Sundays are truly exciting at Emmanuel! Yesterday's service started with video testimonies of 3 elementary children being interviewed about recently leading their friends to Christ. It was AWESOME! Noah, Taylor, and Ray... we're proud of you!
The music was tremendous, the choir did a new song, and a new men's trio was launched! The One Focus Trio blessed us with two special songs. Thanks Brian, Libby and Chrystal!
John and Melissa Bjorgen, our missionaries to Belize, Central America, were with us. They met with our teens that will be going on a missions trip to Belize this summer. They also gave a report in our service. Our church family helped them with some of their moving expenses.
The sermon series continued in James 5 as we discussed the correlation between sin and sickness. I pointed out that sickness and death were never part of God's original plan. Some sickness is due to Adam's sin. Some sickness is due to our personal sin. Some sickness is not due to sin, such as the man born blind, but gives opportunity to point people to Jesus. God is still in the healing business and we will focus on that more this Sunday.
Sunday afternoon and evening included the ordination of one of our staff members. I'll write more about that in the next post.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Sunday Summary 11.22.09
WOW... what a day! I mean that in every aspect of that statement. We had a great crowd and many guests; we had some of our worst technical difficulties ever; we had a great performance by our children's choir (Kidz Praiz); we confronted one of the most difficult topics - forgiveness and restoration; we handed out our proposed budget for 2010, and we even got out early again. You see why I said, "What a day."
I know it's the plight of many preachers to preach to the topical messages around holiday themes, but I just felt that God would have me continue our Sunday morning series in James. We examined James' instructions in 5:7-13 on how to do right, when you've been done wrong. The Church (at large) is plagued by people who want to kill and destroy their own, rather than restore and reconcile. Interesting... Gal 5 tells us the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. Then in John 10:10, it tells us that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. So, it should be obvious which "spirit" is controlling people who refuse to reconcile? Neither obedience nor forgiveness are optional among believers (Eph 4:32).
On Sunday night, we discussed God's love for us. The closest earthly comparison would be a parent's love for his/her child. True love is unconditional, loving, giving, forgiving, has other's best interest at heart, etc. Hard to comprehend, but God loves us a million times more than we even love our kids! God's love should motivate us to love Him back, to honor, to respect and to obey Him. God's love for us should be the basis for living out our Christian faith. One final thought... we all know how bad it hurts when our children disobey us. So, if God loves us a million times more than we love our kids, I wonder if it hurts Him a million times more when His children disobey Him? Take some time and try to comprehend the love of God this week.
I know it's the plight of many preachers to preach to the topical messages around holiday themes, but I just felt that God would have me continue our Sunday morning series in James. We examined James' instructions in 5:7-13 on how to do right, when you've been done wrong. The Church (at large) is plagued by people who want to kill and destroy their own, rather than restore and reconcile. Interesting... Gal 5 tells us the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. Then in John 10:10, it tells us that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. So, it should be obvious which "spirit" is controlling people who refuse to reconcile? Neither obedience nor forgiveness are optional among believers (Eph 4:32).
On Sunday night, we discussed God's love for us. The closest earthly comparison would be a parent's love for his/her child. True love is unconditional, loving, giving, forgiving, has other's best interest at heart, etc. Hard to comprehend, but God loves us a million times more than we even love our kids! God's love should motivate us to love Him back, to honor, to respect and to obey Him. God's love for us should be the basis for living out our Christian faith. One final thought... we all know how bad it hurts when our children disobey us. So, if God loves us a million times more than we love our kids, I wonder if it hurts Him a million times more when His children disobey Him? Take some time and try to comprehend the love of God this week.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Dolphins vs. Panthers
Last night, we took a group of men to the Miami Dolphins vs. Carolina Panthers game. Interestingly, 8 of the 10 were Dolphin fans. (And by the way... we won!) We had a great time and God used some VERY generous people to provide tickets and allow us to join in their tailgate party. It was GREAT!
As I was sitting in the stadium, I wondered...
