So many exciting things going on at Coastal right now or coming up.  First of all, it’s just awesome that several hundred people from our church are reading through the Bible together! Each week of my Men’s Group, I just love hearing the stories of Men reading their Bibles and talking about what they’ve read!  Keep it up everyone!  If you haven’t joined with us, start today!  And then, to go along with that, we’ve had a great start signing people up for our 40 Day Easter Fast which starts THIS MONDAYMarch 7th and goes through Good Friday, April 15th!  Fasting is simply denying yourself something physically for a set period of time for the spiritual purpose of focusing on prayer, the Word, repentance, and your relationship with God.  Just think about it – 100’s of people reading their Bibles and Fasting together!  It gives me goose bumps!  As a Pastor, I can’t wait to see how God uses all of this for our good, our growth, and His glory!!  If you’d like to sign up for the Fast, respond to this email or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday!  

Tomorrow is one of my FAVORITE days of the month – SATURDAY SERVE!!  Be at the church at 8:30am, sign-in, get some coffee, get a Coastal t-shirt if you don’t have one, listen to a “pitch” from one of our GREAT Leaders, pray, and then GO SERVE!  It’s that simple and that AWESOME!  If you know, you know.  If you’ve never been, join us this Saturday and experience it for yourself!

What can I say about Sunday’s at Coastal!  Each and every week, God is moving in powerful ways – lives changing, people giving their lives to Jesus, signing up to serve, and signing up to get Baptized!  This week we have a Baptism in each service!  In our Staff Meeting this week, we talked about bringing in more chairs for the 9:30am service.  Between in-person and online, our attendance was over 1200 last Sunday!  This week the name of God that I’ll be talking about is El Shaddai – our Almighty, All-Sufficient, Sustaining God!  Don’t miss it!  Also, there will be a potential new Youth Pastor and his wife at Coastal this weekend – Jacob and Hannah Bonetti.  Make sure you introduce yourself and welcome them.  We haven’t offered him the position yet, but we are pretty far down the road with them.  If and when it happens, we’ll tell you all about them!  Student Ministry & Children’s Ministry have always been and always will be a priority at Coastal!  If a church is not constantly trying to reach and disciple the next generation for Jesus, that church will die!

And then, of course, there is Easter Weekend!  We’ll be having 6 services over 3 days – Friday, April 15th, 7pm;  Saturday, April 16th, 4:30pm, 6pm;  Sunday, April 17th, 8:30am, 10am, 11:30am!  Start praying now about who you’re going to invite (and where you’re going to strategically place that Easter Yard Sign – haha!). Before you know it, Summer will be here and that means “Summer of IMPACT”, Student Camp, VBS (July 11th-15th, 6-8pm), Beach Baptisms, “At the Movies”, “Summer Reading”, and so much more!!  Like I said, so much is going on and coming up!  Don’t miss it!  Be a part of what God is doing here at Coastal!

I love you Coastal and I love being your Pastor (hopefully one of five soon)!  On a personal note, I want to share something from my life that I’m very excited about.  I’m now a Substitute Teacher here in Charleston County.  Now, don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere – haha!  Most of you know about my heart for and our involvement with Oakland Elementary School (one of the schools across the street).  Well, one of the big needs, especially over the last couple of years has been Subs.  The only day I really have available is Friday (most of our Staff take the day off on Friday or a half day), and that just happens to be one of the biggest days where there is need.  I’ve been talking about going through the process for a while now, and finally decided to do it.  In fact, I have my first classroom assignment today!  Pray for me that I can be a blessing to the class that I’m in, the Teacher, and the school!

LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris

Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:

  1. UPCOMING OUTREACH PROJECTS:
    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 THIS Saturday (tomorrow), March 5th.  We meet in the Welcome Center/Cafe at 8:30am, project leaders make a “pitch” for their serving opportunity, and then we serve!
    Tailgate at Charleston Vets –  As a part of Saturday Serve, we’re going to host a tailgating event at Charleston Vets, THIS Saturday, March 5th.  Meet in the Welcome Center at Coastal at 8:30am.  Coastal Vets is a transitional housing facility for veterans in North Charleston.
    Soldier’s Angels – We’ll be helping with the Veteran’s Mobile Food Distribution, Tuesday, March 8th, 8am-1pm.  Meet at 1113 Sam Rittenburg Blvd. (The Elks Lodge).
    Clothing Team –  Our Coastal Clothing Team will be organizing and sorting clothes Friday, March 11th, 9:30am-11:30am.  Meet at 2952 Old Pond Road on Johns Island.
    PINK House –  The PINK House is a community center in the Ardmore subdivision in West Ashley.  We are going to be putting on a community Tailgate Party, Clothing Distribution, on Saturday, March 12th, 10am-1pm. Meet at the church.
    Joseph Floyd Manor Tailgate –  Our Tailgate will be rolling and serving our friends downtown at the Joseph Floyd Manor –  Thursday, March 17th, 10am-1pm. Meet at the church.
    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.
  2. Student Ministry Summer Camp!  All 6th-12th grade students are invited to join us for an amazing week at Student Life Summer Camp in Lakeland, Florida on June 27-July 1. There will be hundreds of students from all over the southeast joining us for amazing music, messages specifically for teenagers, and great games and recreation! Total cost is $300 per person and friends are invited to join us too! Sign up on www.coastalcommunitychurch.org/connect/students today!!  If you would like to sponsor a student or help provide a scholarship (full or partial), or if you have any questions about Camp, please reach out to Pastor Scott Huff at 859-230-5129.
  3. Multiple churches (including Coastal) have partnered financially to help completely remodel the PINK House kitchen. In preparation for a professional demolition of the old kitchen, a few handymen (and women) from Coastal are needed to help move the refrigerator, stove, and dishwasher out of the kitchen and in to the living room. Volunteers are also needed to help pack the kitchen supplies for temporary storage in other rooms of the house. If you’d like to help, we’ll be meeting at Coastal on Saturday, March 12th at 10am, as a part of our regular Tailgate/Clothing Distribution at the Pink House.  If you have any questions, please reach out to Pastor Chris Jones at 843-870-4613.
  4. Interested in officially making the Coastal church family, your church family? Our next Membership Class is Saturday morning, March 19th, 9am-11:30am. You can respond to this email, sign up on our website, or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday.  You can join us either in-person or online through Zoom.
  5. Coastal has a Care Team that’s all about “Compassion in Action.” This team sends cards and hand-written notes, delivers CARE baskets, and provides meals for those in our church and community experiencing significant life events. The CARE Team ministers to those dealing with chronic illness or hospitalization, coping with loss or welcoming a new baby. The Care Team also contacts shut-ins within our church. If you are part of Coastal Community Church and cannot attend in-person services or know someone who is unable to attend, please reach out to us with current contact information. The CARE Team would love to bridge the gap. If you’d like to join the CARE Team, email rachel@coastalcommunitychurch.org.

    P.S. Make sure you mark your calendars and plan to attend our next Night of Worship on Friday night, March 18th, from 7-8:30pm.  Invite your friends and family to join us for an inspirational evening of worship, prayer, and encouragement.  Childcare will be provided for birth to kindergarten (RSVP for Childcare on your Connect Card).  The theme for the evening will be, “At the Cross,” the same as the sermon series we’ll be in, preparing us for Easter.  It’s really going to be an awesome night!  Don’t miss it!