By now, you’ve probably heard that our Missions Trip to Peru which was supposed to happen this week, ended up being cancelled. Last Saturday, early in the morning, our 30 person Team showed up at the Charleston Airport with great excitement and anticipation for all they were going to experience and God was going to do in and through them and the people of Peru. Their excitement moved to concern, confusion, and then complete disbelief and disappointment as they (along with literally thousands of other people around the world) suffered through delay after delay after delay, missing connecting flights, to cancellation. By the end of the day, the only options they were given were to send a few on a flight on one day, another few on another day, and so on and so forth. Or to send everyone on a flight on Thursday (yesterday). Our Team was to begin their return home late tonight. Obviously, those options were no options at all for our Team of 30. So, the very difficult decision was made to cancel our trip. It was one of the longest, hardest, emotional days for our 30 member Team. Each and every one of them had prayed, prepared, and sacrificed in different ways for this trip. Some of our Team had been before and were so excited to be returning. Many were going on a Missions Trip for the first time in their life. My heart was broken for our Team.
Several thoughts I want to share with you after this experience. First of all, I am very thankful for Pastor Scott Huff and his leadership of this Team, preparing them for this experience, and his leadership on this difficult day. You can see the true heart of a leader on days like this. I’m also thankful for the Team itself and the way they handled and responded to this disappointment. One of the hardest life lessons to learn, even in the life of a Christian, is to trust God even when things don’t go the way we want them to or think they should. And that’s especially true when it’s a good and noble plan, one that we’ve worked faithfully to accomplish, prayed about, and sacrificed for – like this Peru Missions Trip. And it’s moments like this that we simply have to trust in the sovereignty, faithfulness, and love of God. We might not ever know or understand the answers on this side of eternity. I’m also thankful for and excited about the generosity of our church. While the Team itself did not make it to Peru, $28,000 from our church went to Peru to build houses and a community kitchen, to purchase blankets and food for the homeless, and to provide for various needs at the children’s home. If you give financially to Coastal, YOU are part of making an IMPACT around the world. Every gift counts, every gift matters.
One last thing that I want to share with you that I just found out about yesterday. On Wednesday night, Mike Kennedy, the Missionary who oversees the Children’s Home and mission work in Peru, had to go to the emergency room. He’s been fighting pain from what he thought was a muscle strain, but had begun to realize was a hernia. The doctors said it was really serious and recommended immediate surgery. He went to see a surgeon yesterday to see how quickly they can get him in. It can’t wait until they get back to the states in a few weeks. It really was a good thing that he wasn’t building homes on the side of a mountain with our group this past week. He could have been seriously hurt, or worse. Was that the reason we didn’t end up going to Peru this week? Honestly, I don’t know. But I do know this, God is in control, Jesus in on the throne, and the Holy Spirit is alive and well, moving in the hearts and lives of His people. And our mission has not changed – to share and experience the LIFE and LOVE of Jesus with Charleston and the world! I love you Coastal! I love being your Pastor, serving and leading alongside of all the awesome Pastors, Staff, and Servant Leaders of our church! And I love, love, love what we get to do together! See you Sunday!
In His Service & Yours!
Pastor Chris
- 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, July 26th; Friday, August 9th, 9:30am-11:30am. Meet at 1850 Truxton Ave in North Charleston.
Downtown Charleston “Hotdog Ministry”: We will be grilling and serving hotdogs to the homeless and hungry downtown! TODAY, Friday, July 26th, 4-6:30pm. Meet at Coastal.
Food Pantry Sort & Stock: Coastal feeds an enormous amount of people. Come to the church and help keep our Food Pantry organized (and have a lot of fun while you’re at it)! Thursday, August 1st; Thursday, August 8th, 11:30am-1pm.
Coffee & Doughnuts with the Vets at Patriot Villas: Friday, August 2nd, 8:30am-11:30am. Meet at Coastal.
Clothing Team: Our Coastal Clothing Team will be organizing and sorting clothes, Friday, August 2nd; Monday, August 5th; Friday, August 9th, 9:30am-11:30am. 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 3rd. We meet in the Auditorium at 8:30am, Project Leaders make a “pitch” for their serving opportunity, and then we go out and 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. - We are planning our 2nd BEACH BAPTISM of the Summer out at Folly Beach County Park on Sunday, August 11th, 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, 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.
- Coastal Day at the Riverdogs is THIS Sunday, July 28th at 5pm! Join us for a game between the Charleston Riverdogs and the Annapolis Cannon Ballers at Joe Riley Ballpark. Tickets are FREE and so is parking! To reserve your tickets, simply text the word TICKETS to 843-571-1777 and then click on the link you receive back to fill out the form. Tickets will be sent to you by the email you submit so you can download them digitally to your phone for entry into the ballpark that night. There are no physical tickets for Riverdogs games. Arrive early in any Coastal t-shirt and watch our Youth Pastor, Jacob Bonetti, throw out the first pitch before the game starts. We have less than 200 tickets left!
- This Fall, when we come back to the Sermon on the Mount, we decided to make our sermon series a church wide Spiritual Growth Campaign. What’s that you ask? Well, it’s church-wide in the sense that we want to involve everyone at our church at every level: everyone hearing the same Sunday morning messages corporately, all of our LIFE Groups studying the same material in small groups of 10-15 people, and a daily devotional for everyone’s individual quiet time. Together, we’ll all be studying, discussing, learning, praying, and striving to live out the greatest teaching we have from Jesus! I truly believe that this Fall is going to continue to usher in a season of tremendous spiritual growth at our church. For so many people, it’s going to be one of those turning point moments in their life.
How can you help? We’re looking for LIFE Group Leaders! Last semester we had 58 Groups. This coming Fall we need 75+ Groups! In many ways, for our Leaders, this will be a little bit easier of a semester. We’re ALL going to be doing the same study, so you don’t have to fret about what to choose. And WE are going to be providing the teaching material. In fact, we’re going to record our Pastors giving a 10-15 minute teaching for each week’s lesson. We’ll also provide all the Small Group questions with your own discussion guide. All you have to do is facilitate the meeting. We’re also going to stress/recommend Groups of 10-15 people meeting in homes and as much as possible, moving away from the church building. Again, we really believe this is going to be a tremendous season of spiritual growth for our church! If you are interested in hosting, assisting, or leading a LIFE Group, please reach out to Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org, or let us know on your Connect Card on Sunday. - If you’re fairly new to Coastal, a great next step is our Newcomers Reception. Our next Newcomers Reception is NEXT Sunday, August 4th, in our Chapel immediately following the 11:30am service (at approximately 12:45pm). This is a great way to learn more about Coastal, meet staff and key volunteers, as well as meet some other new people. Pizza and childcare provided. You can sign up on our website today!
P.S. Interested in officially making the Coastal church family, your church family? Our next Membership Class is Monday, August 26th, from 6-9pm, in the Chapel. You can respond to this email, sign up on our website, or sign up on your Connect Card (let us know if you need childcare) on Sunday. Dinner & childcare provided!
