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October 20 Coffee Church Highlights

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October 22, 2013
Inspiration, Ministry
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What a jammed-packed full weekend it was!  So much to highlight this week!

Mark and Jim preached on prayer at Battle Ground on Sunday.  It was a great reminder of the power that talking to Jesus about our hopes, dreams, and needs provides for us.

Chris spoke on the Holy Spirit at Hazel Dell, which was a wonderful description of what can be a confusing topic.  Sometimes we complicate the Bible even more than we need to!  When you break down what the Scriptures actually say, you can find a great deal of clarity for yourself.  Yet another great reason to read the Bible!

Did you know that if we preached one chapter of the Bible every week it would take 23 years for you to learn about all of the chapters…IF you never missed a Sunday?  Yeah.  So, if you aren’t reading the Bible on your own, we are in trouble!

We also had a chance to go and look at the potential new building for the Hazel Dell campus.  So far we have gotten some great feedback.  All of the responses we got were “Yes” or “Maybe”.  The “Maybes” were based on some concerns that are very valid, such as appropriate wheelchair access and the size of the auditorium.  The good news is that we have researched enough so far to have a pretty good solution to all of the problems that were noted.   We are scheduling a Question/Answer/Financial Info meeting next Sunday night from 5:00-6:00 pm at the Hazel Dell campus.  We will have stats, pictures, and info, as well as an opportunity for you just to ask any clarifying questions you might have.

We apologize to those who came and the doors were locked already for the Open House.  I’m not sure how to explain that other than to say that there are a lot of players (with a lot of different perspectives) in the game and sometimes that makes the game challenging.  Despite any challenges, we will continue to do our best to provide this congregation with the tools and information that you need to make a great decision for the future of North Creek Church.  Good plan, huh?

There’s lots of excitement about the upcoming concert on November 5 at our church (see previous post).  I’m excited about the music, but I’m MOST excited that ALL the proceeds go to support Charity Water.  They provide clean drinking water all around the world.  Sometimes I try and think about how desperate I would feel if my kids didn’t have clean water…honestly, I start tearing up a bit and pulling out my checkbook.  Bottom line: I have too much and those in poverty have too little.  Remember that when I try and sell you a $50 cup of drip coffee at the concession stand.  Just kidding.  Maybe.  You can buy your ticket online through this Facebook Event LINK.

Also, if you are interested in decorating for Christmas, would you email me at stacy@coffeechurch.com?  We have “normal” decorating needs and then we always have “abnormal” needs, like people who are good with hammers and reclaimed lumber.  Maybe a chainsaw.  Yeah…

There are miracles in the house every Sunday.  I look around the room and just can’t believe all that God is doing.  What is He doing in your life?  I’d love to hear all about it!

Hey, if you want to get baptized, you can find the form at www.coffeechurch.com.  That’s how you can let the world know that Jesus is still doing miracles!  We are ready for you ANY Sunday!

Be blessed!

 

 

Countdown to Year Seven: Double Blessings

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September 27, 2013
History, Inspiration, Ministry
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We are in the midst of celebrating our 7th year anniversary as North Creek Church!  Over the last week, I have been sharing highlights from this incredible journey.  Here’s the next chapter in our story…

After we moved into the old nightclub, we had a fairly calm next three years.  We worked on our systems, continued to grow, and established ourselves as a church.  At about the four year mark, we noticed that God was bringing more quality leaders into our midst, but we didn’t necessarily NEED them at the time.  Because we don’t fill our staff table out of need, we just began to listen to God and ask certain people to come to our staff meetings without a job or a title.  It seemed strange at first, but a year later, it all became very clear when we had a divine opportunity to add another campus to North Creek Church.

IBattle Ground launchn January 2012 we began the process of merging with a declining church in Battle Ground to create that second campus.  We were about to become a church plant-multisite-turnaround-merger church.  If you are wondering who to ask for advice in that particular situation, let me tell you that it’s complicated.  Once again, we were setting off into a new realm of ministry with a whole lot of faith, very little experience, and as much advice as we could get.

Over the next year we would learn a lot about things like a multisite church structure, about what makes a church decline in the first place, and about how to divide a very tight team in half but maintain unity.  We would wrestle with systems, mentalities, and our own leadership limitations.  We would have one difficult conversation after another and resolve to fight for the culture we believed in.  We would watch our team stretch past their own weaknesses and we would navigate through all of their (and our) insecurities.  In the midst of that we would watch the people from the merger church acclimate to a new leadership team, a new direction, and we would watch helplessly knowing that we were intentionally creating a completely different church.  I will admit that there were the darkest days of North Creek mixed in that year for us.  We were torn at every turn with a deep love for all of our people, but a deeper love for the mission of God.  There were so many moments when we wondered what to do next.

