Aug 11
2

Update on Emmaus Essentials – Making Sense of Salvation

I have a couple of announcements for those who have signed up for the Emmaus Essentials course starting this Sunday.

1) 25 people are signed up and I have come to the conclusion that there is no way we will all fit in the conference room at the church office. I will be looking for a new meeting location over the next couple of days and I will get back to you with another update.

2) Just to be clear, you should come to this first class having read chapter 1. There is not, however, a corresponding audio lecture to chapter 1. The lectures, available for free through iTunes, will come in handy starting with chapter 2.

Please check back on Thursday for further updates.

Blessings,

Joe

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Aug 11
2

Devotional Thoughts from Mark 2:13-17

Mark 2:13-17

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.
14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.
16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Is Jesus teaching here that there are some who are righteous and and others who are sinners living on this earth, and that He is calling only those who are sinners to Himself? We know from the rest of scripture that this can not be true. For example, Romans 3:10-12 says, “As it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.'”

Jesus here is making the point that He is calling to Himself those who are aware of their sin and their need for a savior. The scribes and Pharisees, though they were sinners just like the rest, thought of themselves as righteous and, as a result, saw no need for Jesus as Savior.

If we are to come to Christ and remain in Him we must acknowledge our deep need for Him. As we do ministry we must proclaim the Gospel and understand that it is those, who under the conviction of the Holy Spirit are made aware of their deep need, that will come to Christ. The self-righteous, are in some ways, furthest from the Kingdom. Christ is able to cover the worst of sins but only if the need for a Savior is acknowledged and trust is placed in the person of Jesus Christ.

Let us not fall in to the error of the scribes and Pharisees, thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought and thinking that some, because of their sin, are out of reach of the grace of God.

Posted in Devotional Thoughts, Pride, Joe Anady, Mark 2:13-17, Posted by Joe. No Comments

Aug 11
1

Truly Encouraged

I just wanted to say that it was huge blessing to be able to get away with my wife for our 11 year anniversary and to not worry one bit about Emmaus. Lindsay and I shared with another couple that we were six weeks in to a new church plant, and they said, “Really! And you are on vacation? Do you think the church will be there when you get back?” To be honest, I hadn’t even thought about it until that comment was made, and even then it wasn’t a bother to me.

It is a huge blessing to be able to start a new church with so many good people contributing to the work of the ministry. I heard that the Angel Food distribution went very well. Thank you to all who pitched in and helped out with that ministry! Also, I thought that Russell Schmidt did a great job preaching on Sunday. If you missed it, I would encourage you to listen to the sermon on-line; it should be up in just a couple of days.

Ultimately, I know that you are not doing any of this for me; you are serving the Lord in all that you do. Never-the-less, I can’t help but feel personally grateful. It is an awesome encouragement for me to see others passionate about the ministry to the same degree that I am. It is evidence that this is indeed a God thing. He is in all of this, moving in each of our hearts, as He brings us together as the body of Christ.

From my perspective, this is definitely not my church. I say that knowing that it is a true statement from a Biblical perspective – this is Christ’s church indeed. But I also say this as I observe the reality of  what is happening at Emmaus. I do believe that God has called me to Pastor this congregation an I take that calling seriously, but I am only one of a plurality Pastors. I know that God has gifted me to play a particular role in this church, but I also see that everyone of you has been gifted, and you are using your gifts to edify one another and to bring glory to God. What a joy it is to watch all of this come together!

Blessings,

Joe

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Jul 11
26

Worship Service – July 31, 2011

Greetings Emmaus,

I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday at 5:00pm in the Youth House at BFC. Remember, Russell Schmidt will be bringing the Word from 1 Peter 1:22-25. Please pray for him this week as he continues to prepare.

Blessings,

Joe

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Jul 11
22

Worship Service on July 24th

Just a heads up that we will still be meeting in BFC’s Youth House on Sunday, July 24 at 5:00pm. Please continue to pray for our future meeting location. We have a couple of very good options but we are not quite ready to make the move yet.

Blessings,

Joe

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Jul 11
19

Gospel Community Groups 1st Meeting

Hello Gospel Community Group Leaders and welcome. What an exciting time for Emmaus Christian Fellowship. Below is a basic guide for the structure of our first meeting. Each week I will update the blog with a new guide and information for that particular week. Feel free to use this guide as much as you feel comfortable. However, please do not disregard it completely, as I would like all of the groups to be on the same page. So please make it a point to check the blog at least once a week.

Sample outline for 1st  meeting

1. Prior to meeting with your group, make sure to review the handouts given at the GCG training. This will help you remember the priorities of the group. Review Cloud and Townsend’s Part 4 if you have not already done so. Reflect on the picture model that I handed out and ask the Lord to guide you and give you wisdom as we begin these groups. A recap of the top 7 group priorities are

-Think Life Change

-Cultivate Relationships

-Promote Group Involvement

-Identify Replacements

-Provide Guidance and Care

-Monitor Environment for Love, Acceptance, and Honesty.

