In general:
We offer a large selection of gourmet coffees, specialty drinks, desserts and sweet treats of all sorts. Specializing in hand-crafted custom ordered drinks, Homemade Custom Cakes for all occasions and other sweet treats. Our drinks and sweet options also include sugar-free and gluten friendly options (using all gluten-free ingredients).
It is the vision of Inspirational Grounds to provide our customers with hand-crafted custom drinks and homemade desserts including cakes, cookies, muffins, pies and other sweets, along with quality coffee, espresso, and other gourmet drinks, and other foods and items of interest. We are a values-driven business, family owned and operated, and our core values include the following:
Keeping God first in all we do
Taking care of our customers
Doing the right thing
Respect for all people
Building strong relationships
~Brent & Trena Norris
Would you like to know more about Inspirational Grounds?
Coffee House and Sweet Dreams Bakery…
Business and Ministry
We give God the praise and glory for the inspiration and startup of this business. We are a family owned and operated business made up of husband and wife team Brent and Trena Norris. Mainly started from Trena’s dream and background experience in working at a coffee house, deli and catering business for several years; along with Brent’s education and background experience in business, combined with a couple’s desire to seek God’s ministry outreach for both our lives and the community. Brent is a local Dunn native who graduated from Triton High School as well as Campbell University School of Business. Brent has had other retail experience including grocery stores, restaurants and convenience stores not to mention tax preparation experience in addition to other talents. Trena, although not originally from Dunn now calls this “All American City” home. Trena also has experience owning and operating her own day care center in addition to her other many talents. We both share the desire to have a positive impact on the local community and everyone we meet in sharing the same hope that we have in Jesus Christ.
We currently offer gourmet drink options and homemade baked goods which we provide in a nice Christian environment with the feel of being at home. Our space includes areas open for small bible studies, church groups, game groups and other events when needed. We have a wide variety of drink options including espresso coffee drinks, hot chocolate/steamers, apple cider, Chai, frappuccinos, smoothies, Italian sodas, milkshakes and flavored teas - with many flavors to choose from for all of our drink options. We try to accommodate special requests for allergies or special dietary needs including non-dairy milk options, sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan, caffeine free, and low carb options with our drinks as well as our baked goods.
We have a great selection of whole gourmet roasted coffee beans in a variety of flavors, blends and roasts including many decaffeinated choices that you don’t find at many other places. We even special order beans if you are looking for something we don’t have in stock. We leave our beans whole and freshly grind it as needed to help maintain freshness and great flavor. We also have French Press coffee makers for sale that are great for a hot cup of fresh ground coffee or even a cold brew if you prefer. We have our house favorite Sunrise Blend on the coffee bar every day and offer a different flavor of the day as well as a decaf coffee choice. We also take requests for Coffees to be on the bar each day as well as serving an “Americano” style brew or French Press brew that you can order using any of the beans we have in stock to be fresh ground and brewed right on the spot. We have lots of choices with coffees and other specialty drinks and like to try to help find something that meets your needs as best we can.
We call our bakery side Sweet Dreams Bakery, with our focus on homemade custom cakes for all occasions designed by Trena. Fresh from scratch hand-crafted from our "home" to yours made with love! We also make every effort to try to accommodate special requests relating to allergies whenever possible, including, nut allergies, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy free, vegan, and any other special requests that may come up. You come up with an idea you want and let us see if we can ‘bake’ it happen for you!
Our name (Inspirational Grounds) and slogan (You’re In For A “Brewed Awakening”) are a play on words. “Grounds” refers to coffee grounds as well as a common “grounds” as place for people to gather and meet. “Brewed Awakening” is a play on “rude awakening” to associate brewed for coffee and awakening for the hope that people have a chance to be awakened to the loving grace of Jesus Christ and the hope that comes through him for Christians. We want to be a place of “inspiration” and uplifting of people and a common “grounds” for everyone to come no matter their differences. We want to be a place of inspiration and HOPE!
To sum things up, we desire to have God work through us, this business and the associated ministry outreaches to do His will to benefit the local community and beyond. People often will not come into a church for whatever reason, but most all people will come to a coffee house or restaurant of some sort for good drinks, food and dessert. We just want to be a place to make everyone feel welcome and hopefully have a positive impact on the lives of those God places in our path. We are not out to “cram” any religion down anyone’s throat, but neither do we want to ‘minimize’ the God we serve. We want God to be able to work through us and use us to show His love to everyone we encounter. We know we are not perfect and we all make mistakes, but we strive to be better and help others find hope in Jesus Christ. Our vision is to be a place for all to gather and meet together no matter their differences.
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One major problem with people being pushed away from God and Christianity is shown in the following quote:
“The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” – Brennan Manning in his book The Ragamuffin Gospel
We also want to share with you a couple of our favorite Bible verses:
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” - Joshua 24:15 (NIV)
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
