This Sunday, August 2nd, we kick off another favorite Summer Sermon Series tradition here at Coastal –“Summer Reading”!  “Summer Reading” is where we pick a group of books for you to read over the Summer, and then the subject matter of each of those books becomes the sermon topic for that particular Sunday.  Now before some of you freak out thinking that Pastor Chris has gone heretical and has thrown out the Bible and is now preaching from other books or encouraging you to read other books instead of the Bible, throw away your email and simmer down.  That’s not what we’re doing.  We’re not preaching from the books themselves.  If anything, I think you’ll discover that during this series you will find yourself compelled to go to scripture as we point people to the truth of His Word and a deeper relationship with God.  But each of these books is worth reading, and so I hope you’ll make a commitment to read at least a couple of them over the Summer.  After all:  Leaders are what?  Readers.  Retired Admiral James Stavridis of the US Navy once said this, “The single best way a leader can learn and grow is through reading.  So many of our best leaders develop and enhance their ability to lead through endless contact with books.”

Here is the Book List and the order in which we will be using them:

• Different by Chris Singleton (pick up your FREE copy at the church)
• Hope In The Dark by Craig Groschel
• Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado
• Relationship Goals by Michael Todd
• Unexpected by Christine Caine
• Dream Big by Bob Goff
• Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Familyby Paul Tripp

This Sunday, I’ll be using the book “Different” to talk about what Jesus had to say about loving our neighbors.  One of the best tangible ways that our church loves its neighbors is through Saturday Serve.   Our next Saturday Serve is TOMORROW Saturday, August 1st!  We meet at the church at 8:30am.  The leaders of the different service projects give a quick “pitch” of their project, we pray, and then we disburse to go serve!  It’s that simply.  You just show up and choose.  All projects are typically finished before lunchtime, so it’s not a sacrifice of your entire Saturday.  Our typical opportunities include: The North Charleston Tailgate;  Coastal’s Sewing Project;  The Lowcountry Food Bank;  meals for Jenkins Orphanage and S.C. Strong;  Restock Coastal’s Blessing Boxes.  Come make an IMPACT in our community by being the hands and feet of Jesus!  If you have any questions about Saturday Serve or ideas for future projects, please reach out to Pastor Chris Jones at 843-870-4613.

I’ve got some exciting news to share with you!  We got our final approval from the City of Charleston on our new building project!  There are a few more small steps and then we get our Building Permit.  It is looking like we will begin construction in about 30 days!  As soon as we know the details, I’ll pass them along!  If you’re fairly new to Coastal and don’t know what we’re getting ready to build, please take the time to go to our Daring Faith page on our website and check out the fly through video.  Read through the page and discover how you and your family can help leave a legacy for future generations.  If you have any questions or would like to know how you and your family can be a part of supporting this project, please reach out to me.  These are exciting days at Coastal!  The best is yet to come!

LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris

Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:

1. As soon as construction begins on our new facility, our Coastal Kidz Children’s Ministry will be GOING PORTABLE and meeting across the street at Orange Grove Middle School (where everyone parks).  One of the ways that you can help is to join a new Ministry Team called “Coastal Kidz Set-Up Team.”  Our Set-Up Team will be the ones who unload our trailer (located behind Orange Grove) and set up our Coastal Kidz Classrooms and environments on Saturday mornings, and then break down everything and load up the trailer after Sunday services are over.  If you are interested in serving on this team you can respond to this email or reach out to our Children’s Director, Janet Rollins – 843-442-8299.
2. We are in the process of planning for our Fall Semester of LIFE Groups.  If you are interested in possibly leading, assisting, or hosting a LIFE Group (in person or online), please sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday or respond to this email.  If you have any questions you can also reach out to Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org.  Our LIFE Group Leader TrainingDates (online or in-person) are either (choose one): Tuesday, 8/25, 6pm-8pm OR Saturday, 8/29, 9-11am. 
3. On Sunday, August 23rd, 5pm out at Folly Beach County Park, we’re having our end of the Summer Beach Baptism!  Come out early and make it a fun day for your entire family!  If you are interested in being Baptized, simply respond to this email, go to our website and sign up online.  Even if you’re not being Baptized, make plans to come out to the beach and celebrate with those who are!  Make it a fun day for the whole family!
4. On Friday night, August 21st, at 7:30pm, Coastal is having an online night of worship & prayer!  Now, more than ever before, as we head into the Fall and a new school year and a divisive election and so many unknowns and fears, we need to cry out to our God and depend on Him.  So mark your calendars now and join your Coastal family online for worship and prayer!
5. The Operation Christmas Child “donation of the month” for August is school supplies!  So, while you’re picking up school supplies for your own children, pick up some extra for OCC!  We are also looking for people who might be able to temporarily store our shoeboxes (we are running out of storage space).  You can now drop off all OCC items at church on Sunday mornings or during the week. If you have any questions or would be willing to store shoeboxes, please reach out to Teresa Spell.
   
