This probably sounds really stupid now, but 15+ years ago our house burned down on a Satruday night just after Christmas, while we were out for the evening. We were filthy, had no clean clothes, and smelled of smoke. All we really wanted was a shower, a toothbrush, and clean clothes. We went to our pastor before the service started and asked permission to come as we were, concerned our bedraggled appearance might not be acceptable. We were told to come, and we did. The reason this was important to us at the time was to show we still had faith even after what had happened. And that we weren't holding a grudge against God for burning our house down. It was hard, since we had a 3 year old, and she had just lost everything she had gotten for her birthday and Christmas, along with everything familiar to her. Members of our church actually took up a collection for us we were not even aware of and everyone who had kids in her preschool class (also at the church) either bought her toys and clothes or handed down things from their own children. The church was a great source of comfort at that time.