In September of this year it will have been 10 years since My Emanuel was originally founded. Back ten years ago I never dreamed all the places God would allow us to magnify the name of Jesus. The countless lives He has touched, the different places He has allowed this ministry to touch, it is very humbling to be a part of it. I continue to be reminded often: Jesus can take a small act of faith and do more with less than we will ever imagine or know (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Over the past few months a new idea has begun to take shape in our hearts: a radically, fundementally different church than anything that currently exists. What would a church that radically loves Jesus and radically loves others really look like? What if the church was focused more on Jesus and more on serving the community than on buildings? What if we take a page from the ancient church and did church in our homes with our family, friends, and neighbors? What has COVID taught us? (If you’d like to share your thoughts on what a radically different church would look like, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/V52KS3R).
Let me be clear… we don’t know the answers to all those questions, yet. But we are trusting that our God has all wisdom and because we are asking, He will share it (James 1:5). What we do know is that for us, it’s time to get back to the basics. How can we do church without all the complexities we’ve invited into our churches today? Expensive buildings. Wasted space. Areas that don’t have cross functionality. Money that could be used more effectively other places. When church becomes more about the building than the people, we think a problem needs to be honestly addressed.
Over the next few weeks and months you may notice some changes here on our website (myemanuel.com) and changes on our social media sites (facebook.com/livesent). We’ve made a decision as a ministry to continue pursuing God’s heart on what’s next but we will slowly begin rebranding and renaming from My Emanuel to Reborn Church. The changes will impact our entire ministry and will see us transition from an online ministry to an online church.
Along the way you may notice an intentional change in what and when we post. What won’t change is we will continue to make every effort to know Jesus and make Him known around the world.
