It looks like it’s going to be an exciting weekend.  If you consider hurricanes exciting that is! Phones, Facebook pages and Tweets are buzzing with questions about whether Irene will hit us and whether we will gather for worship on Sunday.  I’m thinking about the hurricane that hit us in 2003.

Damage was in the billions of dollars. Trees fell on houses, on cars and across roads. Electricity was off for days and days and days. Stores closed for lack of electricity or simply because they ran out of basic goods.

When the question of Sunday services came up in 2003, someone said, “We can’t have church. We don’t have any power.” I felt strongly the church family needed to get together if at all possible. I finally said, “We may not have electricity, but we definitely have power! Let’s trust our people to decide what’s safe for their families.” Eight years later those were among the most memorable services in our church’s history.

Eight hundred people showed up. Members of the praise team brought acoustic guitars. Kim called the words out to the songs as we sang. We shared Communion. Afterward, I shared a brief message and we broke into informal circles to share experiences and needs. Arrangements were made, chain saws gathered and the power of community ensued! When we finished at one another’s homes, we went across streets and neighborhoods helping where ever we could.

That’s power. No amplifiers. No microphones. No projectors. No electricity. Just power–the Holy Spirit empowering a family to function the way Jesus called us to.

Today, nearly a hundred community groups do hundreds of acts of kindness for each other and for their neighbors every week.  That’s the power of God operating through the people of God.

Will Irene hit us? Will we have services on Sunday? I guess that remains to be seen. This much I know. We have power–the power of the Holy Spirit unleashing hope through the lives of his people. I, for one, consider it the honor of my life to be a part of it.

Last Sunday, Pastor Michael taught that as sons and daughters of God we have access to the Throne of God anytime. What great news; we have a Heavenly Father who welcomes us into His presence anytime! Then, he told us there was a catch. In order to take advantage of our access, we have to “access our access!” We actually have to talk with Him. That sounds obvious, but the truth is, we often struggle to actually talk with the people we love the most.

Kim and I are empty-nesters who have been married for more than 35 years. We clearly have access to each other. Yet, now and then we can get so busy with life we can go for days without talking. We talk, but only about the business of life, not about our love for each other.

One time, when we realized we had fallen into that pattern, we decided to go on a date. We also decided we would avoid the topics of work, home repair, bills; the everyday stuff of life. It was almost hilarious. We found ourselves saying things like, “How’s your bread?” We’d been married for three decades and couldn’t think of anything to talk about!

Finally, one of us asked, “How are you feeling about life these days?” It wasn’t long before we found ourselves talking about our dreams, hopes and plans. It was like we were going back to the days when we first fell in love.

I wonder sometimes if we squander our access to God by only talking with Him when we need something. What if we “accessed” Him just to talk about our relationship. I wonder if we find ourselves falling in love with the Lord all over again.

Kim and I have kept our marriage fresh over the years by keeping that in mind. Jesus and I have too!

Difference makers don’t measure their success by the number of goals they’ve achieved or trophies they’ve been awarded. They measure it in terms of the dent they have made in the problem they are trying to solve.

Many consider Western Branch Community Church to be a successful church. By many standards it is. It’s larger than 98% of other American churches. 60% of its members were unsaved and unchurched before joining the church.

We at WBCC don’t measure our success in those terms. We measure it by scanning the horizon and seeing tens of thousands of people around us still desperate for help and hope. We celebrate what’s been done, the lives that have been changed; but we have a long way to go! We’ll rest on our laurels when they’ve all been reached for Jesus!