Hot Topics
Sermon Series

Hot Topics is a collection of messages that deal with some of the top issues of the day. No matter the question, the Bible has answers.

Series Playlist

Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Why is Jesus Unique?
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  • Why is Jesus Unique?

    Why is Jesus Unique?

    Sep 8, 2019 • 31:08

    Christians believe that the only logical solution to the dilemma of Jesus is that he is neither a liar nor a lunatic, but the Lord of Heaven and Earth. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Hot Topics Scripture: Mark 8:27-29

  • Is Religion Killed by Science?

    Is Religion Killed by Science?

    Sep 15, 2019 • 28:58

    Because of their belief in God as creator of an observable cosmos marked by order and constancy, Christians deem science a worthy enterprise. But they also understand the limits of scientific knowledge, which can explain to a degree the how of creation, but never the why. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Hot…

  • Would God Really Send Me To Hell?

    Would God Really Send Me To Hell?

    Sep 22, 2019 • 42:14

    In today’s day and age, the doctrine of hell often makes us feel uncomfortable and perhaps even rude. However, today we unpack the necessity of hell in revealing the justice, humility, and mercy of God. Speaker: Aaron Meservey Series: Hot Topics Scripture: Luke 16:19-31

  • Can the Bible Really Be Trusted?

    Can the Bible Really Be Trusted?

    Sep 29, 2019 • 34:36

    The Bible has stood the test of time and can hold its own in the face of scholarly criticism. But the Bible can be trusted not just because it stands up to scrutiny, but because its author and source and inspiration has proven Himself faithful and true. Speaker: Sean Scribner…

  • Can Jesus Really Change Us?

    Can Jesus Really Change Us?

    Feb 9, 2020 • 19:50

    By the power of the Spirit of Christ, we do not need to be hopelessly locked in the powerlessness and despair that comes from knowing what is right but only being able to do what is wrong. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Hot Topics Scripture: Romans 8:1-2

  • Who is the Real Jesus?

    Who is the Real Jesus?

    Feb 16, 2020 • 36:19

    Talking with Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and skeptics about who Jesus claimed to be. Download the accompanying PowerPoint file here. Speaker: Aaron Meservey Series: Hot Topics Scripture: John 1:1-3

  • How Does the Bible Address Suicide?

    How Does the Bible Address Suicide?

    Feb 23, 2020 • 37:43

    God alone knows the content of every person’s heart. God alone is the king, lawgiver, and judge. God has given us his Son that we might have abundant life in him. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Confidential service available to…

Beyond the Bumper Sticker
Sermon Series

You see them everywhere you go. Christian catchphrases printed on plastic and slapped on someone’s bumper—as enigmatic as they are ubiquitous. They are the taglines of well-intending people of faith seeking to communicate something profound to a world listening at 140 characters at a time.

But what do they mean?

Repeating a message does not guarantee its reception. Nor does trimming it down. Big ideas that get reduced to bite sized portions for mass consumption often get lost altogether. Words that once meant something can cease to have any real meaning at all.

Join us for a series of summer messages called “Beyond the Bumper Sticker” as we seek to peer behind the clichés to uncover the truths meant to be conveyed. The gospel is more than a slogan. It is the Good News of what God has done for the world through Jesus Christ. Come learn what that, along with its various expressions, could mean for your life.

Series Playlist

Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
No Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace.
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  • No Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace.

    No Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace.

    Jul 28, 2019 • 41:13

    Jesus Christ proclaimed peace, established peace, and even is peace itself. We must do more than wrap our lives in clichés. We need to embody the realities beneath them and be ambassadors of his peace to the world. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Beyond the Bumper Sticker Scripture: Ephesians 2:11-22

  • It's Not a Religion, It's a Relationship

    It's Not a Religion, It's a Relationship

    Aug 4, 2019 • 40:23

    God invites His people into a relationship, but what kind? For many, we have a religious impulse that seeks to earn God’s attention or favor through good works. Others completely disregard any moral outflow of following God. In reality, God invites us to participate in His new covenant that sets…

  • Christians Aren't Perfect, Just Forgiven

    Christians Aren't Perfect, Just Forgiven

    Aug 11, 2019 • 51:05

    God’s desire for your life and mine is far greater than mere sin management. He is not asking for perfect performance. He is asking for your heart. All of it. Everything you are able to offer in this moment. Nothing more. Nothing less. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Beyond the Bumper Sticker…

  • What Would Jesus Do?

