Lauren Coleman Children's Ministry Coordinator I grew up in the church and benefited from my mother's prayers and vibrant faith. At age 18 that faith came fully alive through the work of God's grace and Holy Spirit. I was soon called into vocational ministry and have now served in various ministries for over 30 years. I simply enjoy people and have been privileged to serve all age groups. Along the way I also earned a Master of Divinity (M.Div) degree from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, and I'm now working on a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min). I serve as a counselor at HopeWell Ministries. I’ve been married 20 years to Cheryl and we have two children, Cullen and Zoey.

Welcome! We love our church, and we think you will too! Whether you call Messiah your home church, or you're a visitor, we believe you will fall in love with the people and their hearts for God. From the minute you arrive, to the second you leave, we want you to feel at home. We are a place where people can come and be refreshed by the Living Water of the Holy Spirit. Those who have been physically or emotionally wounded or are weary of running the race are being renewed, restored and healed. The outpouring of God's Presence is bringing healing to the brokenhearted, setting free those who have been held in bondage and restoring Jesus as our first love. Click the links below to learn more about the Messiah family! WHO WE ARE WHAT TO EXPECT FAQ WORSHIP WITH US

Join us online at this time of fellowship and encouragement as we learn about the Holy Spirit! When: Thursday evenings for 8-10 weeks, starting May 27 Time: 7 pm to 8 pm Where? Zoom - Meeting ID 850 2341 5629, Passcode 863767 or, click the button below to join the meeting! The Holy Spirit & His Gifts Click here to join the Zoom meeting! Session 1: May 27, 2021 Watch | Listen Session 2: June 3, 2021 Watch | Listen Session 3: June 10, 2021 Watch | Listen Session 4: June 17, 2021 Watch | Listen Session 5: June 23, 2021 Watch | Listen Miss a Class? Click the date below to watch or listen to the recorded Zoom session! Session 6: July 1, 2021 Watch | Listen Session 7: July 8, 2021 Watch | Listen Session 8: July 15 Watch | Listen Session 9: July 22, 2021 Watch | Listen Session 10: July 29, 2021 Watch | Listen Session 11: August 5, 2021 Watch | Listen Session 12: August 12, 2021 Watch | Listen Session 13: August 19, 2021 Watch | Listen Session 14: August 26, 2021 Class Discussion | No Recordings

Our Vestry Chris Woodland Senior Warden Marc Bagwell Junior Warden Drew Bohs Vestry Member John Curtis Vestry Member & Treasurer Susie Martin Vestry Member Carole Menzel Vestry Member

Sunday Sermons JUNE 19, 2022 Always Be Prepared to Be Reasonable Pastor Marty O'Rourke Watch | Listen | Sermon Slides Sunday Sermons JUNE 26, 2022 Can I Really Trust the Bible? Pastor Nile Gomez Watch | Listen Sunday Sermons July 3, 2022 Is God Anti-Gay? Pastor Marty O'Rourke Watch | Listen | Sermon Slides Special Testimony by Tim Maurer Sunday Sermons July 10, 2022 Is the Church Too Political? Pastor Ken Shomo Watch | Listen | Sermon Slides Sunday Sermons July 17, 2022 How Could a Loving God Allow So Much Suffering? Pastor Nile Gomez Watch | Listen Sunday Sermons July 24, 2022 Does God Hate Women? Vivian Hayes Watch | Listen | Sermon Slides Sunday Sermons July 31, 2022 Is There a "GOSPEL" of Biblical Sexuality? Rev. David Martin Watch | Listen Sunday Sermons August 7, 2022 Are Science and Faith Incompatible? Pastor Nile Gomez Watch | Listen Sunday Sermons August 14, 2022 How Can a Loving God Allow People to Go to Hell? Pastor Marty O'Rourke Watch | Listen | Sermon Slides Sunday Sermons August 21, 2022 Isn't There More Than One Way to God? Pastor Nile Gomez Watch | Listen Sunday Sermons August 28, 2022 Has the Church Become an Un-Safe Place? Pastor Ken Shomo Watch | Listen | Sermon Slides Sunday Sermons September 4, 2022 Who Am I? Pastor Marty O'Rourke Watch | Listen | Sermon Slides Sunday Sermons September 11, 2022 Where Are We Now? Tim Maurer Watch | Listen Why did Jesus so often respond to a question with a question? I read that “Jesus is almost 40 times more likely to respond to a misstatement, a comment, a question, or a threat from someone by drawing them further into conversation rather than just pouncing with a proclamation.” How different this is than how people relate to one another through social media. I also know that one of the main reasons young people walk away from the faith is that there is no opportunity given them to discuss these tough questions. As our culture continues to move away from Christian values, and the attack on our faith grows more intense, we need to be able to give a reasonable answer for the hope that we have in Christ. — Pastor Marty Please join us beginning June 19 for our summer sermon series, “Tough Questions.” Two goals for this series are: To help us personally answer tough faith questions; To equip us to respond to others, believers and unbelievers, who are asking tough faith questions. Topics will include: Always Be Prepared to Be Reasonable Can I really trust the Bible? Is God anti-gay? Is Christianity misogynistic? How and why should Christians engage with politics? What do Christians believe about sex and human sexuality? How could a loving God allow so much suffering? Are science and faith incompatible? How can a loving God allow people to go to hell? All sermons will be recorded and will be posted online each week.

