The Way of Sorrows
Sermon Series

The season of Lent is a forty-day period of fasting and prayer that begins on Ash Wednesday and prepares for the feast of Easter. Originally lasting only a week, it became a forty-day season during the 7th century to coincide with the forty days Christ spent in the wilderness. While fasting and penitential works do not save a person, they find their value in drawing believers closer to God.

For the Lenten season of 2025, our weekly sermon series, “The Way of Sorrows,” will follow Jesus on his journey to the cross. Beginning with his trial before Pilate, we will walk the Via Dolorosa with him, making several stops along the way. Together we will explore the implications of this journey and learn more of what it means to deny ourselves, take up our own cross, and follow him (Matthew 16:24).

The sacrifices of discipleship do not atone for sin, but they are essential to a life of faithful following. Let us travel this road through sorrow to glory with Christ, together.

Series Playlist

Unrequited Love.
Sermon Series

Oftentimes, the commands of God come to us as a complete mystery. The book of Hosea details one such time in the history of Israel as God commands his prophet to marry a prostitute. What on earth could he have in mind with such a command? What could he be up to?

As it turns out, God’s message to (spiritually) adulterous Israel—on the threshold of invasion from the growing superpower of Assyria—was one that Hosea would not only have to proclaim with his words, but also with his life. Through his experience of loving the unlovable and being faithful to the unfaithful, the love and faithfulness of Yahweh would be enfleshed and put on full display. He is the faithful husband who pursues his faithless bride, a powerful truth that reveals the heart of the Holy One and prepares the way for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“Unrequited Love.” is a sermon series devoted to the examination of the message of Hosea with the goal of provoking the church today to be faithful amidst a wicked and adulterous generation.

Series Playlist

Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
A Scandalous Love | Pastor Sean Scribner
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  • A Scandalous Love | Pastor Sean Scribner

    A Scandalous Love | Pastor Sean Scribner

    Jan 26, 2025 • 42:43

    The story of Hosea is not just Israel’s story, it is humanity’s story. All of us have sinned and turned our backs on God. Yet to every one of us is given a message of warning and of wooing, that we might turn back to God in faith and experience…

  • Of Raisin Cakes and Men

    Of Raisin Cakes and Men

    Feb 2, 2025 • 37:29

    Through Hosea, God not only reveals his willingness to do whatever it takes to buy back his errant bride, but also whatever it takes to break the pattern of sin that keeps leading her astray. He heals his beloved’s past and makes possible new beginnings that the marriage might last…

  • Desperate Times. Desperate Measures.

    Desperate Times. Desperate Measures.

    Feb 9, 2025 • 42:18

    God wants to be known by you; to give life that lasts forever to you; to forgive your every sin; to heal everything that is broken; and to reconcile you to himself. The desperate times of our sinfulness called for the desperate measures of the cross. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Unrequited…

  • A People Divided

    A People Divided

    Feb 16, 2025 • 41:53

    What is the hope for a people who are like a half-baked cake, an old man past his prime, a silly, witless dove, or a crooked bow? A shepherd who can lead them out of their faithlessness, giving them a heart undivided. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Unrequited Love. Scripture: Hosea 7:8-16

  • The Audacity of Grace

    The Audacity of Grace

    Feb 23, 2025 • 47:14

    Hosea reminds us that the God who is a “betrayed spouse” is ultimately a loving Father who refuses to give up on or abandon the son he loves. He will do whatever it takes to bring him home again. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Unrequited Love. Scripture: Hosea 11:1-11

  • The Way Home

    The Way Home

    Mar 2, 2025 • 49:50

    The central exhortation of the book of Hosea is the call in 14:1 for Israel to “return” to the Lord. What follows is the substance, the content, of returning. It is more than mere sentiment. It is a decisive action of the will to confess sin, seek forgiveness, render the…

Christmas Gifts
Sermon Series

“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father.” (James 1:17, NLT)

Every year, people all around the world put thought and effort into giving Christmas gifts to the people they love. Some spent vast amounts of time (and money) to make sure that the recipients of their gifts are happy with and blessed by what they have been given.

But to the Christian, Christmas is so much more than a time to give and receive more “things” purchased from Amazon. It is the time of the year where we get to reflect on the greatest gift of all time: Jesus Christ, the son of the Father, given to all the world. God put eternal thought and effort into giving his creation the best he has to offer, that we might be eternally blessed.

This Advent season, join us as we unpack the gift of Christ by exploring the traditional themes of hope, peace, joy, and love. These all come from the Father in heaven, and they can only be found in Christ the Son.

Series Playlist

Christmas Gifts
Christmas Gifts
Hope
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  • Hope

    Hope

    Dec 1, 2024 • 50:46

    The God of surprises calls his people from every generation to make their home in the center of his will, to be about his missional work in whatever “cities” they find themselves in, and to put their hope in the future he has in store for them. Speaker: Sean Scribner…

  • Peace

    Peace

    Dec 8, 2024 • 48:37

    In his son, Jesus Christ, God has withheld no spiritual blessing. Everything pronounced over Israel in Aaron’s blessing at the foot of Mt. Sinai can be found fully in him alone. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Christmas Gifts Scripture: Numbers 6:22-27

  • Joy

    Joy

    Dec 15, 2024 • 46:35

    The people of God are called to be a people who rejoice. We rejoice because Christ’s first Advent means Immanuel, God with us, but also because at his second Advent we will rest in safety, forever; our souls will not be left among the dead, but will be raised to…

  • Love

    Love

    Dec 22, 2024 • 52:59

    What would it take for you to believe that God loves you? That he delights in you with wordless adoration? That he sings and rejoices over you from a place deep within his own heart? To know this with certainty, look no further than the manger at Christmas, which points…

The Christian Citizen
Sermon Series

The life God envisions for his people is not one of isolation or extraction. The work of Jesus is not intended to pull his followers out of society, to have no part in civic life. Instead, he calls those who belong to him to embody his presence in the world, before the world, as we pass through the world as witnesses, salt, and light.

