This Sunday, August 2nd, we kick off another favorite Summer Sermon Series tradition here at Coastal –“Summer Reading”! “Summer Reading” is 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. Now before some of you freak out thinking that Pastor Chris has gone heretical and has thrown out the Bible and is now preaching from other books or encouraging you to read other books instead of the Bible, throw away your email and simmer down. That’s not what we’re doing. We’re not preaching from the books themselves. If anything, I think you’ll discover that during this series you will find yourself compelled to go to scripture as we point people to the truth of His Word and a deeper relationship with God. But each of these books is worth reading, and so I hope you’ll make a commitment to read at least a couple of them over the Summer. After all: Leaders are what? Readers. Retired Admiral James Stavridis of the US Navy once said this, “The single best way a leader can learn and grow is through reading. So many of our best leaders develop and enhance their ability to lead through endless contact with books.”
Here is the Book List and the order in which we will be using them:
- 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 Familyby Paul Tripp
This Sunday, I’ll be using the book “Different” to talk about what Jesus had to say about loving our neighbors. One of the best tangible ways that our church loves its neighbors is through Saturday Serve. Our next Saturday Serve is TOMORROW Saturday, August 1st! We meet at the church at 8:30am. The leaders of the different service projects give a quick “pitch” of their project, we pray, and then we disburse to go serve! It’s that simply. You just show up and choose. All projects are typically finished before lunchtime, so it’s not a sacrifice of your entire Saturday. Our typical opportunities include: The North Charleston Tailgate; Coastal’s Sewing Project; The Lowcountry Food Bank; meals for Jenkins Orphanage and S.C. Strong; Restock Coastal’s Blessing Boxes. Come make an IMPACT in our community by being the hands and feet of Jesus! If you have any questions about Saturday Serve or ideas for future projects, please reach out to Pastor Chris Jones at 843-870-4613.
I’ve got some exciting news to share with you! We got our final approval from the City of Charleston on our new building project! There are a few more small steps and then we get our Building Permit. It is looking like we will begin construction in about 30 days! As soon as we know the details, I’ll pass them along! If you’re fairly new to Coastal and don’t know what we’re getting ready to build, please take the time to go to our Daring Faith page on our website and check out the fly through video. Read through the page and discover how you and your family can help leave a legacy for future generations. If you have any questions or would like to know how you and your family can be a part of supporting this project, please reach out to me. These are exciting days at Coastal! The best is yet to come!
LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris
Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:
- 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 Sunday services are over. If you are interested in serving on this team you can respond to this email or reach out to our Children’s Director, Janet Rollins – 843-442-8299.
- We are in the process of planning for our Fall 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. Our LIFE Group Leader TrainingDates (online or in-person) are either (choose one): Tuesday, 8/25, 6pm-8pm OR Saturday, 8/29, 9-11am.
- On Sunday, August 23rd, 5pm out at Folly Beach County Park, we’re having our end of the Summer Beach Baptism! Come out early and make it a fun day for your entire family! If you are interested in being Baptized, simply respond to this email, go to our website and sign up online. Even if you’re not being Baptized, make plans to come out to the beach and celebrate with those who are! Make it a fun day for the whole family!
- On Friday night, August 21st, at 7:30pm, Coastal is having an online night of worship & prayer! Now, more than ever before, as we head into the Fall and a new school year and a divisive election and so many unknowns and fears, we need to cry out to our God and depend on Him. So mark your calendars now and join your Coastal family online for worship and prayer!
- The Operation Christmas Child “donation of the month” for August is school supplies! So, while you’re picking up school supplies for your own children, pick up some extra for OCC! We are also looking for people who might be able to temporarily store our shoeboxes (we are running out of storage space). You can now drop off all OCC items at church on Sunday mornings or during the week. If you have any questions or would be willing to store shoeboxes, please reach out to Teresa Spell.
P.S. I just want to give you a heads up – our church is throwing a Baby Shower for Ashley Hojnacki on Sunday, August 30th (1 month away) at 6pm. It will probably be a “virtual shower” of some sort, but we wanted to give you a heads up now. We’ll give you the details as it gets closer. For those of you who don’t know, Ashley is our church’s Office Manager. This is Ed & Ashley’s first child. They are having a girl – Blake Rose. Here is a link to their registry: https://www.babylist.com/babyhojnacki.