WIMG1401hat do you do when you don’t know what to do?  Simple…do the last thing God told you and don’t waver.  So, that’s what we did.  We held to the vision that God had given us to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus by creating a church that unchurched people want to go to.  We poured ourselves into getting Battle Ground molded into the vision that God had given us for North Creek.  And then we watched as God flooded the doors with families, stories, and changed lives.  We watched as our team began to thrive and our people began to LOVE their church.  We watched as the volunteer schedule began to fill up and ministries began to have solidarity.  We watched it work.

Even as I type this, we are still writing this story.  We still have a youth ministry to launch, more volunteers to train, and a deeper leadership structure to establish.  All that being true, I am so amazed at North Creek Battle Ground.  It is a constant reminder in my life that this thing that God has asked us to do is bigger than me.  It’s bigger than Mark.  It’s bigger than the sum of all it’s people.

It is God’s holy, amazing Bride and His one and only plan to reach the world.

 

To Be Continued

 

September 1 Coffee Church Highlights

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September 3, 2013
Inspiration, Ministry
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School is starting and summer is closing out!  I hope that your kids have a great year and make a difference in their schools with the love of Jesus!

We expected a lot of people to be gone over the Labor Day weekend, but that wasn’t the case at all.  We continue to be growing and look forward to a strong fall!  Invite someone to enjoy our community at the Coffee Church!

Vision+Volunteers 720p copyWe are having a Vision and Volunteer night for all of our Volunteers coming in 10 days.  It’s going to be the hot place to be on September 13.  Want an invite?  Sign up to volunteer at www.coffeechurch.com because we want you on our list!  Some of us are even dressing up to prove that we own something other than jeans.  I love my jeans…

Our series, Platform, is nearing the end of it’s run.  It’s been a great look at the fact that our lives are the platform Jesus uses to bless people day in and day out.  Nothing is too little or too insignificant to be used by God in amazing ways.

Baby Savannah came to visit on Sunday!  She is our newest member and daughter of Matt and Andrea Garner.  She’s a beauty!

I was in the nursery for a service this weekend at Hazel Dell.  It is the best place to serve!  I watched the service while I rocked a baby in my comfy chair.  I love ministry that seems a lot like relaxing!  We need nursery workers at Battle Ground, so if you’re looking for a place to serve, that’s a pretty sweet deal!

The Deaf Church had a great youth event on Friday night in Portland!  Would you take some time and pray for those teenagers who have a heart to reach people for Jesus?

It was Chris Harold’s birthday yesterday!  Happy Birthday, Chris!  We love partnering with you at North Creek Church!

We are just a few weeks away from celebrating seven years as a church.  I seriously can’t believe it!  It seems like just yesterday we were loading up a van for the first time as a mobile church.  It has been the best adventure of our lives and we wouldn’t trade it for anything!

Have you liked us on Facebook, yet?  Click this LINK to like our page and stay updated!

I hope you enjoy your week – especially those of you mothers who will put your babies on a bus and enjoy a few minutes of quiet!

 

 

August 25 Coffee Church Highlights

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August 28, 2013
Inspiration, Ministry, Team
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Ministry is so much fun!  I love Jesus, I love serving in His Church, I love watching life-change…

We have grown a lot this summer and in some really interesting ways!  As usual we’ve gotten some great families, but even more exciting for me is an influx of elderly people at our 11:00 am Hazel Dell service.  Church plants are not usually known for multi-generational strength, so to see this area flourish is exciting!  I love the wisdom, prayerfulness, and warmth that the elderly add to a church.  I want my kids having a lot of older people telling them how to live life and honor Jesus!  If you are over 70, the Coffee Church is for you, too!

Matt and Andrea Garner had baby Savannah yesterday!  She was supposed to be born next Sunday, but we were sure glad to meet her early!  They are doing well and looking forward to introducing you to their new daughter soon.  You can help with meals HERE.

Our youth ministry is NOT meeting on campus this Thursday.  They have their Back-to-School BBQ and Bridgetown Homeless Outreach.  If you need more info, email Kris at kris@coffeechurch.com.  Also email her if you’d like to impact a generation by volunteering at youth!

Mark your calendars for our Vision and Volunteers night on September 13.  It is going to be a night to HONOR all of the people who make North Creek Church happen every day!  If you are not yet volunteering, you can sign up right now and still be invited to the fun!  It’s a great segway into our volunteer team and an awesome opportunity to meet people as well.  You can sign up HERE.

