All posts by Sean Scribner

About Sean Scribner

Pastor Sean is the Lead Pastor at EMC. He and his wife Rebecca have three children: Savannah, Nathan, and William.

That You Might Believe
Sermon Series

“But these are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.” (John 20:31)

Signs are all around us. They can be found just about everywhere you go and in everything you do. We need them to point us in the right direction, otherwise we might get lost along the way.

The history of the Bible is marked by the recurrence of miraculous events—divine signs given to authenticate messengers sent by God. Their purpose: That people would believe the messages they delivered. The gospel of John is famous for its deliberate highlight of such moments that accompanied the life and ministry of Jesus. Turning water into wine; feeding the multitudes; bringing a man back to life—these were more than mere naked displays of power. They were pointers to the true identity and mission of God the Son, and they were incorporated into the narrative of the fourth gospel to demonstrate that Jesus was who he said he was, thereby helping people believe his message.

Signs are meant to point us in the right direction. Following the signs through John will lead you to faith in Jesus and life through his name.

Series Playlist

Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Turning Water into Wine
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  • Turning Water into Wine

    Turning Water into Wine

    Jan 16, 2022 • 42:22

    The sign at Cana reveals that the son of Mary is the Son of God, the one through whom creation came into being and the one who has come that he might bring re-creation. In Christ, God has saved the best for last. He invites us all to come to…

  • Healing a Royal Official's Son

    Healing a Royal Official's Son

    Jan 23, 2022 • 31:42

    Have you come to Jesus with need, only for your prayer to go unanswered, or for you to feel ignored, perhaps even rebuked? Don’t lose faith! Follow the signs in his word which point straight to his heart for you. Don’t wait to trust him until after he performs your…

  • Healing a Sick Man

    Healing a Sick Man

    Jan 30, 2022 • 45:33

    Only Jesus can touch and heal the real issues at the heart of every person. He wants you to trust his word, to know he is at work in your life, and that he will use you to bring glory to himself, which always results in the salvation of another.…

  • Feeding 5,000

    Feeding 5,000

    Feb 6, 2022 • 46:18

    In every circumstance you find yourself in, Jesus sees, knows, and plans to produce and cultivate faith in you. He is greater than all who have come before him and all who have ever come since. He hasn’t come for you to mold him to your earthly plans and purposes,…

  • Walking on Water

    Walking on Water

    Feb 13, 2022 • 41:03

    As you and I find ourselves engulfed in the torrents and swells of life in this broken world, Jesus comes into the midst of it all, walking on top of it all, to make himself known. It takes faith to see him coming atop the waves and hear him calling…

  • Raising a Dead Man

    Raising a Dead Man

    Feb 27, 2022 • 45:33

    For people of faith living in this broken world, the whole story of Lazarus teaches that it’s not just the things Jesus does that reveal his heart, but sometimes it’s the things he doesn’t do. Neither his permitting of suffering nor his delay in relieving it is ever in conflict…

  • Healing a Blind Man

    Healing a Blind Man

    Feb 20, 2022 • 51:57

    Despite appearances, God is at work in and through your experiences of suffering. It is possible that the things in your life that cause the worst distress are the very things in which God wants to reveal his glory the most. He wants to reveal himself to you and through…

Come, Restorer, Come!
Sermon Series

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.” (Micah 5:2, NLT)

We live in a broken world. We know deep in our hearts that something about the world is off. All around us we see evil, greed, exploitation, oppression, and injustice, but, even worse, we can detect something is wrong within our own hearts. We know the world isn’t right, and as creatures created in the image of God we all have an innate longing for this upside-down world to be flipped around and made right.

These are not new ideas or longings. Ancient people, just like us, have always explored ideas of fairness, mercy, and goodness. These ideas frame the message that Micah was sent by God to deliver to the people of God in his day. But Micah speaks to our own world just as much as he spoke to his own world. Though written a very long time ago to a culture in many ways very different than our own, Micah speaks into the universal human experience.

This Advent season, we are going to explore these ancient ideas from the other side of human history. We will see how the hope, peace, joy, and love promised to the people of old have come to the world in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. We will discover how all of Micah’s message ultimately points to him, the one in whom all the tragedies, tensions, hopes, and laments in Micah find their fulfillment and resolution. And our hearts will be comforted by the certainty that, though the world is broken and judgment for sin is inevitable, in the babe of the manger lies the hope of restoration. Come, Restorer, Come!

