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Packed the weekend with fun things!

Friday night I had a bunch of ladies over for a game night.  So much fun to just hang out, play games, eat lots of yummy food with women I love and appreciate!  If you want on that invite list, sign up on our small groups link at www.coffeechurch.com under Rebecca’s group.  You’ll get an email once a month about an upcoming activity that you can attend if you are available!

Sunday went well!  I jumped over to Battle Ground for service and always love being on that campus.  I hung out with Jessica and taught 14 Tiny Town preschoolers.  It was a full class, but they did SO well.  God so evidently works in the hearts of children and it is a joy to watch!

We had our Annual Business Meeting on Sunday.  True to our nature, we don’t do the typical business meeting, but rather use it as an opportunity to hear from some of our staff about how their ministry is succeeding.  We do some of the “normal” stuff of talking about statistics and money, but our bottom line is always the same: how are we leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus?  That’s the question we strive to answer each year at our annual meeting.

Yesterday we had one of our staff member preaching in Ridgefield to fill in, we had one at a church in Hoquiam watching her daughter speak, we had one training sound techs in Oregon, and we had our own two campuses running as well.  We were spread out all over the place!!!

I’m memorizing James 5…it was hard to start, but I’m making great progress.  Everything in life worth doing takes work, so don’t get discouraged!  Keep trying!

I’m enjoying our small group and getting to know some new people in our lives.  It is always a blessing to open our home and dive into friendships.  It’s also a blessing to eat cake and banana bread!

One of the main focuses of our church is to spread out the work amongst the many!  Do you know that we have over 150 volunteers just in the hearing church?  That’s over half of our people who serve once a month, or in the youth group, or in help during the week.  What’s crazy about that is that we still don’t have enough help!  We have multiple people serving twice to cover the gaps.  Wouldn’t it be awesome to get all of the bases covered?  If you want to begin to volunteer, you can sign up at www.coffeechurch.com.

Here’s my challenge for you this week: Do the RIGHT thing.  Even if it’s hard.  That’s what we are challenging ourselves to do in our small group.  It’s quite the challenge, but if you consistently do the right thing, you really do open yourself up to a life of blessing and peace.  WORTH IT!

Congrats to Terrance and Gina who were both baptized this weekend at the Hazel Dell Campus!  So amazing to hear their stories and see the change that Jesus is done in their lives!  My favorite part is that neither of them who say they have it all together and that is exactly what baptism is…a declaration of a dependence on God, not an arrival at perfection.  Any time you are ready to make that declaration, sign up to be baptized at www.coffeechurch.com.  We’ll fill the hot tub and make it happen!  Pictures coming soon!!

I got to introduce Lorraine, 94 years old, and Loretta, 91 years old, to each other on Sunday.  Both of them attend our church with their grandkids…isn’t that SO cool?  God changes lives and hearts and that impacts GENERATIONS!  As the first Christian in my family, it is not lost on me that my grandkids will be different because of my decision to follow Jesus.

The 3-5th Grade boys had a Nerf Gun War Party after church on Sunday.  Awesome young men!!!!

We are looking forward to next Sunday for our Annual Celebration Meeting.  It’s a great time to get to hear about all that God is doing at our church!  We are meeting at Hazel Dell at 4:00 pm and Battle Ground at 7:00 pm.  You are welcome to attend either campus (or both!) as the information will be the same, although campus specific staff will be sharing at their campus only (ie, Kim will share about Kid City at HD and Vanessa at BG).  Everyone will be sharing on behalf of the church as a whole!  We’ve had a couple of people ask why we don’t have one meeting.  Short answer:  we don’t fit in one building at one time.  That’s a good problem!  This solution of two meetings also alleviates some drive time for most people, which is a good deal!

