WOW! What an AMAZING week of VBS we’ve had this week – so much fun, so much energy, and so much excitement! And yes, so many children! We’ve seen 205 children this week – our largest VBS ever! And most importantly all of those children have learned that “life is wild – but GOD IS GOOD!
And it’s not over yet! Tonight we’d love to invite everyone out to our VBS Closing Program & Party! From 6pm-7pm we’ll be outside with Hotdogs, Jump Castles, Kona Ice, Climbing Wall, and a Petting Zoo! Everything is FREE! And then at 7pm we’ll all move inside for our VBS wrap up with songs, a magic show, & a slide show of the week! Don’t miss it! It’s going to be AWESOME!
I can’t thank our AWESOME DREAM TEAM of Volunteers enough for everything they’ve done this week! We could not make the IMPACT we make as a church without you! You ARE the heroes of this church! We are looking for volunteers immediately after the VBS closing program tonight to help take down everything, put out our chairs, and get everything ready for Sunday. Many hands make for light/quick work!
Don’t miss this Sunday (I know, I say that every week)! I’m in week 2 of our “Summer Reading” series and the book I’m using this Sunday is “Glory Days” by Max Lucado. But I’m also going to be sharing some exciting stuff about the Fall! In fact, if you’re out of town, make sure you catch it live online or watch the service again at 6pm! I’ve got some important/exciting things to share!
LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris
Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:
- We are in the process right now of planning and preparing for our Fall Semester of LIFE Groups! LIFE Groups (starting the week of September 22nd) will be a little bit different this Fall in that all of our Groups will be a part of our church-wide Spiritual Growth/Giving Campaign called “Daring Faith.” All of our Groups will be studying the same material – a “Daring Faith” DVD with a workbook/daily devotional that we will provide. We’ll also be encouraging smaller groups that meet in homes all over Charleston. This will help create unity and momentum as we all step out in faith together. These “Daring Faith” groups will only last 8 weeks. In other words, you will only be signing up for a group based on time/location, not the study or activity. Our goal is to get as many people who consider Coastal their home into a group! You can do anything for 8 weeks! So if you are interested in facilitating/hosting a Group (pushing play on a DVD and then lead through the questions), please respond to this email or sign up on Sunday on your Connect Card.
- Saturday, August 3rd 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!
- As a part of our “Daring Faith” Campaign, we want to provide a Coloring Book, so we are looking for some artists from our church who would be willing to sketch a page or two for the coloring book. We’ll provide several themes and subjects that go along with the campaign and then leave the rest up to you. If you are interested in helping with the coloring book, please respond to this email and let us know NOW. We will contact you and give you all the details. We did this for the “All In” Campaign and it was a great sucess! Again, this will be just another great way to involve our entire church, even our children, in what we will all look back on as a great period of unity and growth here at Coastal.
- New to Coastal? Join us THIS 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.
- We have another Beach Baptism scheduled for 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 the 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 that we’re taking everyone to see the new “Lion King” movieon Wednesday morning, 10am (doors open at 9:30am), July 24th (this coming Wednesday)! 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. YES – invite and bring your friends (just let us know they’re coming)! That’s why we do this!