   P.S. I just want to give you a heads up – our church is throwing a Baby Shower for Ashley Hojnacki on Sunday, August 30th (1 month away) at 6pm.  It will probably be a “virtual shower” of some sort, but we wanted to give you a heads up now.  We’ll give you the details as it gets closer.  For those of you who don’t know, Ashley is our church’s Office Manager.  This is Ed & Ashley’s first child.  They are having a girl – Blake Rose.  Here is a link to their registry:  https://www.babylist.com/babyhojnacki.  

This past Sunday we had some technical difficulties with our online service at 11:15am.  If that was the service you normally watch, we apologize for any inconvenience.  When you live by technology (which we all do right now), sometimes you also die by technology!  

However, I wanted to use this as an opportunity to let you know that you can check out our weekly online services in a variety of different ways.  You really should never have to worry about “missing” a service.  

You can watch a live re-broadcast of our service at multiple times through the week on our church online platform here:  https://coastalcommchurch.online.church.  Here you can fill out a connect card, take next steps and even chat with others watching the live re-broadcast.

You can also check our entire service on-demand (in other words, whenever you want to watch it) by checking out our youtube page here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzMzJsfpk12DGAlysJaY_JQ.

Lastly you can check out just the message from each week by visiting the sermon videos page of our website here https://coastalcommunitychurch.org/video-archive/. 

So – if you missed this past Sunday’s message (or any message for that matter), go check it out!

Happy Monday!
Pastor Chris

P.S.  Janet and I will be hosting a “Story Time” on Facebook LIVE this Wednesday night at 7pm for you and your children (or children at heart)!  We’ll be reading the “Different” book by Chris Singleton (the first book in our “Summer Reading” series this Sunday)!  I hope you’ll join us!

We wrap up our “UNDIVIDED” series this coming Sunday.  I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed this series.  I hope it’s been challenging, convicting, and encouraging.  Again, this is simply a start, part of an ongoing conversation, and a commitment not to remain silent, but to continue to speak out about sin and injustice and as always to point people to the love of Jesus and the hope of the Gospel.  This Sunday I’ll be talking about the third part of Micah 6:8, to “walk humbly with your God.”  I hope you’ll make every effort to join us either in-person (9:30am) or online (9:30am, 11:15am, 6pm) for our service.

Hopefully you’ve heard by now that this Sunday, July 26th, 9:15am-12noon, you are invited to our Coastal Kidz Children’s MinistryOPEN HOUSE at Orange Grove Middle School!  Yes, we are still having our 9:30am in-person worship service & Coastal Kidz just like normal on our campus.  The Open House will be going on before, during, and after the 9:30am service (again, from 9:15am until 12noon).  In fact, even if you haven’t yet joined us for in-person worship, feel free to drop by for the Open House.  We’ll be wearing masks and social distancing.  This is an opportunity for all Coastal parents and children to see what their classrooms and environments will look like when we begin construction on our new facility.

