Latest News
Here you’ll find updates, announcements, and our thoughts on this world around us.
The Newsletter Podcast
The Newsletter Podcast is a production of Emmanuel Church for Emmanuel Church. With new episodes each week, we’ll hear what’s coming up, what’s gone down, and we’ll have a little fun along the way.
Episode 10- November 12, 2024
Announcement – Come and See… Recap – Prayer Walk and Monday Outreach in Commons… Announcement – Thanksgiving Baskets… Announcement: Choir and Cantata… Announcement – Craft Fair… Recap – Community Supper… Announcement – Sunday School Class… Announcement – Meals for Lea… Highlight – Meals Ministry
November 12, 2024
November 5, 2024
October 29, 2024
October 21, 2024
October 15, 2024
October 9, 2024
October 2, 2024
September 24, 2024
September 18, 2024
September 11, 2024
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The Sunday Dinner Podcast
Conversations with folks from the Emmanuel Church Family and friends about life, faith, and our God who knits us all together.
Chapter 9- Roosevelt Pires
Young Life… An Upward Spiral into apologetics… The most fun wedding at the Governor's Inn… Scale Free… All this and more with our very own Roosevelt Pires!
*Check out Roosevelt's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@ScaleFree777
May 29, 2023
April 6, 2023
March 22, 2023
July 11, 2022
June 24, 2022
June 10, 2022
June 5, 2022
May 22, 2022
May 8, 2022
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The Lord Determines Our Load Limits
March 20, 2020
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:7-18
Thankful for the Loser Lobster
March 19, 2020
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:25-34
A Rooted Flower Loves the Sun
March 18, 2020
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners,
nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:1-3
A Kibbutz in the Culture- Our Sunday Roundtable- Session 2, Week 12
Why are so many Christian movies, Christian novels, and Christian albums so bad? Does the indwelling of the Holy Spirit evict the artistic? Is the Christian audience so Stepford in its appetites that they’ll clap like seals for anything with a Scripture reference? Or, are believers afraid that if they produce parables; people won’t get the point?
After centuries of being the theater for war, violence, destruction, and dislocation, the Holy Land in the nineteenth century was barely inhabitable. The farmers had all fled, the vineyards had become thickets, villages were now quarries of rubble, and the irrigation ditches that honeycombed the plains were all dammed and dry. It was a bleak, post-apocalyptic sort of place. But it was in this environment that Jewish settlers moved in and started the kibbutz. These community settlements were begun for the purpose of both repatriating and restoring the land. They would make the Shephelah bloom again, bring a new vintage out of Hebron, and work to see the Jordan River once again water the Jezreel Valley. There was a time when the world of the arts blossomed with Christian themes and an era that saw the Biblical worldview inspire cultures around the world. Renaissance masterpieces were painted by Christian hands, literary classics were products of Christian minds, and some of the greatest symphonies were Christian compositions. But today, Christian contributions to the artworld are limited and out of the mainstream and the landscape is bleaker because of it. It’s time for the Church to kibbutz in our blighted culture. But how do we do this? Is the redemption of the national culture even a good and profitable use of our energies? Barbara Nicolosi is a Christian film critic who has spent her professional life advocating for increased Christian influence in Hollywood and working hard to realize that goal. She has some tough words for both the Church and the industry; but is passionate in her desire to see the Gospel story well-told. Please take a moment to follow the link and read through an interview with Mrs. Nicolosi in Aleteia, a popular Catholic online publication. Nicolosi’s unique perspective and stirring challenge should give us lots to talk about! Please consider joining us for a roundtable discussion on the subject of Christianity and the culture this Sunday morning at 8:30 upstairs in the Family Life Center. Hot coffee and a homemade treat will caffeinate and sweeten the conversation!
Click here to read the first article
Click here to read the second article
Bringing Something to Vanity Fair- Our Sunday Roundtable- Session 2, Week 11
It’s hard enough to be a witness in the real world, but with the creation of a digital world online, many of us find ourselves having to manage our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter avatars as they ping on screens all over the planet. These little pixilated offspring of our ego can be a real handful at times; running free from their leash, biting people, rummaging through the neighbors trash, peeing on every mailbox and pooping on every lawn. Too often, our online presence hurts our real-life witness. Should we delete these little avatars of ours or can they be redeemed as agents of salvation in the social media mission field?
In Paul Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, the young protagonist Christian finds himself passing through Vanity Fair on the way to the Celestial City. This was a marketplace town of sorts where all sorts of merchandise was sold and spectacles kept on display. Every booth, table, kiosk, and shop appealed to the lust, greed, pride, and arrogance of the shoppers. There were honors for sale, bawds to gawk at, jugglers to jeer, and glittery trinkets to adorn every puffed out chest. It was a soulless and miserable town and the pilgrim Christian was clearly out of place. As the merchants and consumers began to pressure Christian to join in the revelry and weigh out silver and gold for worthless things, he plugs his ears and cries out, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity” (Psalm 119:37). When pressed to find out what things he might be interested in, he declares “I buy truth.” For those of you who’ve read the tale, you know that Christian was imprisoned for all this and had to make an impassioned plea for his soul. While Vanity Fair was not changed by any of this, there were a few who were impacted by Christian’s witness and even one abandoned his shop to join the pilgrimage. Reading through this section of Bunyan’s allegory, I really fellowshipped with Christian’s strolling through Vanity Fair in all my scrolling through Facebook. It seems a hard place for me to be a witness and to also keep my witness and yet there it is along the pathway; a town we are called to pass through and impact. How Christians should use and interact with social media is an overdue topic for conversation and consideration. Please take a moment to read the short blog post attached and come prepared to join the discussion this Sunday morning at 8:30 upstairs in the Family Life Center. We’ll have the coffee on and a treat out waiting for you!
