Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

We had an amazing worship service this past Sunday. God's Spirit was felt all throughout it from beginning to end - especially our choir that brought us into His presence! After worship, our Men's Club hosted a Memorial Day cookout. Bruce Barclay orchestrated this affair with many men helping in all areas. Thank you to Bruce and all the men for creating a wonderful time for all. Thank you to all the church for bringing a side dish, or dessert and to Neal Isaac for playing Taps and the intro to each branch of our military. It was a great time and a time to honor those who died in service to our country! God Bless.

As summer approaches I want to share with you all about the plans for my sabbatical. Our Clerk of Session, Bill Harvey, shared in worship on May 15th that the Session granted me and my family this sabbatical beginning June 25th and my first Sunday back to preach is August 21st. I am so grateful for this blessing. Pastor Brian and Randy will be leading worship for us during those Sunday's and we are working on a congregational care committee to help support Brian as well. Brian will be sharing each week with you all what we are doing during that time frame. Please pray for us and the church as we go through together. Thank you all for your love, grace, and prayers!

I hope you all have a great week and I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea).

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "Choosing to Rejoice" and the scripture text was Philippians 1:12-21 and 4:4. Paul suffered quite a lot in his life and he challenges the church in Philippi to rejoice! Rejoicing is not a magic pill for healing but God can and will use "all things" for our eventual good. Rejoice always, again I say rejoice!

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

What an amazing Sunday at CBTS. We had Youth Sunday which included Confirmation, 3 baptisms, and teacher recognition. Teresa Cook, our Director of Youth Ministries, led our youth and the confirmation process and did an excellent job. Thank you, Teresa. We baptized Stella and Finn Edler and Chase Anderson. Our Confirmation class was Chase Anderson, Reese Cook, Finn Edler, Stella Edler, Hayden Ferenc, Hudson Ferenc, Charles King, Jr, Nathan Leon, Justin Noel, Savanna Noel, and Noah Reny. It was a wonderful day.

This Sunday, we have a Memorial Day luncheon after worship. If you are able to make it, please call the church office and let us know and bring a side dish, or a dessert. This will be a great time to honor those men and women who sacrificed for us. Let us all remember and be GRATEFUL!

I hope you all have a great week and I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea). God bless!

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "A Twitter-Like Faith" and the scripture text was Colossians 2:6-8. Pastor Brian shared with us that our children/youth and our society as a whole have grown accustomed to having what they want, when they want it. Instant information. But our faith cannot and does not work that way. We have to experience it, we have to live it, we have to actually read the Bible and pray to grow. Let's not have a Twitter-Like faith.

Challenge for the Week:
Read your Bible! Start in the Gospel of Mark.

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

Good morning, Church By The Sea members and friends! This has been another tragic weekend in our country with shootings. My heart breaks every time we hear of things like this. As a people, lets pray for these events to stop! As a body of faith...PRAY!

I do want to let you all know that this Sunday, May 22nd. It is Youth Sunday/Confirmation Sunday, School Teacher and Volunteer Recognition Day. It will be an amazing morning of worship as our youth (6th-12th) lead us and we say thank you to all those who volunteer with our children and youth.

I hope you all have a great week and I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea). God bless!

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "The Do Over Gospel" and the scripture text was John 21:15-19. Through Jesus, we have the ability to get a do-over! A 2nd, 3rd, and umpteenth chance because of Christ's death and resurrection. Live in His love and grace!

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

I hope you had a great Mother's Day weekend. We sure did here at church. It began on Saturday with our Children's Ministry hosted "Families" fishing tournament. There were 31 people that came and enjoyed Fort Lauderdale's waters. They were out on the fishing boat the "Flamingo", and everyone had a great time. The biggest fish was caught by Bronwyn Bekker (18 inches) and there was a tie for 2nd place with Noah Reny and Kelly Francis (17 inches). A great time was had by all and then afterwards we had a cookout and pool party at our house! The weather was great, fish were caught, and the food was delicious. On Sunday, we had another wonderful worship experience with our choir leading us into God's presence and everyone with one voice worshiping Jesus and appreciating all the women who helped shape us into who we are today. After worship, we had our annual butterfly release, and it was amazing. We purchased 200 butterflies and just passed them out to everyone. It was memorable and moving. Please check out our Facebook page to see a video.

