The best week of the Summer for Kids is finally here! If you’ve been out of the country or under a big rock, VBS starts this coming Monday-Friday night, July 8th-12th, 6-8:15pm, 4 year olds – 5th Grade! There will be a closing program on Friday night, July 12th, for children & parents with hotdogs, Kona Ice, jump castles, all outside from 6-7pm – all FREE! And then at 7pm we’ll come inside for songs and a slide show! This year’s theme is “SCUBA – Diving Into Friendship With God!” If you haven’t already done so, PLEASE REGISTER YOUR CHILD ONLINE NOW. This really makes the check-in/registration process go so much smoother when VBS begins. Online Registration will be closed TONIGHT, Friday night, July 5th at 6pm. After that, you will only be able to register at our campus each night in-person before VBS. So, the time is NOW – please register here: https://coastalcommunitychurch.org/vbs/
Why am I personally so passionate about VBS? Well, when I was a young kid, the Summer after my dad died, a friend invited me to VBS, and the following week, at Camp, I gave my life to Jesus and answered the call to be a Pastor. My life was forever changed by a simple invitation from a friend, by that friend’s mom who picked me up each and every night and brought me to VBS, by a church willing to make the investment, by a bunch of volunteers who gave up their week to make an IMPACT in a young kid’s life.
What about you? What are you doing next week that’s going to potentially change a child’s life and change the world? Will it require a sacrifice of your time? Absolutely. Will it mean that by the end of the week, you’ll be exhausted? You bet. Will you be unable to get the VBS songs out of your head for the rest of the year? That’s a given! But I make no apologies in challenging you to join us next week as a VBS Volunteer, because Jesus said that we find true life when we give our lives away. I’m a product of a loving church and a loving, giving group of volunteers who sacrificed and made a difference in my life. And now as a by-product of that sacrifice – so are you. I promise you, you’ll be glad you served, and it will be one of the best experiences of your life!
So here’s what I’m asking you to do. If you don’t already have a place to serve next week, please go to our website and sign up today. You can also serve by staying after church this Sunday and help us stack and pack the chairs and move some furniture around the building to prep and decorate for VBS. We’ll also need some volunteers to help set up the chairs on Thursday night after VBS to get ready for our Friday night Closing Program. And then, of course, we’ll be tearing everything down and cleaning up on Friday night after VBS to get everything ready for Sunday. There are still a few food needs for the week of VBS. If you are able to help provide any of these last remaining items, go sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0844A9A82DA4FE3-48645655-coastal#/. If you have any questions about VBS, please reach out to Janet Rollins at janet@coastalcommunitychurch.org or Aly Huggins at aly@coastalcommunitychurch.org.
And finally, I just want to thank everyone for all the love you’ve shown me, your Pastor, this past week for my Birthday! I am now 57 years old! I am constantly overwhelmed by all the expressions of love shown to me and my family! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Coastal is not just a church that I attend or a job where I work. It’s a family that I’m a part of! I say it all the time, but I sincerely mean it – I love you Coastal, I love being your Pastor, and I am truly humbled by what we get to do together and that I am a part of it!
Diving Into the Friendship of God With You!
Pastor Chris
- UPCOMING OUTREACH PROJECTS:
Coffee & Doughnuts with the Vets at Patriot Villas: TODAY, Friday, July 5th, 8:30am-11:30am. Meet at Coastal.
Clothing Team: Our Coastal Clothing Team will be organizing and sorting clothes, TODAY, Friday, July 5th; Monday, July 8th; Friday, July 12th, 9:30am-11:30am. Meet at 2952 Old Pond Road on Johns Island.
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 TOMORROW, Saturday, July 6th. We meet in the Auditorium at 8:30am, Project Leaders make a “pitch” for their serving opportunity, and then we go out and serve!
Soldier’s Angels: We’ll be helping with the Veteran’s Mobile Food Distribution, Tuesday, July 9th, 8am-12:30pm. Meet at 1113 Sam Rittenburg Blvd. (The Elks Lodge).
Food Pantry Sort & Stock: Coastal feeds an enormous amount of people. Come to the church and help keep our Food Pantry organized (and have a lot of fun while you’re at it)! Thursday, July 11th, 11:30am-1pm.
