Sunday Reflections

It's halftime in the NCAA Basketball Championship Game. Kansas is up by 5. I was really pulling for North Carolina to make it (sorry Beam family). This has been a very busy time for me. Much of my time lately has been spent on hiring our future Youth Pastor. It really is a full time job in and of itself. Cover letters, resume's, emails, phone calls, interviews, meetings. In some ways, it has been emotionally and spiritually draining. In other ways, it is exciting and invigorating. I have had the privilege to meet with some very impressive and gifted young men and women over the last month. I am praying like never before - seeking God's direction. We are very close to making a decision. When the time is right, I will say more, but this is a very exciting time in the life of Coastal. The best is really yet to come. Keep me and this process in your prayers.

Sunday was awesome. I'm loving this series through Philippians. Sunday we talked about having joy in spite of all the junk of life. Bill Brown recited this past week's memory verse - Phil. 1:6. Way to go Bill! Actually, a couple of people told me later that they also had memorized the verse, but were afraid to raise their hand. The cool thing was that later that night, David Beam, one of our students, already had this week's verse memorized! You the man David!

At one point during my message, as I do as often as possible, I talked about why Coastal exists - to share and experience LIFE! I love it that more and more people can say it back to me when I ask why we exist. It might seem like a small thing, but the starting point of living out a purpose is knowing what it is. And more and more at Coastal, I'm seeing both.

A few other Sunday observations: I saw Beth Duckworth, a member of our 1st Impression Team, give a new family a tour. It's those small extra touches - instead of simply pointing - that mean so much in creating an atmosphere where we can share and experience LIFE! Janet had an awesome VBS planning meeting Sunday night - lots of volunteers and lots of creative ideas! Did you hear that? Lots of volunteers! And it's only April! She would really like to have the bulk of our VBS volunteers in place by the end of May. Talk to Janet and see how you can serve. This is going to be the best VBS ever! Students love live worship. We had a guy lead worship with our Students Sunday night and they loved it. Loved the new song, "Mighty to Save" we did on Sunday. Melanie has a great Nursery Team. Someone told me over the weekend, "Chris, something is happening here at Coastal." They're right. Just excited to be a part of it!