Covenant Life Church

January 14 2012 at 9:50 am

“Bible Stories” - Part 2

Here are more thoughts from church members in connection with our “Reading the Bible For All Its Worth” series, currently in progress. We asked people to send in brief stories describing how they have been affected through Bible reading, study, meditation and/or memorization. They are shared by permission. The first installment ran earlier this week.

... I’m currently 17 years old. As a church kid, I’ve heard the gospel a million times but never really gotten into the Bible. To be honest, it seemed kind of boring. My parents encouraged me to read the Bible every day, so I could spend time with God to know him better. I obeyed my parents, and as I read the Bible my attitude toward God’s Word gradually began to change. I had so many questions and prayed to God to show me those answers that I could find by myself. I wanted to know the Bible more, so my parents encouraged me to go to Bible classes. God began filling me with the Holy Spirit, and reading the Bible didn’t seem boring—it was awesome! The more I read the Bible, the more of my questions started to be answered. Never take God’s Word for granted, or treat it like a chore to check off your list. It will bless your life if you continue to read it carefully. Thank you. —Andrew Payne

I was brought up in a non-Bible believing church that dismissed much of Scripture as allegory. Even though I didn’t accept what the church said, there was so much of the Bible that I didn’t understand. It seemed like such a big book and it wasn’t written in a simple, orderly manner. I found it confusing and overwhelming. I was also discouraged by my walk with the Lord – up and joyous one minute and down and disappointed the next. I knew that something was very wrong, that something had to change, but didn’t know what or how. As I desperately cried out to the Lord for help, God began to speak to me and told me that my problem was that I didn’t know His whole counsel. He said I was picking and choosing various Scriptures that I liked and trying to live my life by them. I thought, “Wow, can anyone know the whole counsel of God?” God let me know that He wrote it all out in His Word and He wanted me to read the whole Bible. He later brought across my path a reading through the Bible plan that takes three years—this has been an AMAZING thing in my life, and I am now on the 10th cycle of this plan. Because I read such a small amount each day, I have time to meditate on it, look up words I don’t know, or even read a commentary. I am not rushed and know that I am literally spending time with Him. I can now see that the whole Bible is His love letter to His people, and we have the most awesome God and the brightest future.
—Marge Merryman

I am currently going through a program to read through the Bible in a year. I am proud to say I’m almost done – but I started the program almost three years ago. There have been many mornings where I’ve told my wife I’m going to spend lunch time fasting and reading God’s word, and she has found me in the kitchen around noon sitting down to a big late of food and reading the newspaper. At times I get discouraged thinking about how I’ve failed to hold up my end of the bargain when it comes to my relationship with God. But in those moments I’ll read something like Romans 3 that reminds me that my righteousness and acceptance with God has nothing to do with my performance! One of the biggest benefits I’ve found in my interaction with God’s living Word has been through my prayer life, as I’ve learned to do more listening and less talking. —Jim Lutz

January 10 2012 at 4:05 pm

“Bible Stories” - Part 1

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In connection with our “Reading the Bible For All Its Worth” series, we asked church members to send in brief stories describing how they have been affected through Bible reading, study, meditation and/or memorization. Here are the first few, shared by permission. We hope you find them encouraging.

In the spring of 2011, I studied 1 and 2 Peter with a group of women, with a focus on suffering and trials. Prior to this study, I had experienced some difficulties in life, but never anything I would consider a “BIG trial” that could shake my faith. Then I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in July, 2011. After undergoing a thyroidectomy, I sustained damaged vocal cords and couldn’t speak. This was a pivotal moment for me to continue to trust God when I felt my world was shaking. I could continue to trust Him or respond in anger and bitterness. I chose to trust. God proved his faithfulness through the prayers and acts of practical help by many people, and answered prayers for my vocal healing after seven weeks with no voice. Throughout this experience, the Holy Spirit often brought to my mind different Bible verses that comforted and strengthened me, verses that I had studied and meditated on in the past. I am so thankful for the time I had spent in the past studying His word and how it spoke to me during my most difficult trial so far. —Pamela Ward

I had a hard time joining the church. As someone from an ethnic minority, it was very hard at first to look at people that go to our church as my brothers and sisters when I had nothing in common with them. When I was asked to choose my care group, I prayed that God would pick them for me and found myself with people I would have normally avoided or not befriended. Reading and studying the Bible at that time I was dealing with this, I started to pray and accept them as God does, to believe that church unity is stronger than blood ties. Reading the Bible has helped me overcome and not label people that are not like me. And after a while, by reading Scripture, I started to look at eight beautiful people as brothers and sisters. —Brigette Nichols

I am reminded afresh of God’s faithfulness as I look back on the last 40 years of my life. I can still remember certain verses that sustained me in each season of life. As a young person looking for work and direction, it was Psalm 25. When the children were young and finances were tight, it was Psalm 37:25. During bouts of depression, it was Psalm 40. These last 6 years, it has been Romans 12:12. I could go on and on recounting the Lord’s favor and mercy in my life and family through sickness, trials and joys. His word does not return void as we wait for the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. —Mary Baker

