Sunday Reflections

I know nothing about Nascar, but with all these cars the last couple of weeks I'm about up for a Nascar race. (Maybe after I go to one, I can actually watch one on t.v.) Today was another great day at Coastal. The Praise & Worship Team is in a real groove right now. We had several first time guests and return guests. The attendance keeps steadily climbing upward. I'm hoping we can offer a second service sometime later this fall. However, we still need several more volunteers in Promiseland to pull this off. Janet has been working tirelessly, tapping people on the shoulder, building teams, and training volunteers. Talk to Janet about the needs in Promiseland. When we add a second service the service times will be 9:30AM and 11:15AM. You will be able to serve in one and attend the other. It's all about expanding our capacity to reach more people. What about you and your ministry? Are YOU expanding your capacity to reach more people? Are you building a team? Are you including more people in your ministry?

My message today was from Luke 15:11-32, commonly known as parable of the Prodigal Son. Today, however we focused on the love of the Father. It was all about coming home. From the Connect Cards and comments, many people made the decision to come home or come back home to God. Keep it up Coastal! God is up to something around here. I know that many of you have been inviting people to church. Don't give up if they haven't come yet. A "no" is simply a "not yet." Let's not be satisfied with 125 people or 150 people or 300 people or 500 people. How many people are enough? The real question is how many people in our community need Jesus? How big is your dream for Coastal? Some of you are having a hard time wrapping your head around a second service. In our Creative Team meeting this past week, we were talking about this Easter and the idea came up about instead of just adding a second service (which should be normal by Easter), adding a Saturday night service for Easter. Again - how big is your dream for Coastal?

We gave away a couple of tickets for the Bank of America 500 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte (congrats Teresa!) and a couple of autograph posters. Jeff Gordon's Show Car and the game station was way cool today! I'll say it again - guys and kids love cars! Visit our web gallery to see some pictures from today. Next week we wrap up the "Wild Ride" series. My sermon is entitled, "Road Trip." The Lowcountry H.O.G.s are supposed to be here. In fact, all motorcycles are invited!

Cyndi Brown, our Small Groups Ministry Leader, announced a Small Group Kick-off for Saturday, October 6th, 5-7PM. It's going to be a fun evening of games, activities, and learning all about our current groups and a few new ones that are being launched. We talk a lot about Small Groups at Coastal. This is the perfect opportunity to join in the fun! Talk to Cyndi for more information. Food and childcare provided.

Jeremiah and his team did an awesome job tonight in Undercurrent (the Sunday night Student Ministry service)! They went to a lot of effort to create an impressive environment and communicate a powerful message. Keep it up guys! By the way, Jeremiah will be speaking on Sunday morning, October 14th. Keep him and his message in your prayers.

And finally, Clemson is 4-0! Go Tigers!