April 2024
A Gateway to Christ
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Contributors:
Don Twiggs- Comm Lay Dir
Mike Oakes- Asst Comm Lay Dir.
Connie Alexander- Treasurer
Patrice Dougher- Secretary
Bill Crissman- Registrar
Verna Fields- Reunion Grp Coord.
Rev. Sheron Willson- Spiritual Dir
Deborah Bryant- Music Coord.
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From the CLD CORNER:
Your board has been very active this month. We have just completed two Walks which I feel has been very successful and again we were able to say that “We can count this as a Victory for Jesus”. As has been suggested at the “Town Hall” or Community discussion( as some would prefer to call it), WE ARE GOING TO ANOTHER PLACE for our next walks. We are going to the Montgomery Center near Starke for the Men’s walk October 10-13th and Women’s Walk October 17-20th.
We are stepping out in faith that the community will support these walks. We will need a minimum of 10 pilgrims in order to do these walks. The decision to make these walks will be 90 days before the Men’s Walk or July 5th. So now is the time to get the pilgrims application’s in. ( need only $25 to register).
The Board will be very busy in adjusting the schedule to accommodate the new venue. The meals will be provided by Montgomery Center so the Walk schedule will have to be adjusted to fit their schedule. As we will not need a cook team, we will need a dining room coordinator to make sure that the Tables and decorations are in order. There will be other changes needed and we will let the community know as we make the adjustments. I am asking the Community that if you are not sponsoring a Pilgrim, PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING A Pilgrim BY PAYING FOR THEIR MEALS. COST: $40/DAY OR $ 120 FOR THE WALK.
Please keep our board and Florida Crown Emmaus community in you prayers and pray for the pilgrims that as yet we do not know who they are.
Matthew 21: 22 “ If you have faith when you pray,you will be given whatever you ask for.”
DeColores, Don Twiggs
Community Lay Director 2024
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From our Secretary:
In one of my recent devotions the scripture verse was: John 20 19-23 Jesus appears to the 10 disciples. It is resurrection Sunday, the disciples are afraid and locked in a room, not sure what the future holds for them. Then Jesus appears and breaths on them to give them the Holy Spirit. Afterwards they begin growing the church.
Recently we were asked to pray for the Florida Crown Emmaus community. We need to continue to pray that the Holy Spirit helps us to grow our community through walks and reaching out to community members who have not participated in our events for a long time. We need to resurrect our community! To quote the author of my devotion: “When the future of a community of Jesus’ followers seem humanly lost, the risen Jesus reappears among them-over and over-and makes hope possible again.”
DeColores, Patrice Dougher
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From Reunion Group Coordinator:
DO YOU REMEMBER?
On the last day of your walk you were asked to answer questions. One was
"What do you plan to do?" If you answered "Join a reunion group", have you remembered to do this ?
Find a reunion group near you or you can even start one yourself like I did. Then be faithful to meeting It will certainly bless you. If you need help. contact me as I am the Reunion Group Coordinator.
Blessings, Verna Fields,
vernafields@comcast.net
904-771-7450
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FOURTH DAY GATHERING ....
Saturday, April 20, 5pm
This is a BYOC (bring your own chair) event.... and cooler and drinks. There WILL NOT be a
pot luck dinner.
5pm Fellowship Social
6pm "ish" Praise and Worship in the Park
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From our Treasurer:
DeColores Friends!
Well, another walk is behind us and what a success it was! God provided and bonded a great team of servants, and He sent pilgrims who were hungry for the Word and encouragement in their own walks. Now we begin preparation for the next walks; the next teams and the next pilgrims. Let us always pray for those attending the walks, both team and pilgrims, that lives are touched, and souls are won for His honor and glory!
These walks mean so much, both to the team members and the new pilgrims. Unfortunately, the cost of supplies, transportation, food, and all the necessary expenses for a walk increase every year. We have tried to hold the cost of sponsoring a team member or pilgrim to a minimum but its almost impossible to cover the expenses now.
