WOW! We had an incredible start to the New Year at Coastal! We kicked off a new series called, “Alignment.” During the series we’re looking at five prayers, that when you pray them, you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God will always answer them with a resounding, “YES!” Last week we talked about the Eternal Prayer, the prayer of salvation. We had 1090 people in-person and another 928 people online! We had 11 people renew their commitment to Jesus, 3 people gave their life to Jesus, and 3 people were Baptized during the services! It truly was an amazing day!
This Sunday we’ll be talking about the “Restoration Prayer.” It’s the prayer a believer prays when he or she has blown it, has sinned in what some would consider a “big way,” and now comes to their senses and wants to come home. It’s a prayer of humble repentance. To help you prepare for Sunday’s message I would encourage you to read Psalms 51:1-12. This is the prayer of restoration that David cried out to God when his sin of adultery and murder was brought to light. I really believe that this Sunday is going to be powerful. Don’t miss it and do whatever you can to invite and bring people with you.
I also want to give you a little heads up on our next series that we’ll be kicking off on Sunday, February 18th called, “Financial Freedom.” I’ve been the Pastor of Coastal for over 33 years, and I realize that every time the word “finances” or “money” comes up in the church, some people get nervous. But quite frankly, we need this. Our country needs this. So many people today are under financial stress. Poll after poll lists financial stress as one of the leading causes of divorce in our country. Our church needs this. Week after week, we get prayer requests turned in related to money, debt, and finances. And so we need to talk about this. I really believe that God is going to do some amazing things here in our church during this series. A lot of people are going to begin digging out of the financial mess they’re in and pay down a lot of debt, marriages are going to healed, and people are going to be set free. Believe it or not, historically, any time we do a series on finances, we see a lot of decisions and a lot of salvations. Why is that you ask? Because ultimately, money and finances are a heart issue. Jesus said, “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
But trust me, we’re going to go out of our way to communicate, express, and share the generosity, help, and resources of our church to everyone who walks through our doors. In fact, let me share with you a few special things we’re going to do during this series. First of all, for EVERYONE who comes to Coastal during this series we’re going to provide all of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Resources! During one of the weeks of the series, when we talk about getting out of debt, we’re going to give away $1000 in each service to help pay down someone’s debt. On the Sunday we talk about living generously, we’re going to do a “reverse offering”! I’ll explain more about it later, but instead of putting money IN the blue offering buckets when they are passed, everyone will take OUT an envelope from the offering buckets. In those envelopes will be random denominations of money. Some might have $5, $10, or $20. Some might have $50 or $100. No matter the amount a person receives, we’re asking everyone to think of a creative way to use it to be a blessing. Now, if someone simply needs the money to personally meet a need, by all means, use it. But what we’re really excited about is to hear about all the seeds of love that are going to be planted! Some of you might get together with your LIFE Group or friends and pool your money together and do something really cool! And then, on top of all that, I want to go ahead and encourage you to think about joining the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace LIFE Group that we are going to be offering this semester! It will be Monday nights, 6:30pm, at the church, starting February 19th. You’ll be able to sign up once the LIFE Group Catalog comes out. As you can see, this is going to be a series on Finances LIKE NO OTHER! I love you Coastal! I love being your Pastor! And I love what we get to do together!
LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris
- UPCOMING OUTREACH PROJECTS:
Clothing Team: Our Coastal Clothing Team will be organizing and sorting clothes, TODAY, Friday, January 12th; Monday, January 15th; 9:30am-11:30am. Meet at 2952 Old Pond Road on Johns Island.
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, January 12th, 9:30am-11:30am. Meet at 1850 Truxton Ave in North Charleston.
Double Tailgate Day: Charleston Vets & Joseph Floyd Manor: Saturday, January 13th, 10:30am-1:30pm. Meet at the church and then pick which Tailgate you’d like to serve.
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, January 16th, 12pm-3pm.
VA Hospitality Project: This team serves at the VA Hospital in Charleston by providing a hospitality cart, greeting incoming patients and employees, visiting patients, and helping Volunteer Services with small sorting projects. Wednesday, January 17th, 8:30am-12pm. Meet at Coastal.