I hope you all have a great week and I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea). God bless!

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "These Three" and the scripture text was I Corinthians 13:11-13. What remains in life? What can we count on? There are more than 3 but I focused on 3...Faith, Hope, and Love. These remain, but the greatest of these is...LOVE!

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

I hope your Monday has begun on a good note. This past weekend was a busy one for us in Fort Lauderdale. We had the Air and Sea Show and it was awe-inspiring at least for me it was. We had some torrential rains on Saturday morning, but the sun eventually came out and began the drying process! Isn't that how life is for us? We go through serious difficulties, but the sun does shine through, eventually and that is exactly how Jesus works. We all go through very difficult times, but the Son (Jesus) and His grace, love, and mercy shines through. If you are in the middle of harsh times please just "be still and listen". God will shine His amazing grace.

I hope you all have an amazing week and remember this Sunday is "Mother's Day"! Instead of selling butterflies, we purchased 200 and will hand them out to everyone until they run out and release them after worship around the flagpole. It will be a morning worship to remember and I hope to see you there in worship, or online. God bless!

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "Garbage In, Garbage Out" and the scripture text was Luke 6:43-45 and Romans 12:1-2. Our mind is the most amazing computer ever. It is constantly absorbing information. It is so important what we put into it because it will come back out. It isn't about our behaviors - it is about transforming our heart and not conforming to our world.

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

We had an amazing day of worship on Sunday. There was such a wonderful energy and excitement. God's presence was felt all over our sanctuary and chapel. A high point for me was having a baptism in worship for the first time in a long time. We baptized Blair Ann Wadsworth. Her parents are Erica and Rhett. As I walked the child in my arms in the chapel and sanctuary - it felt like God was pouring out His love through this child to everyone who locked eyes on her. Thank you God for allowing us to experience You through the sacrament of baptism! We are blessed. Another high point was having Jonathan Daniels back ushering since COVID began in the chapel. He has a heart for God and people and he has been missed!! WELCOME BACK Jonathan.

We also had a new members class after worship - where we had 5 people who felt God was calling them to join their hearts with us and journey through faith together. I look forward to introducing them to you this coming Sunday. If you are feeling like God wants you to join your heart with us please reach out to me. We have many ways we can make that happen.

I hope you all have a week of His presence filling your heart and mind with His grace. God bless and I hope to see you in worship or online!

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "Cleaning Out Every Room" and the scripture text was Jeremiah 17:7-10 and Mark 1:14-15. We have a problem - a sin problem that is why Jesus came to forgive us of our sins but we need to repent. I spoke about what repenting means and we all keep a room, a hall closet, or attic to ourselves. We give Christ most all the rooms in our heart but we hold on to some things for many reasons. Jesus wants it all - all the muck and mire of who we are. He loves all of us.

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

HE IS RISEN! What an amazing morning of worship at Church By The Sea. We had wonderful attendance and it seemed like God was moving about in all 3 of our services. Our 7:30am service had the perfect weather to be outside. Our deck was full with people standing. There was such a sense of gratitude in that service as well as the other two. A big thank you to our choir for using their gift of song for the 9 and 11 service. Yet again, our church was full! Thank you God not just for numbers, but lives being touched!

God is doing such a great thing here - I hope everyone keeps praying for CBTS to listen to His call and to follow Him. I hope you all had an wonderful Easter whomever you were with. Have a blessed week and I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship.

In His Grip,
Chris

PS - If you are feeling like CBTS is a place you want to call home, then this Sunday we will have a time after worship to talk about membership. See you there!!!

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "Our Hiding Place" and the scripture text was Matthew 27:62; 28:1-20. We all hide. We hide from God for many reasons. Easter is the great reminder that Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected, so we can come out of hiding and be free! Our sins are forgiven through Him - believe it!