Series Playlist

Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
A Shepherd is Coming
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  • A Shepherd is Coming

    A Shepherd is Coming

    Nov 28, 2021 • 31:33

    Advent is a season for hope. Hope for the oppressed—that God’s kingdom will restore true justice and put an end to the brokenness of the world. But hope also for the oppressor—that God is working to strip our hearts of their sinful attachments and bring us to a place of…

  • A Kingdom is Coming

    A Kingdom is Coming

    Dec 5, 2021 • 35:28

    To a people about to experience the suffering of judgment and exile, the promise of peace is coming in the form of God’s presence and rule, which you and I can experience today in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Come, Restorer, Come! Scripture: Micah 4:1-5

  • Unexpected Blessing is Coming

    Unexpected Blessing is Coming

    Dec 12, 2021 • 40:00

    In whatever adversity you face in this world, take comfort that Jesus is close and sympathetic, but he is also a powerful defender. He’s by your side, and he’s got your back. Maybe in the midst of your suffering and trials, God could surprise you with the unexpected blessing of…

  • Unfailing Love is Coming

    Unfailing Love is Coming

    Dec 19, 2021 • 28:20

    We don’t always know how God is going to bring hope, peace, or joy to our lives, but we know that he will. That’s because he has revealed his heart through his Son. Love has come, and his name is Jesus. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Come, Restorer, Come! Scripture: Micah 7:18-20

Almost Home
Sermon Series

One of the most helpful ways of understanding the Christian life is by viewing it as a journey. From cover to cover, the Bible is filled with this sort of imagery: Abraham stepping out in faith by leaving the land of his fathers; his descendants wandering through the wilderness of Sinai; Israel experiencing captivity and exile. The New Testament builds off of these Old Testament themes and refers to Christians as pilgrims traveling through a foreign land. The Christian life as journey provides a tangible and relatable rubric for grasping the life of faith.

We are on our way somewhere, but we’re not there yet. Thus we find ourselves caught in between the overlapping of ages, when God has called us out of the world while still remaining in the world. Heaven has broken into history and taken residence in our hearts, but our feet still trod through a broken and hostile world. We’re almost home, but not yet home, and God cares as much about the process as he does the goal.

Almost Home is a sermon series from the book of Hebrews that examines our present journey with an eye toward our future destination. How do we walk today in light of what lies ahead? From where does our strength come, or our power, or encouragement, or correction? And who will we be as present-day sojourners whose destiny is to become one-day settlers?

Series Playlist

Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Already, but Not Yet
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  • Already, but Not Yet

    Already, but Not Yet

    Oct 10, 2021 • 37:26

    How are the people of God to live in the overlapping of ages—where God’s work in saving us and ushering in his kingdom has begun but has not yet been consummated? The answer is by faith. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Almost Home Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-2a; 11:1

  • Almost, but Not Quite

    Almost, but Not Quite

    Oct 17, 2021 • 51:38

    The warnings in the book of Hebrews are a call to wake-up and hold fast and never quit. They are a call to remember both where you came from and where you are heading. Above all, they are exhortations to keep the eyes of faith fixed upon Jesus. Speaker: Sean…

  • The World is Behind, Our Home Ahead

    The World is Behind, Our Home Ahead

    Oct 24, 2021 • 39:31

    The Christian life is a journey. But walking with Jesus means leaving the world behind—along with all of its values, promises, and pursuits—and looking ahead to the home we truly belong to. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Almost Home Scripture: Hebrews 11:13-16

  • Following the Path

    Following the Path

    Oct 31, 2021 • 42:05

    There is a great cloud of witnesses—faithful men and women of old—who testify concerning God’s promises and power and show us the path. They cheer us on and point us to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Almost Home Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-3

  • Returning to the Path

    Returning to the Path

    Nov 7, 2021 • 32:13

    God’s discipline isn’t always punishment. Often times it is simply his loving, Fatherly work in our lives to cause us to desire the better things rather than the immediate things. Speaker: Aaron Meservey Series: Almost Home Scripture: Hebrews 12:5-12

  • Keep on Keeping On

    Keep on Keeping On

    Nov 14, 2021 • 47:13

    In Christ we have become recipients of great privileges of grace, but with privilege comes responsibility. The church of Jesus Christ, as an outpost of heaven on earth that is marked by the things pertaining to the age to come, is to pursue the peace and holiness of God himself.…

  • It is (Not) Finished

    It is (Not) Finished

    Nov 21, 2021 • 42:08

    Concerning the sacrifice of Jesus, it is finished. There is nothing left for him to do. We need nothing less or more than him. There is no Jesus + anything for the Christian life. He is our all in all. But concerning the sacrifice of worship for the Christian living…

The Way to Worship
Sermon Series

“Worship” is a word that churchgoers know and use on a regular basis, yet it means and encompasses far more than how it is generally understood and expressed. We say things like, “we’ll pray after worship,” as if the sum total of worship is the collection of songs being sung to kick off a Sunday morning service.