Now, one of the ways that you can help with this transition, is to join a brand new Ministry Team called “Coastal Kidz Set-Up Team.”  Our Set-Up Team will be the people who unload our trailer (located behind Orange Grove) and set up our Coastal Kidz Classrooms and environments on Saturday mornings (at 9am), and then help break down everything and load up the trailer after in-person services on Sunday are over.  We are having a Set-Up Team Orientation at Orange Grove Middle School THIS Saturday (TOMORROW), July 25, 8:00am – 11:00am, to learn and practice setting up and breaking down.  We’re going to set everything up on Saturday and then leave it up for the Open House on Sunday.  If you are interested in serving on this team you can respond to this email or reach out to Janet Rollins – 843-442-8299.

LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris

Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:

1. Our “Summer Reading” series starts Sunday, August 2nd.  “Summer Reading” is another favorite Summer tradition here at Coastal where we pick a group of books for you to read over the Summer, and then the subject matter of each of those books becomes the sermon topic for that particular Sunday.  There is a very small number of the books available for purchase (at a discounted price) at the church.  Here are all the books and their Amazon link.  Don’t forget to come by the church and pick up a FREE copy of “Different.”  Happy Reading!
   
   Different by Chris Singleton (pick up your FREE copy at the church)
   Hope In The Dark by Craig Groschel Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado
   Relationship Goals by Michael Todd
   Unexpected by Christine Caine
   Dream Big by Bob Goff
   Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul Tripp
2. I know it seems like a long way off, but we are in the process of thinking through and planning for ourFall Semester of LIFE Groups.  If you are interested in possibly leading, assisting, or hosting a LIFE Group (in person or online), please sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday or respond to this email.  If you have any questions you can also reach out to Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org.  
3. On Sunday, August 23rd, 5pm out at Folly Beach County Park, we’re having our end of the Summer Beach Baptism!  Come out early and make it a fun day for your entire family!  If you are interested in being Baptized, simply respond to this email, go to our website and sign up online.  Even if you’re not being Baptized, make plans to come out to the beach and celebrate with those who are!  Make it a fun day for the whole family!
4. Coastal has a new outreach opportunity as we team up with Tri-County Family Ministries in North Charleston. Their mission is to serve those in crisis with food, clothing, or shelter. They meet basic needs and work with their clients to understand the cause of the crisis in their lives and then open the doors to opportunities through an array of onsite programming and extensive referral networks. Coastal will be assisting with their Wednesday Grocery Distribution on Wednesdays, July 29th and August 12th from 9:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.  Many of Tricounty Family Ministries’ clients are the same people we serve at the North Charleston Tailgate.  If you are interested in being a part of this opportunity, sign up on your online Connect Card or reach out to Pastor Chris Jones.
5. The Operation Christmas Child “donation of the month” for July are new socks/t-shirts.  We are also in need of shoeboxes.  You can now drop off all OCC items at church on Sunday mornings or during the week. If you have any questions, please reach out to Teresa Spell.
   
   P.S. If you consider Coastal your church home or if you have been blessed by the ministry of our church, we want to encourage you to continue to be faithful with your generosity.  If you would like us to mail you offering envelopes or step you through online giving, please respond to this email or call the church office (843-571-1777).  Your weekly gifts are a vital resource that allows us to continue the work that God has called us to do. When you continue to give during this crisis, your gifts allow us to maintain critical ministries that many depend on.  Thank you so much for your faithfulness!

YOU ARE INVITED!!  This Sunday, July 26th, 9:15am-12noon, you are invited to our Coastal Kidz Children’s MinistryOPEN HOUSE at Orange Grove Middle School.  This is an opportunity for all Coastal parents and children to see what their classrooms and environments will look like when we begin construction on our new facility.

That’s right, if you haven’t heard, in the very near future we will begin a complete renovation and expansion of our current Coastal Kidz building, which was part of our Daring Faith Campaign last Fall!  During construction, Orange Grove Middle School, which is directly across the street from the church and where most of you park, has graciously agreed to let our Coastal Kidz Children’s Ministry meet there on Sunday mornings.

