Cross 

 Point

MONTHLY GATHERINGS (7:00 p.m.)				WALKS
(Board meetings at 5:00)				Men’s Walk #75		Sep 24th - Sep 27th
June 13th		Davis UMC		Women’s Walk #76		Oct 1st - Oct 4th

Lay directors for the 2009 Fall Walks are Ben Owens for the Men’s and Karen Black for the Women’s. Please be in prayer for their leadership and consider how you may be able to contribute to these events. They will need a small army of volunteers as a part of the inside team, plus volunteers on the hands and feet (outside) team, you can sponsor a pilgrim, participate in candlelight, or provide agape. And don’t forget the prayer warriors… both in the prayer room and the 72 hour prayer vigil.

If you can serve just a day or two on the outside team, then please send in your volunteer application now and note when you are available to work on the form.

If you have never worked on a walk or maybe it has just been a long time since you last worked, I encourage you to sign up today. It is truly a blessing to be able to serve in any capacity. At the very least, drive over to the camp for send off, candlelight, and/or closing. Be sure to allow some time to run downstairs and see what’s happening in the the agape room and the prayer room. It is always humbling to see what goes on behind the scenes and then stop to think “This exact same thing took place during my walk, for my benefit, to help me learn and understand God’s love, His grace, and Jesus’ sacrifice for me. I received tons of agape, people fixed all my meals, someone cleaned up after me, and a bunch of people were praying for me, (by name), during the entire weekend.” Awesome!

The next set of Flights for Heartland Chrysalis will be Jul 30th - Aug 2nd (boys) and Aug 6th - Aug 9th (girls). Both flights will be at the Oak Ridge Retreat Center in Anadarko. For more information, read the Heartland Chrysalis newsletter (click the Chrysalis link on the Cross Point Emmaus website) and check for updates through the Great Plains Emmaus website at www.greatplainsemmaus.org

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.”                 Mother Teresa

The next Gathering is scheduled for June 13th in Davis, OK at the United Methodist Church (308 S. 3rd Street). The worship service will begin at 7:00 P.M. and will be followed by fellowship and, of course, food. The board meets at 5:00 before each gathering. If you would like to host a gathering at your home church, contact Reverend Kay Buchanan.

Mark your calendars, invite a friend or neighbor, and we hope to see you there!

The candlelight worship service is considered to be a gathering for months when we have a set of walks. Note: Candlelight worship services begin at 8:00 P.M. Afterward, we wait anxiously to light our candles, sing Jesus Jesus, see God at work in the pilgrims faces, and quietly go home.

Here is the gathering schedule for the remainder of this year…

	June 13th		Davis UMC
	July 11th		Marietta UMC
	August 8th		Lindsay UMC
	September 12th		tbd
	September 26th		Men’s candlelight
	October 3rd		Women’s candlelight
	November 14th		Ada FUMC
	December 12th		Ardmore Asbury

Studying the prophet Elijah we receive a wonderful example and clear lesson on the power and practice of prayer. We read in 1 Kings 18: 42-44 where he prayed for rain after a three year drought.

… Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant.” And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back." The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.”

First, notice that Elijah was humble before the Lord when he “bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.” James reinforced this when he said “Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up”. (James 4:10)

Next, Elijah prayed for a specific purpose, rain. This becomes apparent as we read about him sending his servant to go observe toward the sea and report what he had seen. In James 4:2 scripture says “…you do not have, because you do not ask God.”

Elijah was persistent in his prayers. He told the servant to go look toward the sea after he had prayed and, not giving up, he repeated this seven times. James 5:16 says “…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

Finally, Elijah expected God to hear and answer his prayers. When the servant reported that there was a small cloud, the size of a man’s hand, Elijah knew that God had answered. In Mark 11:24 Jesus said “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

What a great lesson! This is definitely something we need to incorporate into our daily prayer life (if you don’t already). Be humble, be specific, be persistent, and be expectant. Hey, I can do that!

I wake every morning thinking “woo-hoo, God has given me a new day and I am going to do something with it, and with His help I hope to do something good!” But the reality is, sometimes I fail. OK, let me be totally honest, sometimes I fail big time, miserably, crash & burn, it is not a pretty site. So, in spite of my best intentions, I can be weak at times. With that confession, let me tell you a true story…

Years ago, we drove through the fast food lane of a popular hamburger place to pick up something to eat with one or two little ones in the back seat. I paid, received my change, got our food, and started to drive off. Suddenly I realized the clerk had given me change for a $20 when I had only given her a $10. It took a few seconds to process what had just transpired and a few more seconds to decide how to handle it.

Honestly, there was a time in my life where I would have driven on and maybe even rolled down the window and shouted “Thanks Ronald”, thinking that another’s mistake was my fortune and I had just been given a $10 gift. But not this time.

This time I simply mumbled something (only loud enough for my wife to hear and certainly not loud enough for the kids to hear - they repeat everything, don’t they), did a 360, went back around to the drive through window, and returned the extra $10.

My wife, the school teacher, says God was testing me and I passed the test. I won’t know if I was being tested until I see His face and maybe I can ask about it. So for now, I will just be satisfied with something Grandpa used to say…
“Even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then.”
And you know what, I am OK with that because it was a good day!

If you have a 4th day testimony, a devotional, a news article, or an announcement that you would like to share for publication in the Cross Point Emmaus newsletter then please send it by mail to Joe Sherbert, 16214 CR 3590, Ada, OK 74820 or by email to: joe.sherbert@gmail.com. Thank You!

Rev. Dan Patman		Community Spiritual Director
Vicki Swigert		Community Lay Director
Paula Pfau		Assist. Community Lay Director
Rev. Kay Buchanan		Gatherings
Rev. Les Bussell		Fourth Day
Rev. Roger Wood		Candlelight | Sponsors Hour
Barbara Wood		Secretary
Toni Hignight		Literature
Mike Carnahan		Letter Agape
Dewayne Gipson		Treasurer
Karin Nuner		Table Agape
Jeff Hiller		Music
Ben Owens		Setup | Tear Down
Julie Altom		Registrar
Joe Sherbert		Newsletter
Kelly Shannon		Kitchen | Snack Agape