Our Name

Our name comes from the passage in Luke 24 where Jesus walks along the road with two disciples. We are all on a journey of faith and Jesus wants to walk along this journey with us. Also, just as the disciples were not walking by themselves, we as believers are not walking this journey by ourselves. We can come together and journey together with Jesus Christ.

The Story in Luke

The story that we get our name from Luke 24:13-35 (NIV):

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.  They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

“What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him, but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

We are part of the larger Church.

While the term "Christian" means many things to many people, we hold to a simple meaning, of being followers of Jesus Christ. Through God's Spirit and through Scripture, we seek to encounter Christ as a friend, teacher, guide, healer, and savior. Different traditions are found among us, but we unite in our common quest to experience the grace of God as God reaches out to us with the love of Jesus Christ, God's Son. Historically, church doctrine has often been used to divide or consume Christians, leading to separation and strife. Yet certain core Christian beliefs have survived for centuries, uniting various branches and denominations of the Christian faith. We affirm those core beliefs summarized in the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. Emmaus Road is affiliated with and supported by the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA).

Our Core Beliefs

We believe these doctrines to be true.