Sabbatical week 9

The 9th weekend of our sabbatical found us on the Oregon coast where Sunday morning, we attended the Brookings Church of the Nazarene.

This was our very first time at the church.

We walked into the church and were enthusiastically greeted and welcomed at the door. It really is incredible the tone a greeter can set for visitors who attend a church for the first time.

Waiting for the service to begin.

The Sunday we were there, my friend Pastor Rick took in 10 new members into the church. The worship was very good, the young people on the flute and the violin really added to the worship. This was also the only church I’ve visited on sabbatical that had signing (sign language) during worship, which I’ve always believed adds a meaningful dimension to worship. Renee and I each agreed that Pastor Green’s Lenten sermon was overall one of the best messages we’ve heard during sabbatical.

I gave Caleb one of our cameras with instructions to take pictures of children's church - this is what he comes up with.

Both of the boys said they really enjoyed children's church.

They have a well kept non perishable food pantry to assist those who may need food. The church is right on highway 101 so it is a heavily traveled transient route. A food pantry is a simple but effective way of ministring to people in need.

We very much enjoyed spending time with Pastor Rick, his wife MaryLynn, and their youngest daughter Marla.

We were hoping for better weather, but the Oregon coast is still beautiful.

Caleb took this picture of us.

Right on highway 101 is the Pre Historic Gardens featuring these life sized dinosaur replicas. The gardens were closed, but we stopped to get some pictures and pretend we were in Jurassic Park running for our lives.

When I took the previous picture in front of the tyrannosaurus rex, I absolutely did not see the brontosaurus lurking in the background, I can’t believe I missed it. It doesn’t matter how old you are, these dinosaurs were cool.

We stopped at Renee's grandmother's house for dinner and a visit.

Micah loves coming to GG's house.

That's Renee's grandmother and step grandfather. It's always great being with them.

Sunday evening I attended the Bay Area Church of the Nazarene in North Bend.

It was a traditional Sunday evening service with Pastor Halvorson (front right) leading a constructive study / discussion from Romans chapter 12