March 9 Coffee Church Highlights

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March 11, 2014
Inspiration, Ministry
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Such an amazing week at North Creek!  We officially launched our youth group in Battle Ground with 38 people in the building.  Worship, preaching and small groups all went flawlessly.  It was a phenomenal kick off to a great future!  Thank you to Mat and Janell Marbrey, along with their team, for diving into a generation with passion and determination.

Sunday was a highlight as well.  We’ve had several people this week indicate that they are ready to start a relationship with Jesus.  We love being part of people’s journey in learning about who Jesus is and the profound impact that He has on our lives.

On that note, baptisms are coming!  We already have lots of people signed up to make a public declaration of their faith.  We’d love to have you join us if you are ready to take that step of faith.  You can register at www.coffeechurch.com.  March 16 at Hazel Dell and March 23 at Battle Ground.

It was also Daylight Savings time, but who wants to talk about that?  Ugh.  Make it go away.

On a personal note, my daughter Kennedy took first in her gymnastics competition on Saturday.  It has been such an amazing experience watching her grow and shine in her sport.  I love her team, her coaches, and the journey we are on.  We are all learning so much about life, ourselves, leadership, and teamwork through gymnastics.

Want to know how North Creek is doing behind the scenes?  Join us for our Annual Business Meeting and get all of the financial updates and statistics from 2013.  March 16 at Hazel Dell, March 23 at Battle Ground at 5:00 pm.

We are going to be doing some painting, cleaning, and updating at the Battle Ground campus, so if you’d like to spend some time working with us, let me know you’re free by emailing me at stacy@coffeechurch.com.

We are kicking off our new sermon series Strapped and it’s going to be amazing!  We all get ourselves in a bind financially at some point in our lives, but that was never God’s idea for you.  Join us as we look scripturally at finding freedom in our finances.

I hope you enjoy some of the sunshine this week!  Finally a break in the rain, which is much needed.  Be blessed!

 

March 2 Coffee Church Highlights

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March 4, 2014
History, Inspiration
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Such a fun week at the Coffee Church!

Mark preached on baptism at Hazel Dell this week.  We are super excited to fill our tank on March 16 at Hazel Dell and March 23 at Battle Ground.  If you’d like to be baptized, go ahead and fill out a registration form at www.coffeechurch.com.

The Deaf Church kicked off a new class for people just beginning a relationship with Jesus.  If you know of people in the deaf community who need a great church, let them know about North Creek Deaf Church!

Our new youth group in Battle Ground kicks off this THURSDAY!  We could not be more excited.  If you know of a teenager who needs a great youth group, let them know that we are launching on Thursday at 6:30 pm at 500 SW Eaton Blvd, Battle Ground.  Lots of amazing things in store for our teenagers at both campuses!  You can like the Facebook page HERE.

If you happen to attend The Difference Youth Group at Hazel Dell, you don’t have youth this Thursday as your leaders head to a conference.  Be praying that God blesses your leaders beyond measure!

Are you praying for your pastors?  We all need it from our worship to kids to youth to administration…  This is the greatest gig in the world, but it comes with a weight that is difficult to describe some days!  We covet your prayers as we make decisions and lead to the best of our ability!

Mark your calendars for our Annual Business Meeting as well.  It’s where we let you know how 2013 turned out and where we are headed for this year.  The dates are Hazel Dell – March 16 and Battle Ground – March 23.  More information to come!

Are you giving and serving?  If you’re not financially invested in leading people in a growing relationship with Jesus and you’re not serving others in some capacity, you aren’t growing in the way that God intended.  Step out in faith and take the plunge.  You can give online as well as sign up to serve at www.coffeechurch.com.  If you have a way to serve that isn’t on our list, don’t hesitate!  We have people doing SO much beyond Sunday mornings and we appreciate each one so much!

Our small group is going well….a little too well!  We added dinner as a part of it and I may gain 10 pounds this semester.  My goodness!  This week is Italian week, so bring on the carbohydrates!  We also have a curriculum that I’m sure is awesome, but I’m in a food coma by then…

I hope you are full of joy today!  Life can be discouraging, so make sure you sprinkle encouragement out there somewhere.  It will return to you many times over!

Be blessed!

 

Leadership is Influence

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February 21, 2014
Inspiration
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I was watching the television show Shark Tank the other night and was reminded of how true the principle is that great leadership mostly boils down to how influential you are.  The product that popped up for the “sharks” to evaluate was a big hit and all of the entrepreneurs wanted a piece of the pie.  One by one, they went through their virtual roll-a-dex about what they had to offer in terms of their connections.  They hardly even mentioned their own knowledge in a particular subject (probably because they didn’t have much), but what they understood is that what they had to sell was a high commodity…their influence to sway the right people to invest in the right product and then take their cut.

So many times in leadership we get confused by DOING more instead of gaining influence.  We probably get our focus on “doing” because it is much easier to learn something ourselves to build our repertoire rather than connect enough people together to create an infrastructure of skill.

As leaders there are certain things that we simply must do, but right on the other side of the word “must”, lies a long list of things that we shouldn’t be doing.  Everything on that list is a glaring reminder of where we are lacking in our leadership influence.

It’s not always a fun conversation to have with yourself, but that’s my challenge for you today as a leader.  What are you DOING in your leadership that is robbing someone else of being involved in a great organization?  What can you let go of to create a deeper and broader team around you?  How about relating this to parenting…how are you releasing responsibility to your kids to help them grow and have ownership?  Maybe you just “want it done right, so you’ll do it yourself”?  How can you let go of some of what you are DOING to take a more managerial role of BEING in the framework that God has given you?

February 16 Coffee Church Highlights

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February 19, 2014
History, Ministry
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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

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February 13, 2014
Ministry
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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!