-Don’t Neglect Your Personal Spiritual Life

2. Before you start your group, be sure to spend some time in deep and thoughtful prayer. Pray for your group members, the direction of the group, Gods changing power within the group, etc.

3. Begin the group with an introduction of yourself and all the others in the group.

4. Spend the first portion of the group explaining what we tend to accomplish throughout the duration of these groups. Feel free to refer to any of the handouts from the training.

5. Next, spend some time explaining what is expected of each group member by referring to Cloud and Townsend part 5. Allow this to be a time of open discussion as we want everyone to understand their role in the group. A suggestion would be to use each of Cloud and Townsend’s topics one by one; introduce the topic, explain the topic, and get feedback on how the group feels about each topic. Cloud and Townsend list 13 topics beginning on pg. 193

6. Finally, spend some time in open fellowship. Just hang out for a while and get to know one another. Remember, our focus is not on strict curriculum or firm structure, it is about molding oneanother into the image of Christ by oneanothering and truthing in love. Relationships are central.

7. End in prayer.

*Contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I am praying for you all and am so excited to see how God is going to change lives in our Gospel Community Groups. To God be the Glory. Grace and Peace to you all.

-Russell

Posted in News, Study Guides, Gospel Community Groups, Russell Schmidt, Posted by Russell. 2 Comments

Jul 11
16

Announcements for the Week of July 17, 2011

Gospel Community Groups are Starting 7/17/2011

Emmaus will offer a handful of Gospel Community Groups starting this week with more groups coming soon. If this initial batch of groups fills up, or if the times do not work for you, please understand that more groups will launch in the coming months. Our goal is to have everyone involved in a GCG’s, but we are also requiring that all GCG leaders go through a rather intense training process. Training leaders takes time but we do not want to rush this training process. Thank you for your patience as we strive to provide Emmaus with enough GCG’s for everyone to be involved, and yet maintain a high standard and a sense of continuity amongst our group leaders. If Gospel Community Groups fill up before you sign up, you can also join the Emmaus Essential class mentioned below.

Youth Ministry Change Starting 7/19/2011

Beginning this Tuesday, both Jr. and Sr. High youth will be meeting on Tuesday nights from 7:00-8:30pm at the Zerebny’s house located at 26419 Old Agency Road. The youth will continue at this location at least until we find a new location for Emmaus.

Angel Food Ministries Distribution 7/30/2011

Angel Food Ministries will be distributing food boxes from the church office at 717 E. Florida Ave. on Saturday, July 30th. Distribution runs from 9 – 10:30am with set up beginning at 8:00am. Glen and Anna would love to have you come and serve along side them as they package food, walk folks to their cars, and pray for them. Please call Anna at 951•293•4145 or visit the “Ministries” page on our website for more information.

Emmaus Essentials Starting 8/7/2011

We will be studying the Doctrine of Salvation starting August 7th at 10am at the church office. We will be using “Making Sense of Salvation” by Wayne Grudem. This is one part of a seven part series that was taken from his large volume called “Systematic Theology”. You can order the text on Amazon or request that the church order the book for you. The book costs $11.24. Please come to the first meeting having read chapter one and having answered the questions in the back of the chapter. Also, I noticed that Wayne Grudem has free lectures corresponding to the chapters in his systematic theology available on ITunes. I thought that these might be helpful for commuters or for those who are a little lest than enthusiastic about reading this much every week.

Location Update

We will likely be meeting at BFC for at least one more week, if not more, but there is a possibility that we experience a move in the not to distant future. Please check the website regularly this week for an update on meeting location.

 

 

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Jul 11
12

Scripture Memory at Emmaus

Hello Emmaus,

Just a quick reminder that our scripture memory for the week is 2 Timothy 3:16 which says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” The children will have an opportunity to recite this verse in front of the congregation this week just like we did last week.

The idea here is that young and old memorize scripture together, and that parents teach their children this discipline within the home. Please, do not let your children memorize scripture without helping them to understand what it means and how it should change their lives. It is a very dangerous thing to pack a young persons mind full of scripture, and then to send them off into adulthood thinking they “know” the Bible, when in fact, they don’t understand it. Scripture should be memorized, understood, and applied; anything less is potentially destructive. The scriptures should be stored up in the mind, but it also needs to sink down into our hearts where it can truly transform us.

Blessings!

Joe

Posted in Devotional Thoughts, News, Posted by Joe. 2 Comments

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"Him we proclaim,
warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom,
that we may present everyone mature in Christ."
(Colossians 1:28, ESV)

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