Volume XXVI, Number 2 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter February /12 of one Year

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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 Volume XXVI, Number 2 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter February 2014 Inside this Issue: February gathering pg 2 Did you know pg2 Board report pg 3 Sponsorship Info pg 3 Invitation pg 4 Armor Up pg 5 Music pg 5 Prayer Vigil 6 Snack Agape-6 Choose Joy 6 1/12 of one Year Onetwelfth of the year is already over, and training for the next set of walks have begun! Please be in prayer for Lay Directors David Woerz and Debbie Hamilton, the inside and outside teams, and prospect pilgrims. I and the rest of the Board would like to thank Shawna Carnahan, Roger Wood, Rick Drummond, Tabbe Drake, and Page 1 Karen Black for their faithful service to the Cross Point Emmaus Community over the last three years. Have no doubt your Emmaus Board is a working Board, and these brothers and sisters have done their share. We welcome new Board Members Joy Douthit, Terri Rider, David Teeman, and David Daniel and look forward to working with them the next three years. We hope to see you at Gathering at Konawa on February 8 at 6 pm! Sharri Hiller, Community Lay Director Synopsis of Love Does by Bob Goff (NY Times Best seller) The biggest lie of all time can be summed up in two words: someone else. God didn't choose a politician, the rich, a rock star, or famous actor to do His work in our churches, family, and community. He chose you and me. We are the means, delivery method, presence, smile, shoulder, laughter, tear, and strength that changes lives and brings people to Christ. And it is out of love that we do these things. Joe Sherbert shared this with us Tidbit~ Agapimu is greek for my love, my treasure, I love you so dearly. We give agape to agapimu. More importantly it is Christ s Agapimu! We get the blessing of demonstrating Christ s love by giving agape to Agapimu. Treasure for Treasure!

2 Volume XXVI, Number 2 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter February 2014 Page 2 Each Board Member is assigned a work area that they are in charge of. Set-Up/Tear Down will led in 2014 by David Teeman. David will need your help getting the camp ready for the walks. be Did You Know? we have a big storage building at Cross Point where the Community stores the supplies and furniture necessary to hold the walks? You can not see it from the road, but it is there. When you volunteer to help David, you will be moving these items from this building to the places they are needed for the weekends. Volunteers for this job are needed on Thursday of the men s walk, and Sunday of the women s walk. This is a great place to volunteer if you cannot stay at camp for the entire weekend. Trucks and trailers are also appreciated on those days to complete this job. February Gathering The February gathering will be held February 8th at 6:00 pm at Konowa United Methodist Church, 301 1st Street in Konowa. A map link is on the website under Maps. Pastor Kristiane Smith and her generous congregation will be hosting us. Konowa is about 20 minutes north of Ada taking OK-3E and OK-39W. We will follow the format of food first, then worship, news and announcements, lay talk then Holy Communion. David Woerz #93 Men s Lay Director Debbie Hamilton #94 Women s Lay Director

3 Volume XXVI, Number 2 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter February 2014 Page 3 Board Report The Board approved purchase of two projectors to use for trainings Music ~ reported that the first gathering Jam Session would be this evening and that it would be a regular feature of gatherings. He supported the idea of all levels of musical talent participating in gatherings and possibly walks. He stressed that the idea was a return to simple musical presentation that would invite more participation by the community. Table Agape: Terri Ryder Prayer Room/Letter Agape: Shawn Harkins Set-up/Tear-down: David Teeman Music: Rev. Brad Houchin Literature/Supplies: Amy Heller Gatherings: Rev. David Daniel Fourth Day: Steve Russell Candlelight/Sponsor s Hour: Rev. Temple Diehl Other Business: The Chair asked unanimous consent to approve the Covenant Agreement with the Upper Room for the 2014 Board. Without exception, the Board approved the Agreement. Gatherings ~ gathering locations are confirmed through April at the following locations: February 8 th, Konawa; March 1 st, Sulphur (Commissioning) April 12 th, Wynnewood. Community Spiritual Director ~ the board approved a new pastor, Paula Tucker from Colbert, for service on the walks. New Business: Elections Nominations were taken from the floor and after the Chair had canvassed the voting, the following members were elected to the offices below for the 2014 year: Community Lay Director: Sharri Hiller Assistant Community Lay Director DonnaYoung Secretary: Karin Nuner Treasurer Tem Barrett Community Spiritual Director: Rev. P J Stewart Registration: Clinta Taylor Newsletter/AV: Joy Douthit Kitchen/Snack Agape: Katie Byrne (From Upper Room) Each person who attends The Walk to Emmaus has a sponsor. A sponsor is a person who has been through an Emmaus experience and is willing to share that experience with another new Emmaus participant. The sponsorship of a previous participant frees the current participant from any personal responsibilities that might distract him or her while on the experience. Sponsorship also undergirds each participant's 72-hour experience with prayer and other expressions of God's love. According to the dictionary, a sponsor is one who takes responsibility for another. The suffix "-ship" refers to the skill involved in the activity. So sponsorship is the skill of taking respon-

