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April 14 Coffee Church Highlights

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April 16, 2013
Inspiration, Ministry, Series
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WP_20130414_042What a fun day!!!!  We took part of our staff meeting to celebrate our Hazel Dell Children’s Pastor, Kim.  She began her first day of full time work with North Creek this week.  She was completely surprised as all of our staff kids threw her a carnival complete with games and candy.  It was such a nice break from the “normal” routine of life to watch our kids party and our team laughing!  Sometimes no business is the best kind of business!

We had a great sermon in all three churches on being truly Alive in Christ, which has been a phenomenal series from start to finish.  I think we forget the awesome freedom we have in Jesus to be free of our sins…not once, but for a lifetime!

We dedicated baby Kingston, with parents Marc and Amy, at Hazel Dell.  We can’t wait to see him grow up in his wonderful home, surrounded by people who will instill Christ’s love in his heart.

We had several new volunteers at Battle Ground this weekend as well!  We are appreciative as Battle Ground grew quickly and we have lots of babies and kids to take care of each weekend.  Such great problems to have!

WP_20130414_038We are investigating the Hazel Dell building with the potential of a longer term investment for the future.  Did you know that there is enough power in the building to run a Safeway with all of their freezers, fridges, and lights?  Good news in case we ever need a freezer section…  We’ll keep you updated on this process and let you know what we think.  That current building sits on 2 acres with over 16,000 sq ft. of building space in total.  With renovations and a great deal of paint, it would make a world of difference!

Really looking forward to our upcoming sermon series called Us.  It’s on relationships, but don’t let that stop you single people!  The best time to learn about how to have a good marriage is before you are actually in one.

We are doing baptisms at Hazel Dell on Sunday, so if you’re ready to get baptized, fill out the form HERE.  We love to celebrate life change at North Creek!

Make sure you take some time to Be Present in our community this week!  Find someone to bless and bring value to in your world!  Be blessed!!!!

 

April 7 Coffee Church Highlights

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April 8, 2013
Ministry
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Hope you enjoyed Spring Break!  It is officially over and we are off and running for the rest of the school year.  It was fun having my girls home for a week, but I enjoyed the solitude of my coffee this morning as well!

Welcome Home to our Deaf Church Missions team who had a great trip to Mexico. I’m pretty sure they had a remarkable time ministering to deaf kids, although I stopped listening to Pastor Jim after he said, “It was 80 degrees and sunny the whole time…”  Sigh.  Glad to have you and your tan home anyway!

We had several new volunteers learning the ropes with us yesterday!  It was SO amazing to have you and we are grateful that you are jumping in to help us lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus.

We dedicated Landon yesterday at Hazel Dell’s 11:00 am service.  He showed off nicely for the audience, but then got distracted by the shiny guitars.  His daddy is one of our bass players, so I guess it runs in his blood.  Congrats Marcus and Tasha!  We know you will be amazing parents to Linus and Landon!

Mark and Chris preached the same sermon yesterday on sin equating to death.  Super important perspective, so if you missed it, catch it online.  We had several people yesterday have some really deep moments with God as they shifted their thoughts about needing to be perfect before God will love you.

Hey…read your Bible.  It’s way better than any blog.

Simply Worship is tomorrow at Battle Ground and Wednesday in Vancouver.  If you’ve never been, I’m inviting you!  It’s a great opportunity to connect with Jesus and focus on His grace and mercy for an hour!  An hour with Jesus will change your life…guaranteed or your money back.  It’s a free event, so you can have your money back either way.  All the info is on the website at www.coffeechurch.com.

On another note, we are broken-hearted for Pastor Rick and Kay Warren at the passing of their son last Friday.  I grew up in a home with mental illness and there are few words to describe how it affects everyone in the family.  I think the Warren’s have been an amazing example of living in faith and perseverance for many decades.  This is not only a horrific loss, but also one that the Warren’s must face in front of the world.  I am grateful for a God who is big enough to give them all that they need to not only get through this, but use it for His glory.  Our hope is found in Christ alone.

And so begins another week filled with adventure and the providence of God.  Let’s all live as if we serve the King of all Kings.

 

 

 

Simply Worship

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April 4, 2013
Ministry
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Picture 5Next week we have our Simply Worship event at both campuses.  Jot it down on your calendar so you don’t miss it!

One mistake we all make is not scheduling time in our busy lives to stop and listen to God.  It is truly a discipline that requires effort.

The job, the kids, the house, the yard, the sports events…it all gets in the way of taking time to pray, listen, worship, and breathe!  I know in my own life, I am a better mom, wife, and friend when I have spent time with Jesus in prayer, worship, and Bible reading.  It take the crazy out of my world and replaces it with the peace of God.

At our Simply Worship nights we do very little programming in an effort to allow you to just BE in the presence of God.  So, sing if you want to, sit down and pray if you want to, read your Bible if you want to.  But let’s all, as a church, come together and allow God to fill us up with who He is!  We never leave His presence disappointed!

We’ll see you Tuesday at the Battle Ground Campus or Wednesday in Vancouver!  Looking forward to it!

