousands who did not. But the care and love of the Lord Jesus Christ that everyone extended to each other in church certainly warmed up a frigid morning for those who braved the frosty elements and icy roads to worship together on the fourth Sunday of Advent.
- Pastor Peter
Forty persons made it to the 9 a.m. service. All who were scheduled to make coffee showed up, as did almost all of the musicians and the sound guy. Others volunteered to greet and hand out bulletins; one of our teens, Danielle, stepped up to look after the LCD. Doors were flung open to welcome groups of people walking arm in arm to keep from falling on the ice-covered sidewalk. Joan offered Jam City to Lukah, the only child who showed up. In church we clustered together in the middle section, and when it came time for communion, we formed a small but intimate circle in the front.
Between services, Al, who happened to have salt and sand in the back of his pickup, took care of the sidewalk. The one hundred people who showed up for the 11 a.m. service were welcomed like conquering heroes. Once again, Joan took it upon herself to work with a small number of children who made it to church with their families. Again, most of us sat together in the middle, and during communion we stood and formed a larger but still intimate circle along the front, up the aisles and behind the sound booth.
The songs and message focused on Christ as a mighty and compassionate King who is hypersensitive to human suffering. Compassion, the queen of virtues, is the willingness to suffer with someone else. I can’t say that we suffered together on this memorable icy Sunday morning. After all, we had heat and hydro, unlike so many thousands who did not. But the care and love of the Lord Jesus Christ that everyone extended to each other in church certainly warmed up a frigid morning for those who braved the frosty elements and icy roads to worship together on the fourth Sunday of Advent.
- Pastor Peter
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