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

Mark 8:22-9:1 Small Group Questions

Our church is currently studying the book of Mark. For twenty-eight weeks we're walking through the book and talking about the action-packed story of Jesus. Mark was more concerned with what Jesus did than what Jesus said. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions ||| Who do you say Jesus is? ||| Mark 8:22-9:1

Mark 8 continues with a miraculous healing of a blind man. This is one of the seven recorded healings of a blind man in the Gospel accounts. From the Northern Shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus brings the Disciples to the base of Mount Hermon. The mountain region are where revolutions are formed. Jesus asks the disciples who the people say He is. Peter responds with a succinct answer about the Messiah. At this Jesus reveals that His ultimate plan is to give up His life so that humanity can find freedom. If Jesus will die, that also means the disciples will share a death for being His followings. Study Mark 8:22-9:1 to see how we can live for Jesus today.

1) The Gospels share about seven blind men who were healed. Study these three miraculous healings (read: Matthew 9:27-31, Mark 8:22-26, and Luke 18:35-43). What are the similarities and differences in these healings?

2) Jesus brought the disciples to a place where idol worship was prominent. What are some common idols of our day/century? How does this relate to the Old Testament Commandment not to have any gods before God? (see Exodus 20:3)

3) Mark tells us that the people in Israel related Jesus to some of the most famous Israelites (read Mark 8:27-30). Why do you think the people thought that Jesus was John the Baptist, Elijah, or Jeremiah (Matthew 16:14).

4) The disciples knew who the crowd said Jesus was. Then Jesus turned and asked them a bold question (read Mark 8:29-30). Who you say Jesus is? In light of trusting Jesus, how has that changed the way you live your life?

5) Jesus began to teach the disciples that He must suffer and die. Suffering is a common theme for those who follow Jesus. Read Acts 9:15-16, Romans 5:3-5, and 1 Peter 4:16). How do you feeling about suffering for Jesus?

6) If a neighbor or close friend asked you to explain why Jesus had to suffer and die, what would your response be? Substitutionary atonement is the theological truth that Jesus atoned for our sins when we couldn’t (Read Hebrews 10:1-10, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, and 2 Corinthians 5:21)

7) Jesus taught the crowd that if they lost their life for the Gospel they would find it (read Mark 8:34-38). What holds people back from finding life in Jesus?

Close your time in prayer

Character Study: Joshua

During the month of May our Young Adults ministry studied the life of Joshua. We were looking for a person in the Bible to study that you normally wouldn't study. That meant we wouldn't be looking at; David, Jesus, Peter, Paul, Elijah or Moses. It made perfect sense to look at Joshua's life.

(Graphic created by Matt Riley) 

Joshua is first introduced to us in the book of Exodus as Moses' helper. Joshua had a front row seat to the hand of God in the life of Israel. Think about his life real quick. Joshua was born in Egypt, saw the ten plagues, fled from the Egyptians, crossed the Red Sea, saw the Ten Commandments, explored the Promised Land, wandered in the desert for forty years and lead the Nation of Israel to the place God had promised them. That is a full life! That is a life that has seen some of the major things God did for His people.

For this series we broke it down into four weeks like this:
Week 1- Leadership Beginnings (Numbers 13
Week 2- Crossing the River (Joshua 3)
Week 3- Sun Stand Still (Joshua 10)
Week 4- Who Will You Serve? (Joshua 24)

The entire series was a huge win. I spoke the first and last week. The second week we had Christian Huang from City Impact share. Week three we had Adam Darbonne, our High School Director at our North Campus, come and share with us. Thinking back on the series, it was great for our young adults to see a man who served the Lord his entire life and led well. You can listen to any of these messages online.

Helping people get connected

One of my passions for people is to help them get connected in the local church. God has placed me in a large church setting and let's be honest, this can be tough. People walk into our church and think, "This place is big." After that I believe people either think about how to get connected or are thankful to be able to grow in a setting where they can just sit and learn.

Knowing how tough it can be to really get connected in a large church in a large area we started something new about nine months ago. We call it our New People Dinner. Since it was a new event for us we needed to make a plan. Our campus staff got in a room with a whiteboard and began to sketch out what the day would look like.

We knew we didn't want this to be something that didn't feel organic. We didn't want it to be too scheduled but we wanted a good plan so we could accomplish helping people who are looking to get connected. We came up with the whiteboard dream to the left and since then we have tweaked and made this better!

After doing three of these we have learned a ton. We've learned about location, timing and who needs to be there. We've learned about how to invite people and how some people will just come on the day of. Every two to four months we send out an invite to anyone who has filled out a connection card that says something like this:

You’re Invited!

Finding a church community is a big choice. We also know that the larger the church, more difficult it can feel to connect and we want to help out. We’re hosting a dinner for our new guests to CPC Foster City. This will be a time for you to meet our campus staff and Elders. Our hope is to provide an opportunity for us to connect, for you to learn a little more about CPC and for us to have a meal together. Children are welcomed. Will you join us on Sunday April 17 from 4-6pm?

After we send the invite out we wait for the day to come so we can hang out with people who are new to our church. This has been a great time to connect with people and learn more about people. Whether your in a big church or a small church people are looking to get connected.

Don't forget this: "People want to be known and loved." -Vicki Pettingill

No Facebook February

We have catchy titles for all sorts of things in our culture like: "No Shave November" or "Februhairy". Well After returning from Cambodia I realized something, I cared too much about social media. I also found myself clicking more links and being sucked into a certain app on my phone. At that point I realized I need a Facebook break and quick.

The break was great for me! I was able to avoid the website for all 28 days of February and as I look back on what I've called No Facebook February I've very thankful for the decision. Here are some positives of this experience:

More time with family
I had more time with my family. I noticed that I wasn't automatically going to the app when there was 5 seconds of downtime.

Increased Focus
I felt like I was more focused on things. I was dedicated to what I was working on. I was present when I was on a date with my wife. I wasn't tempted to tune out of a group conversation and grab my phone.

Affirmation
I didn't find my affirmation in what I posted. I wasn't constantly checking my Facebook to see if people liked my picture or cared about my status update. To be honest, like gut level honest, I struggle with acceptance and No Facebook February really helped me find my acceptance in God.

Like anything there can be some downsides in a commitment like this. Here is what I noticed.

Less Connection
I felt less connected. I felt like people were talking about things that I had no clue about. I did see the picture. I didn't watch the video. I didn't know she got engaged. I didn't know he lost his job. The list goes on and on. There is a reality that Facebook keeps us up to date on information.

It's a ministry tool 
Facebook is a ministry tool for me. When I hesitantly logged back in on March 1 I had 7 messages. Some were the typical group message but some were people reaching out. This isn't the first time this has happened to me. Facebook is a great ministry tool that needs to be managed.

If you asked me to sum it all up it would sound something like this. Overall, I didn't miss being away. In all honesty I enjoyed it. I felt more present in my life. I wasn't distracted by the thought and I'm sure I'll do it again in the future.

Now if you'll excuse me I need to post this on Facebook so you can read it.