Ebb and Flow
I bet that almost all of us have, at some point, stood on the beach at the shoreline and watched the water push in and out. As the tide rolls back and forth, sometimes it goes higher on to the dry sand and other times it barely seems to push in at all. Other times, it pulls out deep into the water exposing new mysteries on the gulf floor. No one can deny this ebb and flow. As well, rarely does anyone think when it pushes in, it will never end or when it pulls out the water is receding forever. We have seen the ebb and flow and we enjoy the ancient back and forth.
Life is a lot like this same ebb and flow. In different seasons it feels busy and chaotic and in other seasons it feels quiet and still. Rarely does anyone think this season will stay forever and honestly we all tend to look forward to the change in pace.
We are about to approach a change of pace here at The Chapel. Between Spring Break, the season of Lent, and other great things happening around here, there are lots of details you need to know. Please read below about the upcoming ebb and flow at The Chapel.
Parking. Paid parking starts back up in March here in Seaside. This means we now have parking passes for Sunday morning worship. Our great friends in town generously provide free parking to our worshipers for Sunday morning. It is a new unique pass for every Sunday. If you need those passes, please email Sarah Beard at [email protected] with the subject, Parking Passes Please. These passes are only for Sunday morning until noon and do not apply to mid-week activities. There is paid parking in town, free options in the Watercolor/Seaside public lot, limited free parking along 30A, and the shuttle into town. For more information regarding Seaside parking and shuttle options, go to, https://seasidefl.com/news/managed-parking-and-shuttle-services-to-return-to-seaside-for-2025/
Mission and Outreach Sunday. We believe here at The Chapel, we are called to proclaim the good news of Jesus through our words and actions. This means, we don’t just have a worship service or bible studies on a weekly basis, we need to live out our faith. God’s Kingdom come, God’s Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. This Sunday, we are going to highlight our Mission and Outreach partners who are doing incredible work in the community and beyond. This Sunday, March 2nd, we’ll share in communion at 9am like normal, followed by coffee provided by Panama City Coffee. We’ll have our usual Sunday morning worship service at 10am, followed by more coffee and an opportunity for you to get to find out more about our partners and find ways to get involved with those organizations. In addition to that, 100% of what we collect on Sunday morning for offering is going to go to these great organizations (in addition to our pledged support). I hope you will join us this Sunday, meet these great people, and join in our efforts to join with God to build, proclaim and expand the Kingdom of God here and now.
Ash Wednesday. Wednesday, March 5th is the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent is simply the 40 days (minus Sundays) leading up to Easter morning. It is the latin word for 40. As we begin this season of prayer and reflection, fasting and abstaining, we do this as we journey with Jesus to Jerusalem. This all kicks off with an Ash Wednesday service at 6pm on Wednesday, March 5th at The Chapel. It will be a simple service, similar to our normal worship services, but will conclude with people having the opportunity to receive ashes. The ashes are applied to either the back of your hand or to your forehead. The ashes remind us from dust we came, and dust we will return. Our hope is to repent and believe in the gospel. We are reminded of our mortality and that life is found in Jesus.
Lent. The season of Lent kicks off on Wednesday, March 5th. We have Lent Guides to help you be intentional with this time. We have hard copies at The Chapel and you can access digital copies here.
We have lots of services coming up for Holy Week.
Palm Sunday, April 13th. 10am.
Maundy Thursday, April 17th. 6pm.
Good Friday, April 18th. 6pm.
Easter Sunrise Service on the Seaside Beach. Sunday, April 20th. 6am.
Easter Sunday Services at The Chapel. Sunday, April 20th 8:30am and 10am.
All this and more available at thechapelatseaside.com/easter
Night of Worship. Hymn Sing. Sunday, March 9th at 6pm. Several times a year we have an evening of music and worship and we are excited to do that on Sunday, March 9th with a Hymn Sing. Nate Kelly, our worship leader, and some friends will lead us in a time of singing the great hymns of the faith. I hope you will join us for this awesome night of worship.
Spring Break. We know that Spring Break is a rolling target where it is busier some weeks and slower others. So you know for your calendar, we will continue to meet each week for Sunday mornings. Our Bible Studies, both Wednesday Men and Women’s and our Thursday Young Adult Study, at this point, will only break on Wednesday, March 19th and Thursday, March 20th. They will continue to meet before and after that, except for Holy Week. During Spring Break, some of the roads in Seaside will be closed during the day. We will do our best to update you on those details when it gets closer.
Tuesday Prayer Hour. If you haven’t joined us yet for the Tuesday Noon Prayer, I would love for you to come by anytime you can. Our friends at 30A Prays and The Chapel partner together to off this accessible time of prayer. It is a simple 1 hour of guided prayer, with live worship, scripture reading, and time for personal and corporate prayer. You don’t have to pray out loud if you don’t want to. Come as you can, leave when you need to. We look forward to seeing you there.
Fasting. We just finished a 4 week series on fasting here at The Chapel. If you missed any of the teachings or you would like more resources, just go to thechapelatseaside.com/fasting. Lots of resources, many of them provided by our friends at Practicing The Way.
Like always, if you are out of town, under the weather, or just need to worship from home, you can watch all of our worship services on our live-stream on our website, thechapelatseaside.com,
on our Facebook page, Facebook.com/TheChapelAtSeaside
and our Vimeo page, Vimeo.com/thechapelatseaside.
Let us know if you need anything or have any questions. We hope to see you in the midst of this wonderful and busy season.
Blessings,
Andrew