Now, one of the ways that you can help, is to join a brand new Ministry Team called “Coastal Kidz Set-Up Team.”  Our Set-Up Team will be the people who unload our trailer (located behind Orange Grove) and set up our Coastal Kidz Classrooms and environments on Saturday mornings (at 9am), and then help break down everything and load up the trailer after in-person services on Sunday are over.  We are having a Set-Up Team Orientation at Orange Grove Middle School THIS Saturday, July 25, 8:00am – 11:00am, to learn and practice setting up and breaking down.  We’re going to set everything up on Saturday and then leave it up for the Open House on Sunday.  If you are interested in serving on this team you can respond to this email or reach out to Janet Rollins – 843-442-8299.

So I hope you’ll join us for our Open House.  In fact, even if you haven’t yet joined us for in-person worship, feel free to drop by for the Open House.  We’ll be wearing masks and social distancing.  These are exciting times at Coastal and I can’t wait to announce a start date for construction (be on the lookout for that)!

I Love You & I Love Being Your Pastor!
Pastor Chris

We had a great kick-off to our “UNDIVIDED” series this past Sunday!  It’s so exciting and encouraging to know that there are 25+ churches in the Charleston community all talking about Gospel-driven racial reconciliation together!    This Sunday I’ll be talking about the second part of Micah 6:8, to “love mercy.”  I hope you’ll make every effort to join us either in-person (9:30am) or online (9:30am, 11:15am, 6pm) for our service.  By the way, it was great to see both our online & in-person numbers up this past week.  Whether you choose to join us in-person or watch us online, the key is intentional engagement.  If you’re watching online make sure you share the actual worship service post on Facebook.  Actually, you can even do that while you’re sitting in the auditorium waiting on the service to start.  It’s great free advertising, and you never know who might start watching.  Don’t forget that our YouTube channel is another great way to watch the service both live on Sunday and replayed during the week.  

This Saturday (tomorrow) is “Saturation Saturday”!  Saturation Saturday is the 3rd Saturday of every month.  It’s an organic, church-wide effort of flooding our community with random acts of kindness.  It can be anything from restocking our blessing boxes, preparing lunch for a neighbor, purchasing a cup of coffee for a complete stranger, mowing the lawn of an elderly neighbor, or baking a batch of cookies for someone you know who is in a tough season. It can literally be any simple act of service and kindness.  You decide.  Pray about it – get creative!  It was praying about Saturation Saturday that led me to the idea for our Saturday Grab & Go Meal Drive-Thru during the shutdown.  The idea is to demonstrate the love of Jesus in a practical way.  It can be done alone, with your family, or even team up with another family!  And while you’re serving, wear your Coastal shirt (maybe you’ll see someone from Coastal wearing theirs).  If someone asks why you’re serving and what the meaning of the shirt is, you can simply answer, “LOVE!  We love Jesus and we love people!”  And then you can tell them about Coastal.  If you’re able, take a few pictures of whatever you decide to do and share them with us on Facebook and Instagram under #CCCSaturationSaturday.

Coastal has a new outreach opportunity as we team up with Tri-County Family Ministries in North Charleston. Their mission is to serve those in crisis with food, clothing, or shelter. They meet basic needs and work with their clients to understand the cause of the crisis in their lives and then open the doors to opportunities through an array of onsite programming and extensive referral networks. Coastal will be assisting with their Wednesday Grocery Distribution on Wednesdays, July 22^nd, 29^th and August 5^th from 9:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.  Many of Tricounty Family Ministries’ clients are the same people we serve at the North Charleston Tailgate.  Sign up on your Connect Card for one or more of the opportunities.  If you are interested in being a part of this opportunity, sign up on your online Connect Card or reach out to Pastor Chris Jones.  

