Finally some great weekend weather! It was definitely a breath of fresh air after so many months of soggy rain. I just sat outside and soaked up some Vitamin D!!!

Church was fun! We had to turn on the air conditioning, which was something new and exciting for us!

LOTS of new faces again. I was standing outside at one point and there was a flood of people coming up the walkway. I didn’t know anybody. We’re working on names and are looking forward to getting more people plugged in to volunteering and small groups. Here we grow!

We went to another dinner made by some of our North Creek people on Saturday. GOURMET food! It was fun to get to know them better and enjoy a beautiful meal. I have thoroughly enjoyed this month of meals as people helped us make it through one month of giving up our salary. What an unexpected benefit!

Our big baptism day is coming up on July 3. If you have a relationship with Jesus and haven’t been water baptized, it’s your turn! It’s not about being perfect and having it all together. It’s about publicly saying that you love Jesus. If you are waiting until you’re a “good enough” Christian…you are missing the point of baptism! It’s not to celebrate you, but to honor Christ. Get registered online at www.coffeechurch.com.

We are still plowing ahead with our building plan! Let’s do this! If your family hasn’t decided what to give yet, it’s time to ask God and then do it. Maybe it’s not one big amount, but something every month. Whatever it is, jump on this bandwagon of faith with us.

Our team is REMARKABLE. So humble, so strong. There is no greater joy than working alongside our staff!

Next Sunday we will be honoring our graduates. What an exciting time of their lives! We have a great college-aged small group lead by exceptional people, so jump right in!!!

Serving Jesus is the best adventure. He is so worthy of our praise!

Our greatest success as a church startup is our healthy culture. By far the most comments we get are directly related to how friendly, loving, and ridiculously good at welcoming people we are. We have created something so uniquely different that it’s become what we are known for. We frequently have guests come just because friends said they needed to experience the first few minutes of walking in our building. We have fought dearly for a “Cheers” (remember the show about the bar?) type of feeling when you walk in and we have achieved it beyond our wildest dreams. Here’s some of the foundation that we laid in order to develop that culture:

1. As lead pastors, we have to genuinely care about people. Mark and I have been known to meet a guest, not see them again for six months, and call them by name when they come back. Why? People are our business. You will have more of an impact in people’s lives just by remembering who they are than any other one issue.

2. Your startup team must be indoctrinated into whatever culture you want to have. Most of the 39 people who we started with had already worked with us and together for years. We were miles ahead in that respect. They knew our DNA and how important it was to replicate that. On day one we looked nearly identical to what we do now in the culture of our church.

3. You can never stop training newcomers in the “rules” of your culture. We don’t fear losing our culture under the weight of growth because we constantly model for our new families the way we do things as a church family. For example: we meet people we don’t know. We smile often. We know your names. Once you’ve come a couple of times, we want you to begin to do that as well.

4. You can’t be afraid to confront “culture-killers”. We had couches in our foyer once. They lasted two weeks. Why? Our teenagers piled themselves up on them and it created the feeling of being separate and hard to be a part of. They went back to milling around amidst the rest of the people and we kept the culture we wanted. By the way: gossipers, divisive people, and grumpy gus all have to go, too…but that’s another blog.

5. Ambiance is a part of your culture. We have low lights, hot coffee brewing, large signs to direct people, and funky decor. It’s as much a part of who we are as our people. It speaks loudly about the type of church that we are and what’s expected of you. Everything about us says, “Come on in, bring the kids, let the coffee spill, wear your jeans, and grow in the grace of Jesus.”

What does your church say? I guarantee it speaks loudly, so you better fight for it to say the right thing.