March 12th, 2012 | Posted in articles |
Introduction
During Emmaus’ Sunday gatherings we invite covenant members of the church to express Spirit-distributed “manifestation” gifts (such as prophecy, speaking in tongues, message of knowledge, etc…) in accordance with the biblical parameters defined in 1 Corinthians 12-14. Those who believe the Holy Spirit has given them a message for the church approach the elders, who then decide if, when, and how the message should be shared with the church. If the elders determine that a particular message should be shared publicly during the time of worship they may choose to give a microphone to the church member or to deliver the message themselves on behalf of the church member. The congregation then determines whether or not the message is from the Spirit and should be accepted by the church.
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December 9th, 2011 | Posted in articles |
Introduction
In the last quarter of 2011 I led Emmaus Church through a sermon series on knowing and experiencing the Holy Spirit. Throughout this series several themes appeared repeatedly, including the local church as the family of God. In response, a number of people in the congregation approached me with questions about precisely what this means and how it is supposed to play out in their life. Of special concern is how this idea of the church as family is to impact their relationship with their biological family and/or their own nuclear family.
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July 7th, 2011 | Posted in articles |
On June 17th, 2011 Emmaus released our first CD of original songs titled, Church Songs. Each of these 8 songs was born in our congregation and for our congregation with a desire to serve other Christians and congregations around the world. You can download a free sampler at this link. Pastor Cole Brown co-wrote each of the songs and the following is the story behind one of them.
God of Wrath
They say that necessity is the mother of invention. That was certainly true with the song “God of Wrath.” I was preparing to begin a sermon series on the book of Judge and was excited for our community to hear from God through this book and encounter the ever-relevant themes found within it. The most common themes in the book are the tendency of God’s people toward idolatry, God’s righteous judgment on such idolatry, and God’s faithfulness to mercifully provide deliverance from the ultimate judgment his people to deserve.
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July 3rd, 2011 | Posted in articles |
On June 17th, 2011 Emmaus released our first CD of original songs titled, Church Songs. Each of these 8 songs was born in our congregation and for our congregation with a desire to serve other Christians and congregations around the world. You can download free sampler at this link. Pastor Cole Brown co-wrote each of the songs and the following is the story behind one of them.
Father to the Fatherless
As a pastor I have the privilege of doing a lot of pastoral counseling with people inside and outside of our church. As you can imagine, the counselees may be dealing with anything from the emotional stress of unemployment, to marital challenges, to sickness and the fear of death – all sorts of things. As we talk through these things together there is often one common theme that emerges: people struggle to believe that God is their father and that he is actively protecting them, providing for them, and present with them. Oftentimes they struggle to believe this partially because of the physical or emotional absence of their biological father. In such cases I often direct them to Psalm 68 where God is said to do all of these things because he is a “father to the fatherless.”
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June 29th, 2011 | Posted in articles |
On June 17th, 2011 Emmaus released our first CD of original songs titled, Church Songs. Each of these 8 songs was born in our congregation and for our congregation with a desire to serve other Christians and congregations around the world. You can download a free sampler at this link. Pastor Cole Brown co-wrote each of the songs and the following is the story behind one of them.
Hallelujah! What a Savior
The story behind this song is much more a story of discovery than it is a story of creation. The lyrics to all five verses were written by Philip Bliss in 1875, but I never heard them until early 2008. While on a road trip with my wife we listened to a CD that was given to us by a friend. The CD was Upward: the Bob Kauflin Hymn Project released by Sovereign Grace music. “Hallelujah! What a Savior” was the fourth of eleven songs on the CD, and while all the songs are excellent this particular song captured me. A few weeks later I heard the song again, this time it was a darker arrangement on Mars Hill Church’s Rain City Hymnal. Again the song was one among many other well-written, well-arranged hymns but, again, this particular song stuck with me in ways the others did not. The reason for this was simple: Philip Bliss gave us a simple, memorable melody filled with the profound truths of the gospel story.
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