Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

What an amazing weekend here at The Church By The Sea! First, we had a Session Leadership Retreat. Our Session is responsible for all things worship, ministries, staffing, and missions! We have 12 members of our church that are elected by the membership of this church and they are charged with me and the staff to listen to God's calling for this church. We met on Friday night and Saturday morning. A very big thank you goes to Debbie VonBehren and Marie Reny for facilitating this weekend. Another thank you goes to Cheryl Lovell for setting up and providing all the snacks. It was amazing to see the Session members sharing and taking ownership of the call they have been given by God and you all. I look forward to you all hearing from Session in worship in the weeks and months to come.

Second, worship was simply amazing! Our choir really brought us to a place of worship, we had wonderful attendance in the sanctuary and chapel, the children's ministry was alive with happy faces, and the youth ministry had a large number of kids come and to help with the Children's Ministry Bingo Day after worship. Thank you Jen and Kevin White for guiding, cooking, and organizing our youth at this great event.

This past Sunday, February 28th and for the next 3 Sundays is our Mission Month! Thank you Debbie VonBehren, Marcia Short, and Nancy Mauro for leading this emphasis along with our champions of each ministry. The theme is "Go, Love, Serve. God has given us at TCBTS a heart for service and that is exactly what we are doing and what we will be doing.

Below is a way to be better informed and to volunteer in our missions effort:

This month we are recognizing our ministry partners and the outreach work we participate in. As part of the church family, we encourage you to use the link below to sign up to receive information for one or more of our mission/outreach teams.
https://mission-team-sign-ups-church-by-the-sea.pushpayevents.com/booking/attendees/new

In lieu of our annual fundraising event, we are hosting a virtual giving tree to financially support our various outreach activities and projects. Please use the following link to select an item you would like to contribute towards.
https://the-giving-tree-church-by-the-sea.pushpayevents.com/booking/tickets

Have a great week and God bless!

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "Go, Love, Serve, and Shine in the Race of Faith" and the scripture was Hebrews 12:1-3. We are surrounded by so many witnesses. People who have passed on in the Lord who are cheering us on to be and do great things. Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, is leading the charge! Don't give up - Keep keeping on - Through Me you can do all things! Check out the sermon here - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf32oglrvAffbVoQWIvrwkw?view

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

What a great day of worship we had yesterday. For me, it began at 6:20am as I set up my chair, my big speaker, and played Eye of the Tiger and the Rocky theme song in my driveway as the Fort Lauderdale Marathon ran by my house! I say worship because so many people were so grateful for the encouragement. As we all know, 2021 has continued the difficulties that came to us in 2020 and with all that is going on - let's never forget that an encouraging word goes a long way. I would like to say Thank you to Chris Kane and our soloists for sharing their talents with us each Sunday. They bring us into the presence of God each and every Sunday.

Good news!! Thank you to the church family that has generously underwritten the expense to drastically improve our sound system. We have a bid of a little over $10,000 and they have stepped forward to cover it. Thank you! I appreciate your patience for those online as we try to create the best experience for worship to our church family. We hope in the next few weeks to have everything installed.

I will be putting together a separate email from our Annual meeting which we had on January 24th. You will see we have a lot of work to do for our beautiful church and as well as keep growing in our ministries. I look forward to our church family coming together and listening for God's call for this church and its mission. Have a blessed week!

In His Grip,
Chris

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

I hope this email finds you rested, at peace, and with the full knowledge that you are loved by God Almighty! Flaws and all. With all that is going on these days maybe you are 1, or 2 out of 3. As your pastor, I really sense the angst that is going on in our world and in our congregation. A lot of us are walking around dazed and confused.

My goal, my vision is to give messages of hope for the here and now and for eternity. God has not abandoned us. We are called to shine God's light to the world - to be the salt of the Earth - We are called to be peacemakers. Church By The Sea has stood for that - we have a tremendous history of being a place "Where the less than perfect are more than welcome" before it was on the front of our bulletin and we will keep doing that.

I am asking everyone of you to pray for our church. Pray for its leadership and staff. Pray for the people who call this place home who are in worship and for those who are able to watch us online. We are not at a cross-road, but we are at a pivotal point in being His hands and feet in this community and world. So please pray - Asking for guidance, wisdom, and peace! I look forward to seeing you in worship, or through the camera lens! : )

Have a blessed week!