If you have a preschool age student, we will be opening registration for the North Creek Learning Center on March 1.  This week day preschool is located at our Battle Ground location and has been an asset to the community for 17 years.  We look forward to continuing on with the legacy passed along to us!  More info to come soon!

titleAs a church the challenge has been set before us to memorize a chapter in the book of James…are you up for it?  I took on chapter 5…if you choose that chapter, start in the middle and work backwards.  The first few verses are a tongue twister and it’s discouraging!  It’s easier to get some success under your belt and then tackle the rest.  Here’s a good life lesson: do hard things.  it’s worth the work!  The easy way will probably not help you to grow and become all that God has for you!  P.S.  Our Kid’s pastors are encouraging all the K-5th graders to memorize James 1.  I’m pretty confident that the kids will be amazing at it!!!

I love how Jesus changes lives!

I hope that this week brings about a new resolve in your heart to be unstoppable for Him.  Be blessed!

 

 

I’m a bit late this week!  We’ve got a lot of plates spinning right now, so it’s a litte crazy!  We had a great weekend though!

photoCheck out this picture of one of our miracle babies in our Coffee Church cup.  Hanaye was born to Will and Sarah in December at just 4 pounds.  God has truly filled their cup to overflowing!

Congrats to Wayne and Jenny who celebrated 20 years of pastoring in Battle Ground last weekend.  That’s an awesome investment into a community!

Also congrats to Matt and Andrea who’ve been at North Creek for two years.  You are welcome to follow in Wayne and Jenny’s footsteps and stay for at least another 18 years!

Small Groups opened and are filling up!  You can sign up today at www.coffeechurch.com.   Our groups start next week.  By the way, our youth pastor, Kris Gray, will be hanging out with adults in Mike and Alecia’s group on Friday nights.  It’s a great opportunity to get to know her, because if a teenager is around, she might be paying WAY more attention to them.  If you want to be in a group that is full, email me at stacy@coffeechurch.com and I’ll get you on a waiting list.  Sometimes people who sign up can’t attend and we like to fill in empty seats!

We are working hard on relaunching the North Creek Learning Center, which is currently our preschool in Battle Ground.  We have lots of exciting announcements coming up about that, but if you have a 3 or 4 year old (as of this fall), we have an amazing year planned for them!  Stay tuned as Registration Packets will be out in February.

The lights out at the Super Bowl made every pastor I know feel MUCH better about the technical difficulties that happen on Sunday mornings…

We are baptizing at Hazel Dell this Sunday and Feb. 17th as well.  We’ll also be doing it at Battle Ground on Feb. 24.  You can register to get dunked at www.coffeechurch.com.  If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ and a desire to follow Him, it’s time to do that!

Services on Sunday were awesome!  We are talking about MONEY!  I love this subject because I believe that if we think correctly about money, we save marriages, we prevent stress, and we change the world.  A great vision is only limited by the generosity of others.  Don’t believe me?  Try leading something that has the capacity to change the world and do it without finances.

Loved this Facebook post:  Giving blood tomorrow in honor of being present, want to know more about that check out coffeechurch.com.

I got to lead a small group of 4th and 5th graders in KidCity on Sunday.  The topic was how to handle temptation…great conversation for kids entering junior high right around the corner!  I am so glad to be a part of a church where adults will look into my child’s eyes and talk about the choices they are making from a Biblical standpoint.

Did I mention you should sign up for a small group?  Yeah, do that now! Be blessed!

 

Super weekend!  I love our church, I love our team, I love watching God change lives!

Mark preached Full Circle at Hazel Dell.  Lots of laughter and tears as we walked through all that God has done for us in 2012.  It was an unbelievable year for both the church as an organization and individual lives within our congregation.

Chris started our next series at Battle Ground called Making Change.  We are excited to walk through how we think about money as Christians.  It is one of our values to have people healthy in their financial situation.  We want you saving, giving, planning for the future, and relaxing about having a balanced picture of your financial stability.  There is freedom in the Bible in this area!

My daughter’s best friend came to visit our church this Sunday.  Delaney was at the front door jumping up and down SO excited for her friend to come in!  They had a great time in Kid’s Church and then went out for a date afterwards.  Thanks for coming, Laurie!

