Stepping out in faith
It’s so amazing to see how God transforms lives through Alpha. Whether that’s the believer growing in confidence in the Lord through inviting a friend, serving or praying for others, or the skeptic who finds peace and hope as they discover Christian community and a relationship with the Lord.
As this Alpha wraps up I’m celebrating the 109 people who prayed weekly for Alpha, the 72 people who served (which includes 26 people who gave more than between 6-75 hours of their time to serve over the course of two months!), the 40 people who got to experience Alpha, and most importantly the six people who have testified that their spiritual lives look radically different now at the end of Alpha compared to where they started.
One number I don’t have but I still want to celebrate is the number of people who were invited. Each of those invitations took courage and trust in the Lord, and even when it didn’t result in a “yes”, it deserves celebrating!
Alpha exists to help people explore the big questions of life. It’s been a great tool for Christians and non-Christians alike to grow in relationship with Jesus and the church. We’ve been running Alpha for five years now – that’s 17 different Alphas including ones for youth, in homes, for women and for adults. We got into Alpha because we wanted to see people come to know the Lord for the first time, and people who had walked away make a return to the faith they had lost hope in. Over the years our team has become more and more convinced that in order to reach those people we need to remove every barrier to make it an easy “yes!” for the person who is being invited. One of those barriers can be the church building itself. We’ve been praying for the opportunity to take Alpha beyond our walls in order to better reach the unchurched and de-churched. It’s been a dream we’ve shared with several other Gig Harbor churches for the last three-four years.
I’m so thrilled to share with you that our prayers have been answered and the door is open for us to do just that. In April we will be running an Alpha after Easter at Cutters Point Flagship, partnering with several other Gig Harbor churches. This Alpha is particularly focused on those who would never be comfortable coming to an Alpha that met in a church. It is our most outreach-oriented Alpha yet! Each church participating has just one table at this Alpha – 10 spaces reserved for those in our lives who most need Alpha. Those who would never darken the door of a church, but who have spiritual questions and they are searching for something more. Do you have someone in your life who would never come to Alpha at Chapel Hill, but might come if it was at a coffee shop? Please reach out to me and I’d love to help you make that invitation.
Can I invite you to pray for this Alpha? We are stepping out in faith, trusting that the Lord will prompt hearts to say yes to invitations. You can sign up to receive prayer update. We also need help making desserts for our guests so if you feel called to serve in that way, please sign up. We also have opportunities for a team who will support us in running the Alpha weekend,
Pastor Rachel
HOLY WEEK & EASTER
MAUNDY THURSDAY COMMUNION SERVICE
Thurs, April 6, 7:00 pm, in person and on YouTube
“Maundy” comes from a Latin word that means “command”, referring to Jesus’ command to his disciples to love and serve one another, which he demonstrated by washing their feet during the Last Supper. We also trace the theme of the “garden” from the time of Eden through Jesus’ suffering in Gethsemane and the tree of life in the new heaven and earth as told in the Book of Revelation.
GOOD FRIDAY ONLINE
Fri, April 7, 6:00, 9:00 am, noon, 3:00, 6:00 pm, YouTube
Join us throughout the day as Chapel Hill pastors reflect on the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Despite the fact that this was a painful and tragic event, it is considered “good” because it represents the ultimate sacrifice made by Jesus for the forgiveness of humanity’s sins. The term “good” in this context comes from an older English usage of the word, which meant “holy” or “pious.” It is believed that the term “Good Friday” originated from the medieval English phrase “God’s Friday,” which was used to describe the day of Jesus’ crucifixion.
PRAY FOR EASTER SUNDAY
Sat, April 8, 2:30 pm, Chapel Hill parking lot
Join us for an Easter Vigil prayer walk in the Chapel Hill parking lot (meet at Door D). Rain or shine, we’ll pray for people to come to worship and experience the saving power of Jesus Christ.
EASTER SUNDAY
Sun, April 9, in person and on YouTube
8:30 am Classic I 10:00 am Modern I 11:30 am Modern
Childcare for birth-PreK at all services
K-5th elementary kids worship with their families
Easter is the most important Christian holiday and celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is considered the foundation of the Christian faith and represents hope, new life, and redemption.