I’m still loving our current summer series, Age of Kings!  I am enjoying reliving the stories of the different kings in the Bible and how they weave into our lives today.  Chris spoke on Ahab from the Old Testament at Hazel Dell and Matt Bumala spoke on Herod from the New Testament at Battle Ground.

Pray for our Deaf Church as they are at camp this week!

We took our staff out for Snow Cones on Sunday for staff meeting.  I’m not sure that is the group of people that need a sugar boost right before they need to sit down and accomplish things…Just in case you were wondering, Pina Coloda is the BEST flavor.

A young man accepted Christ on Sunday.  One of our other young men had invited him because he’s in a pretty desperate place in his life right now.  God meets desperate people!  When was the last time you were desperate to meet with Jesus?

Speaking of meeting with Jesus, www.youversion.com can help you start a Bible reading plan.  It’s a great resource to kick off your spiritual growth.

If you attend North Creek and aren’t tithing, my challenge to you is to try it for six months.  I believe that you will be blessed by giving and holding on to your money so tightly is holding you back.

Here’s part of what will happen when you give to North Creek: We’ll have a thriving Youth Ministry in Battle Ground and a better home for our Hazel Dell Campus.  These are our limitations at each campus currently and our budget is tighter than a hipster’s skinny jeans.

By the way, the Battle Ground campus is looking SHARP!  Thank you to everybody who has painted, weeded, thrown out trash, raked, and planted to make it look great.

KidCity is in the middle of a competition between the boys and the girls to see who can give more to missions.  That means my kids are making me do a ton of work to have a garage sale…how can I say no to that???  Here’s a hint if you’d like to help North Creek kids out: the girls outnumber the boys in our church 3 to 1.  If you are a fan of the underdogs in life, hand cash to a K-5th grade boy.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE our volunteers?  We have dedicated and amazing people who pour into our church and community ALL the time.  I love your hearts, your smiles, and your partnership!  YOU are making a difference!

We start collecting school supplies this week for various Clark County schools.  As you are shopping, please pick up some extras to share with needy kids!  High needs items are: Crayola (Battle Ground schools only allow Crayola) broad & thin markers and Crayola colored pencils, book covers, Elmer’s glue sticks, self-contained pencil sharpeners, and cash to offset various needs.

Have a great and really hot week!  Be blessed!

We started our July series Age of Kings and I couldn’t be more excited!  It’s a bit of a history lesson and a Bible lesson all wrapped in one, so it’s a great way to understand the framework of the Bible better.  Josiah preached on King Josiah (very fitting!) at Hazel Dell and Jim preached on King Hezekiah at Battle Ground.

We are blessed with lots of talented speakers at North Creek and in July we showcase many of them.  It makes for an interesting and diverse summer!  I don’t want to miss one!

A year ago this weekend we had three babies born within three days.  So surreal to see them all walking around now with hilarious personalities to match!  I appreciate all of our young families so much because I know what kind of commitment it takes to get everybody out the door on a Sunday!  On the flip side, I also see them developing friendship amongst each other that will last a lifetime.

I hope you had a great 4th of July!  We crammed in two wonderful parties on the same day and ate our way through the afternoon and evening.

I asked 30 different people this weekend to spell Jehoshaphat…no one got it right.  I’m preaching next week at Hazel Dell on this fabulous character, so come and hear about his story even if you can’t spell his name.

We are taking on some painting projects at the Battle Ground campus on Tuesday from 9:30-4:30.  If you’d like to help, we’d love to have you any time!

One of my favorite moments on Sunday was greeting a 3 year old girl at the door.  I told her I liked her dress to which she promptly lifted it up to her chin and said, “I have shorts on underneath so when I do this, you can’t see my panties!”  Best greeting ever!  That being said, do not, under any circumstance, greet me like that if you aren’t three.

Church life is so much fun!  It’s the ups and downs of a family and I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

We are in need of sound and media personnel at Battle Ground.  You can fill out a volunteer form HERE to get involved.  We provide all of the training, so if you are interested, we’d love to have you!

Also, we are overstocking our Kid’s Checkin and Tiny Town Assistants at Hazel Dell in preparation for our Kid’s Coordinator being out for her new baby.  If you’d like to do one of those ministries, click the link above and we’ll get you signed up, too.

Who are you praying for that needs to know Jesus as their Savior?  If you email me at stacy@coffeechurch.com, I’ll pray for them, too.

Be blessed!

WHOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  That’s how I felt about Sunday!  We had our Annual Baptisms and Brunch at the park where we celebrated with seven people who were being baptized.  There is just nothing better than stories of changed lives!

Congrats to Kari, Bradley, Daniel, Grace, Garrett, Britney, and Madyson on your commitment to follow Jesus!  We are so excited for you and can’t wait to watch all that God unfolds in your life.  Serving Jesus is the best adventure ever!  Not always easy, but always worth it.

I also love the atmosphere of the park and having all of our campuses together once a year.  It is great to hang out and meet new people!

Our upcoming series is one of my favorites!  It’s called Age of Kings and we do a round-robin of preachers all month.  We’ll be pulling out some of our staff to share with you about different Kings in the Bible.  They are truly some epic, life-altering stories about leaders throughout the Bible.  You will enjoy July at North Creek Church!

Did you know we grow during the summer months?  We have some of our highest number of visitors in our summer months.  It’s a great time to invite a friend!  You can also help us by coming 15 minutes earlier than you normally do and meeting some people.  That would be one of the best gifts you could give to your church!  It is our agenda to create a church culture that looks a lot like how Jesus welcomed people into His life.

We are neck deep in conversations and interviews for our Battle Ground youth pastor.  Two things you can do to help this along:  Pray for the teenagers of Battle Ground and give money to birth this vision.  Youth ministries are expensive all the way around.  That being said, they are equally worth every penny in the changed lives that come from that ministry.

Speaking of teenagers, our youth just got back from camp (see mud-filled picture!) and had a truly incredible time.  God spoke to their hearts and lives all week.  Some learned to read their Bibles, some heard from God about their futures, and all built relationships that are important.  THANK YOU to all of you who gave to scholarships to help us get all of those teens there.  We will see the fruit of that for decades to come!

I hope you are inspired to give.  As I sit in our staff meetings, I am flooded with the reality that we have more vision than provision.  We are so excited to go after the future and the only thing that limits us is finances.  Isn’t that an earth shattering reality for the Kingdom of God?  More people would experience our ministries and the life-changing move of God if we gave as we are instructed to.  Let’s do it!

Be blessed this week!  God has great plans for your life.  Hold on to that!