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October 12 Coffee Church Highlights

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October 14, 2014
History, Inspiration, Ministry
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Sunday was a fun day!  🙂  Our series Risky Business is on it’s way out after some great messages and our new series based on the book of Mark is on it’s way in!  Brace yourselves…it’s going to be a good one!

The other awesome news:  All of our Bible Growth Groups on the book of Mark are in full swing!  We could not be more excited about the fact that 100 people in our church are studying the Bible side by side.  We’ve already heard stories of people opening the Bible for the first time, a couple buying matching Bibles so they can read the same version, people being impacted by the truth they are reading, and changing habits based on the first nine chapters in Mark.  The Bible is LIVING AND ACTIVE.  It literally changes the fabric of who we are when we read.  I am not surprised that we are seeing a quick impact.  The best news:  it’s also a lasting impact!

If you’d like to jump in and study on your own, it is definitely not too late.  I ordered more study guides and they just arrived.  You can email me at stacy@coffeechurch.com to get one!  They are $10 and you can pay online or drop a check in the Giving Box.

We are in need of more Tiny Town volunteers.  We have a young church which comes with lots of toddlers!  Such a gift and such a responsibility!  If you would be interested in working once every four weeks you can sign up online at www.coffeechurch.com.  Another option is to offer to volunteer a few times a year.  We welcome people to be scheduled sporadically and help alongside our key teachers.  You will need a background check on file, even if you only serve every so often, but it is such a blessing to have extra hands.

Did you know we have about a dozen babies born at our church every year?  Happy marriages and tired mommies and daddies!

As we have been praying, a common theme in our hearts is obedience.  I’ve just really been impressed that we cannot separate the beautiful grace of God from a true repentant heart.  We just simply can’t appreciate grace without turning from our sin.  Anything less than brokenness before our God in the face of our sin is just not adequate!  Repentance is not just knowing what we did is wrong, but going the opposite direction of that sin.  Definitely something to study the Bible about!

My other prayer for our church as we read the Bible is to be given a deep wisdom.  The Bible says if you lack wisdom to pray for it and God will bless you!  Make that your personal prayer for yourself!  I would rather have the world full of wisdom than any other trait.

I still believe we can change the world.  It’s not too corrupt, it’s not too far gone, and it’s not out of God’s hands.

Be blessed!

 

 

 

October 5 Coffee Church Highlights

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October 8, 2014
Inspiration, Ministry
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God is amazing!  It’s been an incredible couple of weeks at North Creek Church.

Last Tuesday we had Simply Worship, which is supposed to be an hour of worship, prayer, and communion.  When we dismissed at 7:30, nobody left and we just kept praising Jesus for another hour.  Sometimes the presence of Jesus is the only place you want to be.

We’ve also had a great sermon series called Risky Business.  It’s been about living a life of faith and obedience.  You really can’t be obedient to the things of God if you aren’t reading the Word of God.

The good news is that almost 100 people will be tackling the book of Mark over the next eight weeks, either in growth groups or in personal study because they can’t make it to a group.  I have about a dozen study guides available if you’d like to purchase one for $10.  The books will be there on Sunday morning, so find Rachael at Battle Ground or myself at Hazel Dell and jump into our study.

We closed our growth group registration, but if you missed it, one of our Monday groups couldn’t start this week due to a sickness.  If you are sneaky, I bet you could go to www.coffeechurch.com and find that you are still able to register.  I won’t tell anybody.

Mark and I got to speak at a church planting conference last week as well.  It was so much fun to team teach and reminisce about the journey that Jesus has brought us on.  It’s been an unbelievable journey for the last eight years.  We could not have asked for a better learning experience!

In my prayer time, my heart has been abundantly burdened. I am more convinced than ever that we, as Christians, have bought into too many lies that sound so reasonable.  We ALWAYS have a choice in our behavior, we ALWAYS have victory in Christ, we ALWAYS have the opportunity to change.  If you believe that you can’t live according to the Bible because of your failure or wrong desires, you have made God too small and you are deceived.  HE IS A BIG GOD WHO CAN CHANGE THE FABRIC OF YOUR SOUL.  Claim the win for obedience and do the right thing.  Rise up Christian!  Rise up!

On that note, when God wakes you up to pray at 3:30 am, you are both glad and slightly unruffled.  I’m not even sure unruffled is a word, but it is when you’ve been up since 3:30 am.

