Posts from February 2018
Want to invite our Emmanuel Family to join our EBC Youth Ministry on March 11th after evening worship as we participate. The moms of our students and the boys will team up to play basketball verses the dads of our students and the girls. It is a fun time and we will have popcorn provided for the fans. We hope to see everyone come out and watch as well as Mom’s and Dad’s to come play.
Notes From Mark
Church family thank you so much for the many prayers, cards and kind words you have expressed to Beth and I these past few weeks. We are so grateful to each one. It is so good to see the church being the church of love and support and sharing the love and grace of Christ. Thank you. In sharing about my dad I remember that at one point in our journey he and I had the same favorite scripture passage.…
Retirement
This last Sunday, I announced my intentions of retiring from the pastorate at Emmanuel. August 5, 2018 will be my last Sunday in the pulpit at EBC. I harbor no ill will towards anyone, nor have I received any pressure to leave. I have prayed about it and found complete peace with my decision. I plan to return to teaching at SWOSU and to continue being part of the Emmanuel Baptist Church family. I am not leaving the church, nor…
Back in November when we were in Latvia we saw this sticker around the church and in people’s cars and homes. We got curious and asked about it. We were told that while the church was teaching through leadership roles through scripture it was stated that simple to sum them up was “Don’t be a jerk” this led to one of the church members making stickers for everyone to remind them to Not be a jerk. Many of the people…
Notes From Mark
Who do you compare yourself to? Have you thought something like this “If I am as good as my neighbor then that’s pretty good!? Or maybe I just need to try harder to see God and His benefits. Or maybe even “My actions aren’t really all that bad.” So often we compare ourselves to one another because it makes us feel better. The Bible tells us that only the holy will see God. In order to be holy we must…
Temptation
An overweight man decided to go on a diet. One of his New Year’s resolutions was to take a different route to work so he wouldn’t pass his favorite bakery. He told all of his coworkers about his resolution. He felt the accountability would help. So, all his coworkers were surprised when he shuffled in one morning, carrying a huge coffee cake just oozing with frosting. “This is different,” He explained. “You see, I accidentally drove by the bakery, and…
As Lisa and I have begun our family and had kids, yes a few kids. We have had many discussions on the family traditions that we both grew up with. Some were big deals to one or the other of some were just things that we always did, no real passion behind having them continue. As we discussed many times we have found ourselves continuing some of these traditions and some we stopped. We made a plan to continue many…
Notes from Mark
Desiring excellence when it is rooted in the love and knowledge of God is a gift from God. Having a passion to be your best is needed in our world. Working on that which pleases God and having respect for quality are found in this desire for excellence. When we let our sinful desires lead, the passion for excellence will be replaced with a passion for power which focuses on my wants and my needs. It can be a subtle…
Wednesday Helper
I need a helper on Wednesdays. Because of a lack of workers, I help with the Children’s Afterschool Program. I take children to the park and back. Some of our youth help me, which is great, but I need another adult. Also, we could use a helper for Kerina with Story Time. In 1 Corinthians 3:9, Paul writes “We are laborers together with God.” We each have a responsibility to serve God in some way. We partner with God and…
Notes from Mark
Praise is an integral aspect of worship. It comes in a myriad of forms. There is praise in our prayers, in our words, in our actions and in our songs. We have thoughts of praise and sometimes there is praise in our silence. When we talk about worship and it is directed to and about God then praise is the outpouring of our love of God. Praise is the recognition that God is supreme in our lives. Praise is our…
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