Cross Point Emmaus PRAY! Inside this Issue: all the wisdom he gives. Col 3:16 17 (See Brad s article)

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1 C ro ss Po in t Ne wsle tter Copy righ t 2014 C ro sspoin t Emmau s Cross Point Emmaus XXVI, Number 6 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter June 2014 Inside this Issue: Snack Agape-pg 2 Gathering pg 2 Board Report pg 3 Did you know pg 4 Table Agape pg 4 Praise page 5 Lost page 7 S ummer is the perfect time to be God's hands and feet in this world! What are you going to do this summer to further His Kingdom here on earth? How about volunteering at Vacation Bible School, Church camp, or a mission trip? Think about doing at least one thing this Page 1 summer that you have never done to be God's messenger. And please be in prayer for the next set of walks. Elsewhere in this newsletter, there is an article on pilgrim sponsorship. Please be in prayer about who God is calling you to sponsor! De Colores, Sharri Hiller, This past month our community has experienced the loss of a loved ones and sickness. We all know that at some point in our own lives, we ourselves will PRAY! experience at least one of these. It is important to be prepared for times like these. We know what life insurance is. God give us something better. It is called Life Assurance We know that we can know that through it all we are in God s hands. And that is the right place to be! Please pray for our community members. Prayer is our most important asset. I have heard it said that God is waiting to dispatch angels when we pray. Hebrews 1:14 says: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation? I would call that a proof of assurance. God wants us to practice and share this: Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Col 3:16 17 (See Brad s article) Lastly, pray this prayer for yourself, your loved ones, friends and family everyday: Pray... that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you( them) a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; having the eyes of your (their) heart enlightened, that ye (they) may know (1.) what is the hope of his calling, (2.) what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and (3.) what the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places Eph 1: 17-20

2 XXVI, Number 6 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter June Page 2 Thank you to all of you who donated snack agape for the spring walks. The pilgrims and the snack agape team appreciate all the goodies supplied by the Emmaus community. Those who worked on the snack agape team did a fabulous job of preparing the delicious snacks. We had many team members who volunteered for the first time. Whether you are a seasoned snack specialists or a first timer your time and energy is greatly appreciated. This is true for all the volunteers who make the walks possible. If you have never served as part of the hands and feet team please prayerfully consider when and where the Lord would have you serve. The Lord is always faithful and he will guide you when you seek to serve him. Saturday June 14th at 6:00 pm Calvary Christian Fellowship th Ave NW Ardmore, OK Bring food unless you re running late then just bring yourself and enjoy the bounty of God gives us all as we meet and eat and praise and worship our most awesome God. What about Joining the worship team with your voice or your instrument? A thought occurred to me that if half the people who read this newsletter show up for the Gathering, 500 souls would be in attendance. Of course that made me think of the heavenly Gathering when Jesus returns; and the food! If you'd like to donate snack agape the fall walks will be here before you know it. I will have sign up sheets for snacks at the July, August and September gatherings. Looking forward to seeing you all this summer. De Colores ~Katie

3 XXVI, Number 6 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter June 2014 Page 3 Board Report for the May Board meeting was as follows: Applications have been received and are ready for the Team Selection Committee Meeting on the 12th and 22nd of May. Joy Douthit our awesome newsletter lady reported that if she knew the cell phone carrier, she could send the newsletter that way. All areas of the Board did not have much to report but Brad Houchin the Music Board Rep has still been unable to get good participation for gatherings. Gathering Dates have been set for the next 3 Gatherings. June 14 will be at Calvary Christian Fellowship in Ardmore; July 12th will be at Sulphur First United Methodist Church in Sulphur; and August 9th will be held at First United Methodist Church in Ada. Dates for the 2015 Walks have been set and are Spring Men s Walk April 9th April 12th 2015 Spring Women s Walk April 16th April 19th 2015 Fall Men s Walk September 17th September 20th 2015 Fall Women s Walk September 24th September 27th A new set of PowerPoint Standards are being created by Karin Nuner and will be distributed to the Lay Directors to give to their speakers. The Board feels that the conference room team needs to be intentional about the PowerPoint with a list of do s and don ts. After an electronic Board meeting the Lay Directors will start making their calls so please be sure to keep praying about where God can use you best for HIS glory! Submitted by Karin Nuner, Secretary

4 XXVI, Number 6 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter June 2014 Page 4 Who should go to Emmaus? Emmaus is open to members of any Christian denomination. Emmaus is for the development of Christian leaders who: Are members of a local church Have a desire to strengthen their spiritual lives May have unanswered questions about their faith Understand that being a Christian involves responsibility Are willing to dedicate their everyday lives to God in an ongoing manner. A Journey with Christ The Walk to Emmaus experience begins with the prayerful discernment and invitation from a sponsor. After one accepts this invitation they complete an application. The Emmaus leaders prayerfully consider each applicant and in God's time, the person is invited to attend a three-day experience of New Testament Christianity as a lifestyle. Following the three-day experience, participants are joined in small groups to support each other in their ongoing walk with Christ. Through the formational process of accountable discipleship in small groups and participation in the Emmaus community, each participant's individual gifts and servant-leadership skills are developed for use in the local church and its mission. Participants are encouraged to find ways to live out their individual call to discipleship in their home, church, and community. The objective of Emmaus is to inspire, challenge, and equip the local church members for Christian action in their homes, churches, communities and places of work. Emmaus lifts up a way for our grace-filled lives to be lived and shared with others. Can you believe it? Summer is here and fall is fast approaching! Can you believe that the year is almost half over? Now is a good time to start to start your reunion group s agape for the Fall walks, and little by little all 140 pieces will be done! The vital fact to remember is that 70 pieces are needed for the Men s walk and 70 pieces are needed for the Women s walk. We also need new decorations for the tables at meal time. Especially spring decorations that are more masculine for the men. We need twelve centerpieces. The decorations need to be low enough on the tables so people can visit with their neighbor across from them. This would be a great project for reunion groups. Please let me know if you would like to help with updating the table decorations. My address is trider@brightok.net. Thank you. Terri Rider...

