Are you ready for this?! Christmas is just 10 days away! I hope you’re as excited as I am! I also hope you’re praying about who you’re going to invite and bring to one of our 4 Christmas Eve services – Saturday, December 23rd, 4pm & 6pm and Sunday, December 24th, 4pm & 6pm (no Sunday morning services on the 24th)! By the way, keep praying, but it’s time to actually start inviting! Reach out to friends, neighbors, family, and co-workers. What’s the worst thing that could happen? They say no. What’s the best thing that could happen? They come, they hear the Gospel, they receive Christ, and their lives are forever changed! That’s why we do what we do! That’s what Christmas is all about!
I’m also excited about tomorrow – Christmas at Charleston Vets! We meet in the Gather Space tomorrow, Saturday, December 16th, at 10am. Consider coming early at 9am for chair set-up. Even if you’ve never done chairs before, we can make you an expert in just a matter of minutes! After a few minutes of discussing how the day is going to go, we will load a bunch of supplies & food on the trucks, pray, and then carpool over to Charleston Vets (parking is somewhat limited). We should be finished with the project around 2pm.
We’ve got some exciting things planned for the veterans. We’re going to be offering a home cooked BBQ meal with all the sides! By the way, if you have signed up to provide one of the sides, we need those items at the church, hot & ready to serve between the hours of 8am & 9:15am. We’ll be standing by at the glass auditorium doors. We’ll meet you at your car with a cart to move your items inside. Please be advised that any food that isn’t prepared and ready to serve won’t be used at the event. We simply won’t have time to cook or reheat any food items. Thank you in advance for your help with this.
We’re going to be providing every veteran a stocking full of goodies, and Christmas gifts! We’ll be setting up a hot chocolate and coffee bar, Christmas music, a visit from Santa and more! We’re going to have a great time. Whereas we will need your help in all these areas, it’s important to stress the point that the most important job of all is the interaction with the veterans. In fact, there will likely be more of us than those we’ll be serving. However, we’re going to flood and saturate Charleston Vets with the love of Christmas and of Coastal! 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:
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, December 15th, 9:30am-11:30am. Meet at 1850 Truxton Ave in North Charleston.
Packing & Staging Christmas at Charleston Vets: Come help us get everything ready for our Christmas Party out at Charleston Vets! TODAY, Friday, December 15th, 6-7pm, at the church.
Christmas Party at Charleston Vets: It’s a Christmas Party with music, a home-cooked meal, Christmas gifts, stockings, and coffee & hot chocolate bar. This will largely be the only Christmas these veterans will get. In other words, Coastal is Charleston Vet’s Christmas. Saturday, December 16th, 10am-2pm. Meet at the church. (see above for more info)
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, December 19th, 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, December 20th, 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, December 21st, 6-8pm. Meet at Coastal.
Coffee & Doughnuts with the Vets at Patriot Villas – Friday, December 22nd, 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.
- 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, December 15th, 9:30am-11:30am. Meet at 1850 Truxton Ave in North Charleston.
Packing & Staging Christmas at Charleston Vets: Come help us get everything ready for our Christmas Party out at Charleston Vets! TODAY, Friday, December 15th, 6-7pm, at the church.
Christmas Party at Charleston Vets: It’s a Christmas Party with music, a home-cooked meal, Christmas gifts, stockings, and coffee & hot chocolate bar. This will largely be the only Christmas these veterans will get. In other words, Coastal is Charleston Vet’s Christmas. Saturday, December 16th, 10am-2pm. Meet at the church. (see above for more info)
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, December 19th, 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, December 20th, 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, December 21st, 6-8pm. Meet at Coastal.
Coffee & Doughnuts with the Vets at Patriot Villas – Friday, December 22nd, 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. - Don’t forget, we’re having 4 Christmas Eve Services: Saturday, December 23rd, 4pm & 6pm and Sunday, December 24th, 4pm & 6pm (no Sunday morning services on the 24th). Please be in touch with your LIFE Team Leaders about serving! During all 4 services our Coastal Kidz are encouraged to wear their PJ’s and enjoy pizza and a Christmas Movie with a message!
Also, please note that we will only have 2 Services on Sunday morning, December 31st (New Year’s Eve), 10am & 11:30am. - The final CSM for this calendar year is December 17th and we have a fun Christmas party planned! Make sure your student brings a gift (no more than $10) for this event which will take place during normal youth hours (doors open at 5pm and service is from 5:30-7pm)! WE WILL PROVIDE DINNER FOR OUR STUDENTS THIS WEEK!!!
- There are 5 weeks left to give to this year’s Annual Christmas Offering! Much of our Outreach is funded every year through our Christmas Offering. Our goal is $125,000 and right now we are just under half-way to our goal. 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 “M”E 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. - ATTENTION Young Adults! Join us at the PASSION Conference on January 3-5 in Atlanta, GA for an unbelievable lineup of speakers, musicians, and more! We will be joining up with 60,000 other young adults from around the globe! Click HERE to see the details and how to pay/reserve your spot today!
P.S. We are in the planning stages for our SPRING LIFE GROUPS! Would you possibly be interested in leading, assisting, or hosting a LIFE Group this new year? The Spring Semester begins in February and depending on the Group, lasts for 8-12 weeks. Sign up on your Connect Card or contact Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org if you are interested in leading a Group. 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.
