First of all, before I give you the details about this weekend, I want to brag on you for just a moment. This past Sunday I told you that we still needed about $700 to purchase 70 more (100 total) Bus Passes to give away at the Christmas Party at the Suburban Hotel this Saturday. Honestly, I made a pretty strong plea that we should have no problem reaching that goal by the end of services on Sunday and that we also needed personal hygiene items (soap, shampoo, deodorant, shaving supplies, etc). Well, the generosity of our church never ceases to amaze me! Coastal, you guys gave 4 times what we needed for the Bus Passes and personal hygiene items have been pouring in! We literally have everything we need and more! With the extra money that came in we’ll be able to get everything we need for Saturday, plus it will help purchase food for other Tailgate Parties there at the Suburban in the months ahead.
And let me just say this: that’s exactly what our Christmas Offering is all about – OUTREACH! This year’s offering will help purchase food and supplies for both monthly Tailgate Parties, a wrapped box truck that will be used for both Tailgate Parties, community outreach, and disaster relief, and playground equipment for our new facility. Our goal this year is BIG – our biggest ever – $75,000! Honestly, at first I thought that might be too big of a number during a pandemic. But get this, right now we are already over $46,000! I believe that we can reach our goal and exceed it before January 10th (the last Sunday to give toward it). This will be the last update on the number. You’ll have to wait until after January 10th to hear the final number. So pray about what God wants you to give and go for it! Simply use the keyword “Christmas” however and whenever you give towards the Christmas Offering.
Now, back to the Christmas Party at the Suburban. I’m hoping you are as excited as we are! We’ve prayed, we’ve planned, we’ve given, and now get to experience the Lord’s hand at work in the lives of the people who call the Suburban home!
Here’s how you can help at this point:
Packing Party:
On Friday night, December 18th at 6:30pm we’re meeting in the Welcome Center at Coastal. This will provide us the opportunity to pray together for Saturday and to make final preparations to ensure a smooth-running event. We’ll break down into several teams: Stocking packing, gift preparation, kitchen preparation, coffee bar staging, and equipment staging. Each team will be explained on Friday evening. Remember, many hands will make for quick work. So, if you can make it, we’d love for you to come.
Christmas at the Suburban:
On Saturday morning, December 19th the church will be open at 8am. We’ll be setting up chairs for Sunday in the auditorium and setting up Coastal Kidz across the street at Orange Grove Middle School (Both things have to happen each week). We’ll need volunteers doing both. If you are donating any food items, you can bring them to the church as early as 8am. However, we will need all food items at the church by 9am. In fact, if you are volunteering for the event itself, please plan on being at the church at 9am. We’ll provide another briefing, pray and load everything for the trip to the Suburban. If you’ve ever been to a Saturday Serve – the format will be very similar. The plan/goal is to be at the Suburban between 10-10:15am setting up for the event.
Please help us by having donations for the stockings and gifts at the church by Friday at 12noon. This will help with the staging for the Packing Party occurring on Friday night. Also, be sure to wear your “Making an Impact” t-shirt on Saturday! We’re going to flood the Suburban with a sea of Coastal Blue! If you need a Coastal t-shirt, we’ll have them available on both Friday night and again on Saturday morning.
Children are more than welcome, and in fact, they are regularly with us on the Tailgates. If they are coming to serve, simply remember that they are your responsibility to watch them and keep them safe.
It’s going to be an amazing weekend! Please pray daily for this event – most importantly for people to not only see Jesus, but to come to know Him personally! We as a church, can’t save anyone, but we know who can, and it’s our job to plant seeds and point people to Jesus. So, please pray in these final few days.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Chris Jones – (843) 870-4613. I am so thankful for Chris and his amazing team of volunteers who have laid all the ground work for this event. I can’t wait to see everyone over the weekend!
LIFE & LOVE,
Pastor Chris
