Archive

Ministry

February 16 Coffee Church Highlights

By
February 19, 2014
History, Ministry
Leave a Comment

No snowstorm this Sunday, so we were back in business!  I hope you enjoyed the snow while it lasted, but I am thankful it has come and gone!

Sunday was great!  Chris preached at Battle Ground on the church being united, Jim preached at the Deaf Church on being rooted in love and our new Battle Ground youth pastor, Mat Marbrey, preached at Hazel Dell on the love of Christ.  He’ll be heading to speak at Battle Ground this Sunday, so if you haven’t met him and Janel, you can this week.

We could not be more excited about the youth ministry launch on March 6.  Tell a teenager you know about it and invite them to be a part.  Hangout hour will start at 6:30 pm and the main youth group will start at 7:00 pm.  Everyone is welcome to be a part!

We have baptism dates coming up if you’d like to be baptized – March 16 at Hazel Dell and March 23 at Battle Ground.  You can sign up at www.coffeechurch.com.

We have the best volunteers on the planet!  We’ve had lots of last minute cancellations because of the flu this year, but people just step up and make it happen every time.  I love the heart of our people to make room for those people who are far from God.  LOVE IT!

Simply Worship is TONIGHT at the Hazel Dell Campus – 811 NE 88th Circle, Vancouver, WA 98665.  It starts at 6:30 pm and lasts for one amazing hour.  Such a precious time to meet with Jesus, so make sure you are a part!  Kids up to 5 have childcare and we encourage our older kids to join us!

Thank you for your faithful giving!  We were behind this month due to Snowmeggedon, but we had a good offering this week and are back on track.  I know it is a step of faith to give your resources to God (P.S.  They are all His anyway), but I am so impressed by people who live in that kind of faith.  He never fails!

Small groups have kicked and are kicking off!  Once again the snow bumped our plans around, so some groups started on time and some groups didn’t.  You can still sign up online at www.coffeechurch.com.  We’d love to have you!

I hope your week is abundantly blessed!

 

 

Doing Life Together

By
February 13, 2014
Ministry
Leave a Comment

Small groups are kicking off this week and I am so excited!  (Side note: it’s not too late to sign up…it’s worth it!)  Our group started and as I looked around the room there were so many incredible moments.

  • Three people in the group were invited to North Creek Church by three other people in the group.  Now they are walking side-by-side learning about Jesus together.
  • There were two people in our group that I don’t know very well…new opportunities for friendships are what life is all about.  I can already tell you multiple things I am interested in about each of them and I cannot wait to find out more!
  • I love having new faces, but I also understand that longevity at a church is a precious gift.  Some of the relationship in that room go back almost a decade already.
  • We talked a little about our religious history and we have every story possible from our pasts: being raised in an atheist home, a former Mormon, a lot of Catholic backgrounds, raised in a Christian church…  One person in our group said it best, “I tried another path, but in the end, I just wanted more Jesus.”  Hmmm…sums up my life mission as well.
  • Mark and I have cried deep tears of pain with several people in our group.  It’s one of my greatest treasures in life to have walked alongside people during difficult times and watch Jesus triumph in the end.  He ALWAYS comes through for people even when you think there is NO WAY that a situation can possibly be used for good.  He is faithful.
  • We ate together and enjoyed company.  I think Bible study is SO valuable…we plan on learning about Jesus in this semester, but I also know that God highly values community.  Don’t underestimate the power of just putting yourself in a room with other people on the same page as you.  It is never a waste of time.
  • Our kids hung out.  One young man in our group has been my daughter’s friend for her whole life.  Another girl just celebrated one year of attending North Creek after my daughter invited her to be a part.  They are developing godly friendships that honor Jesus.

So, those are just some of the amazing nuggets of awesomeness that come out of community.  We all have such busy lives, but I want to challenge you to make small groups and/or community a priority in your walk with Jesus. It never ceases to amaze me what I learn from other people!

February 2 Coffee Church Highlights

By
February 4, 2014
History, Ministry
Leave a Comment

Congrats to our Seahawks!  It was a pretty fun watching our home team dominate the game.

Small Groups opened for registration on Sunday.  You can register at www.coffeechurch.com for some great groups!  They kick off on the week of February 9, but one of our groups, Learning Sign Language, starts early, so check that one out right away.  It’s going to be a wonderful semester of growing in our relationships with other people and with Jesus.

We are in countdown mode to the launch of our youth ministry in Battle Ground on March 6.  We have an AMAZING team headed by Mat and Janell Marbrey.  If you’d like to be involved, you can email them at mat@coffeechurch.com or janell@coffeechurch.com.  If you know of a teenager in the Battle Ground area, let them know we are starting soon!

We are in the middle of our series Who Do You Think You Are on the book of Ephesians.  I really love Ephesians, so I am thoroughly enjoying this series.  I encourage you to pick up the Bible and read Ephesians over the next week.  It’s an easy read because it’s short, but PACKED with things to grow your life.  Pick something that you struggle with and ask God to help you change.

Our new building in Hazel Dell has been incredible.  I cannot express how nice it has been to have warm, clean facilities that accommodate our families so well.  THANK YOU to those of you who give month after month to North Creek.  The lives impacted by Jesus are directly connected to your sacrifice.  It does not go unnoticed and it does not go unappreciated.

Our Deaf Church has been growing and is doing well.  If you know of someone who is deaf, let them know about a great church!

