We just unveiled our 2022 Fall Semester LIFE Group Catalog (it’s available online)! We would love for you to check out all of our different Groups (there’s something for everyone) and sign up to join a LIFE Group this semester (10-12 weeks)! By the way, our LIFE Groups are for everyone – whether you’re a member of our church, an occasional attender, or even if you’ve never attended on a Sunday.   We’re called Coastal COMMUNITYChurch and you (and your friends and family) are a part of our community.  There are all types of Groups – activity, women’s, men’s, support, marriage, Bible study, and more!

By the way, not only can you view the catalog online, but you can sign up for a Group online!  Once you sign up for a group, your Group Leader will contact you before the semester begins.  Unless otherwise stated in the catalog, all Groups begin the week of September 18th. 

I also want to invite you to attend LIFE GROUP SUNDAY, on Sunday, September 11th, at Coastal!  We have 2 services – 9:30am & 11:15am.  Before and after both services you’ll be able to visit a table/booth representing each one of our 30+ LIFE Groups (kind of like a Job/College Fair, but for Groups)!  There will be food & drinks, you’ll be able to meet other people checking out all the Groups, meet the different Group Leaders, and ask any questions you might have.  I promise it will be a great day and a lot of fun!  Hope to see you on Sunday!  Start signing up for a LIFE Group today!

LIFE is Better Together!

Pastor Chris

P.S. I also want to invite you to a “FRIEND DAY” that we’re having at Coastal on Sunday, September 18th!  We’re kicking off a new series called, “A Revolution of Faith.”  Come and join the revolution!

I love what we do here on Sunday mornings!  I do!  I love the music.  I love watching people come to faith.  I love all of our LIFE Teams and our Sunday morning Volunteers.  I REALLY love our Children’s Director and Coastal Kidz – haha!  But seriously, Sunday mornings at 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 crowds.  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, in your bulletin, you’ll be receiving your  2022 Fall Semester LIFE Group Catalog and you can start signing up for a Group!  Actually, you should have already received one in the mail.  Our mantra here at Coastal during LIFE Group sign up is that there are multiple ways to sign up for a Group (online, Connect Card, sign up sheets), but you only have to sign up one time, one way.  And yes, you can sign up for multiple Groups! 

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 necessarily 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, not for life, 10-12 weeks.

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.  

This semester, we have 35 different LIFE Groups to choose from – activity Groups, study Groups, support Groups, and more!  There is something for EVERYONE!  Unless otherwise indicated, most Groups begin the week of September 18th and last 8-12 weeks.  Make sure you check out our catalog and start signing up today!   

LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris 

1. UPCOMING OUTREACH PROJECTS:
   Lowcountry Orphan Relief:  Lowcountry Orphan Relief provides support services and aid to meet the needs of Lowcountry children identified as at-risk or suffering from abandonment, abuse and/or neglect. Coastal will be serving there, TODAY, Friday, August 26th, 9:30am-11:30am. Meet at 1850 Truxton Ave in North Charleston.
   Chair Set-Up: Come help set up all the chairs in the auditorium this Saturday (tomorrow), August 27th, at 8am.
   Clothing Team: Our Coastal Clothing Team will be organizing and sorting clothes, Friday, September 2nd (and Friday, September 9th), 9am-11am.  Meet at 2952 Old Pond Road on Johns Island.
   Saturday Serve:  The foundation of all of our serving opportunities at Coastal really starts with Saturday Serve – the first Saturday of every month.  The next Saturday Serve is Saturday, September 3rd.  We meet in the Welcome Center/Cafe at 8:30am, project leaders make a “pitch” for their serving opportunity, and then we serve!
   Double Tailgate Day – Charleston Vets & Joseph Floyd Manor:  Saturday, September 10th, 10am-1pm.  Meet at the church and then pick which Tailgate you’d like to serve.
   Soldier’s Angels – We’ll be helping with the Veteran’s Mobile Food Distribution, Tuesday, September 13th, 8am-1pm.  Meet at 1113 Sam Rittenburg Blvd. (The Elks Lodge).
   
