The staff gets this week off as we prep for another year of joining Jesus in going out to make disciples! With that, welcome to a SPECIAL EDITION of Top of Mind Monday where we look back at 22 Highlights from this year. It's a compilation of special moments, progress, and celebrations! ENJOY! And praise the Lord for what he's done in our midst!
GAP Partnership - 2022 brought a year of huge growth in our partnership with God's Appalachian Project! We sent teams to help with food distribution, Easter outreach, mud-outs, and more! We can't wait to keep hearing stories of life change from Eastern KY!
Be the Match for Leah - CCC had the opportunity to host a "Be the Match" drive in January for little Leah as she battles Leukemia. Local news even expanded the story to help spread the word.
SonRise Service - It was cold. REALLY cold. But the photo might have been worth it! Those who braved it enjoyed a warm breakfast after!
"I caught a frisbee and it started a conversation about faith." Coming in as the third most listened to story on The Backpack, Jake Heil's Story of coming to know Jesus on UK's campus is sure to inspire! Listen in again. For a bonus, enjoy this picture of Jake and Jake Jr. taking in a cinnamon roll at a summer wedding!
Boots on the Ground in Central Asia! After travel bans lightened, we were finally able to send the Embry's to encourage our partners in Central Asia! Our love continues to grow for our partners there and we're looking forward to going back in 2023.
Next Gen goes to Crossings Camp! Summer 2022 saw over 50 elementary-high school students go to camp! Those weeks of camp become pillars in the faith journeys of students as they encounter Jesus.
Shawn Golden preaches on denying our sin. Preaching from 1 John as part of our Thieves of Joy series, Shawn Golden's sermon encouraging us to confess our sins was the most listened to sermon on The Backpack. Listen Again Here.
Community Group Summer Events - Every Community Group hosted an event this summer for the church to hang out and invite others - it was awesome! From pool parties, to cornhole tournaments, to picnics, we did a little bit of every kind of summer fun!
Kenny Mattingly encourages us to let shame be a guage instead of a guide. Coming in at #2 on the most listened sermons was Kenny's message from 1 John on shame. Listen in again as Kenny encourages to stay in community despite the shame we often wrestle with.
Group Life hit new milestones! In terms of percentage, more people than ever are engaged in either a Community Group or Discipleship Group than ever. And what's encouraging is that these groups go beyond the usual meeting time - groups are serving together, praying together, eating together, and even going to see Top Gun together - like these guys!
The Midkiff's serve at Barren Heights! The most listened to story on The Backpack in 2022 was the Midkiff family sharing about their experience serving with our partners at Barren Heights! Listen in again and decide now to go serve with them in summer 2023!
Dave Sullivan hits the nail on the head - too often we live with indifference. Dave's sermon came in as the third most listened to sermon on The Backpack. It was a good reminder to self-evaluate and ask ourselves what really matters. Listen in again.
Back to School Bash! The building was CRAWLING for a few hours as we welcome backed students from birth-high school into the newly renovated next gen area! Bouncies, games, snacks, and prizes launched what has been one of the best starts to a school year in CCC history!
A Night with the Ripkens - What a blessing Nik & Ruth Ripken have been to CCC! We especially enjoyed, and were challenged by, a night where we viewed their film "The Insanity of God" and had some time for Q&A. If you missed this, you can catch the Q&A HERE.
Krysta Howell leads Community Kids to launch Equip 28. Sensing a desire for more from older Community Kids, Krysta Howell and the Community Kids team launched Equip 28 in the fall of 2022! Designed to help 4th-5th graders begin to understand their faith and develop spiritual disciplines, the program has gotten off to an incredible start!
Casey & Kristen Page see God moving in adoption process. Battling infertility is never for the faint of heart. Sharing that journey openly is even tougher. In one of the most listened to stories of the year on The Backpack, Casey & Kristen Page share how they got to this point on their adoption journey and how they've seen God's faithfulness throughout. Listen in again.
Beginning the process of appointing Deacons. Over the last couple years, CCC's pastor/elders had sensed God's leading to install deacons. This fall that process began to take shape as we preached on it, wrote about it( Read the Blog Post. ), talked some more on the podcast(Listen to the podcast on Deacons.), and opened nominations. 28 men and women were nominated! We continue to pray with them over that process as we seek to discern who God is calling to help launch this effort to care well for the people of CCC.
D-Groups Invade Edge Students - While Discipleship Groups continued to crawl through adults at CCC, it was exciting when a D-group popped up with some high school guys! Be praying for continued replication of discipleship groups - not just within CCC, but outside the walls!
Community Group leads Worship Night - This fall one Community Group felt Jesus nudging them to lead their own worship night, so they said, "YES!" The entire night was a reflection of something we value at CCC - engagement. Yes, the music was good, but the whole night was an invitation to keep stepping out with Jesus!
Surpassing $750,000 in missions giving! Since CCC began in 2010, giving to missions partners has been a priority. This year, we surpassed $750,000 in all-time giving! That milestone causes us to be both grateful for how the Lord has provided for us and encouraged to keep joining him in being generous. One of our new financial partners in 2023 is Little Lighthouse, whose director, Kerry Tanis, is pictured below as she shares in our Gathering.
God answers prayer over 13 streets! This fall we began talking and praying about the intersection God has graciously placed us on. We specifically began praying for the 13 streets near that intersection. One amazing way God answered was that during the month of this series, every benevolence call we received was someone on these streets! Keep praying church! How will we join Jesus on these streets in 2023?
We set a record for giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering! This annual offering that goes directly to support international missionary partners through the International Mission Board is always a highlight! This year, we crushed our goal of $7,500 with an offering of $9,063.37! Let's Go!
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