March 8 Coffee Church Highlights
SO many things happening this week:
Three years ago this week we began the process of merging with Maple Grove Church to create North Creek’s second campus in Battle Ground. It has been such a learning experience as we were thrown into turning around a struggling church, adding a deaf church, creating a new leadership infrastructure, starting a youth ministry, starting a worship team, etc. What a wild ride! And along the way we have been blessed with many stories of changed lives!
One year ago this week we started our Battle Ground Youth Ministry! Mat and Janel Marbrey are two of the best blessings that have come out of the last three years! And we are so very grateful for the influx of teenagers that now roam our hallways. There’s nothing better than a church full of teenagers!!!!
Our Hazel Dell Youth Pastor took a small team of people to a youth leader’s conference last week. It happened to be the same conference where God called us to plant a church…good news is that Kris didn’t get asked to do that again! 😉 I guess that’s good news…maybe more Coffee Churches would be AWESOME!
We also had an incredible Simply Worship on Friday night. God really did some deep work in the hearts and lives of people from our church. God is CHANGING people in our midst! I could not be more excited for how I see Him molding people’s hearts and circumstances. If you are stuck, frustrated, addicted, and struggling…don’t give up! He’s got a plan!
Our Annual Business Meeting is next week to go over the state of the church (Sunday, March 15, 5pm). We had a challenging year financially in 2014, so we have to solve that for 2015. On the flip side, we had a plethora of truly incredible ministry going on, so there’s a juxtaposition of emotions. One thing I know: God is good, He will guide us, and I trust Him. We have a bright future and I can’t wait to see it unfold!
Who are you inviting to Easter? I’m inviting everyone who breathes.
Well, I hope you LOVE your church, because I do. I love the people that I get to meet, I love the hearts to grow in my Growth group, I love the struggles that we have the honor of walking alongside, I love the celebrations, and I love the dreams. I love that we get to serve a God together in unity and make each other more like Him. I love singing worship songs, and I love watching our kids grow up together. I love His Word and I love how it changes the core of who we are. I love when my youth pastor calls weeping over a broken teenager because it means she LOVES them. I love when I see laughter in the foyer, and I love the coffee flowing into so many cups every Sunday. I love that my kids are a part of something greater than themselves and I love when our team fights for what they believe in. I love when we all forgive each other and I love when we mess up. I love your stories and I love those of you who serve faithfully. I love that my heart’s desire is to be at this church a really long time and I love the fact that so many of you feel the same way. I love the idea that I will grow old with you and tell stories about “Once upon a time at North Creek”… and I really love that God lets me do this with my life. WE ARE SO BLESSED to be a part of this crazy, broken thing called “Church”. Isn’t it a beautiful mess?
Be blessed this week. I know I am!