Jesus Fest '09 -
What A Blessing!
Jesus Fest '09 was held Saturday May 16, 2008 at the Manahawkin Lake Park from 10am until 6pm. This was our 7th year of having Jesus Fest and was the biggest event ever! This year we had 24 area churches participating, plus at least 11 other guest ministries!
As always, Jesus Fest was open to the public with admission and all activities, pony rides, and prizes being free. Attendance continues to grow each year!
The purpose of Jesus Fest is always:
- To proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior to our local community.
- To celebrate Jesus' love for us and worship Him publicly.
- To promote unity and fellowship amongst the local Bible-preaching churches of Southern Ocean County according to Psalm 133:1.
This year's theme was "Sowing and Reaping". The participating area churches collected non-perishable food items amongst their congegations leading up to Jesus Fest. The food was brought to Jesus Fest to be donated to the local Interfaith Hospitality Network (for area homeless families) as well as to the Ocean County Hunger Relief community food bank. We had Southern Ocean County citizens come to Jesus Fest with non-perishable food for these causes as well. Everyone who donated food (or money) was be given a plant with a scripture attached (thus sowing & reaping).
There were 3 areas of Jesus Fest at the park...
The Praise Court featured live praise bands from the local churches (awesome worship & praise!) playing all day on the main stage. All the churches had tables & booths setup around the park's walkway to greet the visitors to the park and fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ from all the other denominations. Most of the churches also sold food (great food at very reasonables prices) to raise money for their youth groups or other ministries/missionaries that they support. The Prayer Tent was staffed with volunteers who prayed for the needs of anyone who requested prayer. There were also volunteers to introduce anyone to Christ who may not yet know Him as Savior. Christian Radio Station WYRS 90.7 FM was in the Praise Court to meet the people, record interviews and broadcast portions of the day's activities. Thanks so much to Bob, Nancy, Art, Billie and the rest of the wonderful crew of WYRS.
The South Area featured Dennis
Zech the nationally known Christian illusionist. 
Dennis
has an awesome ministry presenting the Gospel using the art of illusion.
Check out his web site at: www.4truth.org.
The South stage also featured Resounding
Joy offering up some awesome "rock-solid" contemporary
worship for the Lord all afternoon!
The Kids Area (grade school & younger) featured live awesome Christian puppet shows, pony rides, games, and Chrisitan prizes all day, all free! Always lots of fun for the kids of all ages.
Many guest ministries such as Compassion International, America's Keswick, Lighthouse Christian Academy, Widows Might, and many more were at Jesus Fest sharing information and answering questions. Many thanks to the Gideons who joined us to hand our over 600 Bibles to visitors throughout the day! Over the years, many foreign children have been sponsored through Compassion International by the visitors to Jesus Fest!
As always, Jesus Fest Info books that were be given out at the event. It is a great reference of local businesses who support Jesus Fest and the work of God in our area. Please consider using these excellent businesses for all your needs. Also, there are great coupons in the Info Book to save you money on dining out, hair care, and more! Thanks to all the local businesses who support Jesus Fest each year!
All of this year's United For Jesus t-shirts featuring the Sowing & Reaping theme are sold out. However, we still have United For Jesus white golf shirts and some of last year's "Building The House" shirts available. Please call or email us if you wish to purchase some.
Thanks to all of you who spent the day at Jesus Fest '09! The music, food, and fellowship were incredible!
If your church is in the Southern Ocean County area and is interested in joining us for Jesus Fest, or any of our other functions, please contact us at 609-660-1060 x55.
See you next year at Jesus Fest '10!
The CCSOC web site provides a center point of communication for the member churches. Be sure to bookmark this site and check back here often. The will be new information of various area church activities on a continuing basis.
Christian Churches
of Southern Ocean County
PO Box 157
Barnegat, NJ 08005
609-660-1060
Email:
info@ccsoc.com