But how is the Christian to balance the needs, expectations, and requirements of life lived in two kingdoms? How do we reconcile competing authorities? How can we exercise the type of participation in the affairs of the world as Christ commands, without confusing or conflating them with the affairs of heaven? There are no simple answers to these questions, but there are biblical answers.

The Christian Citizen is a sermon series that examines biblical principles for how Christians can live obedient lives of witness and influence as “temporary residents” (I Peter 1:17) passing through this world. Grounded in a confidence in the providential goodness and power of God, believers are exhorted to be in the world, but not of the world, living out the realities of the kingdom of God amidst the nations.

Series Playlist

Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Trusting the God of Providence
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  • Trusting the God of Providence

    Trusting the God of Providence

    Oct 13, 2024 • 47:27

    The reaction of the church in Acts to the growing tension and hostility it faced in the public sphere was to pray. Their prayer centered on the sovereign God of providence, superintending his world. It acknowledged not only who he is but that they too had a part to play.…

  • Embodying Kingdom Values

    Embodying Kingdom Values

    Oct 20, 2024 • 46:18

    The church is the physical embodiment of Jesus Christ in the world by the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. Peter refers to its individual members as “temporary residents and foreigners” who are in the world, but not of the world. As such, they are called to not only live…

  • Blessing That Leads to Blessing

    Blessing That Leads to Blessing

    Oct 27, 2024 • 43:19

    God is not just concerned with what Christians will do at the ballot box, but who Christians will be. Not one human heart has ever been transformed by the outcome of an election. Heart transformation only comes about by the grace of God at work through the Spirit filled and…

  • The Priority of Unity

    The Priority of Unity

    Nov 3, 2024 • 47:49

    Speaker: Richard Meservey Series: The Christian Citizen Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16

  • Is Government a Good Thing?

    Is Government a Good Thing?

    Nov 10, 2024 • 40:50

    Speaker: Richard Meservey Series: The Christian Citizen Scripture: Romans 13

  • Faithful Presence

    Faithful Presence

    Nov 17, 2024 • 44:33

    The church awaits the return of Jesus to establish his kingdom upon the earth in a final, climactic way. But it is not idle in its waiting. Rather, it remains busy, putting to work what has been entrusted to it, in order to see hearts transformed and the kingdom established.…

  • The Most High God

    The Most High God

    Nov 24, 2024 • 50:16

    The call to the faithful on Christ the King Sunday is to relent in whatever pride, stubbornness, or focus on the things of the world we might have, and to lift our eyes to heaven, that we might behold with the eyes of faith the Most High God and see…

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Sermon Series

In this sermon series, we will explore the profound impact of personal relationships in bringing others to Jesus. Each week, we’ll dive into scriptures that reveal the importance of being a neighbor in the biblical sense—reaching out to others with intentionality and love, and guiding them toward a life-changing encounter with Christ.

Together we’ll discover that being a neighbor is about more than just proximity; it’s about embodying Christ’s love and being active participants in God’s mission. “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” will challenge us to reflect on how we can become instruments of God’s grace in our communities, inviting others to experience the hope and salvation that Jesus offers. Join us as we learn from these biblical examples and find practical ways to live out our calling to be true neighbors, drawing others closer to the heart of God.

Series Playlist

Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
Elizabeth City EMC Podcast
The Good Samaritan
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  • The Good Samaritan

    The Good Samaritan

    Aug 25, 2024 • 37:27

    What is the one essential thing that matters most when it comes to this business of eternal life? It is to trust, to follow, and to be with Jesus. He has done for us what no one else can do. By his work on the cross, he releases us from…

  • The Woman at the Well

    The Woman at the Well

    Sep 1, 2024 • 34:54

    Sermon #2 of the series, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” from John 4:1-26. Speaker: Robert Jackson Series: Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Scripture: John 4:1-26

  • The Samaritan Believers

    The Samaritan Believers

    Sep 8, 2024 • 40:54

    The unprecedented circumstances surrounding the inclusion of the Samaritans into the Christian church demanded the exceptional methods of Acts 8:17. Perhaps it was the only way the two sides of the Samaritan curtain could have ever found both Christ and each other. Who is your Samaria? Who does God want…

  • The Ethiopian Eunuch

    The Ethiopian Eunuch

    Sep 15, 2024 • 49:55

    The account of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch reinforces the truth that deep intimacy with Jesus, coupled with radical yieldedness to his will, always results in eternity-impacting encounters. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Scripture: Acts 8:26-40

  • Saul and Ananias

    Saul and Ananias

    Sep 22, 2024 • 44:31

    New life in Jesus changes all of our relationships. He reconciles sinners back to the Father, incorporates them into the community of faith, then equips and sends them to be his witnesses in the world. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Scripture: Acts 9:10-19

  • Loving in Deed and Truth

    Loving in Deed and Truth

    Sep 29, 2024 • 44:30

    Speaker: Richard Meservey Series: Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Scripture: I John 3:18

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