Monthly Archives
I love what we do here on Sunday mornings! I do! I love the music. I love watching people come to faith. Coastal is an exciting place to be. I don’t understand how you would ever want to miss it. I love attracting a crowd and sharing the Good News of the Gospel with as many people as possible. Jesus attracted a crowd. There’s nothing wrong with large numbers of people. The early church grew very large, very fast.
But. . . there is one weakness with a crowd. It’s hard to grow in a crowd. You don’t live out/walk out your faith in a crowd. You need community. You and I were created for community. Now, at Coastal, what do we use to live out that community? What do we call them? LIFE Groups! And this coming Sunday is LIFE GROUP SUNDAY! What does that mean? It means that we will be unveiling our 2021 Fall Semester LIFE Group Catalog and you can start signing up for a Group!
I love our LIFE Groups. I love the community I’ve experienced over the years in our LIFE Groups. I love that I have 3 o’clock in the morning friends because of a LIFE Group I’ve been a part of. I love that I know many of your stories and you know mine because we’ve been in a LIFE Group together over the years. I love that the first call many people here at Coastal make when they’re in need is their LIFE Group members and leaders – not me.
Notice what the Bible says in Romans 12:5, “Since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other and each of us needs all the others.” We need each other! So let me just be as straight forward as I can and tell you exactly what I want you to do. I want everyone here at Coastal to join a LIFE Group! It’s as simple as that. I want to challenge you to make the time, re-prioritize your life, and get in a LIFE Group for one semester, one semester, not for life, 10-12 weeks.
I can already hear some of your excuses. And here is the biggest one of all. “But Pastor Chris, I just don’t have the time. I’m too busy.” Hear this with all the love I can muster. You have time to do whatever it is you value – tv, social media, sports, hobbies. It’s just not that important to you yet.
Or here’s another excuse, “But I don’t know those people.” First of all, no one bites. But listen, every relationship you currently have, you have because you got out of your comfort zone and met someone. I’m not saying that everyone in your group will overnight become your best friend. But it will provide you an opportunity to meet people and put you in the atmosphere where you can develop friends. After all, that’s what we’re all looking for anyway. People don’t just want a friendly church, they want friends.
Here’s another excuse, “But people are weird and they have issues.” Listen, they’re thinking the same thing about you! Everyone’s got issues. Everyone’s a wackjob. And if you think no one’s got issues in your group and no one is a little weird – guess what? You’re the weird one – haha!
Bottom line, you need it, and it’s worth it. You can not grow to become the person God intended you to become on your own. You need other people. Once you learn something, you have to live it out. You can learn about love all week, but it gets fleshed out in the context of community, with people. Patience, kindness, generosity, faith are all lived out in community, in relationships. At Coastal, LIFE Groups are the primary vehicle of the church being the church – of living out your faith, of care, fellowship, love, prayer, discipleship.
As always, there are multiple ways to sign up for a LIFE Group, but you only have to sign up one time/one way. You can sign up online from our website, on your Connect Card (in-person or online), or at the LIFE Group Tables/Sign-up sheets in the Welcome Center. And this semester, we have the most Groups we’ve ever had – 29 different LIFE Groups – online and/or in-person Groups, activity Groups, study Groups, support Groups, and more! There is something for EVERYONE! Unless otherwise indicated, most of Groups begin the week of September 19th and last 8-12 weeks. Make sure you check out our catalog and start signing up today!
LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris
It’s easy to look at all the events of our world lately and feel heartbroken and absolutely overwhelmed – Haiti, Afghanistan, the rising COVID numbers. It’s a daily reminder of just how desperate we should be for Jesus and His Kingdom here on this earth. In Matthew 6:10 we are instructed to pray, “May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” It also leaves us with a desire to do something to help. But what can we do?
Let me offer 3 suggestions: Pray, Serve, Give. Pray: I heard a Pastor share this prayer, “Father, you are the God of peace, the ‘…rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes…’ (Isaiah 58:12). We pray for the people of Afghanistan and Haiti. We ask you for their safety, provision, and hope. Lord, have mercy. In Jesus’ name, amen.” Join me in praying this simple prayer.
Serve: You’re probably not going to be able to go to Haiti or Afghanistan any time soon and physically help those in need there or assist our Military. But you could do something here. Go back to that passage in Isaiah. Isaiah 58:9-10 says, “Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors (do we need to hear that message today or what?! That will preach!)! Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble (doesn’t get any simpler than that does it?).” You want to support our Troops? Honor their service and their legacy by serving and feeding them at our next Veteran’s Tailgate at the Patriot’s Villas (see below) or the next time we’re serving alongside Soldier’s Angels (Tuesday, September 14th). Join us at the next Saturday Serve (September 4th), here at the church, when we get to be the hands and feet of Jesus right here in our own community, bringing a little bit of “the up there, down here.” Go to our website and sign up for these or other opportunities!
Give: Here are 3 good organizations, all doing great relief work here and around the world.
So, what’s the result of our faithful prayer, service, and giving? Isaiah 58:10-11, “Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength.” Our light will outshine the darkness and God will give us direction and restoration! The very last verse in the Bible says this, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.” Until the Lord Jesus calls us home or comes again, I pray He finds us faithful – loving, serving, sharing, giving – beating down the gates of Hell, rescuing people, doing anything short of sin to see all people come to know Him! Come, Lord Jesus!
LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris
Well, Teachers have made their way back to their classrooms and Students will be joining them on Wednesday! One of the things that I look forward to every year is seeing all the first day of school pictures! No matter what school looks like for you this year – public, private, charter, homeschool, college – will you join me in praying for our Teachers, Students, and Parents?
So, have you signed up for a LIFE Team yet? For the month of August, we’ve made a huge push to get everyone at Coastal serving on a LIFE Team. Today, I’d like to make a plug for our Security Team. You’re probably aware that we typically have 2 City of Charleston Police Officers on our campus on Sunday mornings – one in Coastal Kidz and one in front of our Auditorium. But did you know that we also have a Security Team? No one can prevent every situation or scenario from taking place. However, people want to know, have you reasonably done everything you can to help provide a safe and secure environment for them and their children. Simply put, that’s what we are trying to do at Coastal through our Security Team. As our church continues to grow and expand, we need more and more volunteers in this important Ministry.
The Security Team is led by Bryan Miller, a former SC State Trooper. If you are interested in learning more about the Security Team and possibly volunteering, you can respond to this email, sign up on your Connect Card or at the LIFE Team Sign-Up Table on Sunday, email Bryan directly at bryan.bcmill@gmail.com, or call him at 843-296-2991. There is an important Security Team Meeting on Wednesday, August 25th at 6:30pm, at the church. This meeting is for all current Team Members or those interested in joining the Team!
And speaking of important LIFE Team meetings, there will be a First impressions Team Training on Monday, August 30 at 7:00pm. Please email Ashley at ashley@coastalcommunitychurch.org to let us know you are coming! This will be a great time to meet Pastor Scott and Chris Ranew, hear about why First Impressions is so important, learn some of the positions that we need the most help with, learn the roles/duties of these positions, and how you can get involved (plus you’ll get a tour of our new facility). Mark it on your calendar and tell us you’re coming!
And last, but not least, join us tomorrow morning over at Orange Grove Middle School at 8am for Coastal Kidz Setup. When that’s done we head over to our auditorium (around 8:30/8:45am) for Chair Setup. And then you might as well stick around and help us get ready for the Pink House Tailgate Party, Clothing Distribution, & BACK TO SCHOOL BASH!
I Love You Coastal!
Pastor Chris
Two weeks ago I reminded everyone that our church has purchased a site license for something called, “Dave Ramsey+”. What that means is that simply because you are a part of Coastal, you have access to ALL of Dave Ramsey’s best selling resources and tools FREE! This includes 5 classes (Financial Peace, Legacy Journey, Smart Money Smart Kids, the Jump Start Course and a new Budgeting course), the Everydollar+ budgeting tool, and a host of other resources designed to help families track their progress through the baby steps. If you were to sign up for this on your own it would cost $130. NOT NOW! All of that and more will be FREE for our entire church! You’ll have access to everything at your own pace, on your own schedule. Simply go to this link and sign up today!
We see this as an investment in you, your finances, and your future! It’s also a way to practically express our generosity and love toward you and our community and to be a real source of help. Think about it – what if you had gone into the “shutdown” debt free and with money in the bank? What if you could have hope for your life, including your finances? That’s what Dave Ramsey+ is all about – giving you a plan and hope so you can experience financial peace.
I hope you’re as excited about this as I am. And more importantly, I hope you’ll sign up and access the material. We want to be known as a generous church and we also want to do everything we can to equip our church and community to experience true financial peace in these difficult times!
While the Summer is not technically over yet, we have begun stacking and packing our chairs again in our auditorium on Sunday mornings after the second service (we hosted a Volleyball Camp this week and Teachers report next week). What that means is that Saturday morning Chair Setup resumes again tomorrow morning. Typically, Chair Setup takes place on Saturday mornings at approximately 8:45am, immediately after Coastal Kidz Setup. However, this Saturday is also Saturday Serve. So, we’ll be over at Orange Grove Middle School at 8am for Coastal Kidz Setup (that also resumes this Saturday), at our auditorium at 8:30am for Chair Setup, and then Saturday Serve begins at 9am. I hope to see you there!
And finally, have you signed up to serve on a LIFE Team yet (especially a Sunday morning LIFE Team)? I told you last week that my wife Janet has a goal to see 40 new volunteers this year in Coastal Kidz. She’s already at 19! We hope to open our brand new, multi-million dollar Children’s facility some time in September. We would love for you to be a part of this Team! If you think you might be interested or would just like to know what different opportunities are available in Coastal Kidz, either respond to this email or reach out to Janet directly – janet@coastalcommunitychurch.org or 843-442-8299. This past Sunday I think we also added over a dozen new volunteers in 1st Impressions! But maybe for you it’s our Cafe, or the Security Team, or the Tech Booth, or countless other opportunities. This Sunday, stop by the LIFE Team Tables, check out all the different opportunities to serve, and sign up!
In His Service & Yours!
Pastor Chris
SUNDAYS
8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am
460 Arlington Drive,
Charleston, SC 29414
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