Sunday Replay

Well, another series is in the books so to speak. Several people have told me how much they have gotten out of our "American Idols" series. We closed out the series today talking about a fully devoted heart. What does a fully devoted heart look like? That, after all, is the issue with idols - something has taken God's place in our hearts. We could have talked about many things. In fact, this week I thought this would make a series in itself. But today we narrowed it down to three - a heart that's been born again (John 3), a heart that submits to the absolute authority of Jesus (Matt. 8), and a servant's heart (John 13).

We continue to have visitors each week. The first service continues to be larger in attendance than the second. Overall, we seemed to be down in numbers today. I personally invited a ton of people to church this week. I mean it just seemed like God put people and opportunities all around me. I'll have to tell you about some of them later. And they were so obvious. Now the truth is, the opportunities were always there, God just opened my eyes and my heart and I opened my mouth. But you know what? Not one of them came to church today. Not one. I will not lose hope. I will keep talking, keep praying, keep inviting. Coastal, join me. Let's pull out all the stops and really go after people. Be bold. Be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove.

I've got our 101 Membership Class later today. It's one of my favorite things I do here at Coastal. And guess what we're providing for dinner tonight? Now usually we provide Papa John's pizza. Nothing wrong with that. But Ladles Soups is providing dinner tonight! The owner of the restaurant, Suzy, is a neighbor of a couple (Jennifer & Patrick) here at our church. Janet and I have been to the restaurant a few times and Suzy said that if we were ever having a dinner or eating at our church to let her know and she would give us some soups from her freezer! Tonight we're having French Onion, Split Pea, Creamy Corn Prosciutto, and White Bean and Ham. Wow! Is that cool or what - especially on a cool day like today? So visit Ladles Soups and tell Suzy you're from Coastal and how much you appreciate her kindness. You'll also recognize the tables and chairs in her restaurant. Just don't make any Soup Nazi jokes. I'm sure she's heard them all - "No soup for you!"