Let’s Celebrate!

I’ve been in the Book of John for the better part of the last two months. As I have read a small passage and studied and meditated on it each morning, I have been surprised by John’s account of Jesus’ ministry.

Jesus stopped everything and went to Jerusalem for EVERY Jewish feast. Read more »

What a Weekend!

If you weren’t here last weekend, you missed a memorable event! I was blown away by the excitement I beheld at Covenant Church on our First Fruits Weekend.

First, there was “the number.” As you know, I did not announce the total amount of our commitments together, mostly because everyone had not had the opportunity to turn in a card. Over the last three weeks, we’ve had another 100+ families join in the task of “finishing what we had started” three and years ago when we began our expansion. When I announced the number this past weekend, the worship center was electric. Read more »

First Fruits

This weekend we’re planning to celebrate the kickoff of our Crossing Together Celebration with a Firstfruits Offering.

Firstfruits was a Jewish feast held in the early spring at the beginning of the grain harvest. It was observed on the third day after Passover and the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Firstfruits was a time of thanksgiving for God’s provision. Read more »

The Power of Togetherness

OK, I was amazed this weekend. How about you? I still have’’t gotten over the expectation and enthusiasm I experienced in all three worship services.

What an awesome sight; there were tons of rocks everywhere. People came in with bags of rocks, carrying their rocks in their hands, and one person even asked me help her with her rock as she grabbed her Bible and purse! I saw rocks on the platform, rocks on the floor beside chairs, and a few people brought their rocks up with them at the end of the service. Read more »

What’s He been saying?

Bring your BIG ROCKS!

Greetings, Covenant friends! We’re right in the middle of one of the most exciting weeks in Covenant’s history.

If you were here last weekend, you’ll remember I asked all of us to spend this week in preparation for the upcoming Commitment Weekend. I referenced Joshua 3:5 (NIV): Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” Read more »

Expectation

One of my goals for 2010 was to spend more listening time during my devotions each morning. I’ve been getting up earlier and spending more time than usual, so I could be sure and allow plenty of time for God to speak. Not surprisingly, God has been showing me all kinds of things in the scriptures as well as nudging me to actions and sharing some great truths I’ve needed to hear. Read more »

Lessons from the riverbed

I have crossed lots of Jordan Rivers in my life; I’m sure you have, too.

As we see in the book of Joshua (Chapters 1-3), Jordan River crossings are huge, God-sized challenges. They are seasons in life when we have to take steps we really would prefer not to take. The reasons are obvious: these crossings are usually scary and inconvenient, not to mention they require us to let go of self-reliance and fully trust God’s good heart. This was true of Israel thousands of years ago, and it is still true for Jesus’ followers and His church today.

But, crossing Jordan Rivers are also the times of our greatest growth and victories. Read more »

Off and running…

What a great kickoff last week to our new series Crossing Together!

The Prayer Event last Monday night was awesome. I heard several people talk about how impactful it was to them. One person called it one of the TOP 5 worship experiences of his life!

This past weekend was also great as we all began our journey on the same page together. If you missed the sermon this weekend, please go Read more »

Jesus’ timely word for Covenant

What did Jesus say?

When I first became a Christian, all my disciplers said the same thing: “Charlie, you have to get into God’s Word every day”. They emphasized that it was critical that I build a firm foundation in the Bible so that I could defend myself against Satan like Jesus as well as those who would attack my new life in Christ. They patiently taught me the basics of inductive Bible study and its three core questions: What does the passage say? What does it mean? What does it mean to me?

This straight-forward process of exploring God’s Word has served me well for 39 years and has been a mainstay of my early morning quiet times. But there came a time when I learned that there was another question that I also needed to ask myself every day. Read more »