Minister's Blog

Super Pumped for 2021!!         

The New Year has always been a time of renewal and planning for me as a pastor.  God has always used it as a time of evaluation, refocus, and renewed optimism in the calling the Lord has given.  It is an honor and a blessing to be the senior pastor of Emmanuel.  My vision for this church will always be for us to be a community of faith made up of maturing disciples, longing to grow in faith, knowledge, love and holiness; seeking to glorify Christ through bearing to witness to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in this world.  What tangible steps can we take personally and corporately this year to progress in our sanctification?

1.  Faith:  LET’S PRAY!!  We are going to pray more.  We will never pray enough, but I have been convicted of the need to spend more time in prayer in our worship services, especially in our Wednesday night prayer meetings.  I have been so blessed to see the Lord move some dramatic ways in the life of the church, and these moves of God have always been preceded by times of focused prayer!

2. Knowledge:  January 3 we will be rolling out the Family Bible Study plan for 2021.  It is a family catechism.  Catechism is a big word that simply refers to the teaching of Biblical doctrines using questions and answers.  This Catechism will help us learn and reflect on the fundamentals of the faith as we work through the truths of the Apostles’ Creed, Ten Commandments and Lord’s Prayer.  My Sunday sermon schedule will deal with the doctrines we will be studying.  

3. Love:  We will continue to reach out to our membership through our membership reconciliation task force.  We have taken a little time off from this effort due to the restrictions of the pandemic.  I have personally been convicted of my need to connect personally with all members and am working on a plan to do this regularly and systematically.

4. Holiness:  Our progress in holiness (sanctification) is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit, and I trust that those who are taking these and other tangible steps to grow in these disciplines are willing vessels for the Holy Spirit’s continued work of transformation!

Thanks for all the Christmas cards and wishes.  I pray all of you have a happy New Year!!