Coastal, this is what it’s all about, this is what we’re supposed to be doing – serving and loving our neighbors, being the hands and feet of Jesus in our community!  A lot of people today are making a lot of noise, but very few seem to be actually doing something.  That’s what I love about our church – compassion moved to action! 
 LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris

Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:

1. Our “Summer Reading” series starts Sunday, August 2nd.  “Summer Reading” is another favorite Summer tradition here at Coastal where we pick a group of books for you to read over the Summer, and then the subject matter of each of those books becomes the sermon topic for that particular Sunday.  There will be a very small number of the books available for purchase (at a discounted price) at the church.  Here are all the books and their Amazon link.  Happy Reading!
   Different by Chris Singleton (pick up your FREE copy at the church)
   Hope In The Dark by Craig Groschel
   Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado
   Relationship Goals by Michael Todd
   Unexpected by Christine Caine
   Dream Big by Bob Goff
   Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul Tripp
2. I know it seems like a long way off, but we are in the process of thinking through and planning for ourFall Semester of LIFE Groups.  If you are interested in possibly leading, assisting, or hosting a LIFE Group (in person or online), please sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday or respond to this email.  If you have any questions you can also reach out to Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org.  
3. On Sunday, July 26th, 9:15am-12noon, our Coastal Kidz Children’s Ministry is having an Open House at Orange Grove Middle School.  This is an opportunity for all Coastal parents and children to see what their classrooms and environments will look like when we begin construction on our new facility.
4. As soon as construction begins on our new facility, our Coastal Kidz Children’s Ministry will be GOING PORTABLE and meeting across the street at Orange Grove Middle School (where everyone parks).  One of the ways that you can help is to join a new Ministry Team called “Coastal Kidz Set-Up Team.”  Our Set-Up Team will be the ones who unload our trailer (located behind Orange Grove) and set up our Coastal Kidz Classrooms and environments on Saturday mornings, and then break down everything and load up the trailer after both services on Sunday are over. We are having a Set-Up Team Orientation at Orange Grove Middle School on Saturday, July 25, 8:00am – 11:00am, with Portable Church to learn and practice setting up and breaking down.  We’re going to set everything up on that Saturday, leave it up for the weekend and have an Open House on Sunday, July 26th after church for everyone to drop by and check it out. If you are interested in serving on this team you can respond to this email or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday.
5. The Operation Christmas Child “donation of the month” for July are new socks/t-shirts.  We are also in need of shoeboxes.  You can now drop off all OCC items at church on Sunday mornings or during the week. If you have any questions, please reach out to Teresa Spell.
   
   P.S. Please keep in mind that our church is following the City of Charleston’s Mask Mandate. If you don’t have a mask, we will gladly provide one as you enter.  As always, if you’re sick, immuncompromised, or caring for those who are, PLEASE stay home and engage with our church online.

The pictures above are from this past Wednesday’s service project with Soldier’s Angels – where we help distribute food to local low income Veteran families.  And then after the event was over a group of volunteers from Coastal took some of the leftover food and literally hit the streets and gave the food away!  One week from today, Friday, July 17th, 9:30am-11:30am, Coastal will be serving with the Lowcountry Orphan Relief.  If you are interested in being a part of this opportunity, sign up on your online Connect Card or reach out to Pastor Chris Jones.  Coastal, this is what it’s all about, this is what we’re supposed to be doing.  A lot of people today are making a lot of noise, but very few seem to be actually doing something.  This Sunday I’ll be talking about justice.  In Micah 6:8 the word for justice literally mean to “do the right thing, compassion moved to action.”  That’s what I love about our church – compassion moved to action! 

Don’t forget that for the time being we are only having ONE in-person service at 9:30am.  We will continue to offer our services online at 9:30am, 11:15am, and 6:00pm.  We will closely monitor the situation and our capacity to offer social distancing in our auditorium.  In other words, as the numbers improve in our community (go down) and more and more people start returning to in-person worship (go up), we will open up the 11:15am service.  Also, keep in mind that our church will be following the City of Charleston’s mask mandate. If you don’t have a mask, we will gladly provide one as you enter.  As always, if you’re sick, immunocompromised, or caring for those who are, PLEASE stay home and engage with our church online.

