What We Believe
Our congregation is composed of biblically hungry men and women who want to make a difference in this community for Christ and His kingdom. We affirm the 1689 London Baptist Confession, and are a part of the G3 Church Network.
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We are a community of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We hold to the inerrancy of the Scriptures both the Old and New Testaments. We believe the Bible is the word of God. Our church life and individual lives are committed to following Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture. Pastor Dean is an expository Bible preacher and teacher. We are here to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with our community and around the world.
Our congregation is composed of biblically hungry men and women who want to make a difference in this community for Christ and His kingdom. We affirm the 1689 London Baptist Confession, and are a part of the G3 Church Network.
We believe God is spreading the good news through His church. As such, evangelism is a primary focus in our ministries:
• We are presently developing a pregnancy center to service four surrounding counties;
• We are very active in sending out our people for short term and long term mission trips and financial support to missions in Nicaragua, Senegal, the Philippians, and Papua New Guinea;
• We are active in street evangelism in Lewisburg being out there 3-4 times every week proclaiming God's word.
• ECC has supported home-schooling and most of our families are home-schooled.
• We are active members and the center for WV For Life, Greenbrier County, WV.
• Men's and Women's Bible studies;
• Women's weekly sewing ministry for local hospitals and resource centers (Sonshine Quilters)
• Weekly all church fellowship supper and prayer;
• Pastor Dean's daily "Truth Matters" devotional sent via email.
• Weekly "Moms in Prayer" prayer group
Street evangelism every Wednesday in October weather permitting noon-1 PM in the city square of Lewisburg
10-5-24 - Allegany Association of Baptist Churches presentation of the Greenbrier Pregnancy Center (GPC)
10-6-24 - Collection fund for Christ In Action as they serve to help the folks of SC, NC and GA from the hurricane disaster. More than $5000 will be sent.
10-7-24 - Soup canning fundraiser for GPC Monday - Wednesday
10-11-24 - all church family picnic and outdoor movie at the Brdlik farm 6:30 PM. All are welcome!
10-17-24 - Right to Life of WV meets at the church 6 PM
10-26-24 - Greenbrier Pregnancy Center yard sale fundraiser here at ECC
11-16-24 - Grand Opening for GPC 11 AM - 1 PM Governor of WV has been invited to attend
Pastor Dean has served as Pastor of Emmanuel Community church since 2000. He is committed to expositionally preaching and teaching God's word. His passion is what is expressed in Colossians 1:28-29 ---"28 Him we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His working, which He works in me in power."
Pastor Dean was married to Jane Ann Pringle for 40 years, until she passed away in 2009. Together they raised four children: Heather, Laura, Amanda, and Clint. Currently, he is married to Gloria June Harper. Although he initially considered pursuing veterinary medicine, he felt called to follow God's leading to a preaching/teaching ministry.
Pastor Dean has worked as a college and university manuscript representative for Prentice Hall Publishing Company, he served as an assistant dean in the School of Business at the University of Wisconsin for 3.5 years, he also served as the Administrator of a Cleveland region Christian High School for 5 years. He has 35 years of pastoral experience.
His educational background includes a B.S. from the University of Illinois in Behavioral Neurology, an M.A. in Counseling from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and an M.Div. from Grace Theological Seminary.
Pastor Brdlik has been affiliated with various church organizations, including: Conservative Baptist, Independent Fundamental Churches of America, Southern Baptist Conference, and presently the G3 Network .
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One of the characters that surface around the birth of Jesus is Simeon. This good man, having attained that which had long been his highest wish, the happiness of seeing God's Messiah, and having no further use for life, desired immediate death. Yet he would not depart of himself, knowing that man cannot lawfully desert his station until God, who placed him there, calls him home. Three things we notice from Simeon's Godly reaction to Jesus:
1. He recognized God's sovereignty in his life...that he was in the sovereignly right place at the right time to see the long promised Messiah. The Holy Spirit had made known to him that he would see the Messiah before he would die. (Luke 2:26)
2. He did not assume control of his life, but he left it in God's hands. He was trustful that he would “depart in peace according to God's word.” (Luke 2:29)
3. He recognized Jesus as the one who would bring salvation to not only Israel, but to the entire world. (Luke 2:31-32)
I think the most impressive lesson we learn through Simeon is that God is in control of our lives bringing us to a recognition of the Savior. Many Christians think that human will is what brings them to Jesus...it is not. The significance of Christmas comes as a result of God sovereign design to introduce us to the Christ-child who came to secure our salvation from sin's penalty and providing us eternal life with God. Christmas season is a joyous time because God made it so. Christmas is a meaningfully joyous season because He introduced us to the Savior.
