 There are some wonderful and dynamic preachers that I love to listen to. There are some great books written about issues of faith and I have some favorite authors. But there are some dynamic preachers and gifted authors who may not be communicating the accurate Truth. So how are we supposed to know? In Acts 17 Paul and Silas go to the city of Berea in central Greece to share the Good News of Jesus. The people of Berea eagerly listened to the Gospel, but then they did something else: "They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth." (Acts 17:11) It's really easy to be lazy in our faith. We can just listen to a preacher or read a book or read a blog and accept what's communicated as the truth without any critical thinking or serious and prayerful evaluation. I don't mean to suggest that you go through life as a cynical and critical person, but I don't want any of us to go through life as gullible sheep either. In Galatians 1:11-2:10, Paul argues that he received the Good News that he preached directly from Jesus and not 2nd hand from others. When he did compare notes with the Apostles in Jerusalem, they verified that there was no contradiction between the Gospel message that each of them was sharing. This Sunday, April 29th, we'll look at this passage and consider what our own responsibilities are in receiving teaching, verifying it's truth, and sharing it with others. I hope you'll be able to join us. CHIC Fund Raisers This coming July, we'll be sending 8 high school students and two adults to our Covenant denomination's triennial conference called "CHIC" (Covenant High In Christ) in Knoxville, TN. During these five days, 5000 students from Covenant churches around the county (and beyond) will gather at the University of Tennessee for a time of worship, transformation, and fun. This once-in-a-lifetime experience is often life changing for young people and we're thrilled to be able to enable our teens to be a part of it. However, we need to raise some money in order to get them there so we're holding a couple fundraisers that we want you to know about: Sunday, April 29th following morning worship Come bid on some delicious desserts made by the students, their families, and some talented bakers within our congregation. If you would like to contribute your dessert specialty to the auction, please contact Pastor Jeff Saturday, May 5 9-4 at the church We’re looking for donations of items for the sale (no clothing, please). Items can be dropped off at the church beginning on Thursday, May 3rd. If you need something picked up, please contact Pastor Jeff Sign Up for the Women's Retreat  You're probably familiar with this common phrase uttered in countless ads and infomercials on television. The strategy is to make you believe that there are all kinds of wonderful added bonuses included with whatever they're shilling. The more "add ons" = a better value and more reason to call the 800 number, break out your credit card, and start those "easy payments"! But when it comes to the Good News of the Gospel, the "add ons" can not only detract from the Gospel -- they can make it no Gospel at all. A group of Jewish believers were going around to the early churches that Paul had founded and preached that these Gentile Christians had to become Jewish in order for God to accept them. Paul recognized the danger in this and wrote his letter to these young churches in Galatia to be sure they didn't lose the wonderful gift of freedom Jesus bought for them. We'll be diving into the first chapter in the book of Galatians this coming Sunday, April 22nd, in our series "Set Free". Although we may not think we need to follow the Jewish laws in order to please God, there are many ways we can slip into the same kind of problems. I hope you'll be able to join us. CHIC Fund Raisers This coming July, we'll be sending 8 high school students and two adults to our Covenant denomination's triennial conference called "CHIC" (Covenant High In Christ) in Knoxville, TN. During these five days, 5000 students from Covenant churches around the county (and beyond) will gather at the University of Tennessee for a time of worship, transformation, and fun. This once-in-a-lifetime experience is often life changing for young people and we're thrilled to be able to enable our teens to be a part of it. However, we need to raise some money in order to get them there so we're holding a couple fundraisers that we want you to know about: Dessert Auction Sunday, April 29th following morning worship Come bid on some delicious desserts made by the students, their families, and some talented bakers within our congregation. If you would like to contribute your dessert specialty to the auction, please contact Pastor Jeff  Saturday, May 5 9-4 at the church We’re looking for donations of items for the sale (no clothing, please). Items can be dropped off at the church beginning on Thursday, May 3rd. If you need something picked up, please contact Pastor Jeff Vacation Bible School - June 25-29 Starting this Sunday you can register your children, grandchildren, and any other children you know for our VBS.
