The Emmaus Institute is the overarching umbrella of discipleship at Emmaus. It exists to see the members of Emmaus grow in their knowledge of God, imitation of Christ, and fellowship in the Spirit.
Emmaus Institute
Emmaus Institute
The Emmaus Institute is the overarching umbrella of discipleship at Emmaus. It exists to see the members of Emmaus grow in their knowledge of God, imitation of Christ, and fellowship in the Spirit.
Emmaus Institute
What is the Emmaus Church Institute?
The Emmaus Church Institute (ECI) is our effort to equip men and women to live God-centered lives through growing in their knowledge of God, imitation of Christ, and fellowship of the Spirit. ECI is devoted to theologically shaping and forming Christians into Christ by the Spirit through the grace of the Father.
Why does the Emmaus Church Institute exist?
The Westminster Confession of Faith says the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. In the same vein, the late J. I. Packer asks the questions, “What are we made for? What aim should we set ourselves in life?” The answer to both is to know God. This is what ECI is after. We desire that Christians are continually reoriented to what is true: God and all things in relation to God.
Being a Christian, that is being a citizen of the beloved Son’s kingdom, is intrinsically self-less. To use Peter’s words, growing up into salvation (1 Peter 2:2) is not about self-actualization or self-help, it is about being trained to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions for the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:12). ECI is not after what God may provide for us; rather, ECI is after God who is good for us because he is goodness and blessedness.
Theology, then, is not just for the scholar or pastor, but for everyone. So, we pray with the apostle Paul that you would be “filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him.” (Col. 1:9-10) We pray with David that you would “taste and see that the Lord is good,” for by hiding in God as our refuge, we lack no good thing.
How does the Emmaus Church Institute exist?
Our goal is to aide Christians in their desire to grow in the knowledge of God, imitation of Christ, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit. We believe that the local church is God’s gift of grace for his people to see God at the highest and true end. And the local church is where this happens. ECI accomplishes the goal of Christian formation through a variety of environments aimed at thinking rightly about God and all things in relation to God. Thus, the Emmaus Church Institute encapsulates all the labors of discipleship.
There are three spheres that compose ECI: Classes and Seminars, the Year-Long Cohort, and the Training and Residency Programs. All three of these spheres will be composed of three essential categories to the Christian life: Theology, Bible, and Habits.