A Promise Fulfilled

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March 28, 2013
History, Inspiration, Ministry, Team
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IMG_3292Seven years ago we met Kim Goodrich.  She was helping with kids at the church we were at and got wind that we were starting North Creek just a block from where she lived.  She had expressed interest in being a part and we were pretty excited to add someone to our small band of brave people embarking on a crazy journey.

At first glance all those years ago, we weren’t even sure what to make of Kim.  She’s a relentless go-getter and as feisty as a trapped cat.  However, we quickly realized that she’s smart as can be, kind to her core, has an unwavering determination, and will never let the world get her down.  In other words, she was made to start a church.

Through a series of events that we would never have expected or foreseen, God made it clear that our first Children’s Pastor was this very unexpected surprise sitting in our midst.  So, with a bit of trepidation, we brought a Pepsi (her favorite drink) to the office and asked if she could come for a visit.  We slid the Pepsi across the desk and asked her to take the job with a paycheck of $100 a month.  She said yes.

Over the last seven years she has literally bled, sweated, and cried for the mission of this church.  She’s taught the Bible, baptized kids, and loved them through elementary school turmoil.  On top of it all, she took on the task of being our bookkeeper for the first six years of our existence.

We vowed that we would someday pay her full time.

Five years ago we all went on a devastating journey with her as her husband was suddenly diagnosed with MS.  Kim, mother of two elementary kids, was faced with the impossible task of a daunting medical situation, needing a full time job to support her family, and helping her children understand this new reality.  And to make matters worse, we were in no position to hire anyone full time.  So, we watched as she navigated her life outside of the walls of North Creek.  We cried with her on her first day of work.

But a promise is a promise…sometimes with a slightly different timeline than we could ever script.

With Wayne’s resignation last month we were faced with the fact that we needed someone to keep our finances afloat….and we had just the peg for that round hole!  So, it is with great joy that we are officially announcing that Kim has been hired full time as both our Children’s Pastor at Hazel Dell and our Financial/Administrative person for all three campuses and the Learning Center.  Yes, it’s a big job, but trust me, Kim will fill it well!

Kim – Thanks for sticking through this dream with us.  We are humbled by your heart and inspired by your perseverance.  We are grateful that you have loved our kids for seven years and look forward to many, many more.  Let’s change the world!

March 24 Coffee Church Highlights

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March 25, 2013
Inspiration, Ministry
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It’s Spring!  I love the sunshine pouring in and the blooming flowers.  It’s a new season, both in the weather and at North Creek.  So many exciting things in store!

Yesterday was “Leave a Mark” Sunday where we asked for volunteers in all three hearing services and the deaf service.  Let me tell you…we are humbled and amazed at your hearts.  We have always been blessed with lots of volunteers, but we are growing, so we feel like we are constantly asking for more!  Coffee Church problems!  We were thrilled yesterday to add 20+ volunteers in the hearing services and the deaf church blew us out of the water!

If you didn’t sign up to volunteer and you want to, go to www.coffeechurch.com and find the volunteer application under the resources tab.  We can use at least one person more in every area, but some main ones we are trying to overload due to excessive growth are: Battle Ground Nursery, Kid City, Tiny Town, and Checkin.  Also Battle Ground media and sound each need one more ASAP.  Hazel Dell needs Kid City and 9:30 am Tiny Town.

We had more guys ask about maintenance than I can count.  That’s a good thing because we have a long and ugly maintenance list!  We look forward to our guys bonding together over hammers and duct tape.  Well, duct tape is how I fix my problems.  Maybe they will come up with a better plan…and no, I did not sign up for the maintenance team.

Why do we want to overload our volunteer schedule?  We want another campus and our systems must be strong before we get there!  Too many people in our community need Jesus to stop now!

We can’t wait for Easter!  Six days!!!!

The Learning Center is open for registration!  If you need a great preschool for your little one, check it out at coffeechurch.com.  It’s going to be a pretty amazing year and I’ve loved hearing all the details unfold.  Amazing changes ahead!

We all have a limited perspective of who walks among us at church every Sunday.  The stories in the room are inspiring.  Take some time and ask people how Jesus changed your life.  Your walk with God will never be dry again because you will see His hand everywhere.  It’s the beauty of the Church!

Our team makes me laugh.  They stuffed Easter gifts yesterday at our staff meeting.  Sometimes we lead a large, multisite organization with a preschool and a deaf church.  Sometimes we put eggs in bags.  And in the end, it’s all important to somebody!

Matt, Alissa, Jordan, and Emily sure do a great job leading worship, don’t they?  We consider ourselves blessed with a team of worshippers who also happen to be talented.  Here’s to watching God use them in amazing ways!

We served free lattes at Battle Ground yesterday to get our systems going for the new espresso bar there.  We’ll be doing that some more in the month to come because now we have more baristas to train!  It’s also our evil scheme to get you there earlier…and it works.

Small groups are closing up this week!  It’s been a great semester.  We’ll be starting them again in about a month, so stay tuned.

Enjoy your week!  See you on Easter!