Double Tailgate Day: Meeting Street & Joseph Floyd Manor: Saturday, July 13th, 10:30am-1:30pm. Meet at the church and then pick which Tailgate you’d like to serve.
2nd Saturday/2nd Meal: Saturday, July 13th, 9am-12noon. Come serve with us as we prepare a hot meal in the Coastal kitchen and then deliver those meals to one of our awesome ministry partners – organizations like Charleston Vets, S.C. Strong, Brighton Place, Joseph Floyd Manor and more!
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. - We are planning our 2nd BEACH BAPTISM of the Summer out at Folly Beach County Park on Sunday, August 11th, at 5pm. You can sign up for it on our website. The only requirement for Baptism is that you have personally given your life to Jesus. Baptism is a public profession of your faith, and it’s a great celebration! It beautifully illustrates Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. If you’re unable to participate in our Beach Baptism, remember at Coastal we’re ready for you to get Baptized any service, any Sunday. If you are interested in getting Baptized, simply respond to this email, sign up on your Connect Card, or sign up on our website.
- Coastal Day at the Riverdogs is quickly approaching! Join us Sunday, July 28th at 5pm for a game between the Charleston Riverdogs and the Annapolis Cannon Ballers at Joe Riley Ballpark. Tickets are FREE and so is parking! To reserve your tickets, simply text the word TICKETS to 843-571-1777 and then click on the link you receive back to fill out the form. Tickets will be sent to you by the email you submit so you can download them digitally to your phone for entry into the ballpark that night. There are no physical tickets for Riverdogs games. Arrive early in any Coastal t-shirt and watch our Youth Pastor, Jacob Bonetti, throw out the first pitch before the game starts.
- This Fall, when we come back to the Sermon on the Mount, we decided to make our sermon series a church wide Spiritual Growth Campaign. What’s that you ask? Well, it’s church-wide in the sense that we want to involve everyone at our church at every level: everyone hearing the same Sunday morning messages corporately, all of our LIFE Groups studying the same material in small groups of 10-15 people, and a daily devotional for everyone’s individual quiet time. Together, we’ll all be studying, discussing, learning, praying, and striving to live out the greatest teaching we have from Jesus! I truly believe that this Fall is going to continue to usher in a season of tremendous spiritual growth at our church. For so many people, it’s going to be one of those turning point moments in their life.
How can you help? We’re looking for LIFE Group Leaders! Last semester we had 58 Groups. This coming Fall we need 75+ Groups! In many ways, for our Leaders, this will be a little bit easier of a semester. We’re ALL going to be doing the same study, so you don’t have to fret about what to choose. And WE are going to be providing the teaching material. In fact, we’re going to record our Pastors or a Staff Member giving a 10-15 minute teaching for each week’s lesson. We’ll also provide all the Small Group questions with your own discussion guide. All you have to do is facilitate the meeting. We’re also going to stress/recommend Groups of 10-15 people meeting in homes and as much as possible, moving away from the church building. Again, we really believe this is going to be a tremendous season of spiritual growth not only for our church! If you are interested in hosting, assisting, or leading a LIFE Group, please reach out to Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org, or let us know on your Connect Card on Sunday. - Even if you can’t personally serve next week during VBS because of work or you’re out of town, there is still something everyone can do to be a part of this LIFE changing experience in a very tangible way – through your generous giving! While our VBS is completely FREE, it does cost something. However, at Coastal we don’t consider it an expense – it’s an investment, in children and the Kingdom! This year’s special VBS Offering will be going towards 2 things: 1. Our Peru Missions Team this Summer will be building 25 “Shanty Homes” at a cost of $25,000. 2. If/when we reach that goal, the remainder of the offering will go towards the purchase of a second 15 passenger van to take volunteers to outreach projects and to pick people up and bring them to church on Sundays. So, pray about what God would have you give. You can give this Sunday, each day during the week of VBS, or next Sunday. Simply use the keyword “VBS.”
P.S. Our “Summer Reading” series begins Sunday, July 21st! “Summer Reading” is where we as a Staff pick out 7 books worth reading over the Summer, and then each week we use the subject matter of one of the books as the subject of that week’s message. You can see the books and the dates in the graphic above or on the insert on Sunday. This Sunday, July 7th, we’ll have a small number of each book available for purchase at the church. Or simply pick up the books yourself through Amazon and enjoy! Remember, “leaders are readers!”