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

What another memorable day of worship at Church By The Sea this past Sunday. Palm Sunday is always a celebration of sorts as we celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, but this year was completely overwhelming and moving. We had over 315 people who attended worship yesterday and 96 children. We invited our day school children to sing in worship with the children who are members of this church and it was great! After worship, our Children's ministry had a churchwide scavenger hunt and cookout. Thank you to our children's ministry committee and all the volunteers that made yesterday a huge success! We had families roaming all over the church inside and out look for 6 eggs that got them familiar with our church and told the story of God's love for His creation. Simply a marvelous day! Thank you church being the CHURCH!!

Our youth did the parking for the Tortuga festival and raised over 12k. Way to go youth! Our youth director Teresa Cook began confirmation yesterday. Please be in prayer for those 14 middle school students involved and Teresa as she leads them.

A special thank you John and Beverly Lobdell who provided our meal for Soup, Salad, and Studies Lenten series. They are also providing the meal for our Good Friday service which begins at 12:00pm. I hope you all will make every effort to attend all the services this week. Another special thanks to Kim Harbour, Vica Kramm and families for helping to pick up the paint chips and debris on the ground.

Below is our Holy Week schedule. Have a blessed day and be a blessing to someone!

In His Grip,
Chris

Sermon Recap

The sermon title was "The Secret Savior" and the scripture text was Matthew 21:1-11. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey everyone missed why He was there. They missed the secret...He wasn't there to free them from Roman oppression or be the next greatest thing. He didn't look like the Messiah - He looked like a failure as the week went on. Have you missed why He came because He doesn't look like the Messiah you need? Look again!!

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

What a memorable day of worship through Church By The Sea this past Sunday. First, literally at CBTS. Cheri Evans-Schmidt along with our Discipleship Pastor, Brian Checchio, led us in worship. The morning was filled with God's power, grace, and love. Cheri is so gifted in communicating and challenging us to draw closer to Jesus. Please make every effort to go to our YouTube channel and watch our service. Thank you Cheri!

The second worship was at the annual families retreat at Lake Placid. There were over 40 parents and children celebrating the word "transformation" that comes with being in a relationship with Jesus. Two worship services at different locations with the same Lord. Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Have a blessed day!

In His Grip,
Chris

This Wednesday is our last Soup, Salad, and Studies Lenten series. It begins at 6pm. I want to invite you all to join us. It is a great time of food, fellowship, and study.

Pastor's Weekly Email

Dear Friends,

Another great Sunday at Church By The Sea. Thank you Brian, Randy, our choir, all our volunteers, our patio hosts, members and guests who made worship happen! I enjoyed watching live while I was away. Thank you Michael Higgs for putting your heart into our livestreaming service. I have heard nothing, but extreme praise for the quality of our service online. This church is so blessed to be where it is, WHOSE it is, and for all those who call this church family home; whether you are in attendance with us, or watching online - we are all God's children.

I want share again for the umpteenth time our motto here at CBTS..."Where the LESS than PERFECT are MORE than WELCOME". During these past few years, we all need to be reminded that God loves us in spite of our failures...our sins. He loves us enough to send His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. We celebrate that everyday.

Have blessed day!

In His Grip,
Chris

This Wednesday...Soup, Salad, and Studies Lenten series. It begins at 6pm. I want to invite you all to join us. It is a great time of food, fellowship, and study. Please put that on your calendar for Wednesday nights.

Our Response to Ukraine: Session voted for our church to financially support Samaritan's Purse. Samaritan's Purse is doing some wonderful things in and around Ukraine. To see first-hand what they are doing... https://www.samaritanspurse.org/. As of March 29th, we have giving over $15,000! What a outpouring of love.

Sermon Recap

Sometimes our celebrations overshadow the very thing we are celebrating. In our text (2 Samuel 6:1-7) David forgot that God takes sin very seriously; that there are no "little" sins; and that His ways are always best. We would be wise to remember those truths. In the midst of all that is exciting about this time of year, consider the consequences of your sin and thank God for his saving grace!