Posts by courtnut02 (Page 22)
Sunday was a sweet day of worship at Emmanuel.
Roger did a wonderful job honoring our High School graduates. It was so good to hear the parent’s prayer, blessing and challenge to our students. It was a reminder to me to be faithful always. Richard’s Testimony of reliance on God and gratefulness for his family and church family spoke to all that were present. When hearts are filled with the bounty of God’s love and grace, praise comes from the heart and that is what we did in lifting…
Assurance
God never promises that we’ll have a lot of earthly things, but Jesus often spoke of heavenly rewards. For example, in Matthew 5, Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.” We are assured of rewards in heaven. But God also gives us assurance for today, in this life here on earth, before we…
Seven Things
Recently, I read an article by Thom Rainer of Lifeway titled “Seven Things Church Members Should Say to Guests.” These seven things help break down barriers. They help with our friendliness to church guests. The seven things to say are: “Thank you for being here;” “Let me help you with that;” “Please take my seat;” “Here is my email address. Please let me know if I can help in any way;” “Can I show you where you need to go?”…
Summer Missionaries: Stage 1
As we as a church move forward in our vision of Missions our goal has got to be centered on the mandate of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) and Acts 1:8. That we would be willing, trained, equipped and expectant to GO, wherever and whenever Christ would open the door. In order for us as a church to be trained and equipped to minister to those in other lands we must begin here close to…
If you are a parent
If you are a parent perhaps you can relate to this concept. When we look at our children we may see their blemishes, problems or faults but we also see their immense value. The same is true of God. He sees our warts and ugliness and He knows our sin but He also knows our value. This value is why He sent Christ on this earth to redeem us. It is why Christ came to restore that relationship which had…
Thankfulness
In Ephesians 5:30, Paul tells us, “In all things give thanks.” We need to be thankful all the time…for lots of things…for the daily things. One woman put it this way…she said, “I’m thankful…For the husband who is grumpy when his dinner is not on time because he is here with me, not with someone else…For the teenager who gripes about doing dishes because that means she’s at home and not on the streets…For the taxes that I pay, because…
Your Family is Your Ministry
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 Parent’s we make plans for so many things as it pertains to our kids. What we want them to do before graduation, in college and after graduation. I was convicted this week as I began to think about what my expectations spiritually of my own children are before they graduate high school. What goals do I have…
Annual Dessert Auction
Our annual Dessert Auction to help support the children’s activities during the summer was great this past Sunday! Thank you EBC Family for your overwhelming response. Nearly $3000 dollars were given, nearly 60 items were auctioned and a ton of dessert was consumed. Top that off with fantastic fellowship, the thrill of bidding, our own Larry Wright as auctioneer– well it made for a perfectly fun and enjoyable evening. Thank you to each one who made the delicious delicacies. Thank…
Church Growth
Thom Rainer of Lifeway recently wrote an article titled “Seven Reasons Some Church Members Don’t Want Their Churches to Grow.” I felt the reasons were valid and I wanted to share them with you. As a church grows, there is also sense of loss. But these losses should be outweighed by the blessings of fulfilling the Great Commission. The seven reasons are: loss of familiarity, a growing church becomes a different church over time; loss of memories, a growing church’s…
Prayer is the most powerful gift we have from God.
With prayer the wounded are healed. I believe that through prayer that which was dead can live again. I do believe in prayer. It is through prayer that we discover what it is that God wants us to do. But I do not believe that we use prayer to tell God what to do and when to do it. God knows what we need and when is the best time for each one of us to receive that which He…