Church Blog

Gospel Coalition Conference 2013

January 25 2013 at 4:22 pm 0 Comments

The Gospel Coalition National Conference coming to Orlando, Fla., this spring is an incredible opportunity for rich teaching and training from over 80 teachers from around the world. The conference takes place in two phases—a world missions preconference April 6-7, followed by the main conference April 8-10 focused on the mission of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. Participants may attend both events or register separately.

The list of speakers includes John Piper, Tim Keller, Don Carson, Kevin DeYoung, Paul Tripp, Russell Moore, Phil Ryken and many more.

Covenant Life is sending a team to provide hospitality, and we are looking for many volunteers. Serving on the team is a chance both to get free registration, benefit from the conference, bless the greater body of Christ and build friendships. Please pray and consider being a part!  We have created a page with more information.

One final opportunity to mention: You can enhance your TGC conference experience by earning up to six hours of transferable graduate or undergraduate credit through Southern Seminary. You can take either New Testament 1, an elective class on Luke, or an elective class on a Theology of Work in conjunction with the National Conference. There’s also an Introduction to Missiology class in conjunction with the Pre-Conference on World Missions. Learn more on the Gospel Coalition website.





Photos and Report from Youth Retreat

August 28 2012 at 8:31 pm 1 Comments

We had hoped to post daily updates from the Worthy12 Youth Retreat (August 16-20, in North East, Md.), but it turns out the internet connection at the camp was not so reliable. Here’s an after-the-fact report from Dave Brewer.

Joshua Harris spoke Friday morning, continuing the theme of “Holiness: Become What You Are,” challenging the teens to holiness by putting off sin, starving our sinful desires and putting on Christ! Our guest speaker’s name was Jefferson Bethke, the same guy who shared a poem with Covenant Life on Sunday morning last week. He spoke twice, challenging the teens to devote every aspect of our life to Christ, to use every gift from God for his Kingdom. Jon Smith and Kevin Rogers rounded out the speaking line up, both speaking on the holiness of Christ.

Each year there is a running competition between the Connect Groups that continues throughout the entire retreat. On the first day, the Bozarth Connect Group was in LAST place, but they came all the way back and just barely collected the most points on the very last afternoon! Huge upset!

Every afternoon we gathered on the big field for Connect Group games. There was dodgeball, field hockey, slip ‘n’ slides, relay races, and the infamous “paint war.” If you don’t know what the “paint war” is, just ask a teen at some point on a Sunday morning and they will tell you all about it! You also will probably see lots of pictures on Facebook with teens covered in paint!

Ministry night was the highlight of the retreat. We gathered to ask the Holy Spirit to be active among us. We prayed, worshipped, prayed some more, and worshipped some more! God met us in amazing ways ... salvation for some, conviction of sin, joy in the Lord, etc. We prayed for the upcoming senior class, and then ended the retreat with some crazy awesome worship! The band did a great job serving us this weekend, led by Ken Boer, Ryan Kelley and Erin Hill.

God is faithful. God is good. He is transferring the gospel to yet another generation! It’s an amazing privilege to be a part of it!

Thanks again for your prayers!





Worthy12 Youth Retreat: Daily Updates

August 18 2012 at 12:15 am 0 Comments

Thanks, Covenant Life, for your prayers! We’ll be blogging each day to keep you involved in what is going on here at the youth retreat and so that you can continue praying for us.

Everyone arrived safely Thursday at NorthBay retreat center in North East, Md., about two hours north of Gaithersburg. Over 500 teens and parents are gathering this weekend to worship together, study the Word of God, and enjoy fellowship. This year’s theme is personal holiness—becoming who you are in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I gave the opening message from 1 John 2:3-4 and made five points:

• Holiness is our call as Christians
• Holiness is living the good life
• Holiness in life has eternal implications
• What holiness is and isn’t can be confusing
• Holiness is commanded by Scripture

I challenged the youth by reminding them of two things: 1) that just saying that you are a Christian is not enough, and 2) if the gospel has changed your heart, then it will be noticeable in your life.

Joshua Harris spoke at the Friday morning session. We will update you with more on the day’s activities soon.

Thank you again for your support and prayers!

—Dave Brewer





Built on the Word

July 1 2012 at 7:34 am 8 Comments


Here’s a note from singles pastor Isaac Hydoski about “Built on the Word,” two separate but simultaneous teaching sessions for ladies and men coming up on Friday, July 20, at 7:30 p.m.

Work, Career and Womanhood
Our friend Carolyn McCulley will be here July 20 to help married and single women alike see their call to work as image bearers of God. She’ll be sharing insights from a new book she’s writing on how the concept of “image-bearing” intersects with the priorities of home, family, church and career.  Carolyn says: “If we understand the dominion mandate (Genesis 1:28) rightly, we will stop thinking that our labors somehow define us and will start thinking that our labors exist as an expression of divine love and care. Thus the woman who labors as a mother of small children or a childless woman who labors in an office are both fulfilling the dominion mandate if they are working not to adorn themselves but to adorn the gospel.”

Carolyn brings this needed perspective as a nationally known speaker and author on biblical womanhood. Over the last few years she has added “entrepreneur” to her resume with the start up of a documentary film company.  We know questions can abound for women who are either working in the home or in a career, and we believe this talk will bring a greater biblical clarity to those questions. 

Imaging Christ in Servant Leadership
Men are called to be leaders.  Men are called to be servants.  But why?  If you’re like me you’ve probably had that thought.  Kevin Rogers will bring Scripture’s answer to this question at our “Built on the Word” event, Friday, July 20, at 7:30 p.m.  His message will be geared to single men and look at how Christ perfectly imaged God as both leader and servant.  Guys, do yourself, the church and the world a favor by coming out to this teaching.





TGC Women’s Conference Live Broadcast

June 21 2012 at 8:43 am 0 Comments


The Gospel Coalition National Women’s Conference in Orlando is this weekend, and will be streamed live online starting tomorrow.  Nearly 4,000 women from around the world will be attending this inaugural women’s conference.

First up, at noon EDT on Friday will be Tim and Kathy Keller talking about “Marriage in Gospel Focus.” The broadcast will feature every event through Sunday noon on the conference main stage, including all plenary sessions; workshops by Elyse Fitzpatrick, Carolyn Mahaney, and Lauren Chandler; and Focus Gatherings on parenting, urban ministry, pastors’ wives, grief, and the church in Asia. Recorded interviews with many of the speakers and guests will be broadcast during breaks in the livestream schedule.

Enjoy!

 





Summer Celebration Promo Video

June 6 2012 at 12:38 pm 0 Comments


Here’s the video we played in church this past Sunday to encourage everyone to sign up for Summer Celebration. Special thanks to Caleb Barker for his hard work on this!

 





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