5 XXVI, Number 6 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter June 2014 Page 5 An excerpt from praise and worship.com What is Praise and Worship Music? Praise and worship music (Christian) is music that has been written during the last two thousand years to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, repentance, and its forms vary widely across the world. Like other forms of praise and worship music, the creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of Christian music varies according to culture and social context. Christian music is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from artistic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product for the marketplace. The most prevalent uses of Christian music are at religious or worship services, most frequently at church buildings on a Sunday morning, but they may also be held on other days and nights of the week or at other venues. Most Christian music involves singing, whether by the whole congregation (assembly) or by a choir, or worship band. their own religious experiences. Clement, for instance, forbade the singing of psalms and the reading of Scriptures in profane meetings so that Christians would not be confused with the "wandering minstrels, singers and tellers of tales of high adventure, History of Praise and Worship Music The Christian church of the first two centuries sought to avoid any mixing of pagan musical practices with who perform their art for a mouthful of bread." All instruments were banned from Christian worship due to their association with pagan ceremonies and the low reputation of instrumental musicians. Although there are numerous references in the Old Testament to instrumental accompaniment in Jewish worship, by the end of the first century even the Jews no longer featured instruments in their liturgy. Musical instruments were absent from the synagogues since the Exile, and with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD instruments disappeared from Jewish liturgy altogether.

6 XXVI, Number 6 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter June 2014 Page 5 Unlike the mystery cults that believed in the power of musical incantations, the early church Fathers affirmed that the word (logos) held primacy over the music. The early church Fathers often admonished musicians to keep the words audible and to avoid excessive musical elaboration. Solo songs and unison chants were preferred features of musical worship in that day. Writings by Basil indicate that men, women, and children all participated in singing. The texts for the songs were based upon Old Testament scriptures (principally psalms) or drawn from Christian doctrine found in writings comprising the New Testament. (From Wikipedia) Does it Glorify Jesus To me, Christian music (worship music) should praise and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. (Col 3:16-17 NLT) Do you know that God sings to us? Yes, he does. Read what it says in Zephaniah 3:17. The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. (NKJ) Wow, how amazing is that! How beautiful and comforting it is to know that the heavenly Father sings over his children. Since I m a worshiper, I want to bless the Lord with songs of praise and worship. I want to sing songs that glorify Him, honor Him, to sing about who He is and what He has done for us. In today s Christian music, these kinds of songs are becoming harder to find. More and more Christian songs are focusing too much on me, myself and I. If we are not worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ in our songs then we are not singing true Christian songs. There are several styles of Christian music. We will be reviewing some of the most common in the Christian world, Contemporary Christian Music, Christian Gospel Music, and Christian Hymns. Sing praises to God, our strength. Sing to the God of Jacob (Psalm 81:1 NLT) "Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises!" (Psalm 47:6 NLT)

7 XXVI, Number 6 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter June 2014 Page 5 But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been Each morning I will sing my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love. (Psalm 59:16-17 NLT) Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth! Sing about the glory of his name! Tell the world how glorious he is. Say to God, How awesome are your deeds! Your enemies cringe before your mighty power. Everything on earth will worship you; they will sing your praises, shouting your name in glorious songs. (Psalm 66:1-4 NLT) I have been a part of this Emmaus community for fourteen years now and I can say from that experience that our community is overwhelmingly Blessed to have the level of talent and ability we have in various music styles and beautiful vocal styles. If you are among those with musical talent or strong vocal abilities we encourage you to come join the gatherings or sign up to work on a music team. Share your talent with our community and help us grow new musicians and new vocalists to ensure the foundation of praise and worship in the CrossPoint Community will remain strong for years to come. DeColores, Pastor Brad from Gayla Ham: I left my bright blue raincoat at Crosspoint after the Ladies walk. Could you post something to see if anyone may have picked it up accidentally? I called Ken to look there, but hadn't seen it. It's shiny bright blue w/plaid lining. It's about knee length & hooded. Everyone that brought a raincoat with them on walk 94 and who also came to the closing. Please check your raincoat to make sure that you didn t pick up the wrong one, or do as I have done with a casserole dish from fellowhip dinner. I picked up the dish thinking it was mine only to come home and find out that mine was already at home! It could be that two raincoats are residing in the same closet and don t know it! Just the Newsletter Lady or Gayla Hamm if you find that you found it! And I believe for the Ladies Walk 94 information that this is a She-Me-You situation! Men s Walk #95 Sept Scott Ahern Men s Lay Director Women s Walk #96 - Sept Karin Nuner Women s Lay Director

8 XXVI, Number 6 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter June 2014 Thank you Shepherd of the Hills For your hospitalitiy in May! Page 5

9 CROSS POINT NEWSLETT ER COPYRIGHT 2014 CROS SP OINT EMMAUS Address: Phone: Newsletter th Ave NW Ardmore, OK Cross Point Emmaus We re on the web crosspointemmaus.org On the Road to Emmaus 13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles [a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.. 28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over. So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us? Luke 24: 13-16, 28-32