Here is a short video of our Baptism @ the Beach that Jeremiah put together. We’ll be showing it on Sunday, but I thought you might like a preview. I love the black & white to color effect – very cool! Great job Jeremiah! Great job Coastal!
I’ve said something recently to a couple of different people that I want to share with you. Basically, it went like this, “As the Pastor of this church, I’m not listening to my critics or my cheerleaders. I’m listening to God.” Now let me explain that a little bit. If you lead anything, you will have both – critics and cheerleaders. The temptation of leadership is to keep the peace, make people happy, avoid confrontation at all costs, and simply be a people pleaser. So what tends to happen is that as a leader you allow whatever it is you’re leading to be directed, even if in little ways, by one of those two groups.
Less than a week now until my son Christopher and I travel up to Clemson for the big game on Labor Day (I think the girls have some Labor Day shopping in mind)! I can’t wait! Hope always springs eternal in August! Regardless of the game, Christopher and I will have a blast hanging out together! He is one cool dude. Of course winning does makes the ride home that much sweeter.
The Power of Story was the title of today’s message. Someone once said, “A picture is worth 1,000 words. A good story is worth a 1,000 pictures.” I love that quote. We have the privilege and responsibility of sharing the greatest story of all time – God’s redemptive story of love and grace through Jesus Christ. The reality is however, as Christians we don’t think through how to effectively, succinctly, and humbly tell that story. We also don’t think through our own story – our life before Christ, how we came to faith, and the difference Christ has made in our life. In a nutshell that’s what today was all about – being prepared to share God’s story and your story. Your homework was to read through chapters 6-8 of “Just Walk Across the Room” and then write out your own personal before-and-after faith story. And then I challenged everyone to email those stories to me for a little constructive feedback. Then we’ll be posting those stories on our website. I’m looking forward to reading your stories.
Overall it was another great day. Everyone is getting pumped about our upcoming series, “Wild Ride.” I’m hearing a lot of feedback about who you’re praying for, inviting, and bringing. It’s going to be awesome. Janet had another training/demonstration before church for our Wee Worship ministry. There are so many opportunities for service in Children’s Ministry. If you think you can’t volunteer because you don’t teach, then you haven’t talked to Janet recently. We are really trying to raise the level of excellence in Promiseland. We want the overall experience of what happens with our children to be so great that when the kids get in the car with their parents after church, they are begging to come back! Talk to Janet and let her bend your ear about how you can get involved. We need team players and team builders.
Actually, there are so many opportunities for giving back to God and others through service at Coastal: 1st Impressions, Welcome Center, Communion, Sound, Worship Presentation (computer), and 3C’s Cafe to name just a few. And there are so many faithful servants who give of their time each and every week. I am so thankful for you and your willing service. It’s an honor to serve with you and be your Pastor.
After church I drove out to Kiawah and performed a Wedding Vow Renewal on the beach for a couple that I married one year ago today. It was very sweet. But the absolute highlight of the entire weekend was Saturday! We baptized another 6 people at Folly Beach. Each one of them has an beautiful story – the Beam’s, the Brown’s, Rebecca, and Jake. It just doesn’t get any better than watching lives change. Coastal that’s why we do what we do. We exist to share and experience LIFE!
Ever see those beautifully orchestrated commercials for some new wonder drug that cures all ills? We all have. And then almost as an after thought, some mono-tone voice over lists all the side effects of said wonder drug in one long run-on sentence that you can hardly make out except for words like blurred vision and vomiting. Well the other day, our entire family saw one of those commercials and couldn’t stop laughing.
The ill is RLS. Honestly, I had never heard of RLS before. It stands for Restless Leg Syndrome. I looked it up. It’s a real condition. Restless Legs Syndrome is a condition that is characterised by an irresistible urge to move one’s legs (insert joke here). Disclaimer – let me apologize to those of you who either suffer from this condition or know someone who does. I simply have a sick, sometimes insensitive sense of humor.
The wonder drug was called Mirapex. Here are the side effects as quoted from their website and commercial: “Most people who take MIRAPEX tolerate it well. Some of the more common side effects can include: Nausea, Headaches,Tiredness.” Not too bad, but wait, there’s more. “When beginning to take MIRAPEX, you should be cautious until you know how the drug will affect you. Some people who take MIRAPEX can become sleepy or fall asleep while doing normal everyday activities like driving a car.” What!? You mean I can either have restless legs or I can fall asleep while driving my car! “It is possible that MIRAPEX treatment can cause someone to feel faint or become dizzy when standing up from a seated or prone position. There are reports of some people having hallucinations (seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, or tasting something that does not actually exist) while taking MIRAPEX.” I don’t have restless legs anymore, but they’ve locked me up in a mental institution. Believe it or not, it gets worse.
