I am so excited to share with you our plans for our 8th Annual Christmas Offering! Over the years, this offering has made a huge IMPACT on our ministry!
For example, the Christmas Offering has enabled us to:
- fully fund our “Summer of IMPACT”
- complete a well for a community in Haiti
- re-roof our entire building
- renovate a home for a family on Wadmalaw Island
- fully fund our Summer VBS
- pay down the cost of Camp & the Winter Retreat for our Student Ministry
- pay for our Easter Outreach!
- pay for the Oakland Elementary School Annual T-Shirt
God has used our church and the Christmas Offering to do all of that and so much more! Well, beginning this Sunday, November 15th, through the second Sunday of the New Year, January 10th (9 weeks), we are encouraging our entire Coastal family to give above and beyond their regular tithes and offering to this year’s Christmas Offering. To give, all you have to do is designate your gift “Christmas” on your check, offering envelope, card swiping “description”, online through Paypal, or TEXTing (843-277-8337). You can give your gift during those 9 weeks (Nov. 15th – Jan. 10th) at any of our regular Sunday morning services or anytime through TEXTing, our website, or our App. You might also consider giving it all at once during one of our 3 Christmas Eve Services (Thursday, December 24th, 3pm, 4:30pm, & 6pm). Our entire Christmas Eve offering will go toward our Annual Christmas Offering.
Why a Special Offering? It’s a way for us to grow in our faith and to prepare us for what God wants to do through our church in a bigger way in 2021. It’s a way for us to sacrifice together as a church family and give generously. Christmas is all about giving. Many people, during this time of year, are in fact looking for opportunities to give. And there is no better place to give than to your local church.
What is our goal and where is the money going? Our overall goal is $75,000 – our largest Christmas Offering to date! Is that a big goal? Yes! Can we reach it? Absolutely! As always, I am very excited about where this year’s money will be going and the potential Kingdom impact. The money will be used for our Community Outreach & our Children’s Ministry. Let me specifically explain each:
- Community Outreach. This year I’m excited to announce that a bulk of the money given will go towards at least 2 specific Outreach Opportunities. The first one is our monthly Tailgate Parties. You might not know this, but Coastal now spends approximately $10,000 a year on food and supplies just for our 2 monthly Tailgate Parties where we feed and clothe the hurting and hungry of our community. Your Christmas Offering will help to fully fund this project for the year. The second outreach project is something brand new that we are VERY EXCITED about. We’re going to buy a “Box Truck” (think large moving truck)! Now why on earth does Coastal need a box truck? In short, to further saturate our community with the love of Jesus. A box truck allows us to safely move outreach equipment & supplies to the areas of our community where we serve. Not only are we dependent upon volunteers for manpower to staff these Tailgating Parties, but we’re also dependent upon the use of our volunteer’s vehicles to move the equipment (tables, chairs, tents, grills, propane, and food). A box truck would immediately alleviate our transportation concerns. Secondly, the church having a box truck, wrapped with Coastal logo, would draw positive, public attention to the church. In other words, people in the community would see the truck, the activities associated with it as we use it to serve the community, and be potentially drawn to the church for the first time. Thirdly, the truck could be used for a wide range of community events and disaster relief.
- Our Children’s Ministry really needs no explanation. Children are not the church of tomorrow. They are the church of today! When a church stops reaching the next generation for Christ, that church dies. Specifically, we hope that this Christmas Offering will help purchase the indoor & outdoor playground equipment for our new facility!
We feel like all of these ministries/projects give our church an opportunity to make an eternal impact in our church and our community.
How much should you give? Prayerfully consider giving a gift that will stretch your faith and include your whole family. For some people, coming up with “extra” money is difficult. We’ve learned that as we give, God provides. Maybe you decide to give up eating out or buying coffee for 9 weeks and give that money to the Christmas Offering. Maybe you sell something or have a yard sale. For some people $1000 above your regular giving is a huge sacrifice. For others, it’s not.
Maybe there is someone who might be willing to give a large matching gift this year. Just like our “Daring Faith” Giving Campaign that has enabled us to build our new building and all the other Christmas Offerings we’ve done in the past, we can’t all give the same amount, but TOGETHER, we can ALL make a sacrifice. That’s when God does a miracle, when together we ALL step out in faith.
Remember, this offering should be over and above what you regularly give. If you’re not regularly giving (weekly, monthly), use this time of year to start. If you’re not tithing (10% of your gross income), step out in faith and start tithing. Reaching this goal will be a celebration of what God can do through us as together we stretch our faith.
Merry Christmas!
Pastor Chris Rollins
PS – If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. The easiest and fastest way to give to the Christmas Offering is through TEXTing. Simply TEXT any amount followed by the word “Christmas” to 843-277-8337 (Example: “$100 Christmas”). If you haven’t signed up for TEXT-to-Give it’s a quick, simple, and secure process!