There are some really awesome servants out there who would like to serve, but can't afford the weekend fee. And we've heard from potential sponsors that they have people to send, but can't afford the fee. So here's a WIN-WIN proposition for everyone! Make a gift to the Walk!
Similar to a scholarship program, if you make a donation to support a walk, we'll make sure that its used for just that purpose. You may not be able to give the full cost of a weekend fee, but a smaller gift would certainly help. Just like Jesus did with five loaves and two fishes.....He fed 5,000 men, and their wives and children. It took just a little (the bread and fishes) added with the power of the Lord, and many were blessed. Aren't we called to follow Him? Just think what He can do with your gift! You can make a gift at a gathering or send donations to:
Florida Crown Emmaus,
P.O.Box 351588, Jacksonville, FL 32235-1588. Please indicate if you'd like a written receipt for your tax exempt gift.
DeColores, Connie Alexander
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Miracles
This week, many people in North America witnessed one of the marvels of the universe, a solar eclipse. The diameter of the sun is approximately 860,000 miles. The diameter of the moon is 2,160 miles. Yet when they lined up, the moon exactly covered the sun, with only the Corona visible. So how is it that the relative distances of the sun and the moon from earth are in precise proportion to make the moon appear exactly the size of the sun? ... Coincidence? ... A miracle?
In Matthew 5 Jesus, while traveling, healed a number of people, One of them was a woman who thought "If I can only touch his garment.I will be miraculously healed." Jesus observed her faith and performed that miracle. Yet in chapter six Jesus was unable to perform miracles in his own hometown, because the people lacked faith.
When we see events such as a perfect solar eclipse, do we understand and embrace the absolute authority of the risen Christ and his ability to command all that is seen and unseen? Take some time and meditate on the miracles of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit.
DeColores
Michael Oakes, Asst. Comm.LD
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Psalm 86:5-10 NIV
You, Lord, are forgiving and good,
abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me. Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.
Healing prayers are for more than our physical healing. Florida Crown Emmaus is in a regrouping and rebuilding phase and we are called to pray for the healing of this ministry and other 4th day ministries. Like many of our churches we had seen a decline in attendance during the past few years since for a time we were not able to come together for gatherings or have walks. However, in the last year we have come back full force. Gratefully, laity leadership and clergy have stepped up and we have had good support for walks #84 and #85. However, we need community involvement to keep growing. The turn out at homecoming 4th day, in March at Orange Park was much better. Yet we did not have enough sponsors or pilgrims for these walks. We had the walks anyway but we can not continue to do that.
John Wesley said, “God does nothing but in answer to prayer. So, prayer is therefore not an option for mankind but a necessity.” Therefore, I want to share a story that I think most of you may have heard but maybe with a little different perspective. On walk #84 for the men, a group of us prayed for more pilgrims. The prayer was a fervent prayer and during the prayer, I believe we all felt the power of the Holy Spirit. We specifically prayed for men for the next walk and men to be more involved in the community. On the next walk we saw God double the number of male pilgrims on the walk and the men involved in the community also seems to have increased. The help at set up and tear down and at gatherings made that obvious. For all of this we are grateful. We all know that Emmaus events are only successful when bathed in prayer. If it is not of God, we don’t want it to be and it will not be successful if we do things out of our own selfish ambition. That is scriptural.
After sharing this, another pastor asked me to look at it from a different perspective. If that small group praying made that much difference does that mean that others are not praying. He shared that he thought that is the problem in our churches, as well. As I prayed about this, I felt a bit different. I believe that many are praying, although we need more. But we need to be more deliberate with our prayers and be praying together in our reunion groups and on a regular basis, very specifically. So, I have been posting on our face book page every Tuesday thoughts for prayers so that each of us can be praying similarly for the community that week. Also, if someone is not part of a reunion group, they too can join in our prayer vigil. Please check out the Facebook page (Florida Crown Emmaus) for information.
