Covenant Life Church

January 26 2010 at 12:00 am

‘Love the World’ Follow-up

How do we move ahead in our call to “love the world” (as I talked about in Sunday’s message)? Here are a few steps we can take as a church family:

• We can teach and equip our members to share the gospel and do good works.
• We can make loving the world a normal part of our discussion in care group.
• We can highlight opportunities and examples of people loving the world in our community.
• We can mobilize and deploy members for works of service.
• We can partner with Sovereign Grace to plant churches and spread the gospel around the world.

Here are a few steps we can take as individual disciples of Jesus Christ:

• Be like Jesus, and be a friend of sinners—make a priority of friendships with unbelievers.
• Share the gospel faithfully.
• Love justice and mercy in your vocation and in your life as a private citizen.
• Care about the poor, and be generous and ready to share.

Loving the world can’t just be a program or one-time gift. It has to be a way of life that flows from a changed heart.

One of the practical ways Covenant Life members can love the world is by committing to serve on a ministry team. Here’s a list of teams that seek to communicate the love of Christ to our community:

• Celestial Manna: Pick up and deliver food to the needy.
• Crisis Pregnancy Centers: Volunteer at either the Shady Grove or Rockville Pregnancy Center as a counselor, ultrasonographer, PT receptionist, or baby boutique helper.
• ESL (English as a Second Language): Teach, assist a teacher, or serve food to internationals for the course starting in April.
• Expecting Mother’s Outreach: Visit and encourage pregnant ladies who are on bedrest at Shady Grove Hospital.
• Men’s Shelter: Prepare bag lunches or serve food at a shelter in Rockville.
• Prison Ministry (for men): Be part of a team that shares the gospel at the Clarksburg jail.
• Prison Ministry (for women): Be part of a team that reaches out to incarcerated women.
• Soup Kitchen: Cook and serve food at The Lord’s Table soup kitchen.
• Wounded Warriors: Prepare and serve food to wounded service men and women and their families at the naval hospital in Bethesda.
• The Au Pair Place (for ladies): Represent Christ’s love by building friendships with au pairs.

E-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more information on any of these teams.

January 25 2010 at 5:00 am

Yesterday I preached the third and final message in our “We Are Here” series: “We Are Here To Love the World.” Defining “the world” as “people everywhere who haven’t trusted in Jesus Christ,” we looked at loving the world by proclaiming the gospel, and by our good deeds.

Options for reviewing and applying the message:
• Listen online or download an mp3.
• Download a summary outline in PDF format.
• Use the following questions for further reflection and application to your life.

1. Josh taught us that our “neighbor” includes everyone regardless of race, socio-economic status, politics, sexual ethics, etc. In your heart, who are you tempted to exclude from being your neighbor?

2. What holds you back from telling others the good news of the gospel? How can you grow in making gospel proclamation a priority?

3. What are some practical ways you can grow in loving the world by caring for and being generous toward the poor and needy?

4. Who has God placed in your life—in your family or neighborhood, at school, at work—who need both love and a Savior? What simple steps can you take this week to pray for them, show care, build a friendship and share the gospel?

January 18 2010 at 4:59 am

We Are Here, Part 2

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Yesterday was part two of a series on our primary purpose and calling as believers. My focus was on what it means to love the church.

At one point I cited some of the “one another” commands in Scripture—examples of the kind of multifaceted love we’re to have for brothers and sisters in the church. I said we’d make them available online so that you didn’t have to write them all down. Here they are:

• Be devoted to one another (Romans 12:5)
• Honor one another (Romans 12:10)
• Rejoice with one another (Romans 12:15)
• Serve one another (Galatians 5:13)
• Carry one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2)
• Forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32)
• Encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
• Offer hospitality to one another (1 Peter 4:9)
• Confess our sins to one another (James 5:16)
• Pray for one another (James 5:16)

1. How is loving your neighbor an expression of loving God?

2. On what is your love for the local church based? Is your loved based on certain friends, a particular leader, or specific activities and ministries? Or is your love because of the love God has shown in the gospel?

3. Have you allowed any offense to divide you from a fellow believer? What can you do to reconcile and pursue unity?

4. Are there any ways that your heart has grown cold toward the church? What would it look like to repent and cultivate a renewed affection for the church?

5. What is the next practical step (i.e., becoming a member, committing to attend and invest in care group, serving, etc.) you can take to express the priority of loving the local church?

January 14 2010 at 4:49 pm

Offering for Haiti

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This coming Sunday (January 17), we plan to receive an offering to go toward relief efforts in Haiti. The monies collected will be distributed to a small list of organizations that provide both physical and material aid as well as gospel ministry in Haiti. The list will include the Earthquake Disaster Relief Fund recently activated by Sovereign Grace Ministries.

Thank you for praying for the people of Haiti, and please consider how God would have you give.

January 12 2010 at 11:25 pm

More Updates from the Uganda Team

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Below are more updates from the Uganda team as phoned in to Christy Sullivan and Kelly Hydoski by Isaac Hydoski, who is leading the trip:

Friday (Jan. 8):
Yesterday morning, the team once again served at the Youth Camp. Drew Garfield and James Overman preached and did an outstanding job. In the afternoon the team went door-to-door in the local villages visiting with people and sharing the gospel. There was great fruit from this, as several people gave their lives to the Lord!