Now is also the time to sign up to volunteer in one of the many ways you can help out to make this wonderful program happen. Look for the table display at church or contact Naomi Murray at 509-668-7517.  A prisoner with a life sentence decided to dedicate every moment he had to escaping by digging his way out of his cell. After years of painstakingly loosening a flagstone, scratching away through floor, and then digging through a few hundred feet of earth and rock, he had fashioned an escape tunnel. Punching through the last bit of earth and emerging into the bright daylight, he joyfully ran and jumped in the sunshine shouting "I'M FREE! I'M FREE!" As he passed a small child, the boy exclaimed, "So what. I'm four!" Yeah, it's a dumb joke, but our freedom is a big deal! It's a big deal to God as well - so much so that he purchased our freedom with Jesus' blood! It's a freedom from the bondage to sin and death and one that enables us to live life as it was meant to be experienced. Jesus called it an abundant life; life to the full! The crazy thing is that too many Christians choose to walk back into prison and slam the cell door closed. They take the gift of salvation through Jesus and decide that they need to add something more to it by adding a list of rules to follow. The Apostle Paul refers to it this way: So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. This coming Sunday, April 15th, we'll be starting a new sermon series through the book of Galatians that we're calling "Set Free". The issues Paul needed to address to these 1st century believers are still issues for us today. I hope you'll be able to join us. CHIC Fund Raisers This coming July, we'll be sending 8 high school students and two adults to our Covenant denomination's triennial conference called "CHIC" (Covenant High In Christ) in Knoxville, TN. During these five days, 5000 students from Covenant churches around the county (and beyond) will gather at the University of Tennessee for a time of worship, transformation, and fun. This once-in-a-lifetime experience is often life changing for young people and we're thrilled to be able to enable our teens to be a part of it. However, we need to raise some money in order to get them there so we're holding a couple fundraisers that we want you to know about:  DESSERT AUCTION Sunday, April 29th following morning worship Come bid on some delicious desserts made by the students, their families, and some talented bakers within our congregation. If you would like to contribute your dessert specialty to the auction, please contact Pastor Jeff  Saturday, May 5
9-4 at the church We’re looking for donations of items for the sale (no clothing, please). Items can be dropped off at the church beginning on Thursday, May 3rd. If you need something picked up, please contact Pastor Jeff  There's a climactic scene in the 1989 film "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" in which Indy must step out to what appears to be a drop to his death in order to save his father's life. As he takes this leap of faith (SPOILER ALERT on this 29-year-old movie) he discovers that there is actually a bridge cleverly camouflaged to blend into the rock wall beyond it. There are times in our lives when we are called by God to step out into a future we can't see. He may reveal the first step for us to take, but the other steps are unknown until we've first trusted and obeyed. I don't know about you, but I usually want to see how everything is going to turn out before I take that first step. But that wouldn't be putting my faith in Jesus - it would be putting my faith in my own wisdom and knowledge. This coming Sunday, April 8th, we will be concluding our series "Can You See Him?" by taking a look at the story of the Apostle Paul's encounter with Jesus that resulted in his own experience with blindness. I hope you'll be able to join us. Baby Dedication: Calvin Day Jason and Trisha Day will be dedicating their son, Calvin, to the Lord this Sunday. It's always a joyful occasion to welcome a child into our church family, but a dedication is more than a welcome. It's a time when his parents commit to guiding and training him according to God's Word and the congregation commits to supporting and praying for the parents and their child and doing our part in helping him to grow to know and love Jesus for himself. Let's dedicate ourselves to loving little Calvin and all of the children in our congregation so that they will be led to a personal relationship with Jesus.
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Pastor JeffThoughts about living as a Jesus follower and life at Community Covenant Church Archives
December 2020
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