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| The Road to Emmaus by Daniel Bonnell |
Thank you, Emmaus City Church,
for being a temporary home
to many a weary traveler, including this one.
Thank you for being a shining example
of what it's like to walk the difficult path
toward the narrow gate that leads to life.
Thank you for surprising me with
Christ's presence on a road that
seemed hopeless
(the road to Emmaus ... )
(the road to Emmaus ... )
In honor of all those who contributed to our 10th Anniversary Blessings Notebook, this post will feature the pull out quotes from the abundant notes and letters we received from ECC family, past and present, during the past month.
In reading each of them, the word that comes to mind is:
Dayenu
Dayenu
There is a word used in song
when the Lord brings His people
through yet another trial.
The word is dayenu,
meaning something along the lines of
If the Lord had merely fed us
during the famine but not given
us a home in Egypt,
it would have been enough.
If the Lord had given us a home
in Egypt but not kept us
from being enslaved,
it would have been enough.
If the Lord had brought us out Egypt
but not parted the Red Sea,
it would have been enough.
If the Lord had parted the Red Sea
but not brought every last one
of us through it,
it would have been enough.
This was their way of saying,
"No matter what the future is,
what You've done for us
is enough."
+ The Understory
pg. 152
I am grateful that God has given us the joy to be family to each other this past decade in sacred, special, and meaningful ways.
Going on mission with you all
has stretched me in ways
I could have never imagined.
...
Being on mission with this community
has pushed me to trust Jesus
in my weakness and my discomfort.
I have learned to move closer to others
has pushed me to trust Jesus
in my weakness and my discomfort.
I have learned to move closer to others
when I want to pull back.
Just like Jesus.
+ Kate K.
I remember hearing
the vision for ECC
and getting a really good "vibe"
about everything ECC
was going to stand for.
+ Mickey M.
I had never met anyone,
never mind a group of people
who were truly on fire for Jesus.
I had never seen anyone
actively trying to live as He did
and care for others as He did.
…
I have tears running down my face
as I think of that time of life
and how instrumental ECC was
for me to understand
the saving power of Jesus' love.
I cannot emphasize enough —
THANK GOD FOR ECC.
+ Tori M.
I feel supported, encouraged,
and challenged in the Lord with ECC,
and I look forward to how Jesus
will grow this precious part of His Body
in the years ahead.
+ Len C.
ECC welcomes us
to experience the love of Jesus.
+ Karen & Brad E.
The beloved of ECC
have been a model to us
of the virtues of humility
and self-giving love.
+ Scott B.
Through our ECC community,
the Lord is making our transition
here in the U.S. go smoothly.
+ Augustine & Max E.
It's been great to see
how God has moved
through the simple idea
of loving your neighbors
and intentionally meeting people
where they are in life.
+ Tim S.
It felt as if Jesus
was welcoming us home
every time we met.
+ Welles & Suet Yan C.
The experiences and interactions
I've had with Emmaus City
have helped deepen
my understanding of
Christ's abounding love,
sacrificial grace, and the
boundless mercy
He extends to us all.
+ Chase S.
The church welcomed
a young woman
who had never driven in snow
into their homes with grace
during a transitional time in her life.
...
I remember my time at ECC fondly.
+ Elena N.
I experienced the love of Christ
through ECC among the welcoming,
supportive, and caring community
of believers in this congregation.
It has been a second family ...
+ José P.
Emmaus City Church is my family.
The members of this community helped
raise me, disciple me and continue to do
so. Apart from my immediate family it's as
if I have an expansion of mothers, fathers,
siblings, aunts, uncles, and elders
...
I've learned that we grow from hardship
and even when we enter into desert spaces
we are not abandoned.
That it's in desert spaces that Jesus
seeks us and draws the devil out.
...
Emmaus City is a fellowship of people,
a church, a family. I have been and
continue to be blessed by
each and every member.
...
Thank you to all of you
for everything you've taught me
and continue to teach me.
+ Zoey S.
We are a beautiful little collection
of beloved people
who are ever growing
in loving others.
+ Andrea K.
Everything we do
is packed full of meaning,
beauty, mission, and worship.
...
(including) times of hardy laughter
with our body, including the
last, the least, and the lost.
+ Aaron K.
I have truly found
community and family at Emmaus
and feel blessed that
God led me here.
+ Julie M.
It's hard to choose
from many ways in which
I thank God for ECC.
+ Jon W.
I will consider the sisters and brothers
who welcomed us ...
as family because from early on
we were given that kind of welcome.
...
It had been a long time
since I had felt SO loved and accepted
in a Christian context.
...
May our Triune God
get all the glory
for what He is doing and has done
through Emmaus City Church
of Worcester, MA.
+ Catherine M.
It was the first real example
I had ever seen of a church
I had ever seen of a church
committed both to
fostering intimate fellowship
between its members and
establishing a meaningful presence
of service and support to the community.
...
It seemed like Emmaus City was
committed to offering the presence of God
through kindness and listening,
rather than trying to fix my struggle
with simple answers.
...
Thank you, Emmaus City Church,
for being a temporary home
to many a weary traveler, including this one.
Thank you for being a shining example
of what it's like to walk the difficult path
toward the narrow gate that leads to life.
Thank you for surprising me with
Christ's presence on a road that
seemed hopeless (the road to Emmaus ... )
+ Parker J.
+ Parker J.
We've grown deeply
in our understanding of the Gospel
and God's Story He is writing.
We've discipled each other
in taking up our place
in the Mission of God
in all of life.
...
I've been touched by the love
of the community for the diverse
non-believers we've welcomed and
journeyed with over the years.
+ Katie W.
Countless family dinner nights,
volunteering at WRAP, cookouts,
movie nights, Men's Wings, DNA,
and other joyous memories
remain in our hearts and
transformed us into better people
and a better family.
+ Vinnie & Serenity S-J.
Emmaus City Church
is a genuine community of people
who love God and love people.
Emmaus City Church models
what it means to be the
body of Christ.
+ Gena & Tra'Vorus W.
We learned how much
we need to be with others.
God is a community God.
We were welcomed into
the ECC family.
I now have a reverence
for my Maker
that was missing
in my journey.
+ Dan M.
Bonus Anniversary Posts:
Final Thought:
When church is only an event,
the sanctuary becomes a theater,
the people become the audience,
the music becomes entertainment,
the preaching becomes the keynote.
But, when
church is the people
both gathered and scattered ...
the sanctuary, people, music, and preaching
become vehicles for
healing, restoring, equipping, and sending.
The purpose of a car isn't to fill it with gas.
It's to go somewhere.
Gas simply helps it get there ...
The purpose of church is not to merely
fill us with information.
It's to equip us to go somewhere.
To live on mission.
Wherever we are.
The gathering is important.
Profoundly so.
But it's not the whole picture.
It's preparation to live on mission.
To bring Heaven to Earth.
To push back darkness
wherever we encounter it.
Church isn't a building.
Worship isn't just music.
Prayer isn't for the experts.
Ministry isn't just for pastors.
Mission isn't something
we add to our life —
it is our life.
Church isn't an event you go to.
It's a family you belong to.
We won't change our world
by only going to church.
We'll change it by
being the church.
+ Ian Simkins
People who believe in the resurrection,
in God making a whole new world
in which everything will be
set right at last,
are unstoppably motivated to work
for that new world in the present.
+ N.T. Wright
May God's Kingdom come, His will be done.
Que le Royaume de Dieu vienne, que sa volonté soit faite. 愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。 Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên. Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino! 🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇 With anticipation and joy, |
