Sunday Morning

Sunday morning dawned crisp and clear, the temperature in the mid-40s and a brisk wind blowing.  The sky had been swept clean of any trace of clouds.  We discovered last night that it was snowing in Highlands and the temperature was 26 degrees.  The view from the Main Street webcam looking east revealed a picturesque, but very cold, little Town on Saturday night!

Due to slick sidewalks and roads, early church services were cancelled this morning.  We are grateful for temperatures at least twenty degrees warmer here in Atlantic Beach!

Snow accumulation was not a problem at the First United Methodist Church in Morehead City, which we regularly attend while we are here.  Senior Pastor Powell Osteen has been here since we have been coming, and he was preaching this morning.  He is a truly gifted preacher, by turns humorous and yet deeply philosophical; this morning he was beginning a series on the seven "I Am" statements of Jesus, beginning with "I am the bread of life" on, appropriately enough, Communion Sunday. 

The United Methodist Church has a penchant for moving preachers about from place to place, so we are glad that he is still here, and likely will be until he decides to retire.

This is the church that Martha's Aunt Lizette recommended to us, and on our first Sunday attending here four or five years ago we were the recipients of a welcome bag containing a fresh loaf of bread, given to all first-time visitors.  So many of the members here know us now that we can, alas, no longer claim that status.