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Feb. 3 Coffee Church Highlights

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February 6, 2013
Inspiration, Ministry
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I’m a bit late this week!  We’ve got a lot of plates spinning right now, so it’s a litte crazy!  We had a great weekend though!

photoCheck out this picture of one of our miracle babies in our Coffee Church cup.  Hanaye was born to Will and Sarah in December at just 4 pounds.  God has truly filled their cup to overflowing!

Congrats to Wayne and Jenny who celebrated 20 years of pastoring in Battle Ground last weekend.  That’s an awesome investment into a community!

Also congrats to Matt and Andrea who’ve been at North Creek for two years.  You are welcome to follow in Wayne and Jenny’s footsteps and stay for at least another 18 years!

Small Groups opened and are filling up!  You can sign up today at www.coffeechurch.com.   Our groups start next week.  By the way, our youth pastor, Kris Gray, will be hanging out with adults in Mike and Alecia’s group on Friday nights.  It’s a great opportunity to get to know her, because if a teenager is around, she might be paying WAY more attention to them.  If you want to be in a group that is full, email me at stacy@coffeechurch.com and I’ll get you on a waiting list.  Sometimes people who sign up can’t attend and we like to fill in empty seats!

We are working hard on relaunching the North Creek Learning Center, which is currently our preschool in Battle Ground.  We have lots of exciting announcements coming up about that, but if you have a 3 or 4 year old (as of this fall), we have an amazing year planned for them!  Stay tuned as Registration Packets will be out in February.

The lights out at the Super Bowl made every pastor I know feel MUCH better about the technical difficulties that happen on Sunday mornings…

We are baptizing at Hazel Dell this Sunday and Feb. 17th as well.  We’ll also be doing it at Battle Ground on Feb. 24.  You can register to get dunked at www.coffeechurch.com.  If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ and a desire to follow Him, it’s time to do that!

Services on Sunday were awesome!  We are talking about MONEY!  I love this subject because I believe that if we think correctly about money, we save marriages, we prevent stress, and we change the world.  A great vision is only limited by the generosity of others.  Don’t believe me?  Try leading something that has the capacity to change the world and do it without finances.

Loved this Facebook post:  Giving blood tomorrow in honor of being present, want to know more about that check out coffeechurch.com.

I got to lead a small group of 4th and 5th graders in KidCity on Sunday.  The topic was how to handle temptation…great conversation for kids entering junior high right around the corner!  I am so glad to be a part of a church where adults will look into my child’s eyes and talk about the choices they are making from a Biblical standpoint.

Did I mention you should sign up for a small group?  Yeah, do that now! Be blessed!

 

What a Difference a Year Makes

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January 24, 2013
History, Ministry
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We’re very retrospective this week as one year ago we were walking through the potential of absorbing Maple Grove Church into our organization as a second campus.  We were just days away from their board voting to merge.  There were so many emotions and questions running through our minds at that juncture about how and if it would work.  Today, I thought I would take some time to tell you what we’ve learned about this adventure.

1.  It takes six months to assimilate.  For the first six months it really felt like there were two churches meeting in the same building.  Although we were all trying to go the same direction, it just takes time to develop relationships and work within the systems of a new church structure.  Now it’s hard to see the line between the two groups.  It is now a healthy mixture of Maple Grove, North Creek, and brand new people who have joined us this year to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus.

2.  You love your children equally.  Someone about 4 months in said to me, “Which church do you like the best?”  I chuckled a bit as I pictured all the people I love on both campuses.  It’s very similar to having multiple children.  Which one do you like the best?  Although the answer may feel like “whichever one is behaving best at the moment”, the real answer is “I love all of my children the same.”  It really wasn’t hard to love more people.  There are AMAZING people that became part of our family in the merge.  We get new guests all of the time.  It really wasn’t anything different than our normal routine of expanding our church lines and getting to know more friends.

3.  Our staff  team had several moments of extreme panic.  Oh dear.  It was both hilarious and shocking for us to watch our very tight-knit team walk through the reprocusions of being separated in location and stretched in their abilities.  However, true to their nature, they rose to the occasion and we would clearly say that each one is a better leader than they were a year ago.  We were pushed and we did not give in.

4.  We’re pastoring a Deaf Church?!?!?  We don’t know sign language, so when we first heard that Maple Grove included a Deaf Church, we felt a bit ill-equipped.  Long story short, partnering with our deaf church and their pastor, Jim Smith, has been a JOY!  Such a wonderful group of people that have been a blessing to our church as a whole.  We wouldn’t have seen it coming, but we’re glad it did.

5.  We would do it again in a heartbeat.  Merging is a unique ministry.  I believe it worked because we know who we are as a church and we stick to the plan that God has given us.  It wasn’t always easy, but it was definitely worth it.  Together we are stronger than we were separately!

We have a great future ahead of us and we look forward to watching God unveil His amazing plan!

January 20 Coffee Church Highlights

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January 22, 2013
Inspiration, Ministry
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Super weekend!  I love our church, I love our team, I love watching God change lives!