And speaking of Sunday – this Sunday, along with 25 other churches in Charleston we are kicking off the 3 week “UNDIVIDED” series!  The theme verse for the whole series is Micah 6:8 (NLT), “No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”  This is what God expects of us and this what we’ll be talking about each week:  to do what is right (some translations say to “do justice”), to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.  Don’t miss this series – EITHER in-person at 9:30am OR online at 9:30am, 11:15am, or 6pm.LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris

Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:

1. Our “Summer Reading” series starts Sunday, August 2nd.  “Summer Reading” is another favorite Summer tradition here at Coastal where we pick a group of books for you to read over the Summer and then the subject matter of each of those books becomes the sermon topic for that particular Sunday.  There will be a very small number of the books available for purchase (at a discounted price) at the church beginning this Sunday, July 12th.  Here are all the books and their Amazon link.  Happy Reading! 

• Different by Chris Singleton (pick up your FREE copy at the church starting July 12th)
• Hope In The Dark by Craig Groschel
• Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado
• Relationship Goals by Michael Todd
• Unexpected by Christine Caine
• Dream Big by Bob Goff
• Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul Tripp

2. I know it seems like a long way off, but we are in the process of thinking through and planning for ourFall Semester of LIFE Groups.  If you are interested in possibly leading, assisting, or hosting a LIFE Group (in person or online), please sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday or respond to this email.  If you have any questions you can also reach out to Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org.  

3. Interested in officially making Coastal your church family!  Our next Membership Class is tomorrow (Saturday) morning, 9am-11:30am.  You can either join us in-person or online through Zoom.  If you haven’t already registered, you can respond to this email or sign up on right now from our website.

4. At some point later this Summer our Coastal Kidz Children’s Ministry will be GOING PORTABLE and meeting across the street at Orange Grove Middle School (where everyone parks).  One of the ways that you can help is to join a new Ministry Team called “Coastal Kidz Set-Up Team.”  Our Set-Up Team will be the ones who unload our trailer (located behind Orange Grove) and set up our Coastal Kidz Classrooms and environments on Sunday mornings before church and then break down everything and load up the trailer after both services are over. If you are interested in serving on this team you can respond to this email or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday.

5. The Operation Christmas Child “donation of the month” for July are new socks/t-shirts.  You can now drop off OCC items at church on Sunday mornings or during the week. If you have any questions, please reach out to Teresa Spell.

P.S. If you consider Coastal your church home or if you have been blessed by the ministry of our church, we want to encourage you to continue to be faithful with your generosity.  If you would like us to mail you offering envelopes or step you through online giving, please respond to this email or call the church office (843-571-1777).  Your weekly gifts are a vital resource that allows us to continue the work that God has called us to do. When you continue to give during this crisis, your gifts allow us to maintain critical ministries that many depend on.  Thank you so much for your faithfulness!

I hope you and your family had a great 4th of July weekend and your new week has started off well!  I just wanted to let you know about a couple of important things happening at Coastal.  First of all, in light of the rising number of COVID cases, more and more people are choosing to watch our services online instead of in-person – which we completely understand.  However, it is putting a strain on the volunteer base required to offer multiple in-person services each week.  Because of this, Coastal is going to provide ONE in-person service at 9:30am for right now.  We will continue to offer our service online at 9:30am, 11:15am, and 6:00pm.  We will closely monitor the situation and our capacity to offer social distancing in our auditorium.  In other words, as the numbers improve in our community (go down) and more and more people start returning to in-person worship (go up), we will open up the 11:15am service.  Also, keep in mind that our church will be following the City of Charleston’s mask mandate. If you don’t have a mask, we will gladly provide one as you enter.

But, and this is important – whatever you choose to do, don’t disengage from the church during this time!  We need each other now more than ever before.  As always, if you’re sick, immunocompromised, or caring for those who are, PLEASE stay home.  But don’t use staying home from church as an excuse not to tune in and watch our service each week.  It’s so easy, especially right now, to get out of the habit of corporate worship and fellowship.  “No one will know if I don’t tune in.  What does it really matter?  It’s just one week.”  And then one week becomes two, and two becomes four.  And now it’s a habit and you find yourself on the outside looking in, and you wonder how you ended up where you’re at.  

