There was quite the snow and ice storm on Christmas this year. Beautiful to look at…not so great to drive in. Churches were closing for services left and right so our staff started discussing what we should do. We already knew the crowd was going to be small being so close to Christmas day so it sort of seemed like the best idea considering the circumstances.

Then Jamie and I started talking football.

You see, Jamie and I love the Falcons and have been gifted executive suite tickets to one of the biggest games of the season – Monday Night Football against the Saints. Talking about what we would do had the ice and snow come a day later and threatened our chances of seeing the game, we would have tracked down a salt truck or a set of snowmobiles but nothing was going to keep us from the game.

That’s when the conviction set in. Of course, we could not recommend people drive in unsafe conditions, but there was no way I was going to close church or not be there ready to preach knowing what lengths I would’ve gone to make a stupid (by comparison) football game.

So I was there. I set everything up, put out banners and signs, had the coffee machine working, did my own sound check, printed service orders, etc. I was ready for someone…anyone…to show up. I’m very grateful for the Quinones family (who moved here from New York and made many jokes about what we consider a snow storm) and Billy Pichon for braving the weather with me.

All that to say, we will always have church. There is nothing more eternally valuable than putting God above even our safety.And yes, with Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, we will be having church snow or not.