Community
Contemplation
Creativity
Emmaus and Beyond
Burning Hearts, Inquisitive Minds
Exploring the Bible together
Jesus had died 3 days ago. Now there was a rumour that his tomb was empty.
As they travelled home to the village of Emmaus, after a traumatic weekend, two of Jesus disciples discussed what had happened over the last few days. They talked about the hopes they had that Jesus was going to change everything, how he had been executed and now that strange rumour that his tomb was empty and that some were even saying he was alive. They were baffled.
A stranger joined them on the journey. He seemed to know what he was talking about as he unpacked how the Hebrew scriptures had foreseen what had happened to Jesus.
It was later that they realised that this stranger was in fact Jesus himself. They hadn’t recognised the newly resurrected Jesus.
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Burning Hearts
Inquisivite
Minds
Jesus had met their inquisitive minds. As they reflected on this, they summed up the experience…” didn’t our hearts burn within us while he talked to us…while he opened to us the scriptures”.
Inquisitive minds had become burning hearts.
It is good to be inquisitive. It is good to invite Jesus, as we journey, to open the scriptures to us too. It is good to know that “opening the scriptures” didn’t end in the village of Emmaus 2000 years ago, but that Jesus still does this today. He still causes inquisitive minds to become burning hearts.
Emmaus and Beyond is a series of Bible experiences that seek to explore the scriptures in their historical, cultural and geographic context. It reflects on the images, mind sets and languages of the original writers and listeners and in this way seeks to help us understand and apply to our own lives, in our own time and in our own culture what it has to say.
Emmaus and Beyond is based on the work of Ray Vander Laan who is an ordained minister, educator, and creator of the popular That the World May Know video series. He leads popular archaeological and historical study tours to biblical sites in Israel, Turkey, Egypt, and Greece.
Emmaus and Beyond is open to all. Sessions will be held every two weeks at 7pm on a Monday evening at the Bay Unite building in Mortimer Street, Herne Bay. Each session will last for 90 minutes. We encourage people to use the two weeks between each session to reflect on what was explored and how that affects us today.
The first three sessions will take place on:
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Monday 20th July
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Monday 3rd August
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Monday 17th August