We also had a strong desire to support the work of the spreading of the gospel all over the world.

This is a brief account of what the Lord has done for us, as Psalm 45 says:

My heart is overflowing with a good theme;
I recite my composition concerning the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

From the beginning we believed that if we were to receive God’s blessing as a church, we would have to follow what He desired and not what was pleasing to us.

And bless He did,  it wasn’t long before we had to move out of the Lunetta home and into the Boca Raton High School.  It is here where we constituted as Emmanuel Baptist Church on March 9th of 1986.

As the Lord continued to prosper us we were able to move to the Boca Raton Middle School.  We met there for eight years.

As the years passed it was becoming clear that we needed to start meeting in a church building.  After seeking God’s face in a day of prayer and fasting we were wonderfully blessed by God with the provision of the Korean church for our use at a time we wanted.  This blessed provision was given to us the very next day.

As we continued to grow we needed to seek out larger meeting places and once again the Lord opened the door for us to meet at the Camino Real Community Church. 

During the midst of all these travels we began to ask the Lord for a place we could call our own. So the search begin for a piece of property.  And What the Lord provided was a property on a dirt road surrounded by farms and ranches, and not much else.

As we looked over the surrounding area we began to envision new homes and communities filled with people  that needed a place of worship…

On November 29, 1988 we purchased this piece of land in Coconut Creek that we hoped to one day build a church on.  We saved our money and asked God to provide the funds necessary to start the building.  Once again our prayers were answered as God gave us the funds to begin the process of developing and building our church.

Hours and hours of preparation went into the planning of the nursery and worship center, fellowship hall, classrooms and kitchen.

During the building process The Lord allowed us to meet at the Tradewinds Elementary school.  As we met every Sunday we could watch the progress of our new place of worship.

First the foundation and then the walls were lifted up.  Then the interior work: rooms being framed out and plumbing fixtures installed. Drywall going up and painting...then finally the day arrived…

Our first meeting in our new building took place in October of 2002.  After 17 years of traveling and using someone else facilities we finally had a place of our own.  It was a happy day.  We were no longer wanderers, we were where the Lord wanted us…

The Psalmist declares:

How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of Hosts!
My soul longs, yes even faints for the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself;
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising you!!

We do praise God because He has provided us with a beautiful and functional building to meet in.

Throughout our years as a church we always had a focus of attention on ministering to those who were the Lord’s people around the world and those in our own back yard.

Despite our gypsy lifestyle we knew that we had a purpose to instruct our children in the faith, meet the needs of those in prison or to the elderly in local nursing homes.

As mentioned earlier we asked the Lord to provide us with faithful men from around the world that we could support and pray for.  The Lord has given us a wonderful family of believers around the world.  It is amazing to think just how many places around the world that we know brethren of like mind who we can call brothers and friends. 

We find it a great joy to able to support the work of these brothers and sisters in the work of spreading the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The  Scriptures say….

Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!
Laud Him, all you peoples!
For His merciful kindness is great toward us,
and the truth of the Lord endures forever….

Our support for faithful men in the Dominican Republic and in Asia gave us the confidence that God is using us for the work throughout the world, Our brothers in Pakistan, and in Turkey need our continued prayers and support and we gladly offer up to the Lord what He has enabled us to give.

In lending support to the ministry, young people from our church and other churches as well have gone to the Dominican Repubilc during the summer months to assist in building projects of churches and homes for pastors.

We hope to continue to support our brethren from all over the world as there is much work yet to be done.

Even in recent days doors have been opening up for us to minister in other parts of Asia where the gospel has been hindered from being spread openly….We must remember these pastors who labor under great stress for the sake of the kingdom…

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem;
May they prosper who love you;
Peace be within your walls
Prosperity within your palaces
For the sake of my brethren and companions;
I will now say, “Peace be within you”
Because of the house of the Lord our God
I will seek your good.

Another desire of our church has been to provide good books and taped messages to those who need them.  From our earliest days we have had a book table and a tape ministry.  Now today we have our messages going out live over the internet and a bookstore with good books that strengthen the heart and mind of the Lord’s people……..this work is a true ministry and is not a church profit center.

We are grateful to God for the selfless men who have faithfully served us in an official capacity throughout the years...
 
 

Elders	Deacons
Pastor Fisher Pastor Diekema Pastor Lunetta Pastor Schunck Pastor Hughes	Chuck Barker Chuck Sims Jerry Neuman Tom Herrick Frank Pontillo Rob McDaniel Don Crowe

We continue to pray that God would protect the church with Godly men who love the truth…

One of the gifts God has given to our church is that of peace and unity:

Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dewll together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of the garments.
It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; 
For these the Lord commanded the blessing---Life forevermore.

We have enjoyed the good times together and found comfort in one another’s affections in the times of distress.  Even in those times when we have lost some of our dear members, we have felt the word of God ..that says “if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.

The church is Christ’s bride and we all are part of the body of believers that make up the local church.

In the book of Ephesians we read that:

The Lord Himself gave men to the church for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should be speaking the truth in love, that we may grow up in all things into Him; who is the Head-Christ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causing growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. 

It is good to remember that the Lord has given us joy and peace together, in times of fun at the picnics, game nights, and various church dinners and celebrations of weddings, talent shows, plays  and yes, even the work days have been special times of enjoyment.

Even during the hurricanes of 2005 and 2006: the church has been a place of refuge and a place peace during the storm.

Make a joyful shout to the Lord all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
Know tha the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us and not we ourselves.
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanks giving, and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting. And His truth endures to all generations… 

May the Lord cause His presence to be known among us for many generations as we continue to labor for the cause of gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in Coconut Creek.