We have a lot of teenagers serving in our Kid’s classes.  What an amazing blessing our youth are to our church!  If you are a teen and would like to serve, fill out a volunteer application at www.coffeechurch.com and we’ll get you signed up.

One of our kids want to make giving Kid’s Bibles away her new ministry.  Seriously, that’s a cool kid!  She’s planning on buying the Bibles herself, but if you want to donate to her ministry to help her buy Bibles for children without a Bible, mark your giving envelope and we’ll make sure it happens.  The heart of a child….

We have so many things happening in our church right now!  We are excited about some upcoming announcements that we have for you!  Good God, good stuff!

Our worship team is rolling out some new songs this month.  We continue to be blessed by their amazing leadership and very much appreciate each person who serves on the team!

Is it July, yet?????  I’m so done with the cold.  Did I mention I’m from Montana where it’s 30 degrees colder?  I’m a baby.

Grandma Dix turned 94 on Sunday.  I love her!  She challenges me all the time in her attitude of growth and appreciation of her faith.  I hope I’m still excited to grow when I’m 94.

Love this Facebook quote: “I love my church. It constantly inspires and challenges me to grow in faith in ways I never imagined I could or would. Today was no exception. 2013 will be our year of miracles.”

If God tells you to say something to someone, do it.

A shout out to our new volunteers!  We had several on Sunday and we are blessed to include you on our team.  Thank you for serving!

Lots of questions about when small groups start…And the answer is the week of Feb. 11, so signups will be out soon!  Small groups are a great way to get to know people in our community.  Jump in!

Have a great week!

 

 

 

Well, my first highlight is that North Creek went REALLY multisite yesterday as we met in hundreds of home all over Clark County!  We cancel our regular services on the last Sunday of the year and encourage people to BE the church to their family, neighbors, and friends.  It’s awesome!

One of the best parts of cancelling our services is to give our team a break.  Most of our team volunteers or works for small stipends week in and week out.  Although we let them have Sundays off regularly, they are still wired to plan, think, and wonder how their ministry is going when they are gone.  There is something so refreshing about knowing that everything is on hold and they can decompress for a week.  Rest is spiritual!

Several babies to celebrate!  Tatiana (from Battle Ground) had a baby girl last month and I think it never made it to my blog!  Also, this week at Hazel Dell, Chrystal and Rene Arellano had Royce on December 26.  Just a day later on December 27, Sarah and Will Sherland met their own little girl, Hanaye.  Someone asked me how many babies North Creek grew by this year….I really don’t know as I lost count.  It’s over a dozen and we are considering buying all of our nursery workers new cars in deep appreciation for their ministry!

We prayed for miracles and what is more miraculous than a baby?  On that note, I have several ladies on my prayer list who want to get pregnant.  My prayer is that God will give them the desires of their heart!

Mark and I were in Montana all week.  Something happens when you spend time away.  It clears your head, gives you the ability to pray, think, and dream  We are ready for 2013!

While in Montana, we got to hang out with one of my long-time friends, Jenny Woods.  She’s the author of my guest blog a few days ago.  We were friends in high school, roommates in college, and now we are both in ministry.  I am grateful for her ear and friendship!

We also hung out with Kevin Geer, whom I wrote a blog to a few weeks ago.  He recently became the lead pastor at the church I went to as a teenager.  He will do great things for God there!  I am excited to watch his new adventure unfold!

My email exploded while I was on vacation.  My new year’s resolution is to empty my inbox by the year 2014…

We are addicted to starting and restarting churches.  Lives are changed all around us everyday and there is no greater joy than being a part of Jesus’ first love, the Church.  Let’s do this!

Enjoy your last moments of 2012!  It may have been a difficult year or one filled with blessing.  Either way, Jesus is in the midst of it and if you will put your faith in Him, He will work all things out for good.

Be blessed!