Greater
Greater
Dear
Emmaus Community,
Greetings
in His name.
I
have just gotten on a fast-paced, highs and lows roller coaster! It’s exciting.
However, the very thought of being appointed Community Lay Director makes my
heart pound in anticipation of the job ahead of me and your Emmaus Board for
2008. Hey - wait a minute, what am I saying? I’ve been told, “DON’T
ANTICIPATE!”
Seriously,
Emmaus has been one of the greatest joys of my life. I am a little nervous, but
very excited that the Lord has given me this opportunity to serve in this new
capacity. I will need the support of the Community, and with all the wonderful
Christ-honoring members of GSVE, I already feel your prayers and support.
Sometimes,
communities established the amount of years we have been established, have been
known to get a little stale. But, God has blessed us with great people in our
community and I know we can overcome any of the stereotypical lulls that may
occur in other places. My desire is for our Gatherings to reflect the “warm fuzzy”
we found on our Walks.
Let
us know what you believe would make our Gatherings even more cohesive.
I
challenge each of you to take a little time to think of all the great people
you have met in our Emmaus Community. Do you still see them at Gatherings? If
not, l encourage you to call and invite them to the Gatherings. Fellowship with
these wonderful people is what makes our community strong. How ’bout a call to people
from your table? Remember how close you were on your Walk? Why not make an effort
to reunite at a Gathering. (Of course, make it known at the Gathering so we all
get to share in the excitement of your reunion and get inspired to get more tables
to reunite!) And. . . if you aren’t attending Gatherings… maybe now is the
time. WE MISS YOU!
The
board is working closely with Upper Room to keep our community on track. We
will be making a few changes and I feel our community will be even better.
May
the upcoming 2008 Walks be the most incredible experiences of the Pilgrims’
lives. Pray for the upcoming teams and
Pilgrims.
To
the outgoing members of the 2007 Board who served our community so faithfully
and selflessly - Thank you.
I
need your prayers and I’m sure Les and the entire 2008 Board need your prayers.
May
you have a New Year filled with the perfect blessings of the Holy Spirit.
In
Him,
Pat
Arthur, CLD
From Our Spiritual Director . . .
I woke up at 5:00 a.m.
on
I
told Kay to take me to the Meadowview emergency room which is about 15 miles
away. At the emergency room, they could do nothing until they got photocopies
of my insurance cards and filled out a long questionnaire.
They
immediately checked to see if I was having a heart attack and then did a CAT
scan of my head. Nothing showed up and the attending doctor said that I was having
vertigo and it probably was caused by an inner ear problem. He gave me a
prescription, told me to see my family doctor, and sent me home.
My
family doctor told me that I probably had an inner ear infection and told me to
continue taking the medicine. . .but the dizziness got worse, and I had to hold
onto the pulpit when I preached the following Sunday.
I
went back to my family doctor, and she sent me back to the hospital for an MRI.
I am six feet four inches tall and weigh something over 250 pounds and the MRI
was a tight fit. This was not the time to become claustrophobic!
Later
that day, I tried to get in to see an ear, nose, and throat specialist but
could not get an appointment until the last part of January.
On
December 18 I attended a Gathering of the L.O.V.E. Community (Limestone Ohio
Valley Emmaus). We always fill out a
prayer request card, and then when we go in line to receive communion each
person gets a card listing something or someone to pray for.
I
put on my card “Pray for my vertigo.” I didn’t sign it or offer any more
explanation. The next morning I awakened
with no more vertigo, and I haven’t had an attack since.
There
has to be a lesson learned from all of this. Where was God in all of this? I
waited until I had exhausted all possibilities before I asked Him for help.
Could
I have saved all of these trips to the doctor and hospital if I had asked God
in the beginning for help? I don’t know. Maybe. The lesson that I have learned
from this is to turn to God first when difficulties arise.
Doctors
and hospitals are wonderful and do a great job, but we need to give the Great Physician
an opportunity first.
De Colores,
Les Grooms
Spiritual
Director
Babe Roosters and Sister Act
You are called to “do your things” during Men’s Walk #29.
Babes meet in the Youth Room at Trinity on Friday, Feb. 22 at 5 pm and Sisters
meet in the same place on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 5 pm. Be a blessing to the Pilgrims
and get blessed in the process. (All women in the community are welcome.) For
info about Babe Roosters call
Winter Chrysalis Flights
Girls
Flight # 22 is January 19 - 21 (Martin Luther King Day weekend)
and
Boys
Flight # 22 is February 16 - 18 (Presidents Day weekend).
