Three Sundays Later

Here is a copy of what I sent to Coastline Bible Church yesterday. I'm sharing as it might be helpful for you. Maybe you want to see what I'm sharing. You might want to steal some ideas. You might need an encouragement too during this time!



Hey Coastline,

The last three weeks have been some of the wildest, most interesting, bizzare, confusing, and learning-filled weeks of my time as a pastor. I have thought a lot about discipleship, leadership, spiritual growth, leader empowerment,  prayer, and Bible reading. I’ve also prayed a lot for those in our community who have lost a job, are sick, are scared, and are fearful. My guess is that each of us have gone through a myriad of emotions the last several weeks.

My aim in this email message is a simple: “Thank you.”

Thank you for being so supportive as we’ve moved to Coastline Online only. I will be the first to admit that we’ve had some bumps along the way. Thank you for being patient with the different platforms we’ve used. We have found that going to our website has been the best way to get to our online worship gathering.

Thank you for giving to Coastline. The first two weeks of giving were a drastic reduction from our proposed budget need. Many of you have continued to give generously during this time. Some of you have just started giving. We see tithes/offerings trickle into the office on a daily basis. Thank you for giving online, via text, and mailing your gift to the church office.

I’ve had some requests to get the small group questions out for everyone. Here is a link for the questions from Mark 14:27-72. I’ve been posting all the small group questions on my personal blog. After Easter we will begin posting these questions on our website in the sermon section so that everyone can access them!

Let me leave you with an encouragement; my heart is that those who follow Jesus will grow in discipleship during this time. If you don’t have a Bible reading plan, I invite you to find one (You can reply to this email and I have some ideas to share with you). Grab a book to read and grow in your faith. Take a day/meal to pray and fast. Go on a prayer walk (if you are healthy). Sit in your favorite chair and pray. Let’s use this as a time to grow in our personal relationship with Jesus!

Let me end with this. In seminary I studied church history. The thing that surprised me the most was that the church grew during periods of suffering. We might be suffering here, but our brothers and sisters in Christ suffer too all over the world. We are the church! Let’s be the church no matter what happens!

Neal Benson | Lead Pastor
Coastline Bible Church