Fan into Flame
The service at our fellowship was really on fire this morning...
... LITERALLY!
Yes, that's right, there was a Sunday morning fire at our house of worship today. We were all singing along, having prayer, meditating, just about to take the offering, when slowly some men started jumping from their seats and heading toward the balcony. What could be going on, I thought?
And that is when our friend Ragland ran through with a fire extinguisher and the smoke began to pour from the ceiling... The building (or at least something in it!) was on fire!
I was sitting in the back right by the door, so I grabbed the kids by the hand, collected my purse and their Sunday School bag and headed right outside, explaining to them that they better not fuss because this was an emergency. They thankfully complied.
All 200+ people made it outside quickly, and thanks to the wonder of cement and cinder block construction, the fire was quickly contained and put out. Some old auditorium seats and the cotton that stuffed them somehow ignited in a storage room just off the balcony. There were fire extinguishers, there were hoses, there were men shouting. But after only a few minutes the flames were gone and the smoke had subsided.
Now that's an exciting worship service!
I went immediately to Sunday School with the children after everything had calmed down (and after sending Kevin and SMS with the news!) so I did not hear the sermon. But, I've got to say that if that was just a dramatic sermon illustration, I think someone's taken contextualization a little too far :)
We'll know more later this week about what started the fire and the extent of the damage. This was surely one Sunday morning we will not soon forget.
(Yes, yes, I know that the service itself should be exciting and worth remembering...)
~lk
... LITERALLY!
Yes, that's right, there was a Sunday morning fire at our house of worship today. We were all singing along, having prayer, meditating, just about to take the offering, when slowly some men started jumping from their seats and heading toward the balcony. What could be going on, I thought?
And that is when our friend Ragland ran through with a fire extinguisher and the smoke began to pour from the ceiling... The building (or at least something in it!) was on fire!
I was sitting in the back right by the door, so I grabbed the kids by the hand, collected my purse and their Sunday School bag and headed right outside, explaining to them that they better not fuss because this was an emergency. They thankfully complied.
All 200+ people made it outside quickly, and thanks to the wonder of cement and cinder block construction, the fire was quickly contained and put out. Some old auditorium seats and the cotton that stuffed them somehow ignited in a storage room just off the balcony. There were fire extinguishers, there were hoses, there were men shouting. But after only a few minutes the flames were gone and the smoke had subsided.
Now that's an exciting worship service!
I went immediately to Sunday School with the children after everything had calmed down (and after sending Kevin and SMS with the news!) so I did not hear the sermon. But, I've got to say that if that was just a dramatic sermon illustration, I think someone's taken contextualization a little too far :)
We'll know more later this week about what started the fire and the extent of the damage. This was surely one Sunday morning we will not soon forget.
(Yes, yes, I know that the service itself should be exciting and worth remembering...)
~lk
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