Candlelight
for Chrysalis is Sunday evening. They can use help in the kitchen and with
housekeeping, and most importantly with prayer. Contact Joanne Charles at 740-354-4494
or jcharles@shawnee.edu for more information.
Four Vital Commitments for the New Year
Happy New Year! Did you stay up to
celebrate, or at least watch the ball drop in
But what about the commitments you make to others, and
especially what about the commitments you make to God? Have you made any promises
to Him lately? Are you keeping them? Well, you might say, I know that He will
forgive me too. Yes He will, but will He be pleased with you? Will he be brimming
with pride on that fateful day when you meet Him face to face? Will he say,
“Well done, my good and faithful servant?” Ouch! I’ve got to be honest. I’m not
sure. I know I want Him to be pleased with me and glad that I am His child.
So how can I move forward to that goal? How can I grow in
grace and maturity? How can I please God?
To please the Lord, there are four things we should commit
to.
1. Get closer to
Christ. First and foremost, God
wants us to abide in Him. He wants our love, devotion and attention. It seems
pretty elementary, but to do that we need to spend time with Him in prayer and
in the Word. We need to get to know Him better and walk in His footprints. We
can’t do that if we stand far off and look on from the sidelines. We need to
embrace Him and the God-seeking life. Seek ye first the
2. Get farther from
sin. As Christians we sometimes play
the game of seeing how far we can go; how much we can get away with and still
feel like a Christian. That’s what they
call “stinkin’ thinkin.’” If you’re
trying to get closer to Christ, then why would you want to flirt with sin? Why
would you want to justify a little white lie or some “harmless” gossip? Oh! And
this applies to so many things. Instead
of seeing what you can get away with, turn it around and see how far away from
it you can get. When you do sin, don’t harbor it or justify it -- confess it
and repent of it and put it far away from you.
3. Make church a priority. Do you find reasons not to go to church? Do
you let little things deter you from going? When you get there, do you sit in
the pew and spectate? We are the body of Christ, lively stones. (1 Peter 2:5) He calls us to fellowship, worship, and serve
together. We sometimes need the spark from someone else to keep our fires going.
You won’t find that at a ballgame or reading the Sunday paper. If getting
closer to Christ and farther from sin are important to you, go to church,
worship Him, pray with one another and serve the Lord in practical ways.
4. Help someone find
Christ. He has called us to be laborers
in the field of harvest. He says the fields are white -- ripe with souls. (John
4:35) So how do we lead someone to Christ? We plant seeds—words and actions—that
germinate and grow. We water seeds that
someone else planted and we make ourselves available to those who need Him. How
will they hear if a “preacher” is not sent? (Rom.
Do you love Him? Do you want Him to be proud of you? Do you
feel you have fallen short of the high calling? Don’t give up. He calls to you.
He wants your commitment to get closer to Him, farther from sin, make church a
priority and lead the way for others.
It’s a lot to ask, but then when you think of what He did
for you, and those words, “Well done!” it’s not so much, is it?
DeColores!
Amy Edler
Help Wanted
Men’s
Walk # 29 is just a few weeks away, and it’s a big job! We need to fill about
200 volunteer slots to help accomplish the Lord’s work. You know the drill, but
in case you’re new to Emmaus or need a refresher, here’s how it breaks down.
Kitchen: We need 3-5 workers Wednesday morning at
Housekeeping: We need a set-up crew of 6-8 on Wednesday evening at
Prayer
Vigil: We at GSVE are committed to
bathing each Emmaus weekend in prayer. To do that we need people to commit to
one-hour prayer slots for the entire 72-hour weekend. The prayer vigil will be
available to sign during the January Gathering. You may also sign up online by
going to the GSVEmmaus.org website. If you want to pray and cannot get to the Gathering
or sign up online, call Amy Edler at 740-642-2938 or email Amy at
Correction:
We
have mistakenly listed our immediate past Spiritual Director’s term
incorrectly. Neil Foster, who has served as Community Spiritual Director for
the past year has completed his three years of service on the Emmaus Board. We
want to thank Neil for all the time, prayer and devotion he put into seeing us
through another year. Godspeed, Neil.