I say this a lot, but you should write a tithe check to your church.  If you go Old Testament style, that’s 10%…I’ll give you a minute to do the math… If you go New Testament style, you’ve gotta pray and then brace yourself because it’s definitely more than 10%…God will probably have you sell a goat or something…  Why should you tithe?  1. Obedience honors God. 2. Obedience brings you freedom.

While you’re writing checks, Mark felt called by God to write a $10,000 check to a church in Argentina.  North Creek is at about $2000 towards that goal, so thank you!  If you’d like to give to help build the church there, just mark your envelope Seed of Faith.  I have a feeling this is an amazing story being written right before us!

If you’re still reading this, you probably wonder what got into my coffee this morning…well, time is short and I really want all of us to live out the fullness of Christ.  So, let’s do it!

Be blessed!

 

 

EIGHT Years Later! Happy Birthday Church!

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September 24, 2014
History, Inspiration
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For a church planter, each anniversary is a milestone that brings back a flood of emotions.  As we celebrate 8 years since the day we launched North Creek, I am filled with smiles, tears, and joy in my heart!  There is nothing like starting something from scratch, with so much trepidation, and then watching it work.

I thought I would share EIGHT of my thoughts with you today to go with the theme:

1.  Our team is second to none.  We have the rare gift of having most of our original church planting staff still with us after all this time.  Along the way we have added incredible people who give their time, talents, and devotion to leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.  All together there are 20 people who make up our leadership team between all three churches, with 55% of them being women.  It is a unique mix on all fronts and we could not be more blessed by each of them!

2.  One hundred and thirty seven.  That’s the number of people who have been baptized at North Creek.  That’s the number that counts to us.

3.  We birthed a church plant, merged with an existing church to become a multisite church, and in the process we also have one of the largest deaf churches in the state of Washington.  I cannot even tell you how many things in that sentence I thought I would never say.  Sometimes God brings sweet surprises along the way!

4.  The last eight years have contained my greatest highs and my lowest lows.  I will never be able to put into words how grateful I am that God asked us to walk this path.  That being said, anything worth doing isn’t easy.  The lows have been breath-stealing, heart-wrenching, gut-aching lows that I never knew before.  And I am grateful for those emotions as well.  You will never know the depth of the love of Christ until you have walked through the valley of despair.  Joy and suffering often share your heart.

5.  My husband is the real deal.  Watching him navigate this church over the last eight years with a humility that I admire has been one of my favorite things.  The mantel of this church’s leadership ultimately falls on his shoulders and we are blessed beyond measure for the character and integrity that he carries with him.

6.  We did this for the pastor’s kids.  If you go back about 10 years, this whole thing started because a group of us wanted our kids to experience a life of faith.  And that they have!  I stand in awe as I watch them grow into such amazing people.  The oldest of the bunch just turned 20 and lived her whole teenage years as a church planter…and she’s incredible.  The youngest of the original group was my daughter Kennedy, who was born the month we started North Creek.  She loves Jesus and has a heart of worship.  We now have 22 children represented on our leadership team and two more on the way.  One of the greatest joys of my life is watching the older ones love and mentor the younger ones!  Asking your kids to sacrifice for Jesus will never return void.

7.  Our people are unmatched in their hearts to serve!  We have nearly 200 volunteers between our three churches that make North Creek great.  Although we always want to add more volunteers in order to add more campuses in the future, we stand in awe of the fact that our church is ENGAGED in the body of Christ.  We look around every Sunday at the faces of North Creek and know that God is doing a mighty work in hearts and lives!

8.  Jesus.  He is faithful.  He is good.  He is worth living and dying for… Church planting was supposed to be about telling other people about His love, but I stand amazed at how much I’ve learned along the way about His love.  If you haven’t given that love a chance in your heart, I pray you will.  There’s just nothing like it in the world!

So, another year has come and gone on this adventure.  My only hope for you is that whatever God asked you to do, you’ll do it!  No matter how scary, how intimidating, how difficult that may be…it is within obedience that you will find joy.  Happy Eight!

