PASTOR
Pastor Lynn Wilson began his spiritual journey when God gave him a vision of hell when he was 13 years old. At that time, God spoke to him and told him "That is where you are going if you do not give your life to Me." That night, he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
He graduated from high school in May of 1959 and started college that fall. The favorite part of his senior year in high school was meeting the one who was to become his life partner. He attended college at Henderson State University (then Henderson State Teacher’s College.) Between his Junior and senior years in college, he married his high school sweetheart, Betty. Two other significant events happened while he was at college: he enrolled in the Army ROTC program, and he again heard God speak to him audibly. He had enrolled in a class called “Introduction to Speech Pathology,” and during the second week in class, he heard God say, ”This is what I want you to do with your life.” After graduating from college, he served two years in the Army. During that time, his first daughter, Catherine, was born. Upon discharge from the Army, he attempted to start graduate school, but a mix up had resulted in him not being accepted in the Master’s program for Speech Therapy. After two months, the mistake had not been corrected. At that point, he decided he had heard God wrong and he went to work for a company in Arkansas. But he had not heard wrong, and through a series of events that could only be arranged by God, he ended up in graduate school at what is now Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He graduated from the Master’s program at Texas State with a degree in Speech Therapy. Again God intervened, and instead of getting a job for which he interviewed at the University of Tennessee, God made the way for him to work at Warm Springs Rehab Hospital in Ottine, just outside of Gonzales. His second daughter, Erin, was born while he worked at Warm Springs, and during this time he became assistant pastor at Emmanuel. The rest, he says, was Divine intervention in his life. God placed him where He wanted him to be. Pastor Lynn Wilson has pastored Emmanuel Fellowship since 1986.
OUR TEAM
ELDERS
Bill Ford
Bill McMillon
DEACONS
Earl Brem
James Miller
John Falks
Scott Moeller
WHY WE...
Stand to sing - "the Levites stood up to praise the Lord..." (II Chronicles 20:19)
Clap our hands - "Oh clap your hands, all you peoples! ..." (Psalm 47:1)
Lift our hands - "... I will lift up my hands in Your name." (Psalm 63:4)
Have audible praise - "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me; bless His holy name!" "Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth in song..." (Psalm 103:1; Psalm 98:4)
Sing in tongues and in English - "...I will sing with the Spirit and I will sing with the understanding."
(I Corinthians 14:15)
Sing choruses and hymns - "...speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs..."
(Ephesians 5:19)
Use musical instruments - "Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with timbrel and dance; praise Him with string instruments and flute! Praise Him with loud cymbals, praise Him with clashing cymbals." (Psalm 150:3-5)
Anoint with oil and lay hands on the sick -"Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." (James 5:14)
Speak in tongues and interpret in the church - "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all ... to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues." (I Corinthians 12:7, 10)
Prophesy - "But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men." (I Corinthians 14:3)
Why some fall when they are prayed for - The presence of the Holy Spirit is so powerful His power sometimes overwhelms our human body. (II Chronicles 5:13-14, Revelation 1:17, John 18:6, Acts 9:3-4)
Cast out devils - "In My name they will cast out devils." (Mark 16:17, Matthew 10:8; 12:28)
WHAT WE BELIEVE
The Holy Bible - The Bible is the inspired Word of God given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. (II Timothy 3:16, II Peter1:21)
The Trinity - We believe in one God, who is eternal and who in His mercy and love to mankind has manifested Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4, James 2:19, I Timonthy 2.5)
New Birth and Eternal Life - Salvation from sin is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The new birth is necessary for all men, and produces eternal life. (II Corinthians 7:10, I John 5:12, John 3:3-5, Romans 1:16)
Water Baptism - We believe in water baptism by immersion in the name of Jesus Christ, into the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Water baptism is commanded of every believer. (Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48)
Communion - We partake of the elements bread and grape juice (symbolic of the Body and Blood of the Lord) during a special time of communion in the presence of the Lord. We do this in remembrance because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice on the Cross for all of mankind. (Matthew 26:26-29, 1 Corinthians 10:16; 11:23-25)
Marriage - We believe that God created the institution of marriage between one man and one woman to be a holy covenant to be entered into publicly before God. (Matthew 19:4-6)
Baptism In The Holy Spirit - The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a spiritual baptism of power to walk in victory in this life. This experience follows conversion and is usually evidenced by the gift of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance. (Matthew 3:11, Luke 11:13, Acts 2:4, Romans 8:26 - 27)
Sanctification - Sanctification is the ongoing process of yielding to God's Word and His Spirit in order to complete the formation of Christ's character in us. It is through the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that we as Christians are enabled to live a godly life. (I Thessalonians 4:3; 5:23, 2 Corinthians 3:18; 6:14-18, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, Romans 8:29; 12:1-2, Hebrews 2:11)
Divine Healing - Healing is for the three - fold nature of man (spirit, soul and body) and is brought by the power of God through the prayers of faith and by the laying on of hands. It is the privilege of every member of the Body of Christ. (Mark 16:18, James 5:14-20, Matthew 8:17, Isaiah 53:4 - 5)
The Gifts of the Spirit - The Holy Spirit manifests through different spiritual gifts to build up and sanctify the Church and to proof the reality of the resurrection, and establish the power of the Gospel. God's Word teaches that these gifts are for us for today, and that they should be exercised in Divine Order as taught in the Word. (I Corinthians 12:1- 11; 14:1-40, Hebrews 2:4, Romans 1:11; 12:4-8, Ephesians 4:16, I Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6-7, I Peter 4:10)
The Five-Fold Ministry - We believe in the five-fold ministry of the Apostle, Prophet, Teacher, Evangelist and Pastor for the edifying and building up of the Body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13)
Heaven - Heaven is the place where all those who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ will enter into after their death. (Matthew 5:3; 12; 20; 6:20; 19:21; 25:34, John 17:24, 2 Corinthians 5:1, Hebrews 11:16, I Peter 1:4)
Hell - All who did not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will be judged by God after their death and sent to hell where they will be tormented with the Devil and the fallen angels for all eternity. (Matthew 25:41, Mark 9:43-48, Hebrews 9:27, Revelation 14:9-11; 20:12- 15; 21:8)
The Second Coming - We believe in the literal return of Jesus Christ, first to take His Church out of this world and then to come with His people to judge this world. (Matthew 24:30; 26:63-64, Acts 1:9-11; I Thessalonians 4:15-17, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8, Revelation 19:11-16, Revelation 20:4-6)