Sermon Series | June-July 2020 It’s trendy to “love Jesus but not church.” Yet during this season of protests and pandemic, it’s vital that we become the full expression of Christ in the world today. Here at Messiah, we have been praying for a move of God. Please join us for an engaging new sermon series as we explore: What significance does Christ give the Church? Why do we need the Church, and why does the Church need us? How does Christ use the Church to make a difference in the world? June 7, 2020 We the Church Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation June 14, 2020 We the Church: The Bride of Christ Pastor Nile Gomez June 21, 2020 We the Church: The Temple of the Holy Spirit Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation June 28, 2020 We the Church: The Family of God Pastor Nile Gomez July 5, 2020 We the Church: The Body of Christ Pastor Marty O'Rourke and Jennifer Sporl-Palmer Please reload

Father's Love Letter MY CHILD… You may not know me, but I know everything about You … Psalm 139:1 I know when you sit down and when you rise up … Psalm 139:2 I am familiar with all your ways … Psalm 139:3 Even the very hairs on your head are numbered … Matthew 10:29-31 For you were made in my image … Genesis 1:27 In me you live and move and have your being … For you are my offspring … Acts 17:28 I chose you when I planned creation … Ephesians 1:11-12 You were not a mistake … Psalm 139:15-16 For all your days are written in my book … Psalm 139:15-16 You are fearfully and wonderfully made … Psalm 139:14 I knit you together in your mother's womb … Psalm 139:13 And brought you forth on the day you were born … Psalm 71:6 And it is my desire to lavish my love on you … Simply because you are my child and I am your Father … 1 John 3:1 I offer you more than your earthly father ever could … Matthew 7:11 For I am the perfect Father … Matthew 5:48 Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand … James 1:17 For I am your provider and I meet all your needs … Matthew 6:31-33 Because I love you with an everlasting love … Jeremiah 31:3 My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore … Psalm 139:17-18 And I rejoice over you with singing … Zephaniah 3:17 Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart … Psalm 37:4 I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine … Ephesians 3:20 For I am your greatest encourager … 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles … 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you … Psalm 34:18 As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart … Isaiah 40:11 One day I will wipe every tear from your eyes and take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth … Revelation 21:3-4 I am your Father and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus … John 17:23 For in Jesus my love for you is revealed … John 17:26 He is the exact representation of my being … Hebrews 1:3 And He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you … Romans 8:31 And to tell you that I am not counting your sins … 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled … 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you … 1 John 4:10 If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me … 1 John 2:23 And nothing will ever separate you from my love again … Romans 8:38-39 Love, Your Dad Excerpts from Father’s Love Letter compiled by Bany Adams © 1999. Visit the interactive website at www.FathersLoveLetter.com. Father's Love Letter MY CHILD… You may not know me, but I know everything about You … Psalm 139:1 I know when you sit down and when you rise up … Psalm 139:2 I am familiar with all your ways … Psalm 139:3 Even the very hairs on your head are numbered … Matthew 10:29-31 For you were made in my image … Genesis 1:27 In me you live and move and have your being … For you are my offspring … Acts 17:28 I chose you when I planned creation … Ephesians 1:11-12 You were not a mistake … Psalm 139:15-16 For all your days are written in my book … Psalm 139:15-16 You are fearfully and wonderfully made … Psalm 139:14 I knit you together in your mother's womb … Psalm 139:13 And brought you forth on the day you were born … Psalm 71:6 And it is my desire to lavish my love on you … Simply because you are my child and I am your Father … 1 John 3:1 I offer you more than your earthly father ever could … Matthew 7:11 For I am the perfect Father … Matthew 5:48 Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand … James 1:17 For I am your provider and I meet all your needs … Matthew 6:31-33 Because I love you with an everlasting love … Jeremiah 31:3 My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore … Psalm 139:17-18 And I rejoice over you with singing … Zephaniah 3:17 Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart … Psalm 37:4 I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine … Ephesians 3:20 For I am your greatest encourager … 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles … 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you … Psalm 34:18 As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart … Isaiah 40:11 One day I will wipe every tear from your eyes and take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth … Revelation 21:3-4 I am your Father and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus … John 17:23 For in Jesus my love for you is revealed … John 17:26 He is the exact representation of my being … Hebrews 1:3 And He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you … Romans 8:31 And to tell you that I am not counting your sins … 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled … 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you … 1 John 4:10 If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me … 1 John 2:23 And nothing will ever separate you from my love again … Romans 8:38-39 Love, Your Dad Excerpts from Father’s Love Letter compiled by Bany Adams © 1999. Visit the interactive website at www.FathersLoveLetter.com. PRINTABLE VERSION

