A few hundred more than the church can hold, this was a Sunday morning where folks got up very early to be here.
A very long line of worshippers waited for the start of Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist church in Plains, Georgia, hours before it was set to begin. Nobody wanted to miss this particular Sunday.
"I just felt like I wanted to come and see him one more time," Mary Moore from Tampa, Florida, said.
This is former President Jimmy Carter's Sunday school class. Around 40 Sundays a year, he comes home to teach it.
"So Jesus came to and set the boundaries of the definition of God's love beyond what anybody had ever imagines," Carter said.
And given Carter's recent announcement that he is now undergoing treatment for cancer, which he repeated at this gathering, many in this sanctuary traveled hundreds of miles to be there.
"It's not often that we get a chance to be a part of something historical and significant for our country in a positive way," Lilian Beck from Columbus, Ohio, said. "So, to that end it feels like an honor to be here."
Carter taught for about 45 minutes, the congregation clinging to his every word, it included spiritual advice during challenging times, advice he is now following himself.
"Just bow our heads and say 'God, we're in trouble' and I ask you to give me strength," Carter said.
Carter said despite the cancer treatments he will continue to teach at Emory University and if his doctors give him the OK, he'll travel to Nepal in November to build homes with Habitat for Humanity.
