June 2023
NKY Emmaus Community Newsletter
DELIVERED
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer”
2 Samuel 22:2
We’ve all been delivered from things. Our mothers delivered us from their wombs. Good explanations delivered us from confusion. Time delivers us from our past.
It’s a continual process, deliverance. It comes in all shapes and forms and ranges from significant events to the familiar moments that slip by quietly. Mary Magdalene knew this well.
First, she was delivered from seven demons. Then, over the course of Jesus’ three years of ministry, she was delivered from everything she thought she knew. Mary went from being constantly tormented by darkness (Luke8:2) to being regularly enlightened by the Light of the World, Jesus. The sparse details about her life prior to Christ only serve to emphasize her deliverance-meaning that because Jesus delivered her from death, she followed Him to His. Mary Magdalene was one of the few with Jesus until the very end.
Familiarity developed over that three-year span of ministry. She knew His voice and His laugh. She listened intently to His teaching. Some of His words she could process immediately, some she failed to fully comprehend. She marveled at Jesus’ compassion for the suffering and marginalized. She became fiercely loyal to the one who healed the oppressed and set captives free. Each subsequent miracle substantiated what she knew the moment she experienced her own: He was the Messiah.
Jesus was arrested. The disciples scattered. And Mary found herself standing at the foot of the Cross with the woman who had delivered the Messiah into the world.
And His crucifixion, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled away. Jesus-the Messiah, her deliverer, teacher, and friend-was not there. The Gospels have varying accounts of what happens next, but Luke 24 says she was reminded of what Jesus had told her in Galilee: “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised” (v.7 NIV). Those words had eluded her before, but now she remembered and understood that He too was delivered.
After the ultimate sacrifice, the resurrected Christ appeared first to this devoted woman we knew so little about. But Jesus knew her. He knew exactly what He had delivered her from and for. And while standing in front of the empty tomb, Jesus told her it was her turn. Mary Magdalene would be the first to deliver the single most important message in human history: He has risen!
Prayer Focus
Thank God for the fact that His deliverance allowed for yours, then ask Him for guidance in delivering the news to others.
(From The Chosen 40 Days with JESUS)
Your brother in Christ,
Greg Beagle
Northern Kentucky Emmaus
Community Lay Director
De Colores!
The June Gathering will be on 6/8/23 at Immanuel Boone campus (1440 Boone Aire Road Florence,Ky) with fellowship starting at 6:30 and the gathering starting at 7pm. Our 4th day speaker is John JD Marcum from MW#49.
Please pray for Sara Berry as she begins making phone calls to put together the team for Woman’s Walk #49 October 19-22 at Higher Ground Retreat Center
Save the Date Candle light service October 21, 2023 @ 8:00 p.m.
Agape Party July 9th 2-5pm and August 27th 2-5 pm. Please contact Jennifer Meyers for more details.
Pray for the pilgrims for WW#49 pray for open hearts and open minds, pray for those church leaders who haven’t been on a walk yet, and pray for those who have said no several times.
