Around the COG - March 18th, 2021

Good morning, COG family!

How about all that snow this last weekend! I definitely prefer summer over winter, but I enjoy a good snow day where I can have a cup of hot chocolate, watch the snow fall, and stay in PJs all day long. I know for some of you who have been working from home for the last several months, staying in your PJs all day long is nothing new. Lucky!

Due to the weather, we canceled in-person service this last Sunday. If you missed it, you can watch it here. Pastor Joel continued his sermon series on the "I Am" statements of Jesus.

Please see below for our Easter weekend plans. We will have multiple services, we will be serving meals for residents at the Olin, and will have a Bunny Hop (Easter Trunk-or-Treat).

Invite your neighbors and friends to join us on Easter weekend! We continue to strive in connecting our church and community to become change agents for Jesus and our upcoming gatherings are a great opportunity to do so.

Be salt and light,

Pastor Chris

Tithes and Offerings

Thank you, COG family, for your generosity and faithfulness during these difficult times! Here are our giving numbers for the last two weeks:

Week of March 9, 2021

Giving: $11,543.00

Weekly Budget: $10,296.31

Year to Date Giving: $99,131.94

Year to Date Budget: $102,963.10

Below are the ways that you can contribute your tithes and offerings to the church.

Write a check to the church. You can either mail it to the church or stop by the church and put it in the slot of our mailbox located by the doors of the North Building (4343 S. Flanders St. Centennial, CO 80015).
Bill Pay through your banking institution.
COG website - online giving.

Mid Week Boost

We are having our first Mid Week Boost gathering on March 24th from 6:30 - 7:30 pm. You can watch the video update to get all the details. We are looking forward to seeing you!

Pray First Resources

As we continue to commit to Pray First, we want to provide resources to help us grow in our prayer walk. Tom King from the Vision Team has done a great job of gathering resources and we will provide them on a regular basis.

These are March's resources:

Desiring God: Prayer Resources

"What Is The Point of Prayer?" by Dr. William Craig

Voice of the Martyrs: Global Prayer Guide

Upcoming Events

Easter Weekend Events

Good Friday Service - We will have service at 6:30 pm on April 2nd. We will observe communion during the Good Friday Service.

Olin Easter Lunch Food Delivery - We will be taking meals to the Olin on Saturday, April 3rd. See below for the details and the link to sign up to help out.

Bunny Hop (Easter Trunk-or-Treat) - April 3rd from 2 - 3 pm. See the details below.

Easter Sunday - We will have service at 8:30 am and 10:00 am on April 4th.

Bunny Hop

(Easter Trunk-or-Treat)

COG will be hosting a Bunny Hop in the COG parking lot on April 3rd from 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm. This promises to be a fun event where we can get together as well as connect with our community.

This event will be very similar to our Halloween trunk-or-treat event. Bring a decorated vehicle to COG (or undecorated) and a lot of candy and goodies to hand out to our little guests. If you have little ones, feel free to show up with them to walk (or hop) a lap or two around the parking lot to gather treats. Make sure to bring an Easter basket. We encourage you to invite your friends and neighbors.

If you are planning to attend with a vehicle and hand out goodies, please email Pastor Chris.

If you cannot make the event and would like to donate candy, drop off bags of candy and treats in the buckets by the sanctuary entrance in the north building.

Here some guidelines for us to follow to help make sure the event is enjoyable for everyone:

If you are decorating a vehicle, be on site by 1:45 pm on April 3rd. You can come as early as you need to decorate and set up your vehicle. If you want to hand out treats without decorating a vehicle, we welcome the extra treats for the kids and ask you to also be on site by 1:45 pm.
We are recommending face masks be worn by everyone attending.
We ask you to hand out treats directly and to wear gloves when doing so.
Treats must be store purchased/sealed. No homemade treats.
If you are not decorating a vehicle and are coming for the event, please park on Flanders Street. The parking lot will be closed off to traffic at 1:45 pm for the safety of everyone.
Have fun! Be welcoming and inviting to those with whom we interact during the event.

Let's make this a great opportunity to get to know our community. If you have any questions, email Pastor Chris.

Easter Meals at the Olin

As many of you know, COG has been taking Easter meals to the Olin Apartments for years. The Olin is a HUD property located close to Denver's Capitol Hill; it assists older and disabled individuals.

Normally during Easter, many of us cook food and we take it to the Olin so we can directly serve meals to the residents. Since we are still under restrictions for food service, we will be putting together meals at COG and taking them to the Olin as we did for Thanksgiving.

This year we will be preparing meals to be taken down to the Olin on Saturday, April 3rd. The plan is to bring all prepared food to COG on Saturday between 11:00 am and 11:20 am. A group will assemble "to-go" style meal packages to be taken to the Olin. We have created an online sign-up for all needed items.

To help with the process, please bring all food in disposable containers. You can sign up to bring as many items as you wish, preparing enough food to serve 10 people per item for which you sign up. For example, if you wish to make enough green beans for 20 servings, sign up for two green bean spots. If you want to make mashed potatoes for 10 servings and gravy for 10 servings, sign up for one of each spot.

If cooking is not your thing, we will need volunteers to bring food from the COG parking lot to the building and the prepared food to the vehicles for transport. We will also need several volunteers to drive the prepared meals to the Olin. The food will be taken in shifts to give the staff at the Olin time to deliver to the rooms and allow us to social distance our deliveries.

Click the following link to sign up to help provide food or transportation:

Sign-Up Here

If you have any questions, contact Missy directly via email or call 720-373-0216.

Thank you, Missy, for setting this up and allowing us to serve our community!

Pastor Chris

Hope for Nicaragua

Flip Flop and Shoe Drive

The Nicaragua mission team is collecting flip flops, shoes, and boots from March 14th through April 4th. There will be collection boxes in the foyer of the north building. Please bring new or gently used items.

Women's Group Study

This 6-week study reveals what Scripture says about forgiveness and leads you through a step-by-step process to free yourself from hurt, uncover emotional triggers, and more. The group will read and discuss Forgiving What you Can't Forget by Lysa Terkeurst. This group meets on Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm via Zoom. If you have not signed up, you can still join via the Zoom link. The meeting ID is 918 1397 0190. You can email Anita if you have questions.

Women's Bible Study

The Friday morning women's Bible study group has started but you can still join. The book study, Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist, is a 7-week study via Zoom at 9:30 AM. Email Judy Cale for more information.

Men's Galatians Study

You can still join the men's Bible study that meets on Friday mornings from 6-7 am. The study is the book of Galatians using the Navigators' Life Change study guide. This is a 12-week series that will go deep into what it means to follow Christ. Contact Karl Been at 720-284-4750 for more information and to get the virtual link.

Men's Bible Study

Men, do you need a place to be encouraged and challenged? Join Pastor Joel for a time of looking into God's Word and applying it to your life. We will meet from 6:00 to 7:00 on Tuesday mornings. Email Pastor Joel if you have questions. Join via Zoom here.

Child Evangelism Fellowship

The Good News Club is now meeting twice a month at COG and twice a month via Zoom. The 1st and 3rd Thursday will be in person from 4:30 - 6 pm at COG. The 2nd and 4th Thursday will be on Zoom from 4:30 - 5 pm. This all begins on February 4th! This group is for elementary-aged children.

Masks are required during the Good News Club get-togethers at COG. You can register online or download the registration form. If you have questions or want to be a helper/leader, you can email Kathleen Chandler or call her at 720-621-3602.