Greetings,
I pray this finds each of you doing well. Looking outside today I am reminded of just how blessed we are to call Montana home. God certainly created a masterpiece when he created the Great State of Montana, just as He created a masterpiece out of each one of you. Sometimes we may not think of ourselves as a masterpiece of God’s, but then weekends like the Walk to Emmaus come around and God places other Christians in our lives to prove to us just how much He loves us. I cannot speak for everyone, but I assume that in many of our lives the Walk to Emmaus was a turning point in our Christian walks. Have you ever thought about where your relationship with God would be right now had your sponsor not shared the Walk to Emmaus weekend with you? I know for me personally I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to attend the weekend and accept Christ into my life. It helped me draw closer to God and allowed me to meet great mentors to walk with throughout my life. I am sure most of you feel the same way.
If you think back to Sunday morning of your Walk weekend you heard a short talk about the Sermon on the Amount. During that talk you heard that the congregation of Billings First United Methodist Church paid for the very first Emmaus weekend in Billings and the weekends have been paid forward since that time. We currently hold two weekends in Billings, one for the men, one for ladies. The cost to put on each weekend is roughly three thousand dollars. While this year’s walks are funded, it continues to get harder and harder to fund future weekends as the “pay it forward” does not bring in what it once did. With that, it is extremely difficult for the youth who sponsor their peers to the Chrysalis weekend to cover the expense, so often the Chrysalis contributions are low. As you consider your end-of-year giving, I would ask you to consider a contribution to the Billings Walk to Emmaus so that potential Pilgrims can share in the same life changing weekend that you enjoyed. Donations can be mailed to Billings Walk to Emmaus at PO Box 1975, Billings, MT 59103. Remember
that the Walk to Emmaus is also a 501c3 non-profit and your donations are tax deductible.
Remember, it is not too early to get applications submitted for the upcoming Walk to Emmaus. Applications can be submitted on the website at www.billingsemmaus.com. You will also find the most up-to-date information, as well as team list and prayer vigil sign up. (If you sign up for the prayer vigil don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of the page and click that you are not a robot or your name will not be saved on the prayer vigil.)
In the beginning of this note I mentioned that you are all a masterpiece of God. This is also indicated in Ephesians 2:10 that says, “We are God’s workmanship (or masterpiece).” While in our daily lives we may not always feel like a masterpiece, I pray that you will keep in mind that God does not make junk and He created each one of you in His image to share His love and joy with others. I feel this is why we support the Walk to Emmaus and want to share this life changing event with our friends and family. Below is a link to a short YouTube video done by The Skit Guys that I think you will like.
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Many Blessings,
Jeff Day