In His Grip,
Chris

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

What a great day of worship that was had even after a major change on Friday. Thank you Dr. Richard Ziemer for leading worship and Brian Cheechio for bringing an excellent message to us. I was out due to catching a cold on Thursday - thankfully, it was not COVID. I am on the mend and look forward to seeing you all in worship, or online this Sunday.

2021 has kicked off with a shotgun start as individuals have stepped up to guide us on how to improve our online worship experience plus our social media presence. Thank you to all those who are giving of their time to help. I look forward to seeing some positive changes soon. On another note, if you have any accounting experience - we are looking for someone to volunteer to be our church treasurer. If you are interested please call the church office to find out more about this opportunity.

Have a blessed week!

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "Are You Hungry" and the scripture was from Mark 1:35. We should be hungry for God's Word so that we can have a deeper relationship with Him. Following Jesus example, we'd be wise to set a time and designate a place to have a daily conversation with our God. A daily time to listen and then act on His guidance.

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

What a power pact Sunday. We had an amazing worship service at 10am, our annual meeting at 11am, our Corporate Board met immediately following the annual meeting and elected Edd Helms as President and Ray Williams as Vice-President. We also had our first youth group meeting from 6pm-7pm in Eden Hall. We had 18 teenagers come and a great time was had by all - thank you Jennifer and Kevin White, Rob Quesada, and Marie Reny for help leading this night. Please be in prayer as we search for a full-time youth pastor to lead this amazing group of teenagers and their parents.

We are excited to be putting together an Ad Hoc committee to look at our social media presence and our live-streaming capabilities. If you have any skill in those areas please respond to me, or call the church and we will put you in touch with the committee.

This Saturday we have a special day planned from 9am-11am in Eden Hall. Our Mission Committee is hosting, for anyone who is interested, a time for visioning of how we can best share God's love to our community and the world. If you are interested in missions and service this will be a great meeting for you. Please contact Debbie VonBehren at debbievonbehren@gmail.com for details and to sign up if you are interested in attending.

***Love Our Neighbor*** - 15th Street Fisheries located at 1900 SE 15th St. is owned by Ted Drum, a church member. It is a wonderful place on the water for great food, great atmosphere, and to feed the Tarpons - a wonderful treat!

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "Making Music with What Remains" and the scripture was from II Corinthians 12:1-10. Life has a habit of throwing curve balls and sometimes our dreams do not come true. How do we handle that? How do we move on?

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

Happy Tuesday, January 19th! I hope you all took some time over the weekend to lift up our country and world as we remember all that Martin Luther King, Jr symbolized. The Dream isn't impossible and I pray for all of our hearts to turn to God for strength and guidance.

We have some very important events and meetings coming up, so please read this email carefully and put on your calendar the items that relate to you. Here we go...

1. Annual Meeting for our Session and Corporate Board's - January 24th at 11am in person and Zoom! The Zoom ID is 83313312669. This meeting will briefly discuss 2020 and this upcoming year. We elect Session members and Corporate Board members. The Session nominees are Carol Cleary, Debbie VonBehren, Alex Cabrera, Jamie Starr, and Lisa Malcolm. The nominees for Corporate Board are Harold Lovell, Richard Alexander, Cheri-Evans Schmidt, and David Finneran.
2. Movie Night - January 22nd from 6pm-8pm! Bring a blanket, your own beverages, a mask for when you are walking around, and a smile! Please go to this address to register! https://family-movie-night-church-by-the-sea.pushpayevents.com/booking/tickets
3. Missions Planning Day - January 30th from 9am-11am in Eden Hall and our outside deck! This is open to all persons who have a passion for missions and service and to see how we can continue and grow our missional influence locally and around the world. Please contact Debbie VonBehren at debbievonbehren@gmail.com for details and to sign up.

***Love Our Neighbor*** - With all that has and is going on with the pandemic I want to encourage you all to embrace and support our locally owned businesses. So this week, go by Myra's Harbor Cafe at 1396 SE 17th St, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316! This a great place for breakfast and lunch. Please tell Mel (the owner) and her daughter "Myra" hello and that God loves them!

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "Three Steps" and the scripture was from Joshua 1:1-6, 3:14-17, 4:19-24. We have to grow personally and spiritually. This sermon I challenged myself and all of us to grow in 3 ways. Step Out, Step In, and Step Up. God is asking us to serve Him in small and big ways and it begins with you!