If you ARE going to watch from home, do more than just watch – ENGAGE.  What do I mean by that?  Decide in advance which service you are going attend and be prepared – get up early, get yourself (and your family) physically and mentally ready (much like you would do if you were coming in-person).  And then do the other things you would do in person: actually sing along with the songs, comment and chat with people online, give, take communion, fill out your Connect Card and share your prayer requests, next steps, and decisions.  Maybe your next step is to officially make Coastal your church home and become a Member. Our next Membership Class is this Saturday morning, July 11th, 9am-11:30am.  It’s going to be BOTH in-person AND online.  You can sign up right now from our website.  I would also encourage you to invite and bring your friends each Sunday!  How do you do that online you ask?  Share our services on Facebook.  Even if you are watching on another application like churchonline or YouTube, jump over to Facebook and share our service post.  It’s great free advertising!  Start an online Watch Party!  This is a great way to target and invite specific people that you are friends with on Facebook.

And then stay engaged by serving!  Even if you are not comfortable coming to our in-person services yet and serving on Sunday morning, there are always multiple opportunities to serve our community during the week.  Drop off non-perishable food during the week for our Food Bank (it’s really low right now).  You can even take food directly to one of our Community Blessing Boxes (contact Chris Jones for more info).  Drop off supplies for Operation Christmas Child (July is new t-shirts & socks month).   This Wednesday, July 8^th 8am-1pm, our church is teaming up with the Veteran’s Administration and Soldiers’ Angels to supply local low-Income veteran families with food assistance at the mobile food distribution.  And then on Friday, July 17th, 9:30am-11:30am, Coastal will be serving with the Lowcountry Orphan Relief.  If you are interested in either of these opportunities, reach out toPastor Chris Jones.  By the way, it is your consistent giving that enables our church to continue to provide our online services and everything it does in our community. You can give to our church through our website or simply text ANY amount to 843-277-8337.

You see, the church doesn’t slow down just because you’re watching our services from home.  But it’s up to you to stay focused and engaged.  Probably the best way to stay engaged is through our LIFE Groups.  Yes, our LIFE Groups are on Summer Break right now, but we are in the process of thinking through and planning out our Fall Semester.  It’s possible that our Groups will look a little different this Fall – probably a hybrid of what we did in the Spring.  I can see us having small in-person groups in homes, online groups, and a mix of both.  But here’s what I need you to do, make a commitment NOW to be a part of some kind of Group in the Fall.  And if you are willing to lead, co-lead, assist, or host a group, please respond to this email or reach out to Pastor Scott – we need you!  You get to be the pioneers!  You get to be on the front lines offering love, care, and hope!

I love you Coastal and I love what we get to do together – sharing and experiencing the LIFE & LOVE of Jesus with Charleston and the world!  And that never stops, no matter when or how we meet! 
 LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris

P.S.  Janet and I will be back on Facebook LIVE this Wednesday evening at 8pm from my own personal Facebook page!  We’ll be cooking a meal (and giving it away to a lucky winner), talking about all things Coastal, and as always laughing and having fun!  We would love for you to join us!

First of all, I just want to thank everyone for all the love you’ve shown your Pastor this week!  It was one week ago yesterday that I had knee surgery, and I can’t thank everyone enough for all the prayers, messages, and phone calls!  My knee is feeling better and better each day.  Keep praying for my strength, healing, and recovery.  And then Wednesday was my Birthday (I turned 53), and I was overwhelmed by all the expressions of love!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Coastal is not just a church that I attend or a job where I work.  It’s a family I’m a part of!  I love you Coastal and I love being your Pastor!

Make sure you take a moment and watch the video above!  It’s a collection of just some of the pictures from this year’s Summer of IMPACT!  And while you’re at it, reach out to Chris Jones, our Outreach Pastor, and tell him what an awesome job he did of leading and organizing Summer of IMPACT.  I know what he’ll tell you – that it could not have been done (during a Pandemic no less) without all the awesome Project Leaders and Volunteers.  Continue to pray for all the seeds of love that were planted, that they will bear much fruit for years to come!

