Well, the weekend is finally here! And that means our Christmas Party at Joseph Floyd Manoris finally here! It’s one of our biggest outreach events of the year – and I can’t wait! It’s going to be awesome! Joseph Floyd Manor is a public housing building in downtown Charleston. It’s been a fixture in Charleston for a long time. It’s home primarily to limited income, disabled, and older residents of our city. And it’s a great opportunity for us, as a church, to truly be the hands and feet of Jesus!
I can’t thank all of you enough for how you have responded to this opportunity. I talked to Pastor Chris Jones last night, and he told me that all of the food, supplies, and gifts have been purchased or accounted for. At this point, simply drop off everything you’ve signed up for by 6pm tonight at the church. And speaking of 6pm, we’re having a Packing & Prep Party tonight at the church to prepare and stage everything for tomorrow. We’d love for you to join us.
And then tomorrow (Saturday) at 9:30am we’ll gather at the church and load everything up (actually, feel free to join us at 8:30am to help set up our chairs in the auditorium). Please park over at Orange Grove Middle School. Since there is limited parking at JFM, and we have so many people who have signed up to volunteer, we have a Bus that will be taking a large number of people from the church – leaving at 10am and leaving from JFM at 12:45pm. I’m calling it the Coastal Party Bus!
Truthfully, tonight and tomorrow at JFM will be a great example of what I call Holy Spirit Controlled Chaos! But that’s something we embrace at Coastal. I heard a long time ago that you can either structure your church for control or for growth, but you can’t have both. Now don’t get me wrong, Chris Jones and his Team Leaders have been meeting, praying, planning, and preparing for this event for weeks (and I can’t say enough good things about all of them and the job they have done). But we will have more volunteers on site than we have specific roles and at times, especially at first, it will appear chaotic. However, the greatest role for EVERYONE is simply speaking with and loving on the residents of JFM. Ask someone their story – where they’re from, their families, what they did for a living, their faith journey. And then just listen. That’s why we’re there. And if together, we focus on that – it will be a great success!
As always, if you’d like to join us at JFM or any of our various upcoming Outreach Projects, go to our website and sign up today: https://www.coastalcommunitychurch.org/missions. If you have any questions about this or any of our other Outreach Events, please respond to this email or reach out to Pastor Chris Jones at 843-870-4613.
And finally, I want to share with you something that happened this week. We discovered yesterday morning that someone had vandalized our Box Truck. They cut out and stole the two catalytic converters from the truck. Apparently, they get about $300 a piece for the metal found in these parts. Of course, it cost our church about $2100 to get it fixed. When something like this happens it’s easy to get angry, sad, frustrated, disappointed, and ultimately distracted from our mission. Honestly, it’s simply a reminder to me that there is evil in this world and that people need Jesus. But what someone meant for evil, we’re going to turn around and literally use it for good! And not only that, after this year’s Christmas Offering, we’re going buy, wrap, and equip a second Box Truck to multiply our community outreach effort! I love you Coastal and I love being your Pastor! Join us, as we continue to “share and experience the LIFE and LOVE of Jesus with Charleston and the world!”
Merry Christmas!
Pastor Chris
Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:
- 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, Friday, December 17th, 9:30am-11:30am. Meet at 1850 Truxton Ave in North Charleston.
Christmas at JFM Prep – We’ll be packing and staging everything for our BIG Christmas Party at Joseph Floyd Manor on Friday night, December 17th, 6-8pm at the church!
Christmas Party at JFM – We’re putting on a HUGE Christmas Party at Joseph Floyd Manor! Joseph Floyd Manor is a public housing building in downtown Charleston. It is home primarily to limited income, disabled, and older residents of our city. The event is this Saturday (TOMORROW), December 18th, from 9:30am (meet at the church at 9:30am) until 1:30pm. We’ll have a volunteer Bus leaving the church at 10am and returning from JFM at 12:45pm. Please park over at Orange Grove Middle School.
Seacoast Church Warming Shelter – We will be assisting with meals for the new homeless warming shelter right around the corner from our church at Seacoast West Ashley. Breakfast Bag Team, Monday, December 20th, 6-9pm. Meet at Coastal’s Welcome Center.
Neighbors Together Grocery Distribution – We will be assisting with their Emergency Grocery Distribution, Wednesday, December 22nd, 9:45am-12:30pm. Meet at: 2105 Cosgrove Ave. North Charleston.
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. - Our goal for our 9th Annual Christmas Offering is $125,000! Now through the second Sunday of the New Year, January 9th (4 more weeks), we are encouraging our entire Coastal family to give above and beyond their regular tithes and offering to this year’s Christmas Offering. To give, all you have to do is designate your gift “Christmas” on your check, offering envelope, card swiping “description”, online through Paypal, or TEXTing (843-277-8337). You can give your gift during these 4 weeks at any of our regular Sunday morning services or anytime through TEXTing, our website, or our App. You might also consider giving it all at once during one of our 3 Christmas Eve Services (Friday, December 24th, 3pm, 4:30pm, & 6pm). Our entire Christmas Eve offering will go toward our Annual Christmas Offering. With this year’s offering we are purchasing a second box truck and remodeling our old auditorium (turning it into a Chapel).
- We’re excited to announce that starting January 1st, 2022 we’re going to be reading through the Bible together this year at Coastal! We’ll be following the One Year Bible reading plan (a daily reading of the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalms & Proverbs). We’ll have a limited number of One Year Bibles for purchase at the church ($10) if you’d like a hard copy, or you can purchase them online. You can also simply choose the One Year Bible reading plan through the YouVersion app or Bible.com. You can sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday, and we’ll add you to an email list for regular encouragement and Study notes throughout the year! If you’ve never read through the Bible, this would be a great way to get started!
- SPRING LIFE GROUP LEADERS! If you are interested in Leading, Co-Leading, or Hosting a Spring 2022 LIFE Group in-person or online, sign up on your Connect Card. For more details or to answer any of your questions, please reach out to Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org.
- Young Adults Ice Skating Night – all young adults are invited to the Carolina Ice Palace TONIGHT, Friday, December 17 for ice skating from 8-10pm. The cost is $14 which includes skates. We will meet at the Ice Palace at 7pm to eat before we skate. If you would like to join us or if you have any questions, contact Pastor Scott Huff – scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org.
P.S. THIS Sunday, December 19th, is going to be “Ugly Christmas Sweater Day” at Coastal! We’re encouraging everyone to break out and wear that ugly Christmas sweater! We’ll have 3 special Christmas Eve Services on Friday, December 24th at 3pm, 4:30pm, and 6pm. Childcare (Birth-5th Grade) will be provided for all 3 Christmas Eve services with a Christmas Pajama Party for children 2 years old and up. Sunday, December 26th, there will be NO IN-PERSON SERVICES. All services will be ONLINE ONLY. Sunday, January 2nd, there will be one in-person service at 9:30am. As always, the service will be online live at 9:30am, and rebroadcast online at 11:15am and 6pm.
