On Sunday Pastor Manny Melendez, our Lead Kids Pastor, preached “The Road to Joy.” The message of Christmas is a message of joy to the world! We can have joy in the midst of difficulty and darkness. It doesn’t depend on our circumstances, but rather on encountering God’s greatest gift, Jesus. As we grow in anticipation and hope, joy moves us to action. If you couldn’t join on Sunday, check out Pastor Manny’s message.

On Sunday Pastor Nate preached “Get HIS Peace,” the second message in our series “The Road to Bethlehem.” Life is full of things that can trip us up and trigger us causing worry, anxiety, and taking away our peace. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce her miraculous pregnancy and Jesus’ birth, she didn’t understand God’s full plan, but she trusted Him. In the same way, we can choose to trust the Lord, His heart and His plan for our lives. As a result, we can experience God’s perfect peace! Each of us can open our heart and humbly make room for God’s peace in our life! If you couldn’t join on Sunday, check out Pastor Nate’s message.

On Sunday Pastor Nate preached “The Road to Hope,” our first message in the series “The Road to Bethlehem.” As we learn to trust in the Lord, the God of hope, He brings joy and peace into our lives, so we can overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. As we begin the season of Advent, a journey of expectation leading into Christmas, we are reminded that life is like road that can lead to hope in Jesus. Where is the road we are on today leading us? If you couldn’t join on Sunday, check out Pastor Nate’s message.

On Sunday Pastor Nate preached a message titled “Hit the REFRESH button!” our final week in our “BeCAUSE of Eternity” series. Proverbs 11:25 says “the generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” Thanksgiving is the refresh button for our hearts! When we live with hearts full of gratitude to God and thankfulness for the people in our lives, we discover that the Lord has set aside moments of refreshing for us, regardless of our circumstances. If you couldn’t join on Sunday, check out Pastor Nate’s message.

On Sunday we got to hear from our Pastors at each Emmanuel location. It was so good to hear inspiring and challenging messages from each of them as we continued our series “BeCAUSE of Eternity.” Each of us can live life in such a way that we set in motion a Kingdom legacy. We are inspired by our heroes and guides, and we each have someone that is watching how we live life. We can each craft a “Kingdom Legacy List” with goals regarding our generosity, our marriage, our children and/or grandchildren, and our involvement in the Great Commission. All of us can position our life for significance and Kingdom legacy! If you couldn’t join on Sunday, check out Pastor Nathan Grams’ message at Emmanuel Spring Lake Park.

Miracle Offering by Emmanuel Christian Center

Everyone, Everywhere | Because of Eternity by Emmanuel Christian Center

On Sunday Pastor Nate kicked off our new series “BeCAUSE of Eternity.” When we fix our eyes on eternity and begin to live God-reliant lives, we are fueled by trust in the Lord rather than fear. When we anchor our trust in eternity instead of the temporary, it impacts our stewardship of what’s in our hands. We practice the blessing of dedicating the whole to God by presenting Him with the first tenth. As we grow in trust we grow in faith, and we experience His favor on our life!

On Sunday we got to hear from our Pastors at each Emmanuel location as they closed out our series “Love Thy Neighbor.” They spoke on Jesus’ commandment to love our enemies. With God’s help, we can do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who hurt us. What a timely word for all of us! If you couldn’t join on Sunday, check out Pastor Nathan Grams’ message at Emmanuel Spring Lake Park.

On Sunday guest speaker and Kingdom Builder partner Mark Ritchie continued our message series with a sermon titled “You Really Do Love Yourself, Don’t You?” His depth and his humor drove home the fact that we need to learn how to love ourselves in a healthy way if we do want to be effective in loving others. As we find our identity and our freedom in Christ, we can then live to see others set free.

Sunday was the conclusion of our series “Love Thy Neighbor!” Ephesians 4:29 teaches us to be intentional with our words, making sure our language is helpful and encouraging to those who hear us. Pastor Nate preached a message built on this text titled “It’s Always 4:29!”, challenging us to always speak blessing to the people in our lives. When God’s words are in us, blessing can come out of us. As we learn to listen and refuse to talk childishly, God uses our words to bring healing and life. Check out Sunday’s message here if you haven’t already.