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

Well, yesterday's worship was going well and then we came to the point where I was to give the sermon and low and behold, it was not there. I had not picked it up from the printer and there I am...one of my worst fears...NO SERMON!! Thankfully, Jamie Starr went to her husband, Randy, and he went to the printer and retrieved it for me. It wasn't a shining moment for me - thank you all for the grace you show me.

We are still living in crazy times in our world. I didn't think it would magically change, but I didn't expect what occurred in the last few weeks and who knows what might be coming in our future. But I do know who holds the future...Jesus Christ, God's Son. It is He that can help us make sense of all that is going on and will go on.

I hope 2021 will be for you a year of growth. Growth in relationships, growth in your involvement in the church you call home, but most importantly, growth in your relationship with God. I hope this year we all will make an effort to sit down and read God's Word, pray and listen but then act on what we hear.

Let's make this year amazing!! I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship and I will have my printed sermon with me...: )

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "The Grand Essentials of Life" and the scripture was from Philippians 3:7-11. Something to do, something to love, and something to hope for - those are the grand essentials to happiness, but I want to challenge you that Jesus Christ needs to be at the heart of all you do from work to play. Let's make 2021 a new year in our quest to be more like Jesus.

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

Happy 2021! 2020 is officially last year - Can we say "AMEN"? It does not mean that 2020 is completely forgotten, but it does mean a clean slate is in front of us. I pray that we as a church will embrace all that 2021 can be. Let us all pray, let us all fast, let us all live as followers of Jesus. Let us live with loving God and loving our neighbor as our goal.

I am excited for this year. I am hopeful for better days. I am energized to see where God is taking us. I hope you are too because together we are stronger. Together we can do more than we are able to do a part. No, I am not going to say, "Let's win one for the Gipper," but I do want to challenge all of us - To love God! To press on! To pray with faith and hope that God will accomplish through us His will!

Let's make this year amazing!!

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "Close the Gate" and the scripture was from Isaiah 43:18-19, 25 and Philippians 3:12-14. 2020 is literally last year, yet it is easy to keep living in it. God wants us to strain forward to what is ahead. We can't forget last year, but we don't have to live in it.

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

What amazing Christmas Eve services at 6pm and 8:30pm we had! A huge thank you for all those who reserved their seat, so we could have an idea of how many might attend. Thank you to all our ushers who helped make what could have been a crazy evening, into a night of worship. I am looking forward to this being the last time we have to take reservations for worship.

2021 is right around the corner and I am expecting a great year of new beginnings and God's blessings, so that we can be a blessing to others. I am excited about God doing a new thing with us here at CBTS! Please pray for the church, it's leaders, and especially, for God to give us wisdom as we seek Him.

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

We had a guest pastor, Brian Checchio, who brought the message this past Sunday. We also had Dr. Richard Ziemer assist in worship. Thank you both for your service! Brian's sermon title was "Don't Forget The Stones" and his scripture was Joshua 4:1-7. After crossing the Jordan, God instructed the Israelites to go back into the riverbed, bring out a stone, and make a monument. Those stones would take their focus off the emotions and activities of the journey and turn it instead to the faithfulness of their great God. As we cross over from 2020 to 2021 we too, would be wise to "go back" into our memories of the year and "pick up a stone" for God has been faithful still! No matter the year you've had... don't forget the stones!

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

What an amazing day at Church By The Sea yesterday.  We had a wonderful morning of worship and then at 5:30pm we had our annual "Cookies, Caroling, and Cocktails".  We had cars park on the Mayan side of the parking lot and by the water we had people in sitting on blankets and chairs!  It was great.  We played games where people sat, sang carols, had hot cocoa and cider, pizza, individual bags of popcorn and cookies and watched the movie called "The Star".  Thank you Marie and Jackie Barnett for putting together a great evening.  


*****Christmas Eve Services - Reservations will be taken for each service - please reserve your seat(s) by using our website, our App, or calling the church office.  All reserved seats will be released by 5:50pm and 8:20pm - we will have overflow areas for those who do not make a reservation (in case it is needed). 

         6pm -  This service will be live streamed 
         8:30pm - The exact same service as 6pm!  
 

Have an amazing week and I look forward to seeing you all at Christmas Eve. Please do not forget to make a reservation if you plan on coming to a Christmas Eve service.

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "A light will shine" and the scripture was Isaiah 9:1-2, 6-7. It was dark times for the people of God but it was in that darkness that God sent a light into the world. God sent us Jesus.