    What Would Jesus Do?

    Aug 18, 2019 • 31:59

    The people of God walk by faith and not by sight. We don’t need to see the answer to an impossible question before we take the next step. We simply need to trust the one who is guiding our lives and be obedient to what he has already revealed about…

  • Let Go and Let God

    Let Go and Let God

    Aug 25, 2019 • 39:12

    As Christians, we are not called to just sit back and watch events unfold around us until we get to heaven. We are called to make every effort to do the work of the kingdom in whatever form that takes in our lives. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Beyond the Bumper Sticker…

  • God Bless You

    God Bless You

    Sep 1, 2019 • 23:48

    For the Christian, “God bless you” is a call to remember all God has done for us in Christ, to delight in the benefits of life and salvation in him, and to be the covenant people he has made us to be by the power of the Holy Spirit. Speaker:…

Renewing Our Focus
Sermon Series

“And you will be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:8)

Many of us when we were children used to play “house”. Someone would be the daddy, another would be the mommy, and yet another would play the baby (or a doll or stuffed animal would substitute). Each person would have their role to play and together their imagination of how a family is supposed to be and act would come to life. When play time was over, everyone would come back to reality and leave “house” behind.

Often times this is how Christians treat church. We show up in the appropriate clothing, assume a role and pretend to be and do such and such, then when we’re done with the routine we go back home to reality. At some point, playing “church” becomes the sum total of what it’s all about. Wearing the right things; saying the right things; doing the right things–but it’s little more than an act.

Are you tired of playing “church”? Do you want to be a part of what God is actually doing in the world? “Renewing Our Focus” is a series about the thing that Jesus Christ himself left for us to be and do: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” John Wesley famously said, “You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work.” It’s time to let being a witness be the focus of who we are and what we do.

No more games. No more role playing. No more messing around. Let’s either be the church we are called to be or just give it up altogether.

Series Playlist

Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
The Purpose of Witness
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  • The Purpose of Witness

    The Purpose of Witness

    May 26, 2019 • 39:52

    Those who encounter the Holy One, whose hearts have been transformed by His grace, have only one thing to do: Hear the call of Jesus and live out their response as witnesses throughout the world. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Renewing Our Focus Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8

  • The Person of Witness

    The Person of Witness

    Jun 2, 2019 • 40:16

    There is no Christian witness apart from the personal presence of the Holy Spirit. We must look for his presence, listen for his voice, respond to his prompts, and join him in his work. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Renewing Our Focus Scripture: John 14:15-20

  • The Power of Witness

    The Power of Witness

    Jun 9, 2019 • 37:20

    Those who have been touched, healed, and transformed by God are his love message about himself to the world. Once settling the issue of his lordship in their lives, they must then obey his call to be his witness to the world he has placed them in. Speaker: Sean Scribner…

  • The Perpetuation of Witness

    The Perpetuation of Witness

    Jun 16, 2019 • 46:10

    The Spirit-filled church is how the sentness and mission of Jesus Christ continues on in the world as he sits in exaltation at the Father’s right hand. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Renewing Our Focus Scripture: John 20:21-22

  • The Price of Witness

    The Price of Witness

    Jun 23, 2019 • 33:50

    The church that resolves to give all of itself over to Jesus and his mission to the lost will manifest the very life of Jesus in its midst, resulting in life that lasts forever for the world around it. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Renewing Our Focus Scripture: I Corinthians 15:30-32

  • The Pertinacity of Witness

    The Pertinacity of Witness

    Jun 30, 2019 • 46:50

    Paul makes plain the principle underlying his evangelistic outreach. Whatever he does, he wants to clear the way of unnecessary obstacles that might hinder unbelievers from coming to Christ. Speaker: Jeff Wortman Series: Renewing Our Focus Scripture: I Corinthians 9:19-23

  • The Peculiarity of Witness

    The Peculiarity of Witness

    Jul 7, 2019 • 42:39

    Knowing who we are in Christ as God’s special possession must result in a lifestyle of worshipful witness that reveals the goodness of God to the world. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Renewing Our Focus Scripture: I Peter 2:4-10

  • The Persecution of Witness

    The Persecution of Witness

    Jul 14, 2019 • 40:41

    Those who belong to God must endure and persevere through the inevitable suffering and persecution of life as aliens in a foreign world with the attractive beauty of holiness. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Renewing Our Focus Scripture: I Peter 2:11-17

Revival 2019 – Stumbling through the Dark
Sermon Series

An old adage says, “If God seems far away, guess who moved.” The point being that when God seems absent it must be our fault. But the Book of Job tells a story that breaks from that conventional wisdom. Job is so holy in heart and life that even God says he is blameless and upright. Yet one day a series of unspeakable catastrophes fall on Job. His world is shattered; his grief is unbearable. And worst of all, Job finds that in his time of greatest need, God is nowhere to be found—and Job insists that he is not the one who has moved.