START MAKING CONNECTIONS AT MESSIAH! If you have recently started attending Messiah or are interested in becoming a member of the congregation, our Spring session is starting soon. Classes will be held in the Fellowship Hall on Sunday afternoons, immediately following the worship service (lunch is incuded!). This five-seek session begins September 25. Pastor Marty O'Rourke and Pastor Nile Gomez will cover topics such as: How to Use Your Gifts and Find Your Ministry and How to Hear From God . This is a fine opportunity to meet other people and enjoy fellowship. If you are interested in attending, please fill out the form below, or call the office (757-436-2545). Connections Class Fall Class Schedule 5 Sundays beginning September 25: September 25 October 2 October 9 October 16 October 23 Meet in Fellowship Hall immediately following worship service Lunch included! Your details were sent successfully! Send

SERVING THE COMMUNITY Our Lord has called us to serve those around us as Christ has served us. Messiah is involved in a number of seasonal and year-round ministries to our local community. If you would like more information about any of these ministries, please contact the church office . Chesapeake Area Shelter Team (C.A.S.T) For a number of years, Church of the Messiah has provided a week of shelter and meals for the homeless during the winter sheltering season from November through March. CAST week is an all-church effort, as host churches provide and serve meals, play cards and board games with guests, entertain children, stay overnight to ensure a restful night for our guests, and perform daily cleanup. No special skills or experience are necessary to get involved with this compassionate ministry. Inreach/Outreach Committee The Outreach/Inreach Committee serves to minister to those in financial need in our local and extended community. Messiah supports a number of Christian-based organizations, and also seeks to minister to those within the congregation who are experiencing temporary financial difficulties. Operation Christmas Child Operation Christmas Child, sponsored by Samaritan's Purse Ministries, brings joy and hope to children in desperate situation worldwide through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God's love. Church of the Messiah collects items such as small toys, school supplies and hygiene items each fall, then, with the help of our children, packs the boxes to be shipped all over the world. Joyful Noise Club Our club for young people with disabilities currently meets online via Zoom every Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. Club members hear a special message or teaching and then enjoy a time of discussion and sharing. A game or activity is often included, where participants are asked to bring a special item or topic to share with everyone online. Everyone is welcome to join the fun! For more information, contact the church office. Sanctuary of Hope Church of the Messiah has a close relationship with Sanctuary of Hope, a pentecostal church community in Portsmouth. Messiah is involved in several of Sanctuary of Hope's outreach efforts to the poor in their local community. MISSIONS FELLOWSHIP CHRISTIAN EDUCATION CHURCH MINISTRIES GET INVOLVED

Come Worship With Us! Whether you call Messiah your home church or you're a visitor, we believe you will fall in love with the people and their hearts for God. From the minute you arrive, to the second you leave, we want you to feel at home. Our Sunday worship service features praise and worship, Biblical preaching and Holy Communion. Nursery care is available for infants and toddlers, as well as Sunday School for kids K-5. To learn more about what to expect during Sunday service, click here . Our worship services are also livestreamed to our Facebook page, and recordings of past services and sermons are available online. To learn more out our online worship options, click here . Every Monday at 7:00 p.m. Messiah hosts a parish-wide prayer meeting via Zoom, where we gather online to pray for our congregation, community, and country. To join, enter Meeting ID 928 2372 1136 into your Zoom app, or click here to join via your web browser. WHAT TO EXPECT WHO WE ARE FAQ Service Times Sunday Worship: 10:00 a.m. | In-Person & Online Monday Online Prayer Meeting: 7:00 p.m. | via Zoom Meeting ID: 928 2372 1136 Or click here to join. Church of the Messiah 816 Kempsville Road Chesapeake, VA 23320 www.ChurchoftheMessiah.org www.facebook.com/churchofthemessiahchesapeake I'M NEW

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13 According to Scripture, hope is confident expectation in the certainty of God's faithfulness to fulfill his promises. Our sermon series will explore various facets of hope that empower us to live victoriously as witnesses for Christ in the midst of life's trials and tribulations. Come and be filled with joy and peace; go and share from the overflow of hope to those in need. December 3, 2017 The Power of Hope in Christ Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation December 10, 2017 Hope Is On the Way Pastor Jim Brown December 17, 2017 The Reason for Hope Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation December 24, 2017 (10:00 am) The Certainty of Hope Pastor Jim Brown Slideshow Presentation December 24, 2017 (Christmas Eve) Hope Has Arrived Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation December 31, 2017 The Love That Hope in Christ Releases! Deacon Tom Sweeney When He Comes January 14, 2018 The Light That Hope in Christ Releases! Pastor Marty O'Rourke Slideshow Presentation January 21, 2018 The Joy That Hope in Christ Releases! Pastor Jim Brown Slideshow Presentation January 28, 2018 The Boldness That Hope in Christ Releases! Rev. David Martin Slideshow Presentation "Confession" handout February 4, 2018 The Hope in Christ that Releases Endurance Pastor John Dooley Slideshow Presentation Sermon Handout Please reload