4 Volume XXVI, Number 2 Crosspoint Emmaus Newsletter February 2014 Page 4 Sponsorship cont. sibility for another. The aim of a sponsor should not be "to get all my friends to go," to fill up the weekend, to fix people's problems, or to reproduce one's own religious experience in others. Rather, the aim of the sponsor is to bring spiritual revitalization to Christians who will, in turn, bring new life and vision to the work of the church in the congregation, home, workplace, and community. The aim of sponsorship is to build up the body of Christ. Sponsorship is an act of love for God, for the participants in the Walk to Emmaus, for the Emmaus Community, and for the church. It is a demonstration of agape love. A sponsor will: Pray for the participant's openness to God's call to discipleship. Make an appointment with the participant (or participating couple) to discuss his or her participation in Emmaus. Invite the participant to take part in Emmaus for the sake of a more vital relationship with Jesus Christ. The sponsor shares his or her faith, explains the basic purpose, elements, and followup dimensions of the Walk. Ask the participant to make a commitment by filling out a registration form. If the participant is married, the sponsor will speak with both partners and encourage an equal commitment by both spouses. Support the participant's Walk through prayers and otherwise. The sponsor will also support the participant's family by house-sitting, baby-sitting, watering plants, picking up mail, feeding pets, or just checking in with a spouse to see if any help or support is needed. Encourage the participant in his/her continued journey and take the participant to Emmaus "gatherings" after the Walk weekend is over. Help the participant re-enter his or her church and consider ways to act out new commitment and enthusiasm. Help the participant sponsor others. Fourth Day Invitation. "Hello from the polar vortex! I hope everyone is staying warm during this Southern Oklahoma winter. As your Fourth day representative, I am responsible for the scheduling of speakers at our gatherings. If you would like to give your Fourth day testimony, or know of someone who would, please contact me to get on the schedule. No testimony is insignificant! As we hear people share at the gatherings, it can take some of us back to where we were when we felt God s presence and change to our lives. I would love to hear from many of you for this opportunity! DeColores! Steve

5 VOLUME XXVI, NUMBER 2 CRO SSPOINT EMMAUS NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2014 Page 5 And now a word from the WORD 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord s people. Ephesians 6 Rev. P.J. Stewart our New Community Spirtual Director is shouting Armor Up! She enourages each one be sure that their Armor is on before getting out of bed each morning! Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. -James 5:13 Did you know that the Jesus Jesus song we sing at candlelight only has two chords throughout the entire song? Many of the familiar Emmaus tunes are very simple to play. You can take my word for it or you can bring your instrument and join us at the next gathering and see for yourself. The new jam session format we have initiated at gatherings creates an opportunity for all musicians, regardless of instrument and regardless of talent level, to come and be a part of the praise and worship ministry for our Crosspoint Emmaus community. It s a great opportunity for beginners to come and learn some of the Emmaus classics and it s an opportunity for seasoned veterans to share and help develop a stronger pool of musicians for the community and the walks. (Who knows, you may even learn all the words to that DeColores song!!!) J Music is what feelings sound like. ~Author Unknown. See you at the gathering! Pastor Brad Interesting Tidbit: The Roman Soldier s Shield was made from many pieces of Leather put together and it weighed about 50 lbs once he prepared it for battle. How did he prepare it? He soaked it in water so that it would quinch those firey arrows! Our shield is soaked through with the Living water!

6 VOLUME XXVI, NUMBER 2 CRO SSPOINT EMMAUS NEWS LETTER FEBRUARY 2014 Page 6 Choose Joy! -Janis Bart Isaiah 55: (NRSV) For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. A blanket of snow, its pure white covering dotted accented by tiny spots of bright green as the daffodils, undeterred by the unpredictable weather, push through.... silence, broken only by the crunch of tires as a lone car moves tentatively trying to negotiate the intersection in front of my house... welcome to February in the garden! The much needed moisture, in the form of sleet and snow is a delight to behold for this one who does not have to try to make it to work in it! Just a Tad From Snack Agape The snack agape sign up sheet is up and going on our website g Just click on the Jellybeans! If you have any questions please feel free to me at k80byrne@live.com Thank you, Katie Byrne, snack agape Newsletter Notes ~ I bet you can tell that someone else is doing the newsletter! You ll probably see a few errors that I didn t see and as I am getting my feet wet with Publisher 2010, if you have any suggestions, that might help the newsletter to be better, please me at: info@crosspointemmaus.org or at joydouthit@yahoo.com. Thank you, Rick Drummond, for your tireless effort in helping me understand the ins and outs of this position. You and Joe Sherbet our Web Master have made my first month exciting! Community, this is your newsletter. Please consider what you can add to the next newsletter. God does awesome things for us and we should shout about it just as the leper in Luke 17! Your new sletter lady Joy As I reflected on the grace of God to provide life-giving moisture I wondered if I would ve been so delighted and gracious if it had come in the form of rain instead? Would I have rushed my quiet time, fussing at the cold and dampness that seeped into my protective clothing, instead of marveling in the beauty of the Lord revealed through the delicate ice sculptures it created on all the surfaces to which it clung? Would I have complained about the traffic noise instead of rejoicing over the profound silence? Perhaps I would ve found it harder to find joy in that less beautiful circumstance. As this scripture came to my thoughts, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a devotion I read from Henri Nouwen s Bread for the Journey a few days ago: Joy is what makes life worth living, but for many joy seems hard to find. They complain that their lives are sorrowful and depressing. What then brings the joy we so much desire? Are some people just lucky, while others have run out of luck? Strange as it may sound, we can choose joy. Two people can be part of the same event, but one may choose to live it quite differently than the other. One may choose to trust that what happened, painful as it may be, holds a promise. The other may choose despair and be destroyed by it. What makes us human is precisely this freedom of choice. Our circumstances do not speak of our character... our choices do. Trust the Word of God and choose joy! Love, Janis Bart Prayer Vigil online Sign Up go to and click on the prayer hands. It is very simple to add your name, the tough part is deciding which slot(s) to fill! The sign up sheet will also be at the gathering

7 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