“There have been reports of patients taking certain medications to treat RLS, including MIRAPEX, that have reported problems with gambling, compulsive eating, and increased sex drive. If you or your family members notice that you are developing unusual behaviors, talk to your doctor.” My legs don’t shake anymore, but let’s go to Vegas! We couldn’t stop laughing!
Just a few Special Event updates for our 4 week series Wild Ride that begins Sunday, September 9th:
- Sunday, September 16th, with the help of the Coastal Carolina Covette Club,
we will be hosting an Open Car, Truck, & Bike Show!
- Sunday, September 23rd, Jeff Gordon’s #24 Show Car will be on display!
- Sunday, September 30th, our local chapter of the H.O.G.’s (Harley Owner’s Group) will be at Coastal for a show/display!
Don’t miss this opportunity to invite and bring your friends!
This past Sunday we announced the name of our new Fall message series – Wild Ride! It will be a four week series that will kick off on Sunday, September 9th. Our Creative Team has been working on this series since the Spring. The basic premise of the series is that Christianity is an adventurous wild ride! We’re going to be talking about what it takes to follow Christ. The music, decorations (if you have anything you think we can use – give me a call), and give-a-ways are going to be off the hook! And the special events we are planning for the series are going to be awesome! On Sunday, September 16th, Coastal is hosting a Car Show! All over our campus there will be 50-75 cars, trucks, and bikes! And this week we’ll be finalizing a few other special events for the series. All I’m going to say right now is that they have to do with Harley’s and Nascar! Let me throw down the gauntlet especially for our men – start talking about this series now and get your friends here!
(Harvey & Janine – thanks for the work on the logo – love it!)
Our WAVES Student Ministry had a “Funeral” last night at church to say good-bye to the summer. Here a few of their pictures.
Well, it’s Sunday night, I’m back at the office writing a few visitor letters (we keep having new people each week), uploading my sermon on the web, and reflecting on the day. Jeremiah and the students are outside getting wet and messy as they close out the Summer with their “Summer Funeral.”
One of the things we’ve been working on in our Sunday morning worship service is transitions – the flow from song to song, getting up and down from the stage, the music in the background while people are speaking, and even the music we play during the welcome, greeting time, and communion. It might seem like small details to many, but believe it or not, each week in our Creative Team meeting we go through every detail of our service. We try to be very intentional in what we do. We are constantly looking to improve. And each and every week there is a lot to work on, but I believe our hard work is paying off. It’s not about the “production” or excellence for the sake of excellence, it’s about glorifying God. It’s about Jesus and lifting Him high and clear and doing everything in our power to provide an experience that points people to Him and communicates a dangerous, life changing message.
That said, sometimes it’s so easy to get distracted by the details of everything that happens on Sunday mornings. And that doesn’t even include the different ministries, people who forget to show up and do whatever it was they were supposed to do, people who are ticked off about something and need to tell you about it 5 minutes before the service starts. I know – it sounds like I’m saying that this whole church thing would sure be a lot easier without people! That’s not what I’m saying at all. People are why I’m in Ministry. But when I do get distracted I take a few minutes, quiet my heart, and just tell God how much I love Him, how blown away I am by His grace, and that today more than anything else I want it to be all about Him and about someone coming home.
We continued in our series, “Just Walk Across the Room.” We talked about living in 3D – Developing Relationships, Discovering Stories, and Discerning Next Steps. One of the highlights for me today has been reading through the “Next Steps that Mattered to Me” cards that people turned in. We’ll be posting them on a bulletin board in the Welcome Center. They’re very inspiring and a great reminder that we need to be praying about the next steps we can take with the people God puts in our lives. It was also cool to have a couple of friends from Camp Edisto in the service (Hey Britanny & Morgan!).
Janet had a Children’s Church Training and Demonstration before church this morning to introduce some new material and recruit volunteers. She sent out letters, emails, and personal invitations. She’s really been working hard in Children’s Ministry this Summer – trying to build a team and prepare for growth. If you’re interested in the front lines of Ministry and want to make an eternal impact, talk to Janet about serving in Promiseland.
Well that’s about it for now. As soon as Student Ministry is over my daughter is wanting me to “leave quick” so we can get home to watch the sing-along version of High School Musical 2. If you have teen or pre-teen girls – you can relate to my pain.