Patriot Villas Veterans Tailgate & Game Night: We will be putting on a Tailgate for the Veterans at Patriot Villas on Thursday, January 18th, 6-8:30pm. Meet at Coastal.
Coffee & Doughnuts with the Vets at Patriot Villas – Friday, January 19th, 8:30am-11:30am. Meet at Coastal.
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. - As we begin 2024, we are having a Coastal Kidz volunteer training for all Coastal Kidz adult and student volunteers. This will be a time of fellowship, planning, brainstorming, and vision casting as we continue to make Coastal Kidz an amazing place for children to learn about God’s love and His Son Jesus as they grow to become faithful followers of Christ.
We are offering the training twice:
Sunday, January 21, 5:00PM – 7:00PM or Wednesday, January 31, 6:30PM – 8:30PM. You only need to attend one. Childcare and dinner are provided.
Please RSVP for which training you will attend and if you need childcare:
Sunday, January 21, 5:00PM – 7:00PM
Training Session: https://churchteams.com/m/Register.asp?a=cVI2R1hEZ0p6TU09
Childcare: https://churchteams.com/m/Register.asp?a=SEYvR1RWZjVycjg9
Wednesday, January 31, 6:30PM – 8:30PM
Training Session: https://churchteams.com/m/Register.asp?a=bGVSY21UUFJoQWc9
Childcare: https://churchteams.com/m/Register.asp?a=NUZRblVzNW5TTnM9 - Attention All Homeschool Families: We’re having a Valentines Homeschool Mingle on Friday, February 9th, 10am-12pm. There will be crafts, food (pizza), and fellowship – you’ll get to meet and hang out with other Homeschool families! Please RSVP through Natalie Faust at either 443-907-2400 or njudway@gmail.com.
- Okay Coastal, this Sunday, January 14th, is the last day to give to this year’s Annual Christmas Offering! I can’t wait to see what the final amount will be – in other words, what God has done through YOU! I will make the announcement in next week’s Friday 5 and in church next Sunday! The easiest and fastest way to give to the Christmas Offering is through TEXTing the word “GIVE” to 843-571-1777 and then follow the simple instructions. Just make sure you designate your gift “Christmas.”
Speaking of Giving, your Year-End Giving Statements will be emailed out in mid January. Text the keyword “ME” to 843-571-1777 to view and update your contact information. If you have any questions, please reach out to our Financial Administrator, Kathy at finance@coastalcommunitychurch.org. - Interested in officially making the Coastal church family, your church family? Our next Membership Class is Saturday, February 17th, from 9am-12pm, in the Chapel. You can respond to this email, sign up on our website, or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday. Breakfast & childcare provided!
P.S. Attention all LIFE Group Leaders & Assistants: Training for new Spring LIFE Group Leaders will be offered in-person on Tuesday, January 16th, 6:30-8pm or Saturday, January 20th, 9-10:30am. Returning Leader’s Training will be online on Thursday, January 25th, 8-8:45pm. All Leaders only need to attend one session. RSVP on your Connect Card. If you have any questions, please contact Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org.
P.S.S. Speaking of Finances and Generosity, I wanted to make you aware of something our church (YOU) has been doing this past year. We are so serious and intentional about making a difference in people’s personal finances, that not only did we purchase a Ramsey Site License for our church that enables us to give away resources, but we also Sponsored two local High Schools (St. Johns & West Ashley) here in Charleston County that enabled them to teach Dave Ramsey’s Personal Finances to their Students. Both schools had 60+ students this year!
Here are just a couple of quotes from the students who actually took the class:
“Learning about personal finance is important and I learned how to make a good budget and how to save up for things without getting into debt.”
“This will help me to eventually be successful and purchase a car, house, and other items using cash instead of relying on credit cards.”
“I worked to save for a car from the age of 13 to 15. This helped to take stress off of my parents and at the age of 16 I got my car.”
Again, Coastal, we could not do ALL that we do in the community and the world without YOU and your consistent generous giving! Thank you! Together, we are making a true IMPACT!
