The first advent season of City Coast focused on being rooted in Emmanuel (God-With-Us). Our peace, faith, hope and joy are rooted in Christ. The history of Christmas gives us hope for heaven.
Beyond just a Christmas message, the theme of being rooted fits this season of City Coast’s establishment. A lot of development is happening on the subterranean level. The dozens of people forming this new faith community are anchoring to Christ and one another, believing the next year will bear good fruit.
On a recent podcast, Brene Brown, Simon Sinek, and Adam Grant hosted an unscripted conversation. One of the episodes highlighted what Sinek called the “first pancake.” If you’ve ever mixed pancake batter and heated a skillet, you know that the first pancake is rarely (if ever) the prettiest. The recipe is solid and you know the final product is edible, but the following pancakes are almost always prettier than the first.
The soft launch of City Coast has felt like a first pancake.
There are beautiful moments to celebrate, and the ingredients we’re working with are good. We are experiencing Emmanuel. God is with us, and the roots we are setting will nourish this Church in the coming year.
It wasn’t always pretty – technologies failed, volunteers got sick, organizational systems got chaotic – but it was edible.
In it all, we knew that we had another Helper. One who wouldn’t just be with us for the first few months, but would be with us forever.
As Leslie shared in our first Christmas Celebration, “When we see how God was faithful in the past, we have peace in the present and hope for the future.”
We have peace this holiday season.
And we have hope for 2023.
Because God has been with us in the past, and will be with us forever.
City Coast is rooted in Emmanuel.