Had a great weekend at Coastal! On Saturday we had volunteers decorate for Christmas and help clean out some of our storage sheds at the church. Actually, we had to clean out the sheds to get to the decorations. The church looks great!

We started a new series on Sunday entitled, “The Real ‘F’ Word.” I said leading up to this series that it has the potential to be one of the most life changing series we’ve ever done. Why? Because the “F” word is Forgiveness. On Sunday I talked about receiving God’s forgiveness. Between our 3 services we had over 30 stand up, recognize their need for God, confess their sin, and ask God for forgiveness. It was very moving! Our attendance on Sunday was 275! I think we’re going to break 300 during this series!

Today, as I shared with a friend what series our church was doing, she shared with me how starting at the age of 5 she was molested by a family member for several years. You see, for her the subject of forgiveness is a raw, in your face, sometimes even offensive topic. For her, it IS the real “F” word. But she also shared how, by the power of God, she has been able to release her offender. She knows that vengeance is God’s and only He can settle the score.

If this weekend was any indication, the next several weeks are going to be powerful!

On a side note, Sean (our Youth Minister) had a great Parent Meeting on Monday night! Some of you might not know this, but Sean’s Grandmother in Virginia passed away the end of last week and the funeral was Monday morning. He went home to be with his family over the weekend, spoke at the funeral Monday morning, and then drove straight to the church for the Parent Meeting on Monday night! That’s dedication! I think we had more parents than I’ve ever seen at a Parent Meeting. We even had parents I don’t know. That’s what I call growth!