We had a great kick-off to our “UNDIVIDED” series this past Sunday! It’s so exciting and encouraging to know that there are 25+ churches in the Charleston community all talking about Gospel-driven racial reconciliation together! This Sunday I’ll be talking about the second part of Micah 6:8, to “love mercy.” I hope you’ll make every effort to join us either in-person (9:30am) or online (9:30am, 11:15am, 6pm) for our service. By the way, it was great to see both our online & in-person numbers up this past week. Whether you choose to join us in-person or watch us online, the key is intentional engagement. If you’re watching online make sure you share the actual worship service post on Facebook. Actually, you can even do that while you’re sitting in the auditorium waiting on the service to start. It’s great free advertising, and you never know who might start watching. Don’t forget that our YouTube channel is another great way to watch the service both live on Sunday and replayed during the week.
This Saturday (tomorrow) is “Saturation Saturday”! Saturation Saturday is the 3rd Saturday of every month. It’s an organic, church-wide effort of flooding our community with random acts of kindness. It can be anything from restocking our blessing boxes, preparing lunch for a neighbor, purchasing a cup of coffee for a complete stranger, mowing the lawn of an elderly neighbor, or baking a batch of cookies for someone you know who is in a tough season. It can literally be any simple act of service and kindness. You decide. Pray about it – get creative! It was praying about Saturation Saturday that led me to the idea for our Saturday Grab & Go Meal Drive-Thru during the shutdown. The idea is to demonstrate the love of Jesus in a practical way. It can be done alone, with your family, or even team up with another family! And while you’re serving, wear your Coastal shirt (maybe you’ll see someone from Coastal wearing theirs). If someone asks why you’re serving and what the meaning of the shirt is, you can simply answer, “LOVE! We love Jesus and we love people!” And then you can tell them about Coastal. If you’re able, take a few pictures of whatever you decide to do and share them with us on Facebook and Instagram under #CCCSaturationSaturday.
Coastal has a new outreach opportunity as we team up with Tri-County Family Ministries in North Charleston. Their mission is to serve those in crisis with food, clothing, or shelter. They meet basic needs and work with their clients to understand the cause of the crisis in their lives and then open the doors to opportunities through an array of onsite programming and extensive referral networks. Coastal will be assisting with their Wednesday Grocery Distribution on Wednesdays, July 22nd, 29th and August 5th from 9:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Many of Tricounty Family Ministries’ clients are the same people we serve at the North Charleston Tailgate. Sign up on your Connect Card for one or more of the opportunities. If you are interested in being a part of this opportunity, sign up on your online Connect Card or reach out to Pastor Chris Jones.
Coastal, this is what it’s all about, this is what we’re supposed to be doing – serving and loving our neighbors, being the hands and feet of Jesus in our community! A lot of people today are making a lot of noise, but very few seem to be actually doing something. That’s what I love about our church – compassion moved to action!
LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris
Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:
- Our “Summer Reading” series starts Sunday, August 2nd. “Summer Reading” is another favorite Summer tradition here at Coastal where we pick a group of books for you to read over the Summer, and then the subject matter of each of those books becomes the sermon topic for that particular Sunday. There will be a very small number of the books available for purchase (at a discounted price) at the church. Here are all the books and their Amazon link. Happy Reading!
Different by Chris Singleton (pick up your FREE copy at the church)
Hope In The Dark by Craig Groschel
Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado
Relationship Goals by Michael Todd
Unexpected by Christine Caine
Dream Big by Bob Goff
Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul Tripp - I know it seems like a long way off, but we are in the process of thinking through and planning for ourFall Semester of LIFE Groups. If you are interested in possibly leading, assisting, or hosting a LIFE Group (in person or online), please sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday or respond to this email. If you have any questions you can also reach out to Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org.
- On Sunday, July 26th, 9:15am-12noon, our Coastal Kidz Children’s Ministry is having an Open House at Orange Grove Middle School. This is an opportunity for all Coastal parents and children to see what their classrooms and environments will look like when we begin construction on our new facility.
- As soon as construction begins on our new facility, our Coastal Kidz Children’s Ministry will be GOING PORTABLE and meeting across the street at Orange Grove Middle School (where everyone parks). One of the ways that you can help is to join a new Ministry Team called “Coastal Kidz Set-Up Team.” Our Set-Up Team will be the ones who unload our trailer (located behind Orange Grove) and set up our Coastal Kidz Classrooms and environments on Saturday mornings, and then break down everything and load up the trailer after both services on Sunday are over. We are having a Set-Up Team Orientation at Orange Grove Middle School on Saturday, July 25, 8:00am – 11:00am, with Portable Church to learn and practice setting up and breaking down. We’re going to set everything up on that Saturday, leave it up for the weekend and have an Open House on Sunday, July 26th after church for everyone to drop by and check it out. If you are interested in serving on this team you can respond to this email or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday.
- The Operation Christmas Child “donation of the month” for July are new socks/t-shirts. We are also in need of shoeboxes. You can now drop off all OCC items at church on Sunday mornings or during the week. If you have any questions, please reach out to Teresa Spell.
P.S. Please keep in mind that our church is following the City of Charleston’s Mask Mandate. If you don’t have a mask, we will gladly provide one as you enter. As always, if you’re sick, immuncompromised, or caring for those who are, PLEASE stay home and engage with our church online.