   As always, if you are interested in serving in any of these projects, you can sign up on your Connect Card this Sunday or sign up now on our website.  If you have any questions, please reach out to Pastor Chris Jones at 843-870-4613.
2. On Sunday, September 18th, Coastal is kicking off a brand new series on the book of Romans called, “A Revolution of Faith.”  It’s going to be a BIG DAY – a FRIEND DAY!  So, pull out all the stops and invite your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers!  Use the Invite Cards in your bulletin this Sunday to reach out to someone and make the ask!
3. We are GROWING!  As a result of that growth, I need you to help me with 4 things, especially as we prepare for Sunday, September 18th and the Fall.  Here are the 4:  parking, seating, service choice, and volunteering.  Parking – leave our small parking lot out front for guests and new people.  And then truthfully, park as far away as possible.  Park in Oakland’s parking lot (take a right immediately past the Greenway, before you get to Orange Grove).  We’ll be glad to send the Golf Carts that way.  We’ve still got some space available in the field behind the church as well.  That’s a great option for early, first service volunteers.  Seating – sit to the front and center of each section of chairs.  This makes it so much easier for those with 1st Impressions who are ushering.  Service Choice – our 9:30am service is now over 80% capacity.  We can bring in a few more chairs, but not many.  What we really need is for about 50 people to move to the 11:15am service.  We’re not quite ready to add a 3rd service, but all of these measures will help us in the transition.  Which leads me to Volunteering – to meet the needs of a growing church, requires a large and growing number of volunteers (especially Coastal Kidz).  So, if you’re not serving on Sunday mornings, start serving.  One person, one service, once a month, makes a huge IMPACT!  By the way, these are GREAT problems to have!  Keep praying, keep inviting, keep serving and together let’s “make more room for Jesus!”
4. The foundation of all of our serving opportunities at Coastal really starts with Saturday Serve – the first Saturday of every month.  The next Saturday Serve is Saturday, September 3rd.  We meet in the Welcome Center/Cafe at 8:30am, project leaders make a “pitch” for their serving opportunity, and then we go out and serve our community  Typical projects include: the North Charleston Tailgate & Clothing Distribution, stocking our Blessing Boxes, Lowcountry Food Bank, Sewing Projects, cooking/prepping 100 meals from our kitchen for SC Strong, and a Children’s Craft Project for our Veteran’s – just to name a few.  Make plans now to come out and be the hands and feet of Jesus right here in our community!
5. Our church feeds an enormous amount of people through our Community Food Bank.  That’s especially true with the rising costs of food.  If you are able, would you consider donating non-perishable food items (anything really, but canned protein goes really fast)?  And now that we have a refrigerator and freezer, we also take perishables – eggs, meat, cheese, bread, milk, frozen meals, etc.  You can drop off food during the week or on Sunday mornings. Thank you!

P.S. Interested in officially making the Coastal church family, your church family? Our next Membership Class is this Saturday morning (TOMORROW), August 27th, 9-11:30am. You can respond to this email, sign up on our website, or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday.  You can join us either in-person or online through Zoom.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18TH!  I want you to mark that day on your calendar!  It’s going to be a BIG DAY at Coastal!  What is a BIG DAY you ask?  While every Sunday and every series is an opportunity to invite people, a Big Day at Coastal is a strategic all-out congregational push toward a single Sunday for the purpose of breaking the next growth barrier and/or setting an attendance record, in order to reach as many people as possible for Jesus!  We usually have 4-6 Big Days a year: Christmas Eve, Easter, Fall Series Kick-Off, At the Movies Summer Kick-Off, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, New Year Series just to name a few.  

What can I do?  Start praying now.  Take a few minutes every day and pray for your “ONE.”  Pray for the people you and our whole church will be inviting.  You might consider joining me over the next 4 Fridays in a “Friday Fast” where we give up food for 24 hours and focus our thoughts and prayers on lost people in our community and our Big Day.  Start thinking about who you’re going to bring and invite them.  We’ll have specific series Invite Cards available soon, but you can use our “You’re Invited” business cards now.  I’d also like to ask you to give me the names of 1-5 people that you will be personally inviting to church for September 18th.  Respond to this email and give me their names.  Our Pastors, Staff, and Prayer Team will be sent those names to lift them and you up in prayer.  Also, I’d love to receive any updates as you reach out to them and make the “BIG ASK.”  I’ll be asking our entire church to do the same thing over the next several weeks on their Connect Card!

