2 WEEKS UNTIL EASTER! Okay Coastal, make sure to pick up and take advantage of all the tools we give away to make it easy to invite someone to our Easter Services. We have tickets, invite cards, yard signs, social media graphics, and this Sunday we’ll add postcards to your arsenal. But all of those tools are useless unless you actually reach out to someone. I also hope you’ll access the most powerful weapon you have in your arsenal – prayer – and join us for our Prayer Walk and Prayer Vigil (see below)! Please pray for all the people everyone from our church will be inviting, pray for all the people who will receive a postcard in the mail or see our yard signs or billboards. Pray for our services, our Volunteer Teams, our Staff, and my message. Pray that many people will respond to the good news of the Gospel and take next steps in their spiritual life.
To pull off a big weekend like Easter with 6 services, we need 2 things to happen: 1. We need our current volunteers to serve multiple services. Please keep in mind that Sunday will need the most volunteers. 2. We need new volunteers to start serving! If you’ve never volunteered before, Easter weekend is a great time to start! And 1st Impressions and Coastal Kidz is a great place to start. Go to our website and sign up today! Our LIFE Team Leaders will follow up with you and get you started.
One last thing about Easter – go to Easter at Coastal and let us know which service you plan on attending by reserving your spot! It lets us know when a service reaches capacity. I know we keep saying it, but we really want to encourage our people (YOU) to attend on Friday and Saturday, to make more room on Sunday. If you plan to come that Sunday, please try to come to the 8:30am or the 11:30am service and park at Oakland. Typically, the 10am service is PACKED! But most importantly, as we always say, come to the service that you can get your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to come to, yes, even if it’s Easter Sunday at 10am!. And obviously, if you’re serving, come to the service that best suits your serving schedule. Here are the Easter service times: Friday, March 29th, 7pm; Saturday, March 30th, 4:30 & 6pm; Sunday, March 31st, 8:30am, 10am, 11:30am!
This Sunday, I’ll be closing out our “Financial Freedom” series. It’s my prayer that this series has been challenging, encouraging, and helpful. I hope you have a better understanding of why the church should never be apologetic when it comes to talking about money and why a series like this is so important today. I also hope that you’ve seen the heart of our church during this series – a generous, openhanded church. Think about all the things that we’ve done during this series – all of the Dave Ramsey materials free for anyone from our church, D-Day where we paid down a $1000 of debt for 3 different people, the free Will & Estate Planning seminar where we gave away a free will package from an Attorney, our reverse offering last Sunday where we gave away $10,000 to our church to spur on a movement of generosity! Wow! It has truly been an amazing series that many people are going to look back on as a real turning point in their lives. This Sunday I’m going to take some of the big principles that we’ve talked about during this series and pull them all together in one final message. Don’t miss it! I love you Coastal! I love being your Pastor and leading alongside such wonderful people! And I love what we get to do together!
LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris
- UPCOMING OUTREACH PROJECTS:
Coffee & Doughnuts with the Vets at Patriot Villas – Friday, March 15th, 8:30am-11:30am. Meet at Coastal.
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, March 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, March 20th, 8:30am-12pm. Meet at Coastal.
Patriot Villas Veterans Tailgate: We will be putting on a Tailgate for the Veterans at Patriot Villas on Thursday, March 21st, 6-8:30pm. Meet at Coastal.
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, March 22nd, 9:30am-11:30am. Meet at 1850 Truxton Ave in North Charleston.
Downtown Charleston “Hotdog Ministry”: We will be grilling and serving hotdogs to the homeless and hungry downtown! Friday, March 23nd, 4-6:30pm. Meet at Coastal.
Carolina Bay Easter “Spring Fling”: Saturday, March 23rd, 3:30pm-7pm. We’re setting up tents and tables with Easter Crafts for the children/families of Carolina Bay. Meet at the park at Carolina Bay at 3:30pm to help unload and set up.
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. - The most important thing we can do to prepare our hearts and minds for Easter is to PRAY! Hopefully you’ve already been praying during our 40 Day Easter Fast. To help mobilize our church even further in prayer, our Prayer Team is organizing two events that you can participate in. We’re conducting a Prayer Walk on Wednesday, March 27th at 5pm at Coastal – everyone welcome. We’re also conducting a 24-hour Prayer Vigil (from your home). We’re praying in 15-minute increments for a continuous 24-hour period beginning at 6:30pm on Thursday, March 28th, until 6:30pm on Friday, March 29th. If you’d be interested in joining in the Prayer Vigil, click on this linkand sign up for a time slot.
- Coastal Community Church’s Internship Program is an eight-week, Summer Ministry experience designed to give participants (ages 16-26) a glimpse into life in ministry. Passionate & gifted participants will gain valuable experience while working alongside Coastal staff members in areas of Administration, Outreach, Worship Arts, Production & Communications, Children’s, or Student Ministries. If you’re interested in providing housing for out of state interns, please contact the church office. Find out more by visiting our internship program page at www.coastalcommunitychurch.org/connect/internships.
- Coastal Day at the Riverdogs! Join us on Sunday, April 21st, at 5pm at the Charleston Riverdogs baseball game! Reserve your FREE tickets by texting TICKETS to 843-571-1777. Tickets will be distributed digitally to your email. Questions? Contact Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org.
- On Saturday, March 23rd, from 4-7pm, our church will be participating in the Carolina Bay Spring Fling/Easter Egg Hunt! We’ll be providing a craft area for all the children. We’ll have our Coastal tents, tables, and supplies for 300+ children! Here’s what we need – VOLUNTEERS! Now, there are A LOT of Coastal people who live in Carolina Bay. If you would be willing to be a volunteer and simply welcome and greet people, help children at a craft table, help set up / break down, and be a Coastal Ambassador, please sign up online. Even if you can help for an hour or two, just let me know. Set up begins at 3:00PM. And you don’t have to live in Carolina Bay to help – anyone is welcome!
P.S. We’re having a Baby/Child Dedication on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12th OR Father’s Day, Sunday, June 18th. If you would like your family to participate, sign up on your Connect Card this Sunday OR sign up online. Include the child’s full name and the service you will be attending.
P.S.S. Mark your calendars now – Coastal’s VBS is July 8th-12th, 6-8:15pm for children 4 years old – 5th Grade. This year’s theme is, “SCUBA – Diving Into Friendship With God!” Registration for Volunteers and children will open Easter weekend!
