Minister's Blog

Proclaim the Lord’s greatness with me; let us exalt his name together. Psalm 34:3
Psalm 34:3 is our Vacation Bible School theme verse for this year. If the heading of Psalm 34 is correct, David composed this psalm as he reflected on the Lord’s protection and deliverance after fleeing from Saul to Ahimelech and then to King Achish of Gath. It is hard to imagine how dangerous it must have been for David to stay in Israel to make him go to Gath for refuge. Remember this is the hometown of Goliath of the Philistines (enemy #1 of Israel). David was overcome with fear when he realized he had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire! He pretended to be insane so the king would not see him as a threat. The king sent him away and his life was spared. While that’s a crazy backstory, we can see the context for David’s praise. God had shown care for David when everyone else had turned against him. Now David wanted to magnify God!
Our kids at VBS will be reminded of God’s care and attention to the smallest details in His creation. They will discover the bigness of God in the smallest of things. They will magnify God, His care, His love, His forgiveness, and His faithfulness by studying those attributes of God in the Bible. Please pray for VBS, coming up June 16-20. Pray for our teachers, helpers, and kids attending. Pray God will be properly represented, and the Gospel will be clearly presented. Pray many seeds will be planted and we will see many kids come to faith in Christ.
Emmanuel Summer Livestream
I am so excited about our lineup for our Sunday night livestreams! For the past several years we have been adding content on our YouTube channel, The Emmanuel Discipling Network (youtube/ebcruston), and the Emmanuel Facebook page. The videos we post are meant to encourage and edify our church members and hopefully be a point of outreach to the community. The Sunday morning livestream is not meant to be a substitute for attending corporate worship, but a blessing to those that are sick, travelling or homebound. This summer, due to our flexibility on Sunday nights, we thought this would be a great opportunity to do some live interviews, mostly with church members. We will get to hear their stories of faith but truly, hear them give testimony to God’s faithfulness in their lives. Those watching live will have the opportunity to ask questions, comment, and interact with others in the audience. Join us on Facebook or YouTube each Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. Here is June’s lineup:
June 1: The Lord’s faithfulness through trials with Kyle and Penny Warner
June 8: How dependable is my Bible? Translations and the KJV only debate with Dr. Chris Stevens
June 15: Walking with the Lord in college, dating, and marriage with Brady and Ashlyn Eason
June 22: In it to win it for 67 years of marriage with James and Janice Sawyer
June 29: From death to life, a testimony of victory and deliverance with Macie Garlington