Isaac spent yesterday teaching at the Pastors’ Conference. This time there were 47 local pastors in attendance. Once again, Isaac remarked that these men have had no theological training. Out of the 47 in attendance, 35 did not own Bibles. And these are the sole pastors of their congregations. Isaac spent the day teaching on preaching, leadership, and hermeneutics. He said the time spent with these pastors was extremely encouraging! In the evening the entire team held its second outdoor evangelistic crusade. Josiah Davis “knocked it out of the park” with a clear and impassioned presentation of the gospel. Many people responded and were saved!

Saturday:
Isaac taught at the youth conference, and the team once again served through worship and drama. In the afternoon they distributed Bibles to the over 600 youth (ages 15-29) in attendance. The Bibles were purchased with money given by Covenant Life plus funds donated at New Attitude a few years ago. The team said it was great seeing people read the Bible in their own language!

Perhaps the most encouraging story originated two years ago during the first e-team trip to Uganda. During that first visit, a 14 year old boy named Jared was saved and joined pastor Moses’ church. When last year’s team returned, they discovered that Jared had shared the gospel with his family, and his mother, two brothers and sister all accepted Christ. The only one in his family still unsaved was his father. When this year’s team arrived, Jared asked them to once again pray for his Father’s salvation and also for his healing. His father had apparently been shot recently and was still quite ill. This morning, Jared’s father agreed to attend the youth conference so that the team could pray for his healing. As Isaac was finishing his message, he felt impressed to once again share the gospel and ask if anyone in the audience would like to respond. And Jared’s Father gave his life to Jesus! Afterward the team was invited back to Jared’s house. As they were walking along the street toward his home, many of his father’s friends saw him walking with the team and carrying a Bible. “What are you doing?” they shouted at him. And he yelled back, “I’m a Christian now. I’m saved! And you don’t want to be left behind!”

Sunday:
Sunday was “awesome!” In the morning, the team split into six groups of three to four folks. Five of the groups visited area churches (each consisting of about 30-40 people), and Isaac’s group visited an area that Pastor Moses has been eyeing for a future church plant (there are four believers in the village). Peter Giglio, Dan Patch, Matt Wahl, Ian Lotinsky, Drew Garfield, and Isaac all preached. Ian got quite a surprise though; he was unaware that Pastor Moses held two services with his congregation, and he had to come up with a second sermon on the spot!

Of the five groups that visited area churches, the remainder of the team all shared their testimonies and encouraged the members with Scripture at each service. As for Isaac’s team, the morning was a little different since there was no current church. They began with visiting people in the community; Laverne Jackson, Jess Cook, and James Overman each shared the gospel with folks, and all three people dedicated their lives to the Lord! The group then held a service. Jess Cook shared the moving and deeply emotional experience of losing her brother, Caleb. Isaac then preached a sermon on Jesus raising Lazarus. Two additional villagers professed faith in Christ. By the time they left, the believers had increased from four to nine in that area! God is faithful. What an encouragement to Moses as he seeks to plant a church there as soon as possible!

Sunday afternoon consisted of the team breaking into two groups: men and women. The men led an outreach at the local prison. Ben Hughes, Frank Robb, and Olu Edegbai all shared their testimonies. Isaac said the gospel evoked a wonderful response; many professed faith, and the team prayed for the prisoners. The ladies, led by Sue Robb, spent the afternoon meeting with and ministering to the wives of the villagers who live just outside of the prison.

Monday:
Monday will be the last day of ministry in Uganda for our team. They will participate in the baptisms of three locals who have professed faith in Christ. Also, Isaac will help officiate the weddings of at least five couples, and our team will be in attendance. The evening will conclude with a community dinner provided by Covenant Life to bless the local villagers. This is also where our friends will say their farewells for this year to our dear brothers and sisters in Uganda.

Note: The team is scheduled to arrive at BWI at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow (January 13). Photos are from the 2009 trip.

January 11 2010 at 5:00 am

We Are Here, Part 1

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Today I preached the first message of a three-part series that looks at our purpose as Christians and as a church family. Based on the priorities Jesus established in Mark 12:28-34, my focus was on loving God and our response to Jesus’ greatest command.

Options:
• Listen online or download an mp3 of the message.
• Download a summary outline in PDF format.
• Use the following questions to reflect on how to apply the message to your life:

1. Are there any parts of your life that you have segmented into the spiritual and the non-spiritual, into “God’s part” and “my part”? What repentance is required to bring every aspect of your life under Jesus’ rule?

2. In order to express your love for God, are there any areas of your life where you need to stop what you’re doing and repent of it?

3. Where have you reduced your Christian life to a list of activities? How can you cry out to the Holy Spirit to fan into flame fresh affection and love for the Lord?

4. Where have you grown cold in your love for God? Where have you turned from your first love? How can Jesus become your greatest treasure and dearest friend?

5. If you asked those closest to you, what would they say you are most passionate about? How can you grow to be a passionate lover of God?

Page 1 of 2 pages 1 2 >

Church Blog

‘Love the World’ Follow-up

We Are Here, Part 3

We Are Here, Part 2

Offering for Haiti

More Updates from the Uganda Team

We Are Here, Part 1