Dear Friends,
For anyone who missed the announcements on Sunday, I want to give you an update on Alpha. This will be more of an informational letter as opposed to my usual devotional ones.
Coast's Alpha planning team met on Sunday Oct. 5. Based on your input and our own discussion, we felt that a Friday evening would be the best time to invite most of our friends to Alpha. We also felt that, to do a Friday night Alpha really well, it would be best to start after the holidays. So, expect to hear more about a Coast Alpha course on Friday nights as we approach the new year.
In the meantime, I’m still planning for us to take the Alpha course together as a church right away, starting Sunday November 16. There are two reasons for this. The first is that I’ve heard from people experienced with Alpha that it is a highly effective tool for helping friends and neighbors connect with Jesus but that, very often, the first time a church runs Alpha, only existing church members attend. Members then invite friends after they have experienced Alpha for themselves. With this in mind, I'd like for us to experience Alpha for ourselves now so that we will be ready to invite friends to join us on Friday nights early next year.
The second reason I want to run Alpha right away on Sunday mornings is a sense of urgency from the Holy Spirit. I have found again and again in my walk with Jesus that, when the Spirit puts it on my heart to do something, I'm meant to do it right now. When I have delayed acting, I've ended up missing God's timing. In this case, I can't shake the feeling that God wants to do something through Alpha at Coast right away. Perhaps there are some people we are meant to invite right now, for whom 2026 might be too late. With this in mind, I would like to encourage you all to pray and ask the Spirit to show you at least one person you could invite to Alpha right away on Sunday mornings as well as at least on person you could invite on Friday nights in the new year.
A Prayer for This Week:
Holy Spirit, open my eyes to see people around me who are hungry for something more. Speak to me about who to invite to Alpha. Show me at least one person you want me to invite and give me both the kindness and the courage to invite them. Amen.
Love in Christ,
Michelle