These messages follow Job’s bewildered journey through the dark maze of pain and confusion into the renewed presence of God. Along the way we’ll learn with Job that spiritual depth is not found in easy cliches, but in the real life battles of trust and obedience where stumbling through the dark is precisely what God has in mind.

Series Playlist

Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
2019 Revival | The Pain of Easy Answers
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  • 2019 Revival | The Pain of Easy Answers

    2019 Revival | The Pain of Easy Answers

    May 20, 2019 • 43:59

    Sermon #3 of the 2019 revival series, “Stumbling through the Dark: Job’s Passage to the Presence of God,” from Job 5:17-27. Speaker: Dr. Dan Burnett

  • 2019 Revival | Hiding in Plain Sight

    2019 Revival | Hiding in Plain Sight

    May 21, 2019 • 1:00:14

    Sermon #4 of the 2019 revival series, “Stumbling through the Dark: Job’s Passage to the Presence of God,” from Job 33:13-30. Speaker: Dr. Dan Burnett

  • 2019 Revival | It Isn’t Really About Suffering

    2019 Revival | It Isn’t Really About Suffering

    May 22, 2019 • 39:39

    Sermon #5 of the 2019 revival series, “Stumbling through the Dark: Job’s Passage to the Presence of God,” from Job 38:1-12. Speaker: Dr. Dan Burnett

  • 2019 Revival | An Uncomfortable Conversation

    2019 Revival | An Uncomfortable Conversation

    May 19, 2019 • 30:26

    Sermon #1 of the 2019 revival series, “Stumbling through the Dark: Job’s Passage to the Presence of God,” from Job 1:1-22. Speaker: Dr. Dan Burnett

  • 2019 Revival | The Silent Treatment

    2019 Revival | The Silent Treatment

    May 19, 2019 • 48:49

    Sermon #2 of the 2019 revival series, “Stumbling through the Dark: Job’s Passage to the Presence of God,” from Job 2:1-10. Speaker: Dr. Dan Burnett

Joy
Sermon Series

“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)

Whether you’re skeptical to Christianity or practice it you very likely may believe that real Christianity is about saying no to the things that make you happy—a bunch of rules to ruin your fun. Some Christians may even believe that through their denial, sadness, or detachment that God is more pleased and it’s how we show Him we actually love Him.

While there are kernels of truth, the Scriptures command joy, not despair. Joy is an expected part of the Christian experience. Rather than a mark of immaturity, it is a sign of maturity. Paul writes, “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I will say, rejoice!” (Phil 4:4). He expects joy to be central to the Christian witness as it sustains us (as it does him) through sacrifice, setbacks, and suffering.

You’re invited to a three week series through Philippians unpacking how the Christian has joy in all of life’s circumstances.

Series Playlist
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Joy in Sacrifice
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  • Joy in Sacrifice

    Joy in Sacrifice

    Apr 28, 2019 • 38:58

    In a world that pursues happiness through all kinds of self-gratification, the Christian witness proclaims (and even commands) joy in our sacrifices. As we look to Jesus, we find the only means to fulfilling this part of our Christian witness. Speaker: Aaron Meservey Series: Joy Scripture: Philippians 3:1-11

  • Joy in Setbacks

    Joy in Setbacks

    May 5, 2019 • 44:38

    One of the greatest challenges we face as Christians is the threat of questioning God’s goodness when circumstances turn bad. Therefore one of our greatest needs is to have faith that God is in control over every aspect of our lives and will turn even the most aggravating setback we…

  • Joy in Suffering

    Joy in Suffering

    May 12, 2019 • 43:25

    We often view suffering as an aberration of the normal course of life, but this perspective was far from the early church. Throughout the New Testament, we see both the expectation of suffering as well as the expectation of joy within that suffering as God sustains his people with hope…

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