About us
Emmaus Church is a registered independent confessional Reformed church in Sweden. We have a vision to reach out to the local community in Åkersberga with the gospel and to plant more churches in greater Stockholm area (Mälaren valley).
Our History
Emmaus Church started as a bible study group in the end of 2003. We met once a week to systematically study the scriptures. As the group started to grow a vision of a church plant started to form. We took the great leap in 2014 to officially plant the Emmaus Church in Åkersberga. We registered the church in 2015.
Vision - WHY THE NAME EMMAUS
In Luke 24:13-35 we read about the disciples on the road to Emmaus. They talked about everything that had happened in Jerusalem when Jesus died on the cross. They were amazed by what the women had told them about the empty tomb and angels telling them that Jesus is alive. But apparently, they did not understand who Jesus was and what had really happened, as they called him a prophet. And it seems as if their hope for Israel to be redeemed was lost. Jesus rebuked them and then he taught them by going through the whole Old Testament what was written about himself and his suffering and resurrection.
He later opened their eyes so they recognized him and after their meeting with him they said this to each other "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?" Their hearts burned while Jesus taught them the Scriptures and the plan of salvation. What an astounding revelation about the Scriptures and the gospel therein.
Later Jesus met the rest of the disciples and again in verse 44 he taught through the Scriptures what was written about him. He then opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and gave a Gospel summary: That Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
We too have met Jesus through the Scriptures and by the revelation of the Holy Spirit we have come to faith in his redeeming death and resurrection. It is our ambition that as many as possible will share this experience with us. That is why the "road to Emmaus" is such an inspiration to us and why we decided to name our church after that.
Our vision is: to se people in Åkersberga (and greater Stockholm and in Sweden) be transformed by the Gospel of Christ.
He later opened their eyes so they recognized him and after their meeting with him they said this to each other "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?" Their hearts burned while Jesus taught them the Scriptures and the plan of salvation. What an astounding revelation about the Scriptures and the gospel therein.
Later Jesus met the rest of the disciples and again in verse 44 he taught through the Scriptures what was written about him. He then opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and gave a Gospel summary: That Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
We too have met Jesus through the Scriptures and by the revelation of the Holy Spirit we have come to faith in his redeeming death and resurrection. It is our ambition that as many as possible will share this experience with us. That is why the "road to Emmaus" is such an inspiration to us and why we decided to name our church after that.
Our vision is: to se people in Åkersberga (and greater Stockholm and in Sweden) be transformed by the Gospel of Christ.
OUR CORE VALUES
- We think that relevant Christ centered biblical preaching & teaching is important for spiritual growth and gospel proclamation, see Luke 24:27, 44-47.
- We strive that our ministries will be gospel driven and missional.
- We are not just preaching and teaching the gospel from the pulpit. Through our discipleship program we also provide training to every believer in the gospel, in personal evangelism and in gospel apologetics. We train them for ministry to their families and friends, but also to their working colleagues and to the community we live in.
- Team leadership and development of new leaders is vital for church growth and church planting. We are therefore providing an apprenticeship/internship program, training in homegroup leadership, training in expository preaching for layleaders and hopefully in the near future training in churchplanting through City to City Incubator programme.
- We are continually working to be a contextualised church but we never compromise with the biblical gospel and content.
- Relations is a great way to form new friendship, share the gospel, disciple new people and grow together. That's why we believe a local church should be relational and why we have launched a one on one ministry.
- Family is important to us and it is important that the whole family worship together. We therefore strive to not become divided into generational churches or worship services, but rather all generations together worship our saviour and Lord.
- The great commission to "go and make disciples" in Mathew 28:19-20 is Christ's command to the church, but He also promised that He will build His church. Emmaus Church mission is a commitment to make disciples of all nations by faithfully proclaiming the gospel, baptising and teaching all to observe all Christ's commands. We will do this through faithful preaching of the Gospel, teaching of his Word and serving the community and trust that he will give growth and build his Church (1 Kor. 3:6).
WHAT WE ARE NOT
- We are not embarrassed by the death of Jesus Christ and we believe he died as a substitute for the sins of his people in selfless love. We also believe he resurrected from the dead to a living hope for all who come to faith in him.
- We are not ashamed of the gospel and we proclaim a loving gospel of grace. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).
- We are not fundamentalists who retreat from cultural involvement and transformation, but rather missionaries, faithful both to the content of Scripture and context of ministry.
- We are not hyper-calvinists who get mired down in secondary matters, but rather pray, evangelise and do good works because we believe that the sovereign plan of God is accomplished through his worldwide church.
- We are not moralists seeking to help people live good lives, but rather evangelists seeking to help people become transformed creations in Christ.
- We are not isolationists but seek to partner with like-minded Christians from various churches, denominations and organisations.
Our confessions
Emmaus Church is a Christian confessional church and we hold to the early creeds that are also part of our worship that we share with the worldwide Christian church. The creeds we subscribe to are: The Apostolic, the Nicene and the Athanasian creeds.
Emmaus Church is an Gospel preaching church and we believe in the five Solas from the Protestant Reformation:
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We adhere to the three reformed standard historical confessions: The Belgic Confession of 1561, Canons of Dort, The Heidelberg Catechism; and also to the Westminster Confession, the larger and shorter Westminster Catechism and the Augsburg Confession Variata of 1540.
We also subscribe to several modern deklarations that define our role in today's church and the overall gospel driven mission and gospel partnership with other churches, denominations and organisations: the The Lausanne Covenant, the basis of faith of the European Evangelical Alliance and the Gospel Coalition.
Partnership:
Emmaus Church is partnering with Ontmoetingskerk Haren, Groningen Mission, Crosslinks and is also working together with City to City Europe in Church planting.
We also subscribe to several modern deklarations that define our role in today's church and the overall gospel driven mission and gospel partnership with other churches, denominations and organisations: the The Lausanne Covenant, the basis of faith of the European Evangelical Alliance and the Gospel Coalition.
Partnership:
Emmaus Church is partnering with Ontmoetingskerk Haren, Groningen Mission, Crosslinks and is also working together with City to City Europe in Church planting.