One of the things that our church is known for is how we intentionally serve & love our community – from Saturday Serve, Summer of IMPACT, Oakland Elementary School, and so much more. Well, believe it or not, we want to INCREASE our IMPACT in our community! Saturday Serve (the 1st Saturday of every month) has become the backbone of our ongoing community outreach. However, beginning in March we’ll be adding several other opportunities besides that 1st Saturday. For example, on Friday, March 6th (during school hours) we’ll be hosting Oakland Elementary School’s Fun Run on our campus. We’ll need volunteers to man the water station and cheer on the students as they run. We’ll be at the Veteran Mobile Food Distribution on Friday, March 13th, 8am-12:30pm assisting nearly 200 Veteran families who need food assistance in the Charleston area. On Saturday, March 21st, 9am-12:30pm we’ll be at the Lowcountry Food Bank serving in the warehouse. Interested in serving the elderly & shut-ins in our community? Pastor Chris Jones leads services the first 3 Sundays of every month at local facilities immediately after our services at Coastal.
We’re working behind the scenes now on updating the Outreach page on our website as a place where you can see all of the different serving opportunities & sign up to serve. We’ll let you know when that page is up and ready, but we wanted you to know about the opportunities that are coming up now. If you are interested in any of these upcoming opportunities to serve and make an IMPACT in our community (or if you have any ideas for the future) simpl respond to this email or reach out to Pastor Chris Jones at 843-870-4613.
Another ongoing serving initiative that I’m really excited about in this new year is something that we’re going to call, “Saturation Saturday”! It’s very simple. On the 3rd Saturday of every month, starting March 21st, we’re encouraging everyone from Coastal to wear your Coastal “IMPACT” t-shirt, engage in some intentional act of kindness in the community, and invite someone to Coastal. That’s it. Saturation Saturday is designed to be an intentional day of encouragement as you invite others to Coastal, bring an increased awareness of our church in the community, and seek opportunities to love and serve others. It could be anything – you get to decide!
Maybe you and your family or a group of friends from Coastal pick up trash in your neighborhood or at a community park for an hour that Saturday morning. As you encounter people, you give them one of our invite cards and invite them to Coastal. Maybe you go to your favorite coffee house and pay for the coffee of the next person in line and hand them an invite card. Maybe you take a meal to someone in your neighborhood. Maybe you go to Costco and return the shopping carts for people and hand out our invite cards. Maybe you go to one of your favorite restaurants and volunteer to clean the restrooms. Maybe you clean the windshields of people at a gas station or shopping center and hand out invite cards. You could go to the Ravenel Bridge or Hampton Park and pass out water bottles with an invite card. I could keep going and going (seriously – I love this stuff!). But you pray about it, get creative, and then just do it!
Now, could you serve any Saturday, not just the 3rd Saturday? Could you serve any day of the month for that matter? Of course! However, there is something powerful when the whole church makes an effort to do it together, everyone wearing their Coastal shirt, praying for each other, reaching out in our community together, inviting people to Coastal. It’s the power of focused alignment.
LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris
Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:
- Want to feel more comfortable in sharing your story and your faith with the people God puts in your life? Want to feel like you’re ready and prepared to make an IMPACT? Then sign up for our IMPACT Seminar, THIS Sunday night, February 23rd, 4pm-7pm at the church. We’ll provide childcare and food! For more information or to sign up, please contact Pastor Chris Jones or respond to this email.
- MOPS BINGO NIGHT FUNDRAISER! Help raise funds for Coastal’s Mothers of Preschoolers at Bingo Night – Tuesday evening, March 31st at 7pm in the Coastal Auditorium. Doors open at 6:30pm. $10 for a book of 10 Bingo Cards. Amazing raffles and prizes for the winners! Contact Morgan Wessel for details at MOPS@coastalcommunitychurch.org.
- New to Coastal? Join us Sunday, March 15th, in the Welcome Center immediately following the 11:15am service for our next 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. RSVP online or on your Connect Card. You can also simply respond to this email and let us know that you’re coming.
- For those of you participating in our 100 Day Challenge, today’s reading is Luke 2. Remember there are 6 components of the 100 Day Challenge, 6 things we are asking you to do (3 are daily – 3 are next steps). Daily: 1. Read Through the 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John – we’re providing the calendar). 2. Memorize 1 Bible verse a week. This week’s verse has been Mark 11:24. 3. Get Moving. Find an activity or exercise that you can do each day for 100 Days. Next Steps: 1. Take the Next Step In Your Giving. 2. Start Serving. 3. Join A LIFE Group.
- Coastal’s Annual 40 Day Easter Fast begins March 1st and goes through Good Friday, April 10th! The Easter Fast is where you choose to give up something, deny yourself something to focus on prayer and your relationship with God. It could be caffeine or sugar. It could be social media or tv. It could be time, where you get up 30 minutes earlier each day to read your Bible and pray. You decide. This could be a great companion to our 100 Day Challenge. If you are interested in participating, sign up on your Connect Card or respond to this email.
