Diners swayed while listening to a hymn, their eyes closed and their arms stretched to the ceiling.
It felt like a church service, but for the faithful who stopped by Smokey John's Bar-B-Que for lunch, it was another Tuesday.
The barbecue joint near Dallas Love Field officially reopened Wednesday, more than a year after it was destroyed by a fire. And that rebirth comes with the revival of a cherished weekly tradition at the restaurant: Bible study.
"You're going to have to have a breakdown before a breakthrough," Stanley Harris, the speaker for the day, called out to the crowd.
John "Smokey" Reaves sat in the audience and nodded along to the message. He had experienced both.
The 74-year-old former owner of the restaurant began the Bible study sessions in the 1980s after he rededicated his life to Christ. He owned several restaurants and nightclubs at the time, and he wondered how he could best lead others to God.
"[God] isn't going to want to know how much money you made," Reaves said. "He's going to want to know 'What have you done with my son?'"
With that in mind, Reaves closed his nightclubs and began holding Bible study where the businesses once stood. He opened the Mockingbird Lane location of Smokey John's in the late 1990s, and the weekly sessions followed.
At each meeting, a contingent of dedicated customers cram into the business during lunch rush, listening to hymns over plates of ribs, hot links and brisket. Reaves invites a guest to read passages from the Bible and deliver a small message before he closes the meeting in prayer.
The sessions aren't affiliated with any specific religious group or organization, and anyone is welcome to attend, he said.
"You can get inspiration without there being any pressure," said Brent Reaves, co-owner of the restaurant and one of Smokey's sons. "There's no pressure, there's no judgment, there's no name, there's no denomination, there's nothing. It's just faith."
Tuesday's meeting was the first at the restaurant since the fire devastated the business and tested the family's faith in 2017.
Staff was serving the dinner crowd on Sept. 9, 2017, when a piece of wood got caught under a grease pan, Brent Reaves said. The wood ignited, and the flames ripped through the kitchen, lighting the ceiling on fire.
"Once the ceiling tiles catch on fire, it's over," he said.
Brent Reaves and his brother, Juan, became the official owners of the business in 2013. They survived during the rebuild by continuing to serve barbecue through their catering service.
Meanwhile, a group continued to meet for Bible study at Aloft Hotel, a few blocks away from the charred restaurant. The meetings were smaller, Smokey Reaves said, but their impact was just as powerful.
On Tuesday, Smokey Reaves felt like he was with family as the eager crowd of more than 40 packed the business with their Bibles in hand.
"It's like a family gathering," he said. "People have been gone and all of a sudden they're coming back. We just had a family reunion."
Joe Hay, 69, sat at a table with his hands folded in front of him as he listened to the sermon. He started attending the worship sessions six years ago and was eager to support the first official meeting at the reopened business.
He found it inspiring that the family was able to reopen the restaurant and continue holding weekly Bible study even when the business was closed.
"I think God allows that stuff to happen to bring us back to the fact that we need him," Hay said. "People like Smokey have made me realize, if you need [God] all that time and you really ask him to lead you, you're going to have a better life. It's going to be hard, but you're going to see him do a lot of good in your life."
For Smokey, the ordeal was just a part of the journey. He believes that, even in hard times, everything happens for a good purpose.
At the end of the session, Smokey grabbed the microphone and looked across the crowd and renovated business. He led the group in prayer, and in doing so, thanked God for the fire.