How is that people will drive two hours, pay $70 per ticket, pay $25-30 for parking, spend $20 on concessions, wait in lines, fight the traffic, and will jump seats trying to get closer to the field, and sit for 3 hours -- all for the sake of watching their favorite football team? Yet on Sundays, some of those same people will say they can't afford to tithe, say the church is too far away, they leave early so they can beat the traffic, they sit as far away from the preacher as possible, and they complain if the service goes more than an hour.
Carry the thought a little further... at the ballgames, enthusiasts are called "fans." On the other hand, if we drove two hours for church, dropped $120 in the offering, sat down front, and raised our hands and screamed "Go God," people would call us "fanatics."
I am a die hard football junkie and enjoy most sports, but I wonder how God feels when we get more excited about a sporting event than we do about our relationship with Him. Just something to think about.
As I was sitting in the stadium, I wondered...
How is that people will drive two hours, pay $70 per ticket, pay $25-30 for parking, spend $20 on concessions, wait in lines, fight the traffic, and will jump seats trying to get closer to the field, and sit for 3 hours -- all for the sake of watching their favorite football team? Yet on Sundays, some of those same people will say they can't afford to tithe, say the church is too far away, they leave early so they can beat the traffic, they sit as far away from the preacher as possible, and they complain if the service goes more than an hour.
Carry the thought a little further... at the ballgames, enthusiasts are called "fans." On the other hand, if we drove two hours for church, dropped $120 in the offering, sat down front, and raised our hands and screamed "Go God," people would call us "fanatics."
I am a die hard football junkie and enjoy most sports, but I wonder how God feels when we get more excited about a sporting event than we do about our relationship with Him. Just something to think about.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday Summary 11.15.09
Today was another awesome Sunday! We started the service with three baptisms and ended the service with a young man accepting Christ as his Savior! The music was GREAT, which led my father-in-law to say that we shouldn't hire a Worship Pastor, because they would only mess things up. I hope he's not prophetic, but I'm not sure no one could do any better than our volunteers have been doing. At the close of the service, Joe sang his first solo at Emmanuel and knocked it out of the park!
In the morning, I continued the sermon series in James 5:1-6 offering James' "Advice to the Affluent." I emphasized that money is not evil, but the love is money is. James warned against hoarding money, being selfish, becoming rich at other's expense, mistreating people for money, and misusing wealth. God will often "give through us, but not give to us." Our folks were challenged to give to those in need, invest in eternity, and refuse to make money their god. I closed by reminding them that each of us can be rich in Christ as seen in Eph. 1:7, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."
On Sunday night, I continued the sermon series based on Francis Chan's book, "Crazy Love." If you haven't read it, I HIGHLY recommend it. The book is an easy read, but carries you deep in thought and introspection. The primary focus tonight was to lead people to realize that Christ CAN return any time, so we should live as though we expect Him. What would you do if you knew Jesus would return tomorrow? Francis Chan said in a spiritual sense what Tim McGraw said in the physical sense -- "Live like you were dying." Live ready for Christ's return.
In the morning, I continued the sermon series in James 5:1-6 offering James' "Advice to the Affluent." I emphasized that money is not evil, but the love is money is. James warned against hoarding money, being selfish, becoming rich at other's expense, mistreating people for money, and misusing wealth. God will often "give through us, but not give to us." Our folks were challenged to give to those in need, invest in eternity, and refuse to make money their god. I closed by reminding them that each of us can be rich in Christ as seen in Eph. 1:7, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."
On Sunday night, I continued the sermon series based on Francis Chan's book, "Crazy Love." If you haven't read it, I HIGHLY recommend it. The book is an easy read, but carries you deep in thought and introspection. The primary focus tonight was to lead people to realize that Christ CAN return any time, so we should live as though we expect Him. What would you do if you knew Jesus would return tomorrow? Francis Chan said in a spiritual sense what Tim McGraw said in the physical sense -- "Live like you were dying." Live ready for Christ's return.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Homecoming 11.1.09
This past Sunday, Emmanuel Baptist Church celebrated our 83rd anniversary! This is the first year that our Homecoming represented a "normal" Sunday service format and the responses have really been good. I've learned that while "showcasing" people from the past is fun, our people are proud of their church and want their returning friends to see what is taking place now. So, outside of some extra music with the One Focus Trio, everything else was pretty normal. I laugh in saying that, because people always respond, "We never have a 'normal' Sunday at EBC."
