In my last three blogs, I have been reflecting on the sixth anniversary of the monster hurricane that hit New Orleans in 2005. So far, I’ve listed nine lessons I learned from Katrina. Those nine lessons were:

• “Storms” are a part of life
• God is all-powerful, and He can circumvent the impact of “storms” in our lives
• The Lord will be with us through the “storms” of life
• God speaks to us through the “storms” of life
• The Lord uses the “storms” of life to make us more like Jesus
• Faith in God is the key to overcoming the “storms” of life
• The Lord uses “storms” to unify His people
• The Lord uses “storms” to galvanize the church into action and ministry
• The Lord will perform miracles in, for and through His people as they get involved in serving Him by serving others

There is one other lesson that I learned from Katrina that I want to share at this time.

Ten, God can turn every tragedy into a great victory. That is the testimony of Scripture, and that is the testimony of what God is doing here in Greater New Orleans. Prior to Katrina, New Orleans had the highest alcoholism rate in the world, we were the murder capital of the U.S., we had a terrible public education system, we had a “spirit of poverty” over our city that was incredibly powerful, and we had a well-deserved reputation for corruption. On top of that, the pastors and churches in Greater New Orleans were estranged denominationally and racially.

Now, things aren’t exactly rosy all of the time here in New Orleans. We still have more than our share of social ills, crimes and violence. However, there are some real changes taking place in our region. The murder rate is diminishing, corruption is being rooted out, the public education situation has improved dramatically, we have a lesser percentage of people living in abject poverty, and New Orleans is now being touted as one of the places to move to for businesses and professionals. On top of that, a big percentage of the pastors and churches of our region have come together in unprecedented ways, breaking through racial and denominational that were previously unyielding, and these pastors and churches now actually spend time praying together and partnering together in ministry. I can see that the Lord is slowly but surely transforming our region from “The City That Care Forgot” into “The City That Cares For God.”

The story of Celebration Church illustrates how the Lord can “turn every tragedy into a great victory.” Our church began because some people pulled out of another church that had an immoral pastor. Out of that “tragedy” a new congregation was birthed that now is one of the leading churches in our region and has impact all over the world.

Some years ago one of our pastors died unexpectedly at the age of 40. Rather than allow that “tragedy” to overwhelm and overcome us, our church family rallied together and learned how to trust in the Lord and depend upon one another in the midst of great adversity. The lessons that we learned from that “tragedy” helped prepare for us for the next Katrina tragedy.

After Hurricane Katrina had moved past New Orleans, we discovered that both of the Celebration Church campuses had been flooded, and that both campuses were going to require upwards of $10 million to rebuild. On top of that, many of our people had their homes flooded, and 60% of our people had decided to relocate to other cities and states. Either of the two situations mentioned above would have conquered most congregations.

I remember the words that I spoke to our church attendees in our first service back in New Orleans on September 25, 2005. We were meeting in a building that had been flooded that most of our people had never worshiped in. We only had 25% of our Pre-Katrina attendees present, and probably half of them had their homes flooded. I said to our small, devastated but valiant congregation: “I don’t know how we’re going to overcome the tragedy that has befallen us. But I’m confident that the Lord is bigger than this problem. And we’re just going to pray, persevere and keep serving Him, and I’m confident that somehow He will take this great tragedy, turn it around, and use it for our good, for others good, and for His glory.”

And that’s exactly what the Lord has done in these past six years. Now, our two campuses have been rebuilt, and we have even added two additional campuses. Our congregation has also been rebuilt, and now is more than twice the size that it was before Katrina. After having served over 140,000 families since the storm, the reputation and influence that our church now has in our region is something that we could never have achieved in 100 years of ministry. And every day and every weekend, we continue to see the mighty hand of God at work in our worship services and ministries, and in and through the lives of our people.

Paul wrote in Romans 8:28 that “God is in the midst of all things bringing about good to those who love Him.” That certainly is true for the Christian residents of New Orleans, and for the Celebration Congregation. We are all testimonies to the fact that GOD CAN TURN EVERY TRAGEDY INTO A VICTORY.

I look forward to hearing from you about how the Lord has turned some “tragedies” in your life into great “victories.”