Emmaus Church SC

For centuries, followers of Jesus have been using the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas to reorient themselves to the bigger story we are apart of and to remember that this story has a happy ending. We are going to have an old fashion sort of Advent and spend these weeks reflecting on the four traditional themes of the season-hope, joy, peace, and love. First up is hope. 

As we head into the week of Thanksgiving we are going to spend some time talking about gratitude. There are few spiritual disciplines as vital as giving thanks. 

When it comes to the topic of human sexuality and gender identity, the conversation is filled with nuance. That conversation becomes even more nuanced as it relates to the church. As followers of Jesus, how do we build community in the church amidst the theological, sexual, and gender diversity? How do we wrestle with the scriptures as well as the stories of our LGBTQ friends in such a way that ho...

In this message, we are wrapping up a 10 week series all about relationships. We will get into why it all matters so much. As followers of Jesus, how we people is about more than just getting our own relational needs met. How we people is how we spark change.

In this message, we are going to keep the conversation going by digging into one of Jesus’ most profound teachings about navigating conflict in our relationships. We will get into what to do with/about gossip, the need for a 3rd party, and when to let a relationship go.

If you are in a relationship with someone long enough, there’s bound to be some conflict. We can’t avoid it. Not if we want to have any relationships with some depth to them. In this message we will dig into one of Jesus most spicy teachings and learn a bit about how to navigate conflict the right way.

Last week we were challenged to begin exploring some of the baggage we have inherited from our family of origin. We are going to talk a bit about what to do next. Once we have started to unpack our wagon, how do we begin to move in a new direction?

So much of our people-ing is influenced by how we have been peopled. Often, the first step forward requires us to look back. 

In this message, we will get to hear a word from Pastor Pastor Michael Slaughter . He is the pastor emeritus at Ginghamsburg Church where he served for nearly 4 decades as the lead pastor and helped to spearhead a movement ordinary people committing to God’s extraordinary call on their lives. His passion to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted is what fuels his calling to challenge Je...

Falling in love is the easy part. Nurturing the sort of love that can last…that’s the hard, and yet it’s also the most meaningful part. We are going to get down in the trenches and talk about how to develop the sort of love that stays the course. What we are going to get into applies to all of our most meaningful relationships.

Do you have a hard time saying no to certain people? Are you tired of having the same old fights with the same people? Have you had enough of bailing that one person out of the same kind of trouble? If so, this message is a crash course on establishing healthy boundaries in our relationships. So much of the conflict in our people-ing has to do with a misunderstanding of what is our responsibility...

Not every week of this series will be about our romantic relationships, but this week definitely is. Hubba, hubba. Often, when it comes to our love life, we buy into the myth that if we could just find the right one it will make everything right. We are going to get into how this makes our single, dating, or married lives way harder than they have to be.

This Sunday we are kicking off a new series on all things relationships. Our relational health has a significant impact on every other aspect of our lives-physical, emotional, spiritual-its all connected. And so we can’t neglect it, but that’s exactly what we do, isn’t it? Not dealing with it isn’t a strategy for dealing with. At least not a helpful one. 

We have experienced a lot of growth over the last 6 months and with all the new faces we thought it would be a good idea to share a bit about the kind of church we are working to be. So whether you are new to the community, or you have been around for a while, join us as we take some time to remember who we are!

Jesus has some strong things to say about our tendency to judge one another, and for good reason. This message will unpack one of Jesus’ most quoted teachings and have an honest conversation about why judgement is so harmful.

The cross stands at the heart of the Christian faith. It is easily one of the most recognizable symbols in the world, and it’s also one of the most misunderstood. In this message, we will wrestle with one of the biggest misconceptions about the cross, and in doing so, get to the heart of why the Gospel is such good news.

Wonder is defined as a feeling of surprise and appreciation. It’s when we find ourselves wide eyed and acutely aware of the gift that is our life. Wonder is about as good as it gets and in this message, we will be talking about the role God intends for it to play in our lives and how we can experience a bit more of it. 

Love is a word that gets thrown around a lot. Whether it’s tacos, our favorite team, or our friends and family…we “love” a lot of things. In this message we will talk a bit about what love really is, how it holds us together, and how it will lead us forward. 

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all that’s wrong in our world. From the troubles in our own lives, to the issues in our communities, and then you have the constant bombardment from the 24 hr news cycle of all that’s happening around the world. The temptation is to hunker down, grow cynical, and just block it all out. What we will see as we sit with this final passage in Philippians is that thankfu...

We are getting close to wrapping up our time in the book of Philippians. Here at the end Paul is making sure to say thank you to his friends for showing up for him, but in a strange way, he’s also saying “you’re welcome.”  You’re welcome for what? You’ll have to listen to find out. 

What could a guy on death row possibly have to say about joy? Quite a lot actually. Paul uses the word 9 times in the book of Philippians. The passage we are looking at in this message brings it all together and will teach us a good bit about what joy is, what it isn’t, and how we can experience more of it. We would love for you to join us!

How many of us feel stuck? Stuck…it’s one of the worst feelings we have. Often what can keep us from moving forward is something behind us. In this message, we will get into one of the apostle Paul’s most well-known and most well loved teachings and learn a bit about pressing on toward what is ahead.

What do dogs, mutilators of the flesh, and bears have in common? Hint: it has something to do with circumcision. There’s a word that will get your attention! 

When it comes to understanding big and important truths it can be helpful to have real life flesh and blood examples. This is why we love stories so much…they communicate big important truths in a way that helps us get it. The passage we are going to be looking at works sort of like that. It helps put flesh and blood on what we have been learning so far in Philippians and reminds us that the Kingd...

Philippians is a letter that has a lot to say about joy. In this message, we will deal with one of the things that often robs us of joy; our grumbling. If you are finding that your joy is on short supply, you may have a case of "the grumbles".