April 25 2011 at 2:26 pm

Wounded Warriors Ministry Update

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The Wounded Warriors ministry prepares and serves food to those wounded in military service and their families at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda twice a month. Sachiko Speelman and Rick and Ilona McGlaughlin sent in brief reports from one of their recent visits:

The families, staff and active military personnel at the National Naval Medical Center always voice their pleasure and amazement at our serving both a nutritious and tasty lunch on the Saturdays my wife and I help out. This free meal tells them clearly that somebody cares and is going out of their way to help make their day a better one. The family members of those wounded military men and women on the fifth floor are typically in a daze while they are visiting their loved ones. Our lunch is a human touch that for a few minutes gives them some respite and possibly someone to sharing of their troubled hearts. My heart is usually quite full when so much gratitude is shown to us as we serve them in this simple way. Please remember to pray for those who have been injured and are recovering at the Medical Center. They have put their lives on the line, and prayer is a great thing we can do for them.

–Rick and Ilona McGlaughlin

Thank you for the opportunity to take part in this monthly outreach. One of the more enjoyable experiences was being able to go to the individual rooms and serve the military personnel. It was really eye opening to see what all these young men and women go through to serve our country and how easily we can take that for granted.

I really look forward to doing this again!

–Sachiko Speelman

January 20 2011 at 6:31 pm

Memorial Service Announcements

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Two memorial services will be held at Covenant Life Church this weekend:

A memorial service for Amy Elizabeth Calderone will be held on Sunday, January 23, at 4:30 p.m. in the Covenant Life Church auditorium. A reception will follow in the church’s Events Center.

Two public viewings have been scheduled. The first will be held on Saturday, January 22, from 2 to 4 p.m., at DeVol Funeral Home, 10 East Deer Park Drive, Gaithersburg, Md., 20877. A second public viewing will precede the memorial service at Covenant Life Church on Sunday, January 23. It will take place in the church’s main lobby from 2:30 to 4 p.m.

A private family service and interment will take place on Monday, January 24.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to Rancho 3M Christian Orphanage and School of Guadalupe, Mexico. Checks may be made payable to “Mexico Multiple Missions, Inc.” and mailed to Mexico Multiple Missions, P.O. Box 3660, Fabens, TX, 79838. Donations can also be made online at JustGive.org.

To read the Calderone family’s journal compiled during Amy’s illness, please visit their CaringBridge website.

A memorial service for John Andrew Spiro will be held on Saturday, January 22, at 11 a.m. in the auditorium at Covenant Life. A public viewing will precede the service from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. A reception will follow the service and is open to everyone.

If you would like to help the Spiro family financially, in lieu of flowers, a link has been set up to do so: www.spirofightclub.blogspot.com. Condolences for the Spiro family may be sent to: 9812 Meadowcroft Lane, Gaithersburg, MD 20886.

A family blog that chronicles the Spiro family’s journey during John’s illness, is located at www.spirofam.blogspot.com

December 20 2010 at 6:26 pm

Sheldon Care Group Reaches Out to Three Families

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Drew Garfield, who directs Community Outreach and Missions at Covenant Life, passed on this note in which Scott Sheldon describes how his care group took initiative last week and expressed Christ’s love for some needy families in a neighborhood not far from the church.

Last Tuesday, our care group came together to provide Christmas dinners for three families in the Washington Grove community. The dinners included turkey, stuffing, canned beans and corn, rice, rolls, pie, apples and oranges.

Five of our care group families, including children, participated by packing boxes, making up cards, and making the deliveries. Four couples delivered the dinners while one couple stayed back and kept the kids.

We had significant interactions with two of the families, including opportunities to pray with them. One family shared a medical concern about one of their children, and the team got to pray for the child. The response from the family that my team visited was also very warm; they invited us in and offered us seats. The dad described how he suffers from an injury, and we prayed with him. He called me later, thanked us again for the food, and told me that his family wanted to visit our church on Sunday, so we made plans to meet them at the second service.

All around, it was a great time! I am interested in knowing more about the area and learning how we might be able to serve the folks in the neighborhood in the future.

—Scott Sheldon

Drew comments, “It’s exciting to see not only Scott’s initiative to get involved in the lives of people in our community, but his desire to build long-term relationships with them instead of simply a one-time kindness—and that he is doing it in a community we are already working in is great!”

December 16 2010 at 5:21 pm

Prayer for Amy Calderone

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Let’s all be in earnest prayer for Amy Calderone and her family.

Amy developed a cerebral hemorrhage on the evening of Tuesday, December 14, and was subsequently medevaced to Georgetown University Hospital where she had emergency surgery. As of this writing she remains in critical condition at Georgetown.

Amy, 18, is a member of the Ace Leyva care group. Her parents, Dave and Patti Calderone, are long-time members of Covenant Life and care group leaders.

The best way to stay up to date on Amy’s condition and to know how to pray is to follow her Caring Bridge website. It contains a running journal maintained by the family along with a guestbook that allows our church family and others to offer Scriptures and words of encouragement.

“The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” —Deuteronomy 33:27

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