Wow! What a crazy weather week in Charleston it’s been! I guess snow is going to be about a 7 year occurrence here – haha! Typically Friday is my day off. If I do take the day off and if there is an opening, sometimes I’ll sub over at Oakland Elementary School. I only sub at Oakland, and again, only on Fridays if I’m available. Well, this past Friday I took a sub job in a Kindergarten classroom for the Teacher’s Assistant. Honestly, this is one of my favorite spots. The kids are SO SWEET at this age, so much fun, and still pretty innocent. Also, as the TA, I’m really just an extra set of hands for the Teacher. Well, this past Friday as the Teacher was preparing her students for the possibility of snow this week and E-Learning, she asked the class (a little over 20) how many of them had ever seen snow? Only a small handful of them had ever seen it. Honestly, I had kind of forgotten about that. My kids are grown and gone and married. Watching and listening to these kids and their child like anticipation, hope, and excitement got me excited again FOR THEM! I found myself getting excited, hoping, and yes, even praying for snow, at least for just a day (be careful what you pray for – haha) so that they could see it, experience it, and do all the things with their friends and family.
And you know what, it got me to thinking about all the things in my own life, in my own Christian experience, that I might be taking for granted, that I might have lost some of that child like joy and excitement over. I’ve said it many times – you never out grow the Gospel – but maybe I needed to be reminded of that. And maybe we all need to experience again with fresh eyes when someone comes to Coastal and experiences heart felt worship for the first time, or when they learn about prayer, or join a LIFE Group, or get Baptized, or invite a friend, or share their faith, or all the myriad of things we might be taking for granted. Matthew 18:1-4, “About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
I truly hope you and your family have enjoyed the snow this week. Maybe you needed the reset. This Sunday, I’ll be in Matthew 7:7-12, talking about prayer. Come on Sunday and listen again with fresh, child like excitement! I love you Coastal! I love being your Pastor! And I love what we get to do together! And I can’t wait to see you on Sunday!
In His Service & Yours!
Pastor Chris
- UPCOMING OUTREACH PROJECTS:
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, January 30th; Thursday, February 6th, 11:30am-1pm.
Clothing Team: Our Coastal Clothing Team will be organizing and sorting clothes, Friday, January 31st; Monday, February 3rd; Friday, February 7th, 9:30am-11:30am. Meet at 2952 Old Pond Road on Johns Island.
Coffee & Doughnuts with the Vets at Patriot Villas: Friday, January 24th, 8:30am-11:30am. Meet at Coastal.
Downtown Charleston “Hotdog Ministry”: We will be grilling and serving hotdogs to the homeless and hungry downtown! Friday, January 31st, 4-6:30pm. Meet at Coastal.
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, February 1st. We meet in the Auditorium at 8:30am, Project Leaders make a “pitch” for their serving opportunity, and then we go out and serve!
Coffee & Doughnuts with the Vets at Patriot Villas: Friday, February 7th, 8:30am-11:30am. Meet at Coastal.
Double Tailgate Day: Meeting Street & Joseph Floyd Manor: Saturday, February 8th, 10:30am-1:30pm. Meet at the church and then pick which Tailgate you’d like to serve.
2nd Saturday/2nd Meal: Saturday, February 8th, 9am-12noon. Come serve with us as we prepare a hot meal in the Coastal kitchen and then deliver those meals to one of our awesome ministry partners – organizations like Charleston Vets, S.C. Strong, Brighton Place, Joseph Floyd Manor and more!
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. - As we begin 2025, we are having a Coastal Kidz Volunteer Training for all Coastal Kidz adult and student volunteers. We’ve already had one Training and this next one is: TOMORROW, Saturday, January 25th, 9AM (childcare provided). CLICK HERE to register for the Coastal Kidz Volunteer Training. You can also text the word “training” to 843-571-1777. Childcare is available by REGISTERING HERE or texting “trainingchildcare” to 843-571-1777.
- You should be receiving your 2024 Year End Giving Statement from our church this week – mail or email. Please check your records for your Statement’s accuracy and contact us if there are any problems. Make sure your information is current and correct in our database. Text the keyword MEto 843-571-1777 to view and update your contact information, manage your giving, access your giving statement, and more! If you receive an error, that means we do not have your cell phone number in our church system, so go online and fill out your Connect Card with your information. If you have any questions about your statement, please reach out to our Financial Administrator, Kathy Love, at finance@coastalcommunitychurch.org. It is your consistent, faithful, generous giving enables our church to make its IMPACT.
- Two of our Support Groups – Divorce Care & GriefShare – begin meeting again in February. Divorce Care starts on February 6th. Contact Tracy Trunkle (tandttrunkle@aol.com) for more information. GriefShare starts on February 10th. Contact Sue Muoio (s.muoio@outlook.com) for more information.
- Coastal Young Adults Weekly Streaming of “The Porch!” If you are in your 20’s or early 30’s you are invited to our NEW weekly gathering to stream “The Porch” including small group discussion! Every Monday night, 6:30pm-8:30pm in the Coastal Chapel, beginning this coming Monday night, January 27th! For more information, please contact Pastor Scott Huff.
P.S. What’s your Next Step at Coastal? Here are two possible next steps:
– Newcomer’s Reception: If you’re fairly new to Coastal, a great next step is our Newcomers Reception. 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. Our next Newcomers Reception is Sunday, February 9th, in our Chapel immediately following the 11:30am service (at approximately 12:45pm). You can sign up on our website today.
– Membership Class: Interested in officially making the Coastal church family, your church family? Our next Membership Class is Saturday, February 15th, from 9am-12noon, 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. Breakfast & childcare provided!
