A Word from the Pastor

I’m honored that you are taking the time to check further into Emmanuel. If you want to know more about me here is a link to my bio and here is a link to my sermons.

On my first sermons here, I tried to answer a key question. What is it I dream of for Emmanuel five and ten years down the road? Here was the way I put it in May, 2007:

I want be part of a church that reaches someone who hasn’t known God for years and still isn’t sure but he heard there might be something here for him so he is sitting in the fourth pew on the right and he is wondering if he is in the right place and if the preacher will make any sense whatsoever and if any of the folks around him will say, “Hello.” The church I want sits next to him and talks with him after the service and invites him to their home Bible study.

I want to be part of a place where someone who believes they are no good at their life, who has paced her floor because she cannot figure out how things are going to work out—I want that woman to come here because she heard that there is a gentle shoulder here and God speaks to people with burdens in this place. The church I want listens patiently and tells her they’ve been where she is and it will get better and she is not alone.

And I want to help create a place where someone who loves God can come and be thrilled that he or she is in the presence of other fishers of men, people who know that fish-fishing is their side job, like the Apostle Paul making tents. It is what we do, but it is not who we are. We are those who fish for others. We give hope and a new beginning. The church I want inspires us to reach out past these walls with the love and joy of Jesus Christ.

I want to lead a church that is excited about that great vision for their life and for this ministry. That is the church I want to be part of.

That is still my dream. Through the preached Word, through music that is fresh and dynamic as well as music that is thrilled with the great traditions of our church I want to reach others. Through a children and youth program that is second to none and through a deep commitment to helping people’s marriages and their
personal spiritual growth, I want to reach others. And through hands on service and sacrificial commitment to mission around the world, I want to reach others.

If you are looking for a vital ministry that is set on reaching out and embracing others—including warmly welcoming you and your family--then welcome. I can hardly wait to meet you.

In Christ,

Pastor Stuart