I’m real excited about the new series I’ll be kicking off on September 18th (I know, I say that all the time – but it’s true).  We’re calling it, “A Revolution of Faith!”  It’s a series on the book of Romans!  While I’ve preached many messages over the years FROM the book of Romans, I’ve never preached a series THROUGH the ENTIRE book of Romans.  Now, I know what some of you might be thinking, “Pastor Chris, Romans is LONG, 16 chapters.  It’s going to take FOREVER to get through Romans.”  You’re right, it is long, but that’s why we’re not going to do it all at once.  This Fall we’ll make our way through Romans 1-7.  We’ll take a break during the holidays and the beginning of the new year.  And then our Easter series this coming year will be on Romans 8.  We’ll take another break during the Summer with, “At the Movies” and “Summer Reading” and then some time next year we’ll make our way through chapters 9-11, take another break, and then finish up with chapters 12-16.  So, yes, we will eventually make our way through the entire letter, chapter by chapter, section by section.  It will probably take us a year and a half to two years.

The real question is WHY?  Why the book of Romans?  Well, the book of Romans, written by the Apostle Paul is considered by many people to be the greatest letter ever written.  Study of this one letter has been behind almost every major revival/awakening in Christian history (“A Revolution of Faith”).  It was the year 386 A.D. when Aurelius Augustine, one of the great theologians of the early church, was converted while reading Romans. 1200 years later Martin Luther recovered the doctrine of justification by faith from reading Romans, and went on to lead the Protestant Reformation.  While listening to the reading of Luther’s Preface to Romans, a discouraged and distraught man named John Wesley trusted Christ for salvation.  He went on to lead the great evangelical revival of the 18th century.  A tinker named John Bunyan was so inspired by reading Romans as he sat in the Bedford jail that he wrote the immortal Pilgrim’s Progress.  There are many other examples of the power of this remarkable book.  

I also believe that no portion of God’s word is more appropriate for the times in which we live. What times are those? Times of uncertainty and unparalleled moral confusion. Times of recession and financial unrest. Times of international upheaval and spiritual hunger.  People are looking for God, but they don’t know where to find him.  And that’s where the book of Romans comes in. It tells us who God is and how you can find him. It describes in clear and certain terms, the moral dilemma of mankind, and how God moved to meet that need in Jesus.  It lays out the good news that God loves sinners so much that he sent his only Son to die for them.  And it spells out the radical difference Jesus can make in your daily life.  It is the clearest statement of the gospel in the New Testament.  Nowhere is God’s plan of salvation made so plain as in Romans.  

Another reason to tackle Romans is that we’ve grown so much and added so many new people in the last few years, that we need to ground everyone in the great truths of the Bible.  We need deeper roots if we’re going to keep growing bigger.  If you try to grow big without also growing deep, you’ll be like the tree that was blown away in the storm. It looked good in the sunshine, but it wouldn’t last when the rains came.  My goal, however, is not merely to increase your knowledge.  Knowledge is important, but it is never the final purpose of Bible study.  My ultimate goal is that your life, our church, and as a result our community, might be transformed as a result of studying God’s Word.  So . . .start praying, start inviting, and join the REVOLUTION!

LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris 

1. UPCOMING OUTREACH PROJECTS:
   Coffee & Doughnuts with the Vets at Patriot Villas –  TODAY, Friday, August 19th, 8:30am-11am.  Meet at Coastal.
   Chair Set-Up – Come help set up all the chairs in the auditorium this Saturday (tomorrow), August 20th, at 8am (and then stay for the Extending Branches Emergency Tailgate).
   Extending Branches Emergency Tailgate – Coastal is partnering with the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office as they host a community resource fair in West Ashley, on Saturday, August 20th. The resource fair brings together multiple supportive agencies for those who are at-risk for homelessness. Coastal will provide a Tailgate-style lunch to anyone in the community who may be hungry. We meet at Coastal at 9:00 a.m. and we’ll wrap the project up by noon.
   VA Hospitality Project – This team serves at the VA Hospital in Charleston by providing a hospitality cart, greets incoming patients and employees, visits patients, and helps Volunteer Services with small sorting projects.  Tuesday, August 23rd, 8:30am-12noon.  Meet at Coastal.
   Patriot Villas Veterans Tailgate & Game Night –  We will be putting on a Tailgate for the Veterans at Patriot Villas on Thursday, August 25th, 6-8pm.  Meet at Coastal. 
   Lowcountry Orphan Relief –  Lowcountry Orphan Relief provides support services and aid to meet the needs of Lowcountry children identified as at-risk or suffering from abandonment, abuse and/or neglect. Coastal will be serving there, Friday, August 26th, 9:30am-11:30am. Meet at 1850 Truxton Ave in North Charleston.
   Clothing Team –  Our Coastal Clothing Team will be organizing and sorting clothes, Friday, September 2nd, 9am-11am.  Meet at 2952 Old Pond Road on Johns Island.
   Saturday Serve –  The foundation of all of our serving opportunities at Coastal really starts with Saturday Serve – the first Saturday of every month.  The next Saturday Serve is Saturday, September 3rd.  We meet in the Welcome Center/Cafe at 8:30am, project leaders make a “pitch” for their serving opportunity, and then we serve!
   
   As always, if you are interested in serving in any of these projects, you can sign up on your Connect Card this Sunday or sign up now on our website.  If you have any questions, please reach out to Pastor Chris Jones at 843-870-4613.
2. We are GROWING!  As a result of that growth, I need you to help me with 4 things, especially as we prepare for Sunday, September 18th and the Fall.  Here are the 4:  parking, seating, service choice, and volunteering.  Parking– leave our small parking lot out front for guests and new people.  And then truthfully, park as far away as possible.  Park in Oakland’s parking lot (take a right immediately past the Greenway, before you get to Orange Grove).  We’ll be glad to send the Golf Carts that way.  We’ve still got some space available in the field behind the church as well.  That’s a great option for early, first service volunteers.  Seating – sit to the front and center of each section of chairs (come sit on the front rows – I promise we don’t bite).  This makes it so much easier for those with 1st Impressions who are ushering.  Service Choice – our 9:30am service is over 80% capacity.  We can bring in a few more chairs, but not many.  What we really need is for about 50 people to move to the 11:15am service.  We’re not quite ready to add a 3rd service, but all of these measures will help us in the transition.  Which leads me to Volunteering – to meet the needs of a growing church, requires a large and growing number of volunteers (especially Coastal Kidz).  So, if you’re not serving on Sunday mornings, start serving.  One person, one service, once a month, makes a huge IMPACT!  By the way, these are GREAT problems to have!  Keep praying, keep inviting, keep serving and together let’s “make more room for Jesus!”
3. New to Coastal? Join us in the Chapel or online THIS Sunday, August 21st immediately following the 11:15am service for our next Newcomer’s Reception. Learn more about Coastal, meet staff and key volunteers, and get plugged in. Lunch & childcare (and some fun giveaways) provided. RSVP online or on your Connect Card on Sunday!!
4. Student Ministry kicks off soon!  On Wednesday, August 24, our Students will come together for food, fellowship, worship, and small groups!  Doors open at 6pm and service is from 6:30-8pm. Our hope is that students are pointed to Jesus in every aspect of our service each and every week. Don’t forget to tell your student to invite friends!
5. Have you signed up for a LIFE Team yet?  Our LIFE Teams are the volunteers who carry out the mission of Coastal (Coastal Kidz, 1st Impressions, Cafe, Security, Tech, Worship, Prayer, Office, Students, Online Engagement, CARE Team).  If you call Coastal your home, ask yourself this question – what is my ministry and where am I serving on Sunday mornings?  For the month of August, as we move into the Fall, we’re focusing on everyone who calls Coastal home, finding a place to serve on Sunday mornings.  Simply put – there is a place for you at Coastal!  Sunday morning is still the primary way in which new guests get connected to our church.  And to create an environment where those people feel like our welcomed, expected guests in our home, it requires a large and growing volunteer army.  Are you in that army?  This Sunday, you’ll get a LIFE Team Catalog with all the different opportunities to serve.  There will also be signs and sign up lists on our Kiosk for you to check out and sign up.  But why wait?  You can go to our website, check out all the different opportunities to serve, and sign up today! 
   
