Minister's Blog

The Year in Review
I like to pause at the end of the year, look back, and spend a little time thanking God for His blessings. I never cease to be amazed at the goodness and faithfulness of our Lord. We began 2024 by moving back into our newly renovated sanctuary. Our committee did a wonderful job with the renovation and our congregation was faithful in their giving! We were blessed to be able to finish and remain debt free! As I think back over all that has happened in the past year in the life of Emmanuel, our men’s retreat, Canada mission trip, and revival with Pastor H.B. Charles were highlights for me personally, but I don’t want to forget those things that are regular events in the life of the church like weddings, homegoing celebrations, church additions, graduations, promotions, baptisms, holiday celebrations, etc… Those things, while regular occurrences, are no less significant. They may even be more significant because they are celebrations of milestones in the lives of families or individuals that we share in the Body. We ended the year celebrating the ministries of our Preschool Director, Kathy Mitchell, and our Music Minister, Robert Grafton. While both will be entering a new phase of life, Kathy in retirement and Robert to First Baptist Bernice, we can be thankful for their faithfulness and ministries here at Emmanuel for decades!
The Year Ahead
All plans for the upcoming year should be followed by a hearty, “God willing!” I hope you will insert that phrase as you read about our plans for the upcoming year. I am looking forward to jumping back into Mark in the weeks to come. I am planning to finish our study in Mark on Easter. Amanda Martin will be transitioning into an administrative role as our new Preschool Director. Please keep her in your prayers. We are also in the middle of preparations and sign-up for our Men’s retreat coming up, February 7-8. Its focus will be on building a rock-solid life based on faith in Christ and obedience to His Word. I am going to be re-focusing on our Emmanuel Family Bible Study (Catechism) this year, both in my own family and the life of the church. I will be using it with my Sunday school group and our Wednesday night Bible study when appropriate. We are also currently in touch with Southwinds Church in Canada about helping them with some mission endeavors next Summer. Hopefully we will be sharing more in the weeks to come. We have already secured Dr David Allen to be our revival preacher for our August meetings. He is an awesome expositor of God’s Word, seminary professor, and instructor/encourager to pastors.
Those are just a few of the special events taking shape for the upcoming year. There will be opportunities every week for worship, evangelism, discipleship, ministry, and fellowship. I cannot wait to see how the Lord continues to sustain and grow us in the upcoming year!