Heather did a great job leading - as always. Lisa knocked it out of the park with her solo. (For me personally, we could have given the invitation as soon as she finished.) Reports were given celebrating God's blessings in Emmanuel Christian School, Judgement House, Trunk-or-Treat, the progress on our Children's Theater, Ropes Course, etc. God is doing some awesome things at EBC! It was good for our own folks and our guests to hear what's happening and the lives being impacted because of EBC's efforts and God's blessings.
I continued the sermon series moving into James 4:1-10. In a brief summary, James tells God's children to 1) stop fighting among ourselves and grow up! Selfishness, bitterness, failure to forgive, and desires to retaliate are all marks of spiritual immaturity. Christ-followers are to love, forgive, reconcile, restore, and live in unity. James also instructs us to 2) stop warring within ourselves by selling out to our Savior, instead of our sin. He tells us to 3) stop warring against God and calls those who choose other gods spiritual adulterers! James closes by 4) giving instructions on making peace with God (vss 7-10).
We closed our our Homecoming with a potluck feast like you would not believe. We had 14 serving lines setup in our gym and people ate and spent time catching up with old friends.
Heather did a great job leading - as always. Lisa knocked it out of the park with her solo. (For me personally, we could have given the invitation as soon as she finished.) Reports were given celebrating God's blessings in Emmanuel Christian School, Judgement House, Trunk-or-Treat, the progress on our Children's Theater, Ropes Course, etc. God is doing some awesome things at EBC! It was good for our own folks and our guests to hear what's happening and the lives being impacted because of EBC's efforts and God's blessings.
I continued the sermon series moving into James 4:1-10. In a brief summary, James tells God's children to 1) stop fighting among ourselves and grow up! Selfishness, bitterness, failure to forgive, and desires to retaliate are all marks of spiritual immaturity. Christ-followers are to love, forgive, reconcile, restore, and live in unity. James also instructs us to 2) stop warring within ourselves by selling out to our Savior, instead of our sin. He tells us to 3) stop warring against God and calls those who choose other gods spiritual adulterers! James closes by 4) giving instructions on making peace with God (vss 7-10).
We closed our our Homecoming with a potluck feast like you would not believe. We had 14 serving lines setup in our gym and people ate and spent time catching up with old friends.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Trunk-or-Treat
This was our 7th year of hosting "Trunk-or-Treat" at Emmanuel and the community continues to show overwhelming appreciation and support. Our church members decorate their cars (prizes will be awarded this Sunday) and distribute candy from their trunks. In addition, we bring in inflatables, carnival games, ponies, food, etc. and it makes for a great Halloween alternative. This year, we received cards for almost 700 children that registered, and our best count of parents and grandparents brought our grand total to 1,300+ people that walked through in just 1.5 hours! We gave out almost 1,400 pounds of candy and thanks to both our EBC and ECS families who helped provide this. That will make some local dentists happy! They were literally bringing out the candy in wheelbarrows.
Again, I want to say "thank you" to our staff and all of the volunteers from our church family, because none of this would be possible without your help and support. You brought in candy, decorated cars, dressed in costumes, supervised games, prepared concessions, registered guests, setup, cleaned up, and more! No one really knows how much work goes into one of these events, but you do... and thank you! You have really caught the vision for reaching out and making an eternal impact on our community!
Again, I want to say "thank you" to our staff and all of the volunteers from our church family, because none of this would be possible without your help and support. You brought in candy, decorated cars, dressed in costumes, supervised games, prepared concessions, registered guests, setup, cleaned up, and more! No one really knows how much work goes into one of these events, but you do... and thank you! You have really caught the vision for reaching out and making an eternal impact on our community!
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