Pastor's Weekly Update

Dear Friends,
 

    What a crazy week and weekend with the Boat Show in town.  The intracoastal waterway was slammed packed with boats and people walking around to see them.  I have to begin this email thanking Bruce Barclay, John Riser, Craige Ayscough-Clarke, Tom Shoop, Ray Williams, Ray Milligan, Fred Klein, Lorna Scanga, Jonathan Daniels, and Barry Harbour!  These people helped parked cars from Thursday thru Sunday!  It looks like at this moment we made about $6,000 for the Men's Club.  Thank you all for braving the heat and collecting $30 per car!!  Another thank you to Lisa Malcolm who is leading our Young at Heart ministry.  They meet every first Thursday of the month for a program and lunch.  Last Thursday, they had the Historical Society come and present a program.  A great time was had by all. 
     This past Sunday we had another wonderful morning of worship and fellowship!  It is so great to see some of our snowbirds make their way back down south.  As we approach Thanksgiving and the Christmas season let us continue to pray to be God's hands and feet in this world.  I hope you have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing you this Sunday in worship. God bless!

Sermon Recap

Sermon Recap:
     The sermon title was "The Revenge Business" and the scripture's Matthew 18:21-35 and Romans 13:8. It is so easy when we are hurt to want revenge but like a cancer, revenge, can consume us and take over.  It will rob us of the very thing we want - PEACE.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit we can overcome our desire for revenge and allow God's justice to prevail.   

Challenge for the Week:
Are you blinded by revenge?  Is it consuming you?  Pray to God for the strength to trust Him.  Pray for the wisdom to see the one who hurt you as a fellow struggler like you are. 

Pastor's Weekly Update

Dear Friends,
 

    This week has been one of highs and lows.  A week where we see God doing some wonderful things in our community and then we see humanity at its worst.  The shooting at the Tree of Life in Pittsburgh breaks the heart of God.  A big thank you to Vice Mayor, Ben Sorenson for organizing an interfaith prayer vigil at the Sanctuary church.  It was so inspirational praying alongside people of all faiths!  I hope we all can pray about how we can make a difference in a world where division and hatred has roots.  We need to be a people of GRACE - We need to be JESUS with skin on! I sure want too - how about you?  
     This past Sunday afternoon we had our annual Trunk or Treat.  It was a Spooktacular time!!  We had 30 trunks decorated with many volunteers helping make it run smoothly.  Thank you to Sabrina Edler and Lauren Carroll for chairing this great event.  Another thank you goes to Marie, for her energy and love.  She is an amazing pastor to our children and to the church as well.  This event drew so many families from the neighborhood and community!  WELL DONE everyone.  I hope you have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing you this Sunday in worship. God bless!

PS - Copy and paste this into your web browser- www.ajot.com/news/seafarers-house-rockin-and-painting-for-a-good-cause - CBTS , the Grind Kindness Rocks Projects, and Seafarers' House partnered up last Saturday morning.  Thank you members of CBTS for getting involved to make someone's Christmas uniquely special. 

Sermon Recap

Sermon Recap:
     The sermon title was "The Only Words Worth Living For."  The scripture's were Amos 2:6-8, 5:18-24 and Romans 13:1,8.  As Abraham Lincoln once said, "God didn't come to take sides.  God came to take over."  Jesus is neither Republican, nor Democrat.  Jesus loves us equally and we should too as best we can.   

Challenge for the Week:
Think of some ways to love those you agree and disagree with? 

Pastor's Weekly Update

A reminder this is Rummage Sale Week. We still need items to sell such as clothing, household goods, toys, etc. You can drop off these items today through Thursday between 9am and 4pm. Also stop by and shop as well when you drop off your items. The sale is this Saturday 8am to 12noon.

A big thank you to all who have brought shoes for our shoe drive. We have collected 176 pairs so far. We will continue to be collecting throughout the month of October.