In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul has a thing or two to say about this very important concept. Building off a deep awareness of the Old Testament, as well as his intimate knowledge of Christ and the Gospel, he offers a richer and more profound understanding of the meaning behind the creation, fall, and redemption of mankind and a right relationship to Almighty God.

“The Way to Worship” is a 3-part sermon series that explores the essence of worship. It will trace mankind’s movement away from God’s original intention to be known and enjoyed, how he has made a way of return to himself, and the ways those who are restored might express their response to his gracious work rightly.

Worship is more than the 3-song set at the start of a church service. It is much deeper and wider, an all-encompassing reality that involves the totality of a person.

Series Playlist

Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Worship's Deterioration
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  • Worship's Deterioration

    Worship's Deterioration

    Sep 12, 2021 • 36:51

    You were created to know God and to worship and delight in God. Jesus Christ is the only one who makes God known and only through him can God be worshipped and enjoyed. Everything else is our own stubborn determination to go our own way. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: The Way…

  • Worship's Restoration

    Worship's Restoration

    Sep 19, 2021 • 51:33

    You and I can never come to God for healing and restoration until we acknowledge and accept our need for healing and restoration. The Bible provides the diagnosis of our problem, as well as the prescription for the cure, and it begins with genuine and sincere lament leading to repentance…

  • Worship's Aggregation

    Worship's Aggregation

    Sep 26, 2021 • 31:38

    Worship is more than just showing up on Sunday morning and singing a few songs. It involves the totality of the whole person presented unto God as a living sacrifice. This is what we were created to be and to do. Speaker: Aaron Meservey Series: The Way to Worship Scripture: Romans…

Looking Forward to the 75th Anniversary
News

EMC Family,

Our long-awaited 75th anniversary celebration has finally arrived. The festivities begin with brunch on Saturday morning and conclude with a covered dish meal Sunday after worship. Guests will be arriving in the area over the next several days and all our many months of planning and preparation are about to come to fruition. I am confident that the Lord is going to bless our time together and I am excited for it!

Last Sunday we moved the worship service to online only as a precautionary measure. My family had contracted covid along with a couple others in the leadership circle of the church. To minimize the possibility that others might contract the illness and possibility bring it to church Sunday before symptoms had time to manifest, we simply closed the building down with an eye toward ensuring our anniversary celebration would be as safe as possible. I have not heard of any additional infected households associated with our cases, for which I am grateful to the Lord.

Normal church operations resumed yesterday. Our normal Wednesday evening activities will be taking place tomorrow (with the exception of Bible study which will resume September 8). All systems are go for the anniversary this weekend. Here is the complete schedule of events:

Friday, September 3rd, 2021
Families arrive and spend time together at home

Saturday, September 4th, 2021
10:00 AM – Brunch (Tent)
11:00 AM – Music and sharing from those who have gone out in ministry from EMC (Chapel)
Afternoon – Choir & ensemble rehearsal (Worship Center), Individual family time
5:00 PM – Catered meal (Tent)
6:00 PM – Music and testimony service (Worship Center)

Sunday, September 5th, 2021
9:00 AM – Sunday School with former pastors (Worship Center)
10:15 AM – Worship celebration (Worship Center)
12:15 PM – Covered dish meal (Tent)
2:15 PM – Prayer and benediction

Please note the following items as they pertain to the weekend:

1. All meals have been moved outdoors. This includes Saturday morning brunch, Saturday evening supper, and Sunday afternoon dinner. Beginning tomorrow there will be a large tented area over the parking lot outside the church office to provide covered, yet adequately ventilated, eating and fellowship space. The weekend weather forecast looks beautiful!

2. We are strongly encouraging the wearing of masks while in close proximity of others indoors. While the efficacy of wearing masks to prevent transmission is debated, with a larger amount of people in the Worship Center than normal we want to use whatever means at our disposal to ensure the space is as safe for others as possible.

3. We ask everyone to please exercise wisdom and caution for the sake of others. If you do not feel well at all, even with mild cold symptoms, please do not come (unless you have a negative covid test and are sure you are not putting others at risk), even if you have been vaccinated.

I understand there is a lot of anxiety right now about covid and getting together with others. Like everyone, we’ve struggled the past year and a half to make wise decisions. We neither want to be rash and unwise regarding the nature of this virus or to be given over to fear. Some will not feel comfortable coming at all, while others will not agree with any of the measures we have requested above. But I am optimistic that we can enjoy this anniversary safely and in a way that is glorifying to God if we all do our part in making decisions with the best interests of others in mind. We will not let this virus control us. We will be both bold and wise, entrusting our lives to the One who holds all things together.

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