   P.S. Interested in officially making the Coastal church family, your church family? Our next Membership Class is Saturday morning, August 27th, 9-11:30am. You can respond to this email, sign up on our website, or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday.  You can join us either in-person or online through Zoom.

I’M BACK!  Janet and I got back from our vacation earlier this week.  We had a great time, but as always, it’s also good to be home!  Speaking of home, for every home or family to function well, there are certain things that just have to get done – dishes, laundry, yard work, balancing the checkbook, etc.  In other words, we all have to pitch in and do our part. Well, the same is true of a church family.  For OUR Coastal family to function well, there are just certain things that have to get done, regardless of your gifts, talents, or passions.  They just require having a servant’s heart.  One of those ongoing things here at Coastal is Chair Setup.  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.  What that means is that Saturday morning Chair Setup has also resumed.  On the first and second Saturday of each month, Chair Setup takes place one hour before the serving event that day.  In other words, on the first Saturday of each month chair setup is at 7:30am, because Saturday Serve is at 8:30am.  On the second Saturday of each month, chair setup is at 9am, because we have a Tailgate at 10am (this Saturday).  On all other Saturday’s (3rd, 4th & sometimes 5th) chair setup is at 8am.  With 6-10 people it takes less than 30 minutes.  If you’re willing to jump in and be a servant, we’d love to see you on any Saturday morning you’re available (this Saturday at 9am).  If this is a LIFE Team you would be interested in being a part of, go to our website, and sign up today!

I’d like to make a pitch for another specific LIFE Team here at Coastal – our Coastal Kidz Children’s Ministry (Birth – 5th Grade).  We strongly believe that if our church is going to continue to grow, we must have a growing, thriving Children’s Ministry.  We also believe that if you change the life of a child, you change the world!  Simply put, join Coastal Kidz and be a world changer!  Stop what you’re doing right now, go to our website and sign up to get involved with Coastal Kidz!  In fact, I want to let you know about an exciting, brand new opportunity to serve within Coastal Kidz.  Coastal Kidz strives to meet the needs of ALL of our children, even our children with special needs. Would you be willing to “shadow” a child with special needs? This just means that you are there to help a child participate in the Bible lesson, crafts, and other activities in their classroom.  Maybe you have some experience with special needs children or you just have a heart for those kids and their parents.  Talk about making a difference and being a world changer – this is it!  Again, go to our LIFE Teams page on our website, scroll down until you see Coastal Kidz, and sign up today!  If you’re specifically interested in being a Classroom Shadow for special needs children, reach out to our Children’s Director, Janet Rollins at janet@coastalcommunitychurch.org or 843-442-8299. 

Whether it’s Chair Setup or Coastal Kidz, Prayer Team or Security or CARE Team or Production or Cafe or Office Volunteers or First Impressions or Student Ministry or Worship or Online Engagement (whew!) – you should be serving!  But you should be serving, not just because there is a need – there is always a need.  You should be serving because this is your family!  And your family is on a mission – to share and experience the LIFE and LOVE of Jesus with Charleston and the world!  And Jesus said that one of the ways that you find and experience true LIFE is by giving your life away in service to others.