Have a blessed week!
The Church By The Sea

SeaTalk Quarterly Newsletter. Fall 2018

Excerpt with the message from Pastor Chris:

Dear Friends,

Each day I have the pleasure of witnessing how God is growing us closer to Him and to each other. A loving church and a grace-filled congregation that seeks to serve is a church that God honors and blesses.

I am excited as I look forward to the Fall and the new school year. I am excited because the kids are back in school. Amen? Our halls during the week here are full again with the sound of joyful kids and loving teachers! I am grateful for our incredible preschool family! I am also excited because of all the Fall activities and ministries. We had an amazing Anchor’s Aweigh where many of you signed up to help serve or to get more involved. We have many areas to serve and grow as well as areas where help is needed.

This year we are working to open new opportunities for everyone to get connected, dig in deeper in their faith, and faithfully serve in our community:

We are working on launching a young adults ministry and hope that you will reach out if you are interested in helping with this.

We are also working to communicate what our various bible study groups are focusing on so that you can join us when a there is a topic that

interests you. Each week, our bible study topics will be displayed in the bulletin.

Our mission leaders will be having a planning session in mid-October to
organize how we as a church can have the biggest impact on our
community. Keep an eye out later in the month to look for opportunities on how you can serve the community through these planned mission projects.

God is moving and blessing us in so many ways. We must remember to stop and say thank you, Lord, for we are so grateful for the opportunity to serve Him and serve our neighbor.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is John 13:34-35. It says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” What does God want from us? God wants our heart and for us to love. Everyone will know...if you love one another. Let’s keep the great tradition of this church by loving those around us with a love from above that way everyone will know. God bless.

In His Grip,
Chris

Pastor's Weekly Update

Dear Friends,
What a memorable evening last Saturday was at our 1st annual Oktoberfest!  We had over 115 people come and join us for this fundraiser for the Corporate Board.  A thank you beyond all "thank you's" goes to Peter and Cheri, and Cheri's mom Phyllis!  They cooked and cooked and cooked throughout this past week.  It was delicious and it looks like we raised a little of $5000.  Thank you to all that help put this together from decorating to setup and then clean-up.  We are absolutely excited about next year's event. 

Worship was encouraging and enlightening as we all communed with each other but more importantly God's Son, Jesus Christ!  I love communion Sundays as we take some time to contemplate and thank God for paving the way of forgiveness.  

It is Stewardship time and I wanted you to know that we will be mailing out Tuesday our Stewardship letter from Mike Heller, our Clerk of Session.  In this letter we are asking everyone who calls this church home to prayerfully consider what financial gift they think God wants them to give to the life and work of Church By The Sea.  I am praying for myself and all of you as we walk this journey together.  I hope you have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing you this Sunday in worship.  Invite a friend to worship this Sunday. God bless!

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "To Pledge or Not to Pledge" and the scriptures were Exodus 25:1-9 and 2 Corinthians 9:6-15.  This sermon was about reasons why you shouldn't pledge, but if you disagree with those reasons then I encourage you to give and not until it hurts, but until it feels good.  Giving should be a joy and not something you dread so let us all give joyfully and cheerfully!

Challenge for the Week:
Pray about your gift to the church.

Pastor's Weekly Update

Dear Friends,

It is amazing how fast September has flown by and here we are on the first day of October.  We had a great day of worship on Sunday and I am so excited about these next few weeks as we worship and talk about our church and we all can best support it.  October begins our time of stewardship.  The time I ask you all to prayerfully consider your financial gift to the church.  Please be in prayer about what you can give as we have the responsibility to care for this great church.
This month we have some great things to be involved in.  We are having our 1st Annual Oktoberfest on October 6th beginning at 6pm - 9:30pm.  This is a fundraiser for our Corporate Board which takes care of all the buildings and grounds issues.  You may register at http://bit.ly/cbts_oktoberfest.  Buy a table for $500 and everyone will receive a beer stein.  At the end of the month we have our annual Trunk or Treat!  This is a wildly successful community event.  Look for more details soon.  I hope you have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing you this Sunday in worship.  Invite a friend to worship this Sunday. God bless!

