EasterLulia!

This past Sunday was the seventh public weekend for Coastland. For those who follow such things as the trends of new launches, one wouldn’t expect much momentum on a traditionally churchy weekend at a newish church.  The fact is that it usually isn’t until the third year or beyond that a place experiences larger services on traditional weekends.

Surprisingly or not, we in fact had huge numbers.  People brought their friends, family, neighbors, etc. and a great time was had by all.

We finished up a series this past week dealing with overcoming the powers that keep us stuck… When we face shortages, or suspected shortages, we naturally hoard what little we have.  The way out of such a bind is give what we have in hand.

We pooled our funds, in a combined act of overcoming the fear of not enough, and gave strongly to a new outward-aimed church in the area: an Ethiopian church near downtown Tampa. I’m not clear on the amount that was given but it was significant in light of our typical weekly offering.  People love to be generous - as long as it really gets to where change is going to make a difference. 

There was a hush in the room as the offering was taken. It was a still but awesome moment.

One guy who was there for the first time told me he began to tear up as he drove near our location. He saw our signs pointing him toward our location and he began to grow in anticipation in a way that was unexplainable. He was more or less without words throughout the morning.