September 21 Coffee Church Highlights

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September 23, 2014
History, Inspiration, Ministry
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Well, I’ve officially survived 9 days without my husband and only have 5 to go while he is in Brazil and Argentina.  I’m doing pretty well, but this is the longest we’ve been away from each other in 17 years.  We have worked side by side for most of that, so it is really strange to have him gone.  In the moments we’ve talked he has shared that God is doing a deep work in his heart, so I look forward to hearing all about that….soon!!!

Sunday was a great day at North Creek!  The summer is winding to a close and we kick off things with great enthusiasm in the coming weeks! Simply Worship, a night of songs, prayer, and communion, is at the Hazel Dell Campus on Sept. 30 from 6:30-7:30 pm.  It’s going to be an amazing night to let Jesus know how great He is.  Plan to join us!

Also, Growth Groups registration is OPEN!!!  You can sign up for a group online at www.coffeechurch.com.  All of our groups this time are leading a Bible Study on the book of Mark.  It’s $10 per person and it will be life-transforming!  Sign up today!

I got a kitten while Mark was out of town.  We needed some distraction from his absence and the girls thought this was a fabulous distraction!

I’ll blog again tomorrow more specifically, but September 24 is the EIGHT year anniversary of North Creek Church.  What a ride this has been!  So blessed, so very blessed….

Chris was out of town last week as well in Disneyland.  I was in charge for a whole week and didn’t even paint anything or tear down a wall.  I think I missed a golden opportunity!

Hazel Dell!  We need some people who will jump in to some exterior projects that we are still finishing up.  Do you like to stain decks?  How about yardwork?  Minor painting?  Email me at stacy@coffeechurch.com and we’ll get you hooked up to help out.

I also babysat for the staff kids at the youth group on Thursday in Battle Ground.  Both of our youth ministries need more babysitters…even if that’s only once a year, would you consider giving up two hours to help teenagers in our community?  Such a creative way to make a difference!

Go Seahawks!

Our church budget took a nosedive this summer and we would love your help to finish the year well.  Would you pray about what you can give to assist us as we continue to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus?  We could use about $15,000 to set us back on track.  We end on budget every year and we are believing God to help us continue that trend.  It’s a good idea for all of our budgets, isn’t it?!?!?! 😉

On another note, invite someone to church with you next week.  It’s going to be a wonderful Sunday as we are in our new series, Risky Business.  SO GOOD!

Thanks for being a part of North Creek!  We love being your pastors!

September 14 Coffee Church Highlights

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September 16, 2014
Inspiration
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It was a great Sunday at North Creek!

We love having people back from all of their summer vacations.  It’s like a big family reunion every weekend!  For those of you who are still finishing up your weekend getaways while the sun is still visiting us, we look forward to seeing you when the rain starts! 😉

Mark is in Brazil for a couple of weeks!  Today’s agenda said, “Visit a Leper Colony in Manaus.”  This is a strange difference from my agenda, which reads, “Clean out my pantry.”  Alas, it’s all important in the eyes of God!  Would you pray for Mark as he spends time with our missionaries and learns about how North Creek can better serve the world?  By the way, if you aren’t giving to missions every month, would you consider it?  We love giving money to people in other countries who are reaching people we would never be able to reach otherwise.

On that note, maybe this is the season to start giving in general?  I pray for a nation of Christians that are financially obedient and who truly understand God’s heart and blessing behind the mandate to tithe 10% of their income.  Statistically, people who give handle their finances better and have less debt!  If you think giving makes you poor, I challenge you to read the Bible and see what God says about that!

On another note, we dedicated baby Savannah at Hazel Dell!  We love our North Creek babies and take joy in celebrating their presence with us.  Congrats, Garners!

Josiah, Chris, and Jim all continued on with our Trueish sermon series.  I love it!  I’m a black and white person and I believe in right and wrong, so it’s fun to see what the Bible says about what is True.

Are you struggling with Bible reading?  Our fall growth groups start soon and they are all Bible studies with the book of Mark.  It’s going to be challenging, growth-producing, and eye-opening.  If you are ready to push yourselves and dive into the world of God, join a group.  Even if you’ve never read the Bible before, this is the perfect opportunity to change your life!  I’ll let you know when registration is open!

Well, God is good!  I hope you find opportunities this week to be Jesus to someone.  Buy someone’s lunch, mow a lawn, wash a car, visit a leper colony…whatever you find in front of you, devote it to God and watch Him use your efforts to change the world.

Be blessed!