2008 GSVE Board
Most positions for 2008 have
not yet been assigned.
Pat
Arthur, Lay Director
Harley
Barney, Kitchen
Dena
Benner
David
Burris
Arla
Bush
Joanne
Charles, Chrysalis
Pat
Cook
Candy
Dishong
Amy
Edler, Newsletter
Karen
Edmonson
Les
Grooms, SD
Rick
Harper
Denise
Kiger
Jim
Mathers, Kairos
Laura
Miller
Danny
Morris
Richard
North
Kevin
Pancake, Computer
Jim
Penix
Ed
Ruggles, Leadership
Savilla
Ruggles
Richard
Schumacher
Tony
Siders
Jim
Skinner
Lorri
Stewart
Positions and contact information
will appear in the February newsletter.
Men’s Walk No. 29
Live – In Team
|
Team Member |
Position |
Talk |
When to Pray |
|
David Strickland |
Lay
Director |
Perseverance |
Sunday Afternoon |
|
Scott Campbell |
Spiritual
Director |
Means of Grace |
Saturday Morning |
|
|
Asst.
Spiritual Dir. |
|
|
|
Danny Morris |
Asst.
Lay Director |
Fourth Day |
Sunday Afternoon |
|
Tom Krouse |
Asst.
Lay Director |
Priority |
Friday Morning |
|
Jim Brammer |
Asst.
Lay Director |
Grow Through Study |
Saturday Morning |
|
Marty Ford |
Music
Director |
|
|
|
Eli Ruggles |
Music
Director |
|
|
|
Mark Crosier |
Logistics |
|
|
|
Phil Howard |
Logistics |
|
|
|
Chuck Reisinger |
Table
Leader |
Changing Our World |
|
|
Jim Van Dyke |
Table
Leader |
Priesthood of Believers |
Friday Afternoon |
|
Doug Ramsey |
Table
Leader |
Life in Piety |
Friday Evening |
|
Max Hickman |
Table
Leader |
Body of Christ |
Sunday Morning |
|
Hal Hardiesty |
Table
Leader |
Christian Action |
Saturday Afternoon |
|
Jon Mark Hall |
Table
Leader |
Discipleship |
Saturday Evening |
|
Byron Lloyd |
Asst.
Table Leader |
|
|
|
Rusty Penwell |
Asst.
Table Leader |
|
|
|
Jim Hanson |
Asst.
Table Leader |
|
|
|
Emil Wepprich |
Asst.
Table Leader |
|
|
|
Brad Catron |
Asst.
Table Leader |
|
|
|
Dave Burriss |
Asst.
Table Leader |
|
|
|
|
Clergy |
|
|
|
|
Clergy |
|
|
|
|
Clergy |
|
|
Newsletter
Subscription:
Unfortunately,
the USPS doesn’t send out newsletters for free, so we have to ask for a nominal
subscription fee from those who wish to receive theirs by snail mail. If you
want to continue receiving the GSVE newsletter in 2008, please fill in the following
form, enclose $5 and mail it to GSVE Newsletter, c/o Trinity UMC,
Your
Name
____________________________________________________________________________
Address_______________________________________________________________________________
City
____________________________________State __________ Zip Code
(+4)____________________
Phone
_________________________________
Email__________________________________________
Walk
No. ______________________________ GSVE___ or Other ________________________________
Gatherings are held at
the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary.
January 2008 Gathering is the 17th
RCI Kairos #16
Kairos Weekend #16 at Ross Correctional Institute is
coming up, and guess what? They need cookies!
Warm up those ovens and crank out the goodies. They
need kazoodles (thousands and thousands) of them.
Here’s the scoop.
The team gives bags of cookies to everyone—staff and
population of the facility. Make any kind, but they cannot have fruit or icing.
Place cookies in Zip-lock bags, each containing 2 dozen cookies. Do not put anything
in the bag but cookies and do not use twist-tie bags. Bring the cookies to
Trinity UMC, 24 S. Mulberry, by January 24. That means you don’t have a lot of
time.
Questions? Call Jim Mathers at 740-983-2120.
Walks in 2008
Men’s Walk # 29
Lay Dir., Dave Strickland
Women’s Walk # 40
Lay Director, Laura Miller
Men’s Walk # 30
Lay Director, Danny Morris
Women’s Walk # 41
Lay Director, Linda Morris