That’s right – our next sermon series (another Coastal Summer tradition) is “Summer Reading.” Each week of the series we’ll be using the subject matter from 6 great books as the basis for that week’s sermon. At Coastal we believe that “Leaders are READERS!” So get reading! You can still pick up a copy of the books (at a great price) at Coastal on Sunday morning. Here are the books, author, dates, and link to purchase them at Amazon: “A Trip Around the Sun” by Mark Batterson – July 14th, “Glory Days” by Max Lucado – July 21st, “Everybody Always” by Bob Goff – July 28th, “I Declare War” by Levi Lusko – August 4th, “The Daniel Dilemma” by Chris Hodges – August 11th, “Strengthening Your Grip” by Charles Swindoll – August 18th.
This Sunday at Coastal we’re in week 5 of “At the Movies” and I’ll be using the movie “Toy Story 4” to talk about one of my favorite stories in the entire Bible and one of the foundational passages for our church. DON’T MISS IT!! And speaking of “Toy Story 4”, on Wednesday morning of this week we took 280 people to see the movie on us! It was so much fun! And since this is our 10th Anniversary of “At the Movies,” and a Disney theme, AND our VBS theme this year is ROAR, we’ll also be taking everyone to see the new “Lion King” on Wednesday morning, 10am (doors open at 9:30am), July 24th! Spread the word, invite and bring friends! For “Toy Story 4” they gave us 3 theaters. For “Lion King” they’re giving us at least 5! You can sign up to come to the movie on your Connect Card starting this Sunday or by simply responding to this email.
It’s hard to believe that “Summer of IMPACT” is coming to a close this weekend. Our last project is tomorrow morning, 9am-11am, helping out at St. Vincent’s Furniture Outreach, 3941 Saint John’s Avenue, in North Charleston. This outreach provides donated furniture for those in need in the community. St. Vincent’s partners with organizations such as My Sister’s House, S.C. Strong and 180Place. Clients who complete these programs are given assistance with housing and St. Vincent’s provides the furniture. Volunteers will assist with the loading of donated furniture into other volunteers’ trucks for distribution to those in need. If you’d like to volunteer to serve, go to our website TODAY and sign up and then show up tomorrow morning in North Charleston.
I really can’t say enough good things about the IMPACT that’s been made this Summer through our church. Over the course of this past month we had approximately 350 Volunteers and over 1000 Volunteer Hours! Here’s an overview of what was accomplished:
- Fed the homeless 140 hamburgers and hotdogs and provided clothing to the struggling in North Charleston.
- Served in two nursing homes.
- Sewed nearly 200 pillowcases for MUSC Children’s Hospital.
- Opened the doors of the church for two school graduations.
- Prepared meals for up to 60 people, each night, across three nights at the Ronald McDonald House.
- Prepared care packages for children in crisis at Lowcountry Orphan Relief.
- Constructed 5 Community Blessing Boxes to be placed and serviced by Coastal.
- Sorted through thousands of pounds of food at the Lowcountry Food Bank here in Charleston and in Myrtle Beach (thanks to our Students during their week of Camp).
- We packed 100 bag lunches for struggling veterans through the Soldier’s Angels Program (all through donations).
- We packed 65 Blessing Bags and distributed them on the street (all through donations).
- Coastal worked with St. Vinny’s Furniture Outreach in organizing their donations and warehouse.
I want to specifically thank the Leaders of the different projects:
- Steve and Tonia Gibbs – Lowcountry Orphan Relief
- Evelyn Wallingford and Kim Jones – Ryan’s Case for Smiles
- Rachel and Dustin Speer – Ronald McDonald House
- Toby Wessell and Phil Votaw – Project Blessing Boxes
- Jen Johnson – Lowcountry Food Bank
- Ken Bartlett – Soldier’s Angels
- Chris Crosby – Weekly Help at the Summer of IMPACT Tent
- Rudy Polito – St. Vinny’s Furniture Outreach
And of course, I also want to thank Chris Jones, our Missions & Outreach Director. Not only does Chris have a HUGE heart for serving and outreach, but he is a Logistics Mastermind! Feel free to shoot him an email or text to thank him for his efforts and let him know what IMPACT this Summer has had on your life. Chris Jones – 843-870-4613 or jonescg73@gmail.com.
I love you Coastal! And I love what we get to do together! Most importantly, thanks be to God who makes all of this possible!
LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris
Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:
- VBS Crew Leader Meeting – TOMORROW, Saturday, June 29, 10:00-11:30 am. All crew leaders, assistants, and group managers, even if you’ve done it before, need to attend ONE Orientation Meeting either Saturday, June 29, from 10:00 – 11:30 AM OR Monday July 8, 7:00 – 8:30PM, @ Coastal in the 1st – 5th grade auditorium in the Coastal Kidz building. Hopefully it will make you more prepared for the week and answer any questions you may have. Please let Janet know if you need childcare for either meeting. We now have over 150 children pre-registered for VBS!! Coastal’s VBS this year is Monday, July 15th – Friday, July 19th, 6pm-8pm, 4 year olds – 5th Grade. If you haven’t done so yet, please register your kids today! If you have any questions about VBS please contact Janet Rollins at 843-442-8299 or janet@coastalcommunitychurch.org.
- Saturday, July 6th is our next Saturday Serve! If you haven’t come to a Saturday Serve yet, do so this month! I promise you, you’ll be glad you came and that you will receive so much more than you give. We meet in the Coastal Café at 8:30am. After a few minutes of getting to know one another, leaders of multiple projects will brief you on the particulars of the projects they are leading. Afterwards, you’ll choose the project that’s of interest to you and off you’ll go! All projects are typically finished before lunchtime, so it’s not a sacrifice of your entire Saturday. Come out and help us tangibly share and experience the LIFE and LOVE of Jesus with our community!
- Our Student Ministry (6th-12th Grade) is heading to Carowinds on Friday, July 12th. Please by at the church no later than 8am! They will return to the church at 8pm. The cost for the trip is $30 and includes ticket and transportation. Please bring money for food. Contact Ryan Spell for more information – ryan@coastalcommunitychurch.org or 843-442-8985.
- New to Coastal? Join us Sunday, July 21st 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.
- In case you missed our Beach Baptism on Sunday, June 9th – don’t fret! We have another one scheduled to close out the Summer on Sunday, August 4th, 4pm out at Folly Beach County Park. Baptism is a public profession of your faith in Jesus Christ. We call it “going public” at Coastal. It’s an important next step after salvation. And there is something very powerful about getting Baptized in the ocean! Bring your whole family out to Beach after church on that Sunday and then we’ll gather together for the Baptism Service at 4pm (Look for the Coastal flag)! You can sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday or respond to this email to sign up today!
P.S. Don’t forget you can now catch a rebroadcast of our entire live service here at Coastal Community Church on Sunday nights at 6pm! If you join the service online feel free to login and chat with us. We will have a Pastor or Staff member available throughout the entire service each week in the chat room for live prayer as well as to answer any questions. Just like on Sunday morning, make sure you get a chance to fill out our Online Connect Card. And just like Sunday morning you’ll be able to give your tithes and offering and help support the ministry here at Coastal. We regularly now have close to 200 (sometimes more) unique viewing devices from around the country watching our morning services. That could easily represent hundreds of people. This will simply add another opportunity for us to share and experience the LIFE and LOVE of Jesus with Charleston and world!!