Please join us in prayer for Florida Crown Emmaus. Pray for your own churches and Pastors, praising God for those who are involved and participating. Pray for those who have been involved to return and for those who have not been involved, for the Holy Spirit to make a way for us to reach out to them. Pray for the leadership of Florida Crown. We are an ecumenical organization so all denominations are welcome, pray for the churches in your area regardless of denomination. We had the most variation of denominations I have ever seen on a walk on the last walks.
Please pray for sponsors and pilgrims for the October walks. As you pray when God lays someone on your heart who may need to or want to go on the walk in October, please reach out to them. We have brochures if you need them and everything is on our website FloridaCrownEmmaus.com. If you
cannot sponsor or need help sponsoring, please let us know. We may be able to help match you up with someone to help you. Cost should never be an issue; we have people who have volunteered to help with sponsorships.
Walks will not happen if we do not have at least 10 pilgrims on each walk and we need to have registrations in as soon as possible. Pilgrims can be registered with just a $25 registration fee.
We lift prayers of gratitude up for you and your family as you join us in prayer. We know God works mightily through these 72 hour events and the 4th days that follow. Therefore, we pray and trust God for guidance, empowerment, and strengthening but only in His will and His way. For we can only begin to imagine what God can do and His ways are so much greater than ours. Thank you for praying.
DeColores
Sheron Willson, Pastor
Spiritual Director
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DeColores and Happy Easter!
I have been intrigued with The Chosen series as it is portraying the life of Jesus and his disciples who dropped everything in their lives to follow Him.
It is so humbling to think about the events that led to the death of Jesus on the cross. To be a disciple in the day of Jesus must have been exciting, humbling, heart warming and heart wrenching and dangerous in those times but they have told the story of Jesus Christ for all of us to hear his words and believe that he has risen from the dead! We just have to read it, hear it and believe it! Jesus died on the cross to save us all from our sins! He rose from the dead on the third day and conquered death! Hallelujah! Christ is Risen!
Christ is Risen indeed!
I am still thinking about the last set of Emmaus weekends and how much it meant to the new pilgrims. Hearing their experiences from the weekend and hearing them sing at the 4th Day Gathering was awesome!
It wasn’t just the pilgrims who had a great experience. I know that the teams involved also had a wonderful experience and saw Jesus! That was amazing and really confirms that he is there with us the entire weekend and hears us when we pray and sing praises!
The music by both men and women’s teams is always wonderful and full of joy and praise to God. I’m so thankful for all the musicians that were on the walk and helped out with the weekend events and even those that volunteered to play djembe. I know I really enjoyed playing the Djembe at candlelight! I was just overwhelmed with the spirit that night!
We need to keep this 4th day going all throughout the year by being part of a reunion group and attending the gatherings. I always enjoy going to the gatherings to see the community there and enjoy the fellowship, singing and worship. It helps keep me going!
If you are a new pilgrim and would like to be more involved please fill out a volunteer form online or talk to someone at a gathering. There are so many ways to get involved with the Emmaus community and especially going into the next weekends in October. We need you!!
We can always use more musicians too! If you play an instrument or just love singing please come join us at the gatherings and we would love to get you involved!
Please email me if you are interested in joining the music team at
See you at the next Gathering in Green Cove Springs Park!
DeColores!
Deborah Bryant, Music Director
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From Registrar: De Colores!!!!!!
As we approach the summer it is time to think of the fall. Specifically, sponsoring
pilgrims for the upcoming walks. The next walk will be in a new location, and I can only imagine the growth the pilgrims will have. We were all tasked to go and make disciples of all, and what better way then to send someone who is ready for the next step to a walk to Emmaus. The dates are oct 10-13 for the men and Oct 17-20 for the ladies with the 4 th day being on Oct 26th. We as a community need to start early to ensure the walks are filled so now is the time to get moving. I am personally challenging Florida Crown Emmaus to fill this walk! Are YOU up to it?
De Colores,
William Crissman, Registrar
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