Over at Battle Ground our young adults are stealing the show.  We had 5 recent graduates on the worship team on Sunday and one leading Tiny Town.  I love that our graduates feel like this is THEIR church and there is a place for them.  You just aren’t too young to use your gifts for Jesus!  Jessica Yonko is leading a small group just for young adults, so jump on in and get to know some people your age who love Jesus.

Our KidCity girls had a day out at G6 Airpark on Saturday.  It was a ton of fun and a good way for our girls from both campuses to know each other.  If you are missing events, etc., send me and email at stacy@coffeechurch.com and I’ll get you on the email list.

Did I mention that you can sign up for a small group at www.coffeechurch.com?  Yeah, go do that.

I love, love, love our church!  Loving Jesus is an amazing decision and so is finding a great church to be a part of!  Be blessed!

 

January 19 Coffee Church Highlights

By
January 20, 2014
Inspiration, Ministry
2 Comments

Congrats to the Seahawks!  We’re going to the Super Bowl!  Some of our staff and board are big Niners fans, so my condolences to you.  It was a great matchup!

We had an incredible Sunday as well!  I am VERY excited to say that we announced our new Battle Ground youth pastors, Mat and Janell Marbrey.  They will be heading up our youth ministry launch in early March.  I will take some time to blog more specifically, but long story short, this is an amazing opportunity for North Creek, teenagers, and our community.  More to come!

Over at Hazel Dell we had a packed house in both services.  Everyone is enjoying our new location and we are getting comfortable with our new systems.  Thank you for helping us at every turn!  We have such a great church that sees a need and meets it.  That is a healthy body of Christ and I love it!  Over the next few weeks we will be running on all cylinders and have all of our volunteers trained.

New to North Creek and want to volunteer?  Both campuses need a few things right now.  Hazel Dell needs Kid’s Checkin and Greeting help to accommodate the facility change.  Battle Ground needs Tiny Town and Media workers.  If none of that sounds like you, sign up for something else as we are growing all the time and want you involved!  You can sign up at www.coffeechurch.com.

We are neck deep in the book of Ephesians.  Would you take some time and pray this Scripture over your family and friends:

Ephesians 1:15-19a NIV

15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people,

16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,

19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe….

By the way, if you are ready to get baptized, we would love to schedule a date to celebrate with you!  We have a hot tub that we set up, so anytime is the perfect time!  You can sign up for that as well at www.coffeechurch.com.

Our Hazel Dell youth ministry had 114 people in the building on Thursday…WOW!  That’s awesome and we love teenagers!  Do me a favor and tell them hello on Sundays.  The world seems to look at teenagers as aliens from another planet, but North Creek sees them as one of our most valuable groups!  And let Kris Gray know how much you appreciate what she does!  Youth ministry is a battlefield like none other.  We love you, Kris and team!!!

We are still crunching the 2013 financial numbers, but we do know that we ended the year in the black with margin.  Thank you for giving to North Creek!  We will be having our Annual Business meeting soon to let you see where and how your money impacted lives in our community and world.

All cylinders are running at full speed right now with lots of exciting things in store.  Would you pray that God gives us favor and wisdom?  We love pastoring, but we covet your prayers as we do so.

God bless you…and the Seahawks! 😉

 

 

 

January 12 Coffee Church Highlights

By
January 14, 2014
Ministry
4 Comments

THANK YOU to everyone who worked so hard to make this weekend happen!  It was a mad dash to the finish, but Hazel Dell was up and running in their new facility!  It was smooth as butter all morning with very minimal adjustments here and there.  It was almost like we had been there for years…

Meanwhile at Battle Ground, both the hearing church and the deaf church had a great service to start the year.  We are so excited for what is in store for us in 2014!  We plan to take some of the creative design elements that we implemented into Hazel Dell and update BG next.  Can’t wait!

We have been seeing lots of new guests walk through our doors at all of our campuses, so make sure you meet someone you don’t know every weekend.  It’s the magic of North Creek that we have people who really care when families walk through the door on a Sunday.  We appreciate your hearts!

Our youth ministry had a wonderful start to their new home in Hazel Dell on Thursday, too.  They were just shy of 100 people in the building and it was awesome to see a packed house!  We love our teenagers!  If you are looking for a way to serve in that arena, email Kris at kris@coffeechurch.com.  She needs everything from small group leaders to people who will come and watch the doors on a Thursday.  Grab a book, grab a chair, and serve our teenagers!

Also, if you are interested in running media, we could use a few more people at both campuses in that ministry.  You can sign up to volunteer at www.coffeechurch.com.

My highlight story is that my daughter got to give a Bible to one of her friends this weekend.  The Word of God is HOPE, LIFE, and WISDOM!  The gift of a Bible is the gift of understanding God.

I want to say a special thank you to those of you who financially give to our church.  NOTHING we do is possible without the funds to do it and we don’t take it lightly when you give your hard earned money to our church.  We added $1500 to our monthly budget with the purchase of the building, but we trust that we will continue without issues because of the number of people who have jumped in to make it happen.

Here are just a couple of pictures of some of the Hazel Dell foyer space.  I should have taken pictures of the Kid’s rooms, because they are OFF THE HOOK!  They are an unbelievable blessing as North Creek is a kid-heavy church.  They have PLENTY of room to play, learn, and grow in their church!

20140114_151833

20140114_151958

I hope you have a really amazing beginning of this new year!  It is starting off with a bang at North Creek and it will only get more exciting as we continue to trust in Jesus to guide us, provide for us, and show up in lives in miraculous ways.  Here we go!

Be blessed!