Today's My Utmost for His Highest provides not only the underpinning of Simeon's reaction to baby Jesus, but ours as well:
“Only the loyal soul believes that God engineers circumstances. Most of us tend to go about our lives thinking we're in control. Then, suddenly, God comes in and breaks up our circumstances, and we have the shocking realization that he was in control all along and that we've been disloyal to him by not recognizing it. We didn't see the special thing he was trying to create with our circumstances, and now the thing is gone, never to be repeated all the days of our life; the test of loyalty always comes in this way.
Loyalty to Jesus Christ is what we stumble over today. Many Christians are intensely impatient of talk about loyalty to Jesus. Our Lord (is dethroned more emphatically by Christians (at Christmas) than by the world.
The idea we should have isn't that we work for God but that we are so loyal to him that he can work through us. God wants to use us as he used his own Son.
For many, God is turned into a Santa-type machine for generating blessings, and Jesus as a Christmas story deserving our sympathy and pity.
For us as born again Christians, we celebrate Christmas not because it is a traditional, religious, celebratory cultural calendar time, but because we praise God for sovereignty working in each of our lives as He did with Simeon...to bring us face to face with our Savior and Lord. We can say with Simeon:
“Now Lord, Thou dost let Thy band-servant depart in peace, according to Thy word, for my eyes have seen Thy salvation.”
For the unbeliever, faced with another Christmas, take into serious consideration the statement found in today's Utmost: “We didn't see the special thing he was trying to create with our circumstances, and now the thing is gone, never to be repeated all the days of our life”
Walk with the King today and be a blessing.
The term “pampered” carries with it a number of convicting synonyms - spoiled, indulged, coddled, wet-nursed, contented, pacified. Many of today's Christians could well be described by the term “pampered.” The idea of fighting the flesh or personal sacrifice seems to have lost its importance in the lives of today's pampered Christian.
The words of the song:
“Onward Christians soldiers, marching as to war...forward into battle...on then Christian soldiers on to victory”
seem to have lost their relevance in today's pampered Christian quest for personal freedom and self-affirmation. The word “pampered” seems a far cry from the Apostle Paul's view
But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit]. (1 Corinthians 9:27 amp)
The point of today's Truth Matters is that we Christians cannot afford to be “pampered” when it comes to putting aside our fleshly desires and living in obedience to God's word. Indeed, it will require “fight” and “personal sacrifice.” No room for rationalization or indulgence or contentment with personal freedom or self-affirmation. “Pampered” Christians will not be equipped to be Christ's ambassadors or find victory in their Christian lives.
Today's My Utmost for His Highest puts it this way:
“If the natural part of us isn't sacrificed, it will mock the life of the Son of God in us and cause continual wavering. Confusion is always the result of an undisciplined spiritual nature. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to discipline ourselves—physically, morally, and mentally. “But I can't help it,” you protest. “No one disciplined me when I was a child.” You must discipline yourself now. If you don't, you will ruin the whole of your personal life for God.
God isn't with our natural life when we pamper it. But if we will put it out in the desert and resolve to keep it there, He will open up wells and oases and fulfill all his promises.
God gave this to Paul to instruct us:
13For you, brethren, were [indeed] called to freedom; only [do not let your] freedom be an incentive to your flesh and an opportunity or excuse [for [d]selfishness]... 17 For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other], so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do. (Galatians 5:13,17 amp)
My prayer for you and me today is this: Lord, we realize that following You will require sacrifice and fight against our fleshly nature. We cannot afford to be indulging our old nature. We desire to be like You and we know as You were not pampered, we must not be either. By Your strength and grace, we will fight to make those hard decisions and put away the flesh in our lives. For Your honor and glory...Amen.
Walk with the King today and be a blessing.