One last thing, Teachers have made their way back to their classrooms and Students will be joining them this Wednesday in Charleston County!  One of the things that Janet and I look forward to every year is seeing all the first day of school pictures on social media!  No matter what school looks like for you and your family this year – public, private, charter, homeschool, or college – will you join me in praying for our Teachers, Students, and Parents?  And it looks like we’ll finally be able to start volunteering again over at Oakland Elementary School during the school day – lunch room help, assisting in the classroom, reading with a student, etc.  For the past 2 years, because of COVID, volunteers haven’t been allowed in the school.  Thankfully, that’s finally starting to change.  As soon as we know the details and what you need to do to volunteer, we’ll let you know.  If you would be interested in volunteering over at Oakland, would you simply respond to this email and let me know?  This is a great opportunity to love our neighbors, make an IMPACT, and be the hands and feet of Jesus right where we live, work, parent, and play!

LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris 

1. UPCOMING OUTREACH PROJECTS:
   Clothing Team –  Our Coastal Clothing Team will be organizing and sorting clothes TODAY, Friday, August 12th, 9am-11am.  Meet at 2952 Old Pond Road on Johns Island.
   Chair Set-Up – Come help set up all the chairs in the auditorium this Saturday (tomorrow), August 13th, at 9am (and then stay for the Charleston Vets Tailgate).
   Charleston Vets Tailgate – We’re hosting a tailgating event at Charleston Vets, this Saturday (tomorrow), August 13th, 10am-1pm. Coastal Vets is a transitional housing facility for veterans in North Charleston.  Meet at Coastal at 10am. 
   Hope Center Tailgate –  The Hope Center, managed by the city of Charleston, serves as a one-stop shop in downtown Charleston to assist those who are homeless or who are at-risk of being homeless. We’re sending a Tailgate Team to serve dinner to anyone who is hungry. We meet at Coastal on Tuesday, August 16th at 3pm and the project will conclude by 6pm.
   Joseph Floyd Manor Tailgate –  Our Tailgate will be rolling and serving our friends downtown at the Joseph Floyd Manor –  Thursday, August 18th, 10am-1pm. Meet at the church.
   Coffee & Doughnuts with the Vets at Patriot Villas –  Friday, August 19th, 8:30am-11am.  Meet at Coastal.  
   Extending Branches Emergency Tailgate – Coastal is partnering with the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office as they host a community resource fair in West Ashley, on Saturday, August 20th. The resource fair brings together multiple supportive agencies for those who are at-risk for homelessness. Coastal will provide a Tailgate-style lunch to anyone in the community who may be hungry. We meet at Coastal at 9:00 a.m. and we’ll wrap the project up by noon.
   
   As always, if you are interested in serving in any of these projects, you can sign up on your Connect Card this Sunday or sign up now on our website.  If you have any questions, please reach out to Pastor Chris Jones at 843-870-4613.
2. We are planning another BEACH BAPTISM out at Folly Beach County Park THIS Sunday, August 14th, at 5pm.  You can sign up for it on our website.  The only requirement for Baptism is that you have personally given your life to Jesus.  Baptism is a public profession of your faith.  At Coastal we call it “going public,” and it’s a great celebration!  It beautifully illustrates Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.  If you’re unable to participate in our Beach Baptism, remember at Coastal we’re ready for you to get Baptized any service, any Sunday.  If you are interested in getting Baptized, simply respond to this email, sign up on your Connect Card, or sign up on our website.
3. New to Coastal? Join us in the Chapel or online Sunday, August 21st immediately following the 11:15am service for our next Newcomer’s Reception. Learn more about Coastal, meet staff and key volunteers, and get plugged in. Lunch & childcare (and some fun giveaways) provided. RSVP online or on your Connect Card on Sunday!!
4. Student Ministry kicks off soon!  On Wednesday, August 24, our Students will come together for food, fellowship, worship, and small groups!  Doors open at 6pm and service is from 6:30-8pm. Our hope is that students are pointed to Jesus in every aspect of our service each and every week. Don’t forget to tell your student to invite friends!
5. Have you signed up for a LIFE Team yet?  Our LIFE Teams are the volunteers who carry out the mission of Coastal (Coastal Kidz, 1st Impressions, Cafe, Security, Tech, Worship, Prayer, Office, Students, Online Engagement, CARE Team).  If you call Coastal your home, ask yourself this question – what is my ministry and where am I serving on Sunday mornings?  For the month of August, as we move into the Fall, we’re focusing on everyone who calls Coastal home, finding a place to serve on Sunday mornings.  Simply put – there is a place for you at Coastal!  Sunday morning is still the primary way in which new guests get connected to our church.  And to create an environment where those people feel like our welcomed, expected guests in our home, it requires a large and growing volunteer army.  Are you in that army?  This Sunday, you’ll get a LIFE Team Catalog with all the different opportunities to serve.  There will also be signs and sign up lists on our Kiosk for you to check out and sign up.  But why wait?  You can go to our website, check out all the different opportunities to serve, and sign up today! 
   