Sermon Recap: Getting In Tune

The scripture was Matthew 6:5-13 and 7:7-12.  How do we get in tune with God and how do we stay in tune with God?  Prayer!!  Honest, real, genuine prayer.  We pray not because we have too - we pray because we can.  You want to be in tune with God then Jesus is asking you to pray. 

Challenge for the Week:
Pray. Pray. Pray.

Pastor's Weekly Update

Dear Friends,

I hope your Monday has started out with a freshness to it.  What I mean is that each day we are given from God is new and we have a chance to make an impact on those around us.  I pray that each one of you will seek God's face today and everyday.  
This past Sunday we had a guest pastor, Rev. Dr. Ben Sorensen.  Ben and I have been friends for a long time and I am glad he was able to share in worship. 
October begins our time of stewardship.  The time I ask you all to prayerfully consider your financial gift to the church.  Please be in prayer about what you can give.  I hope you all have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship.  Invite a friend to worship this Sunday. God bless!

In His Grip,
Chris

September 22 Sermon Recap:

The title was "The Faith of a Thief" and the scripture was Luke 23:32-43.  The thief on the cross simply admitted he was wrong and asked Jesus to remember him.  The thief most likely led a life that wasn't honorable, but all it takes is Jesus, a contrite heart and newness and life comes forth.  Let us all come to Jesus with a sincere and honest heart.

Challenge for the Week:
May you have the faith of a thief. 

Dear Church Family,

It's that time of year when the temperature remains in the high 80's and into the 90's all day and through the night. It rains most days for a little bit then it is hot and beautiful once again. Summer is that time of year when our preschool takes a break and our children's ministry does amazing VBS, and now, our youth ministry continues its awesome presence in our teenager's lives. Our church might slow a little but our worship and connecting people to God and to others does not.

Our style and structure of worship changes as well over summer - our choir does not wear robes and they do not practice on Thursday nights. The hope is for anyone who might want to give singing in the choir a try can just come at 9am to the choir room. I hope many of you will try this adventure of helping lead in worship. We also began a new worship experience which began on July 1st. Periodically throughout the summer one person from our congregation will share why he/she joined their hearts with CBTS. It will be amazing to hear people's stories and I looked forward to hearing more as we go thru the summer months.

I hope your summer is filled with great memories and wonderful times. Please take some time to relax and "be still" as Psalm 46:10 charges us to do. I hope every one of you experiences God's love in new and amazing ways this summer. Have a blessed season and I look forward to seeing you all each Sunday.

In His Grip, 
Chris

The Church By The Sea completes Habitat build

HABITAT HOUSE DEDICATION

The Church By The Sea sponsored it's first Habitat For Humanity build with the generous donation from the Rosemary Duffy Larson Estate. The project began in the fall of 2017 with volunteers from our church along with volunteers from the Pompano Beach Fire Rescue led by John Jurgle. The project culminated with the dedication on Saturday, June 23, 2018. There are discussions on sponsoring another build so please be on the look out and see if you are available to participate in this very rewarding opportunity of service. 

On a mission

The Church By The Sea gives 11% of all your pledges and offerings to the missions in need. In the first quarter of 2018 your contributions allowed the church to give $15, 260, which is $1,907 per mission. 

Additionally, our children were able to raise $1,561.17 to feed the hungry in Haiti.

The Mission committee led by Nancy Mauro, Marcia Short, and Deborah VonBehren have much planned for the near future. Fred and Margo Klein have been leading the Homeless Feeding on the second Saturday of each month. The committee just completed a visit of Sheridan House in June and are planning a visit to Seafarer's House sometime in August. 

As you can see much is happening in our missions program and we can always use more volunteers as well as ideas. If you would like more information or to get involved please send us a note.