I have something very exciting to announce!  Immediately after our “UNDIVIDED” series (the 3 week series on Justice & Racial Reconciliation starting July 12th that we’re doing with 20+ churches in the Charleston area) we’ll be doing our “Summer Reading” series.  “Summer Reading” is another favorite Summer tradition here at Coastal.  It’s where we pick a group of books for you to read over the Summer and then the subject matter of each of those books becomes the sermon topic for that particular Sunday.  The first book that we are doing on August 2nd is a first for us at Coastal – we’re doing a Children’s Book, “Different” by Chris Singleton!  Chris came and spoke at our church this Summer, and we believe so strongly in Chris’s message and the message of this book that we decided to buy it as a gift for every family from Coastal!  Racism is TAUGHT, and so the best place to begin is with our children!  You can pick up your FREE copy at the church beginning July 12th.  Here is the list of the other books (and a link to purchase them) in the order that we’ll be using them.  There will be a very small number of the books available for purchase (at a discounted price) at the church beginning July 12th.  The series kicks off on August 2nd.  Happy Reading!

• Different by Chris Singleton (pick up your FREE copy at the church starting July 12th)
• Hope In The Dark by Craig Groschel
• Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado
• Relationship Goals by Michael Todd
• Unexpected by Christine Caine
• Dream Big by Bob Goff
• Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Familyby Paul Tripp

LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris

Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:

1. Coastal we need your HELP!  Because of the amount of food we are giving away each week through our Food Bank and Blessing Boxes, we are running low on non-perishable food supplies.  Items that we always need more of are:  pasta, rice, pasta sauce, canned fruit, canned pastas and canned protein (chicken, tuna, etc.).  You can bring your food donations to the church on Sundays or drop them off during the week.  Don’t forget that you can go directly to the Blessing Boxes themselves.  Their locations are:
   – 413 Geddes Avenue, Charleston
   – 928 Savage Road, Charlesto
   – 2758 East Surrey Drive, North Charleston
   – 1998 Hugo Avenue, North Charlesto
   – 1050 St. Andrews Blvd., Charleston 
   If you have any questions about the Blessing Boxes, please reach out to Chris Jones.
2. I know it seems like a long way off, but we are in the process of thinking through and planning for ourFall Semester of LIFE Groups.  If you are interested in possibly leading, assisting, or hosting a LIFE Group (in person or online), please sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday or respond to this email.  If you have any questions you can also reach out to Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org.
3. Even though Summer of IMPACT is over, loving and serving our community NEVER ends!  Here are two projects coming up where you can make an IMPACT:  On Wednesday, July 8^th 8am-1pm, Coastal is teaming up with the Veteran’s Administration and Soldiers’ Angels to supply local low-Income veteran families with food assistance at the mobile food distribution.  And then on Friday, July 17th, 9:30am-11:30am, Coastal will be serving with the Lowcountry Orphan Relief.  If you are interested in either of these opportunities, sign up on your online Connect Card or reach out to Pastor Chris Jones.
4. At some point later this Summer our Coastal Kidz Children’s Ministry will be GOING PORTABLE and meeting across the street at Orange Grove Middle School (where everyone parks).  One of the ways that you can help is to join a new Ministry Team called “Coastal Kidz Set-Up Team.”  Our Set-Up Team will be the ones who unload our trailer (located behind Orange Grove) and set up our Coastal Kidz Classrooms and environments on Sunday mornings before church and then break down everything and load up the trailer after both services are over. If you are interested in serving on this team you can respond to this email or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday.
5. The Operation Christmas Child “donation of the month” for July are new socks/t-shirts.  You can now drop off OCC items at church on Sunday mornings or during the week. If you have any questions, please reach out to Teresa Spell.
   
   P.S. Interested in officially making Coastal your church family!  Sign up for the next Membership Class!  And for our next Membership Class, we’re going to do something we’ve never done before – we’re going to offer BOTH a virtual online & in-person Membership class simultaneously!  It’s going to be Saturday morning, July 11th, 9am-11:30am.  You can sign up on your Connect Card on Sundays or right now from our website.