One of the biggest challenges on The Great Loop is church
attendance. It would be so easy to say “we
just can’t make it”…no car, no church within walking distance, poor weather,
etc. But The Great Loop has challenges
and we seem to overcome most of them because the Lord provides a solution! Unfortunately, the past several weeks we have
found ourselves travelling on Sunday but knowing we would be stationary for a
few weeks, the search for Sunday worship started on Monday!
This morning we traveled to First Baptist Church in Naples! Based on their website and most importantly,
prayer, I just felt the Lord leading us there.
Yesterday, we downloaded the directions (29.9 miles), reviewed the multiple
service times and were pleased to see their holiday schedule!! Knowing this was a LARGER church than we are accustomed
to, we left at 9:30 for an 11:00 worship hour!
Good thing!
When you drive onto the “campus” of a church sitting on 100 acres
you realize “we aren’t in Cedar Bluff anymore”!
Luckily the parking lot was well marked as were all the buildings,
walkways, restrooms, etc. Upon entering,
we were greeting and overwhelmed with love and warmth! The first service wasn’t quite over so we
caught the end of it on closed circuit TV monitors in the common area – just outside
the café! They had a book store, information
booth and plenty of folks to guide us.
We were blessed to attend the contemporary worship service. During the sermon, Dr. Hayes Wicker said, “that
must come from my Mississippi parents”. Hmmm…note to self – gotta meet this
man!
And we did!! Seems he
was born in New Albany, but had/has family in Starkville, Macon, West Point
area!! SMALL WORLD!!! Charlie asked Dr.
Wicker (aka Pastor Hayes) if he knew a friend and former colleague and in true
Mississippi fashion…they are cousins!!! The world just keeps getting smaller and
smaller!!
There are two more performances of Christmas Spectacular
today. The 4:00 show is sold out but we plan to attend the 7:00 & final
show…it’s been going on all week!! They
also have 3 services scheduled for Christmas Eve and one service at 9:30
Christmas morning. Looks like we found a temporary church home for the
month! YAY – praise the Lord!! It felt so good to be in God’s house this
morning…I miss our church family but I feel their prayers and I hope they know
I’m praying for them too!
To know Christ and make Him known in Southwest Florida and
beyond –Mission statement for FBC Naples. While we were amazed at the physical assets of FBC-Naples, it was apparent the congregation and staff have a heart for missions at home and abroad.
On a side note: It was on this day, 10 years ago we fell in
love with a precious, tiny, brown-eyed baby boy. He has filled our lives with
happiness and joy and we give thanks that he’s not only our grandson but also
our brother in Christ. We love and miss
you T. Happy Birthday sweetie!!!
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