Mark preached Full Circle at Hazel Dell.  Lots of laughter and tears as we walked through all that God has done for us in 2012.  It was an unbelievable year for both the church as an organization and individual lives within our congregation.

Chris started our next series at Battle Ground called Making Change.  We are excited to walk through how we think about money as Christians.  It is one of our values to have people healthy in their financial situation.  We want you saving, giving, planning for the future, and relaxing about having a balanced picture of your financial stability.  There is freedom in the Bible in this area!

My daughter’s best friend came to visit our church this Sunday.  Delaney was at the front door jumping up and down SO excited for her friend to come in!  They had a great time in Kid’s Church and then went out for a date afterwards.  Thanks for coming, Laurie!

We have a lot of teenagers serving in our Kid’s classes.  What an amazing blessing our youth are to our church!  If you are a teen and would like to serve, fill out a volunteer application at www.coffeechurch.com and we’ll get you signed up.

One of our kids want to make giving Kid’s Bibles away her new ministry.  Seriously, that’s a cool kid!  She’s planning on buying the Bibles herself, but if you want to donate to her ministry to help her buy Bibles for children without a Bible, mark your giving envelope and we’ll make sure it happens.  The heart of a child….

We have so many things happening in our church right now!  We are excited about some upcoming announcements that we have for you!  Good God, good stuff!

Our worship team is rolling out some new songs this month.  We continue to be blessed by their amazing leadership and very much appreciate each person who serves on the team!

Is it July, yet?????  I’m so done with the cold.  Did I mention I’m from Montana where it’s 30 degrees colder?  I’m a baby.

Grandma Dix turned 94 on Sunday.  I love her!  She challenges me all the time in her attitude of growth and appreciation of her faith.  I hope I’m still excited to grow when I’m 94.

Love this Facebook quote: “I love my church. It constantly inspires and challenges me to grow in faith in ways I never imagined I could or would. Today was no exception. 2013 will be our year of miracles.”

If God tells you to say something to someone, do it.

A shout out to our new volunteers!  We had several on Sunday and we are blessed to include you on our team.  Thank you for serving!

Lots of questions about when small groups start…And the answer is the week of Feb. 11, so signups will be out soon!  Small groups are a great way to get to know people in our community.  Jump in!

Have a great week!

 

 

 

His Precious Bride, His Precious Child

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January 16, 2013
Inspiration, Ministry
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Today’s blog is a link to a video that I wanted to share from a church plant in my hometown of Kalispell, Montana.  Levi Lusko (Fresh Life Church) lost his 5 year old daughter just a few days before Christmas from an asthma attack.  I appreciate the hope and peace He has found in raising his girl in a Godly home and giving her a love for Jesus at a young age.  Perhaps I appreciate this video the most because I love the Church and my main goal in life is to help my own daughters love it (and Jesus) as well.

It is worth the 18 minutes it will take to watch it.  Enjoy!

Levi Lusko from Fresh Life

January 13 Coffee Church Highlights

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January 15, 2013
Ministry
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Congrats to two of our friends who helped to start churches on Sunday…Josh Siegel at Reach Church in Kirkland and Justin Farley who started Blue Bridge Church in Pasco.  Welcome to an amazing season of ministry!  My prayer for you both is that you will find the same joy in the journey that we have found.  My advice for you is to LOVE your story and not be discouraged if it looks different than you pictured.  Trust me, in the end, you will be glad that our sovereign God wrote it just the way He did.

Between the Seahawks game and lots of the flu, we had a lot of people out on Sunday.  We had two great sermons, so make sure you catch them online at www.coffeechurch.com.

Mark spoke on Full Circle at Battle Ground.  It is a highlight of the culmination of our prayers for 2012!  Such a moving testimony of the greatness of our God.  Have you noticed that we are very hesitant to declare the good things in our lives “miracles”?  Let’s be clear…everything that is good comes from God!  Give Him the credit and the glory.

Josiah spoke an awesome message on Sunday about loving the least of the world.  I got this message on Sunday night: “My 15 and 12 year old daughters were moved to action by Josiah’s sermon today. I just picked them up from cleaning our friend’s house. (He is 81 and has a hard time keeping it clean). They plan to make this a weekly event. So proud of my girls. Please let Josiah know we appreciate him.”  THAT is how God moves.  We think it’s something much more “miraculous”, but the reality is that if we all live lives that reach out to our neighbors, the world would be a better place.

We helped with the funeral of one of our little babies who was born too early this week.  Emma is now in the hands of Jesus.  Would you take some time this week and pray for her parents?  They are expressing amazing hope and peace in Christ, but grieving at the same time.  I am impressed by their beautiful reliance on Jesus and have appreciated watching them walk hand in hand through the valley.

Do you have a Bible reading plan for 2013 yet?  www.youversion.com is an excellent resource for getting into the Word of God.  Here’s my best tip for reading the Bible: don’t panic if you don’t understand everything you are reading, just read anyway.  It’s too much to understand on the first time around…after all, it is from the mind of God…so keep in mind that the Bible was written to read over a lifetime, not one sitting.

I sense change in the air…God is up to something.  Here we go!