ALIGNMENT. What comes to mind when you hear that word? Maybe you’re driving down the highway and as your speed reaches 50mph you notice your car has a little shake. Alignment. You’re driving down beautiful Ashley River Road with towering oak trees just a few feet from the road and you notice your car has a slight drift to the right. Alignment. You went to see family over the holidays and you slept on a sleeper sofa. Alignment – haha!
Well, beginning this Sunday, the first Sunday of the new year, we’re going to be kicking off a 5 week series called, “Alignment.” In some ways, this is a series on prayer. But I promise this is not like any series on prayer that we’ve ever done before. Because during this series, I’m not going to talk about what prayer is, or why prayer is important, or even why you should be praying more. No, in this series, I want to share with you 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!”
Really this series is all about alignment – aligning our lives with God’s plan, God’s will, and God’s word. If we’re honest, much of our prayer life is just reminding God of our problems – praying through our problems. Now, listen, pray through your problems with God. Share your struggles. Share the desires of your heart. God wants you to do all of that. There’s nothing wrong with that. But, He wants more than that for you. He wants alignment. He wants you and I to align our lives with His plan, His purposes, His will, and His word. An immature person ONLY prays through their problems. They just ask for things. They’re not thinking about alignment, aligning their life with God’s best or God’s will.
But the mature believer, when they pray, they’re not just praying through their problems, they’re praying through God’s promises. And when we do that, when we align our lives with His word and we pray His promises, the answer is always YES! 1 John 5:14-15, “And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.” And that’s what this series is all about! Don’t miss it! And don’t forget that we’re back to our normal service times: 8:30am, 10am, 11:30am. I love you Coastal! I love being your Pastor! And I love what we get to do together!
Happy New Year!
Pastor Chris
- UPCOMING OUTREACH PROJECTS:
Coffee & Doughnuts with the Vets at Patriot Villas – Today, Friday, January 5th, 8:30am-11:30am. Meet at Coastal.
Clothing Team: Our Coastal Clothing Team will be organizing and sorting clothes, Today, Friday, January 5th & 12th; Monday, January 8th & 15th; 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 Tomorrow, Saturday, January 6th. We meet in the Welcome Center/Cafe at 8:30am, project leaders make a “pitch” for their serving opportunity, and then we serve!
Soldier’s Angels: We’ll be helping with the Veteran’s Mobile Food Distribution, Tuesday, January 9th, 8am-1pm. Meet at 1113 Sam Rittenburg Blvd. (The Elks Lodge).
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 11th, 11:30am-1pm.
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, 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.
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 - Coastal Student Ministry (6th-12th Grade) is back on beginning this Sunday night, January 7th! Doors are open at 5pm and service is from 5:30-7pm! Parents, make sure your Student and their friends are here!
- There are 2 weeks (this week & January 14th) left to give to this year’s Annual Christmas Offering! Much of our Outreach is funded every year through our Christmas Offering. Every gift counts, every gift matters. Among other things we are using the offering to purchase another Box Truck for Clothing Distribution, New Life Children’s Home in Peru, VBS, a Sudan Mission Trip, & Soldier’s Angels Food Distribution. The money is also used for Benevolence & General Outreach. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. 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 mailed 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