Thank you to those of you who gave extra this month to help our summer budget.  It’s always tight over the summer months and we appreciate your tithes to help us do quality ministry every day of the week!  We are still short overall for the summer, but have made budget in August and can now do some catch up for the fall.  You can give online at www.coffeechurch.com if you’d like to help us this month!

FYI:  I will not be blogging about Miley Cyrus.  What I will say is that we have a great youth group that teaches sexual morality, abstinence, and honoring God with our bodies.  My daughters will be going there faithfully and hearing something far different than what the media has to say.  There is another voice and it is our job as parents to flood the Word of God into our children’s hearts and minds.  Don’t watch the VMA’s.  Read your Bible.  Get your kids to church.  Stop letting the world win our children.  Jesus changes everything.

We had a guest at our staff table and she Facebooked the best comment: “Ever sat in a room of people who are so creative it invokes a “fight or flight” reaction? I did today and it was terrifying and electrifying at the same time. Can’t wait for our church staff meeting next week.”  I keep telling our team not to be so overwhelming, but I don’t think they can hear me over all of the talking and laughing…. 😉  Love them all!

For those of you who have gone back to school, use your love for Jesus to change someone’s day.  For those of you who haven’t gone back yet, enjoy your last few days of summer!

Be blessed!

 

 

 

August 18 Coffee Church Highlights

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August 21, 2013
Inspiration, Ministry
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I’m late this week with my highlights, but I have a great reason…I’m in GORGEOUS Montana having a family vacation.  For those of you who don’t know it, I am a born-and-raised Montana girl.  Yesterday we went to Glacier National Park, which is about 30 minutes from where I grew up.  Mark snapped this shot from the top of Going to the Sun Road.  Not bad, huh?

glacier1

Back to my Sunday highlights!  It was a REALLY amazing Sunday!

I ended up visiting the Battle Ground campus.  I haven’t been there in a little while, and it was so incredible to see the change and growth in that campus.  There is a lot of momentum and excitement for community there.  I walked down the hall and multiple people asked me how they can sign up to volunteer.  There were new people and families everywhere. It was an out-of-body experience!

Meanwhile, I got texts from Mark throughout the morning updating me on Hazel Dell.  The 11:00 am was packed, lots of new guests, worship was awesome… Equal momentum coming from Hazel Dell!

Then I got the update from the Deaf Church…high attendance, new family connected, quality ministry for the morning…All three campuses firing on all cylinders and seeing God work in people’s lives!  It has been a process over the last year and a half since we merged with another church in Battle Ground, but we are seeing the fruit of persistence paying off.  Can’t wait for the fall!

I forgot to give a shot out to Kari and Terrance last week!  They come early to help babysit and set up a couple of times a month and it’s such a blessing!  Terrance has taken the title of Chair Jedi-Master, as my husband is pretty particular about the chair set up.  Terrance is a star!  I love our volunteers.

Both of our kid’s pastors, Vanessa and Kim, were giddy about their ministry on Sunday, too.  We are raising up some GREAT kids who love Jesus and His House!

The youth arrived home on Sunday night after their Rural Community Missions Trip.  They were exhausted from giving it there all, but God did incredible things in and through them as they served their guts out.  Tired teenagers who poured their lives out for others are blessed teenagers!  Way to go!!!

Speaking of teenagers, we are on our way towards an incredible team of youth leaders for the Battle Ground campus.  I know we have not made any announcement formally yet, but we are in the process of conversations, watching God’s story unfold, and planning.  We’ll be rolling out that plan…in God’s perfect timing…soon!  I’m pretty excited!

Financially it’s been a tight summer…that’s pretty typical, but we don’t want to go into fall trying to catch up.  If you are able to help us, we could use an extra $10,000 to start us off of the right foot for September.  You can give online HERE.  We appreciate your financial support of our ministry and do our best to use those funds to minister to as many people as possible!

If you’d like to get baptized, we’ll fill the hot tub any Sunday.  You can sign up online at www.coffeechurch.com.  We LOVE to celebrate with those of you who are experiencing Jesus’ life change in your heart!

Here’s some dates to put on your calendar.  More info will be coming!

September 13 – Vision and Volunteers Night…it’s a night to honor our new and previous volunteers.  We want you there!

September 15 – Small Group Signup Opens

September 17 – Simply Worship Hazel Dell

September 24 – Simply Worship Battle Ground

September 29 – Small Groups begin this week!

So many things going on and so many blessings from Jesus!  Take that blessing and spread it around!  See you when we get back from relaxing all week!!