It happened again yesterday. We had to cancel Church because of an ice storm. I hate it when this happens, but we are concerned about people’s safety on weekends like this, especially for the oldest and youngest members of our congregation. When we have times like this, I would like you to remember these thoughts.

1. Please Worship Some Way on Your Own
Be sure and take some time this week and set it aside for the Lord. Take some extra time to pray, to read scripture, to connect to other believers and to focus on the cross of Christ. Christians understand that we do not have to be in a Church building to worship and what better time to exercise this freedom than this week.

2. Please Consider Your Giving
A pastor friend and I were talking about the possibility of canceling this week. The first words out of his mouth were, “Missing 1/52 of our annual giving will hurt.” I had not thought about it since our budget is not that tight, but I understand what he means. Many people will simply not give any extra if there is no Church. Unfortunately, all of the expenses of Church continue even when we do not meet.

3. Please Come Back Next Week and Don’t Get Out of the Habit.
One of my fears on a weekend like this is that we lose people. There were people who just started attending over the Christmas season and now they have missed. Once you miss one Sunday, it is easy to keep missing and eventually get out of the habit. This is true for everyone. I want to invite everyone back to Church personally. We are in a sermon series on “What Difference Does Faith Make” and I will continue with a sermon entitled “In My Work.” Please come and take the time to invite a friend or encourage others to come back.

4. Please Keep Praying On Your Own
Every week we have a list of prayer requests on our printed program. We also add those immediate requests that people put in our prayer baskets. Those requests remain needs in our congregation. Please keep praying for your needs, others needs and all the people in our congregation.

I know several other things could be said, but these are the biggest to me. Every time we have to cancel Church, it is a big decision that I hate to make. The good news is that it does not have to be a step back for our Church. With a little thought and effort, this could have been a day of rest to prepare us for the work God has for us the rest of the year.