Click here to read this week’s article
America Should Be Pro-Bochim- Our Sunday Roundtable- Session 2, Week 10
Growing up in the Evangelical subculture of the United States, support for the nation of Israel was as American as apple pie, baseball, and bald eagles. Ben Gurion and Golda Meir took their place alongside King David and Deborah as heroes of God. Israel, the apple of God’s eye, remained deserving of His people’s devotion and anyone who dared contend against it was tempting God’s fierce wrath. The American church didn’t want the United States to be Egypt, Babylon, or Assyria; nations destined for destruction as the object of God’s jealous anger. We wanted Washington to be the champion of Jerusalem that we might share in some of her promised blessings.
But, in all this support, was there much gospel concern for the Jewish people? Was there much effort made to understand what the Bible had to say about Israel and its destiny? Was there any wrestling with the need to love and win Israel’s enemies? When it comes to the conflict in the Middle East, too many believers have become Old Testament Christians; regressing to preoccupations with land, law, national identity, and political sovereignty. While the Church has in no way replaced Israel, but remains a branch graciously grafted into the covenant tree of life, it is the bride of Christ and the world’s lone agent of salvation. The Church is the ark in the flood, designed to house all the reconciled of God from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Therefore, she should not be allied to anyone but Heaven.
When Joshua led God’s people into the Promised Land, their commission was to conquer and expel all its inhabitants. The whole land had been given to them, but taking possession would require faith, determination, submission, and a will to fight. God didn’t expect this occupation to happen overnight, but He did expect it to happen and He expressly forbid the establishment of any peace based on treaties, truces, or diplomatic maneuvering. As we know, God’s people started strong but never finished. In the second chapter of Judges we find God’s sobering word to Israel: “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you” (Judges 2:1-3) When the people heard this terrible word, they wept. The grief and sadness was so great that they named that place Bochim, meaning “weepers”. God’s promise to give Canaan to Israel was absolute and absolute was His decision to leave it a thorny thicket. So, what should our attitude be toward the nation of Israel today and should we choose sides between it and her Palestinian and Muslim citizens and neighbors. It’s a complex but rich subject for consideration. Please take the time to read this week’s article on this topic written by John Piper and come prepared to join the conversation Sunday morning. We’ll be meeting at 8:30am upstairs in the Family Life Center. Hot coffee and a yummy peace offering will greet you at the door!
Click here to read Piper’s article, “Israel, Palestine and the Middle East”
Worn Out- Our Sunday Roundtable- Session 2, Week 9
In 2004, I began pastoring a little city church in the Deep South. Some seventy years prior to my arrival, the fellowship there had survived a significant church split that hewed the church in two and left an open wound that still festered in the memories of some. The church had been planted in the early 1900s in the neighborhood of a bustling textile mill and ministered to the salty, plucky, rough and tumble folks living in the shotgun shacks lining the streets around. The mill families that walked to church on Sunday were a poor, hard-working, brass-knuckled bunch. They were joined in worship by people who drove in from nice homes on the hill; folks in linen suits and chiffon dresses whose manners were genteel and whose speech was erudite. Both classes of people loved Christ but they found it hard to love and appreciate each other. There was little fellowship and a lot of tension. One of the happenings that lingered long in people’s memories as having contributed to the open hostility that would eventually split the church had to do with clothing. The stately families from up on the hill began bringing bedsheets to church with them. Before sitting down, they would cover the pew with the sheet. When asked why they would do such a thing, they remarked rather demurely that they did so to protect their clothing from the soot and grime the factory workers had left behind. While it was true that many in the congregation came to church on Sunday wearing what they’d worn to work the night before, it was also true that they often didn’t have anything else to wear. While it was true that covering the pew in a bedsheet was tactless and insensitive, it was also true that it was important to these folks to give God their best by wearing their best. In all, it was a mess.
I would love to know what the Apostle Paul might have written in an epistle to that little mill town church, but I think I can guess. He would have argued for humility, unity, and grace and would have scolded them for being so petty when the world around was lost and dying.
When it comes to the matter of what type of dress is appropriate for worship and whether or not church services should become more casual and informal or cling to a more traditional decorum, I confess to being a little worn out on the question of what to wear. It’s not true to say that it doesn’t matter – of course it matters. Nonverbal expression is just as important as verbal and clothing says a lot. It’s also not true to say that God only looks at the heart. God looks at it all and wants it all to reflect reverence for His word and a desire to please Him. That said, is there a standard and a code in all these things and are we crazy enough to try and adopt an approach? Is the sanctuary a living room or a throne room or both? Are we with our Abba Father in our jammies or before the King in our finest raiment or both? Now, to be clear, I don’t think it’s a top 20 issue, but I do think it opens up a fruitful line of discussion. We’d love to know what you think! Please take a moment to read the link to this week’s article and then come as you are to the roundtable discussion this Sunday morning at 8:30am upstairs in the Family Life Center. There’ll be hot coffee and a homemade treat!
Click here to read this week’s article