   P.S. Interested in officially making the Coastal church family, your church family? Our next Membership Class is Saturday morning, August 27th, 9-11:30am. You can respond to this email, sign up on our website, or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday.  You can join us either in-person or online through Zoom.

Not to rub it in, but as you read my email this morning, Janet and I are in the mountains (no cell phone, no internet), on a lake, and I’m either reading a book or fishing on that lake.  Janet is probably sleeping in, after staying up late sewing (yes, she brings her sewing machine on vacation), dreaming about what she’s going to sew today!  We’re on vacation and enjoying every minute of it!

I want to share something with you that, at first glance, might seem like it’s all about me.  But it’s really not. It’s about a loving, faithful, gracious God, and it’s about you.  Last week, we took our Staff to a “Church System’s Boot Camp” Conference in Orlando, Florida.  It’s a part of the Pastor’s Coaching Network that I’ve been a part of for the past 12 years.  We all stayed together in a house near the conference, ate together, had fun together, and yes, took a deep dive into the systems of our church and learned and grew together.  Well, at the Conference, I was awarded the 2022 Renegade Pastors Icon Award.  It’s a Lifetime Achievement Award that honors Pastors and Leaders for excellence in abandoning average in life and ministry.  Honestly, when I first found out, my initial thought was, “Why me?”  My second thought was, “Do you know something I don’t know?”  You see, I usually associate Lifetime Achievement Awards with people who have finished their life’s work and by God’s grace I’ve still got a lot of life to live and a lot left to do here at Coastal.

But the real humbling honor of this award was that I was asked to share our story at the Conference – the Coastal story.  Our story is not normal. And for a lot of Pastors around the country and a lot of churches, it is a story of great, great hope.  You see, our church was a very small church for a very long time.  Not only were we portable, setting up and breaking down, every week for 14 years, but for almost 20 years, we were a church of no more than about 100 people.  Now, that is in no way meant to demean or diminish those first 20 years of our church or other small churches.  Those were some of the best years of my life and I always believed that we were doing great Kingdom things.  While we have this obsession in our country with fast and big and celebrity Pastors and mega churches, most churches in America are under 200 and are doing great things.  Today’s church planters are told that if their church doesn’t break the 200 barrier in the first 2 years, it’s likely they never will.  

Well, don’t tell that to our God and don’t tell that to Coastal!  In the last 12 years our church has grown from a church of around 100 people, to a church of over 1200 people in-person and online, from a church with me and occasionally a Youth Pastor or an intern as the only Staff, to a church with 5 full time Pastors and multiple other Staff members.  This past Easter we had 6 services over 3 days and saw over 2800 people in-person and online!  And we’re just getting started!  Together we’re going to beat down the gates of Hell and rescue people, one life at a time!  We’re going to love and serve and share and feed and clothe and invite and pray and teach and give until we have nothing left and there is no one left to reach!  And by God’s grace, I’m going to lead the way, until He calls me home or comes again!  Coastal, I hope you’ll join me – the best is yet to come!  After the conference was over, I had a publisher come up to me and give me his card.  He said that our story is one worth writing down and sharing and he’d love to help me make that happen.  Who knows?  I might just do that.  But here’s what I want you to hear loud and clear – YOU are the Coastal story, God’s redemptive story.  I’m just humbled and honored to be a part of it.  I love you Coastal, I love what we get to do together, and I love being your Pastor!  See you when we get back!

LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris 

1. UPCOMING OUTREACH PROJECTS:
   Clothing Team –  Our Coastal Clothing Team will be organizing and sorting clothes TODAY, Friday, August 5th (and again August 12th), 9am-11am.  Meet at 2952 Old Pond Road on Johns Island. 
   Saturday Serve –  The foundation of all of our serving opportunities at Coastal really starts with Saturday Serve – the first Saturday of every month.  The next Saturday Serve is Saturday, August 6th.  We meet in the Welcome Center/Cafe at 8:30am, project leaders make a “pitch” for their serving opportunity, and then we serve!
   Chair Set-Up – Come early tomorrow to Saturday Serve – 7:30am – help set up all the chairs in the auditorium. 
   Soldier’s Angels – We’ll be helping with the Veteran’s Mobile Food Distribution, Tuesday, August 9th, 8am-1pm.  Meet at 1113 Sam Rittenburg Blvd. (The Elks Lodge).
   Lowcountry Orphan Relief –  Lowcountry Orphan Relief provides support services and aid to meet the needs of Lowcountry children identified as at-risk or suffering from abandonment, abuse and/or neglect. Coastal will be serving there, Friday, August 12th. Meet at 1850 Truxton Ave in North Charleston.
   
   As always, if you are interested in serving in any of these projects, you can sign up on your Connect Card this Sunday or sign up now on our website.  If you have any questions, please reach out to Pastor Chris Jones at 843-870-4613.
2. We are planning another BEACH BAPTISM out at Folly Beach County Park on Sunday, August 14th, at 5pm.  You can sign up for it on our website.  The only requirement for Baptism is that you have personally given your life to Jesus.  Baptism is a public profession of your faith.  At Coastal we call it “going public,” and it’s a great celebration!  It beautifully illustrates Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.  If you’re unable to participate in our Beach Baptism, remember at Coastal we’re ready for you to get Baptized any service, any Sunday.  If you are interested in getting Baptized simply respond to this email, sign up on your Connect Card, or sign up on our website.
3. We are planning another BEACH BAPTISM out at Folly Beach County Park on Sunday, August 14th, at 5pm.  You can sign up for it on our website.  The only requirement for Baptism is that you have personally given your life to Jesus.  Baptism is a public profession of your faith.  At Coastal we call it “going public,” and it’s a great celebration!  It beautifully illustrates Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.  If you’re unable to participate in our Beach Baptism, remember at Coastal we’re ready for you to get Baptized any service, any Sunday.  If you are interested in getting Baptized simply respond to this email, sign up on your Connect Card, or sign up on our website.
4. Training for new Fall Life Group Leaders will be offered on Monday, August 15th, 6:30-8pm or Saturday, August 20th, 9-10:30am.  Returning leader’s training will be online on Thursday, August 11th, 8-8:30pm. All leaders only need to attend one session. Sign up on your Connect Card to RSVP.  Life Group Sunday will be September 11th and Fall Life Groups will begin the week of September 18th!  Contact Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org if you have any questions.
5. Have you signed up for a LIFE Team yet?  Our LIFE Teams are the volunteers who carry out the mission of Coastal (Coastal Kidz, 1st Impressions, Cafe, Security, Tech, Worship, Prayer, Office, Students, Online Engagement, CARE Team).  If you call Coastal your home, ask yourself this question – what is my ministry and where am I serving on Sunday mornings?  For the month of August, as we move into the Fall, we’re focusing on everyone who calls Coastal home, finding a place to serve on Sunday mornings.  Simply put – there is a place for you at Coastal!  Sunday morning is still the primary way in which new guests get connected to our church.  And to create an environment where those people feel like our welcomed, expected guests in our home, it requires a large and growing volunteer army.  Are you in that army?  This Sunday, you’ll get a LIFE Team Catalog with all the different opportunities to serve.  There will also be signs and sign up lists on our Kiosk for you to check out and sign up.  But why wait?  You can go to our website, check out all the different opportunities to serve, and sign up today! 
   
   P.S. Interested in officially making the Coastal church family, your church family? Our next Membership Class is Saturday morning, August 27th, 9-11:30am. You can respond to this email, sign up on our website, or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday.  You can join us either in-person or online through Zoom.