Family worship is a wonderful opportunity to honor and glorify our God with our individual family units as well as corporately as a church family. It is an act of obedience to God as laid out in Scripture (Deut 6:4-9; 1 Cor 12:12-27; Heb 10:24-25) and a practical means for parents to model and instruct their children according to God’s … Read More

Over forty years ago within His overall sovereign plan, God initiated significant and surprising changes in geopolitical realities that eventually made open various opportunities here in Richmond for many young Chinese professionals, college students and post-doctorate scholars.  Concurrently, God was preparing two individuals to harvest from that future crop even before they lived near the harvest field.  Some thirty years … Read More

The first statement in Immanuel’s statement of doctrine reads “The Holy Scriptures: We believe the Holy Scriptures to be the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God, and our guide to faith and practice.” That statement forms the basis of what our church believes and how we practice our faith. Throughout our church’s 133 year history, the Bible has been our … Read More

Dear Immanuel Family, Some of you noticed on the sermon card that I’ll be out of the pulpit for the next five weeks. It’s true. I am thankful for the elders granting me a short sabbatical to give full attention to the research phase of my Ph.D. dissertation. I am grateful to the church staff for picking up the slack … Read More

Click to watch. We trust that your home will be filled with joyful memories this Christmas as we remember what God did for us by sending his Son, Jesus. One of my favorite Christmas songs written recently and sung by Chris Rice welcomes Jesus into our world. Below are the lyrics: Tears are falling, hearts are breaking How we need … Read More

Sunday morning Pastor Michael will be preaching a message entitled, “The King’s Resurrection,” as he nears the end of his yearlong series in the gospel of Matthew.  How fitting that we are finishing the year with a message on Christ’s resurrection right at the same time we celebrate Christ’s birth and incarnation.  As I thought about his upcoming message I … Read More

Commenting on NBC News’ firing of long-time Today show anchor Matt Lauer for “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace,” Rev. Franklin Graham said such behavior, whoever is involved, is not “misconduct,” but it is “sin,” and all of us should be wary that our own sin eventually will find us out. “Matt Lauer of the Today Show was fired by … Read More

Pam worked in downtown Chicago and every morning, she encountered a heavyset, middle aged woman in a shabby coat soliciting spare change in front of an old brick church. She greeted everyone with a smile and a pleasant “Good morning.” Pam almost always gave her something. After almost a year of this routine, however, the woman in the shabby coat … Read More

We heard about Pastor Andrew Brunson from our Missions Conference speaker several weeks ago.  Pastor Brunson who has lived in Turkey for 23 years, thought he was receiving permanent resident status when authorities summoned him to the government offices in Izmir.  Instead, the Ministry of Interior officials detained him for weeks that have stretched into over a year. He’s been … Read More

There are many people who don’t like garlic because of one notorious attribute: the smell. People notice when you have been eating garlic, or at least a lot of it. The aroma seems to pour out of every pore in your skin. There is no controlling it; you simply give off this smell wherever you go following such a meal. … Read More