Let’s Pray for OneU
0 CommentsTo inspire you to pray, here’s the OneU video shown in church a few weeks back. OneU is the campus outreach ministry of Covenant Life Church.
In the team’s own words, “OneU aims above all else to spread the fame of Jesus Christ so that students treasure Him and embrace His church. We’re a community of students, theologians, nerds, missionaries, athletes, artists, and engineers who have been radically changed by Jesus Christ and now desire to saturate the college campus with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to raise up disciples who will spread His fame to the ends of the earth.”
April 2 2009 at 5:00 am
Not Too Busy To Reach Out
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Travis Earles sent this encouraging note about how Josh Deckard (pictured at right) is living as an ambassador for Christ:
As a former government worker starting up his own consulting business based here in Washington, Josh Deckard is a busy guy. But not too busy to reach out and encourage men in his sphere of influence.
Because of his heart to reach out to others and encourage other men, Josh seized the opportunity a few weeks ago to initiate an informal Bible study, and invited a handful of guys who work nearby (including Brian Gallagher, T.J. Weber and me) to join him at 7:45-8:45 a.m. on Friday mornings. We read a chapter out of the book of John together (a few verses each), Josh prays, and then he leads discussion with simple questions to draw out the main points and intent of the passage and how we should respond and apply it.
The simple faith that Josh demonstrated in taking this initiative, primarily as a means of outreach, has inspired me to love God’s Word and love God’s people even more. It has been a tremendous blessing to pore over God’s Word together in those settings, and affecting to see how the Holy Spirit blesses us and opens our eyes. Josh’s heart to serve in faith like this has provoked me to reevaluate the limitations I set on myself, particularly at work, and to think more broadly about how God would have me reach out and encourage those under my influence, both friends and colleagues.
As ambassadors for Christ, let us never think ourselves too busy or too deficient to serve in even simple ways, when the rich resources of God’s Word and his Spirit are available to us.
December 23 2008 at 2:41 pm
Christmas Gift Outreach: Another Great Year
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Something I love to see is members of our church finding ways to serve and bless people in the community. Last year Carolyn McCulley, a longtime Covenant Life member, did just that when she spearheaded a plan to give Christmas gifts to foster-care children in the area. And she’s done it again this year. Thanks to her effort and the generosity of many other Covenant Life members, numerous foster children will receive gifts this Christmas season.
To help you appreciate the effect of this outreach, I wanted to share an encouraging e-mail from Cheryl Banks of Montgomery County Child Welfare Services. Cheryl is the contact person who has helped to connect Carolyn and our church with area foster care families. She writes:
Two years ago we received a call from Carolyn, who wanted to see how Covenant Life could be of help to foster children. Because most of our children do not have much and don’t often have gifts for the holidays, we try to match them with members of the community. That year we didn’t have as many donors, and we didn’t know how we would get gifts for our kids. Then Carolyn called, and Covenant Life adopted every un-adopted child. And your commitment has continued ever since.
This year the Church has adopted more than 150 children, including some recent emergencies we’ve had. One family just experienced a house fire last week, and members of the church have stepped in to provide gifts for the children. One church member, a business owner, contacted us directly to donate money that is usually set aside for Christmas gifts for clients. [That money bought] gift certificates for our teens, who are usually the ones no one wants to adopt.
You know how things fall into place, just as they are supposed to? That has what has happened with Covenant Life and Child Welfare. Each time we have had an unexpected crisis, someone at Covenant Life comes forward. I can only imagine the joy for the children and relief for the parents on Christmas morning….…We will never know how a child will be touched by the gifts we have given, but this act of kindness may affect the child’s world view for a life time. It is profound in its simplicity. I know for myself, as part of the process, I have been deeply touched by the depth of the need of our children and the enormous wave of generosity from your community. It’s what keeps me going throughout the year…
Thank you so much for everything you have done!
Cheryl, thank you for your kind words and for faithfully working behind the scenes to serve these families. We are grateful for the wonderful work you do. And to Carolyn, and all the care groups and individuals who participated this year and last: Well done! “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.” —Luke 12:33
P.S. The gifts pictured above were purchased by the Lotinsky Care Group for a family of five.
December 16 2008 at 4:52 pm
Singles Serve Up a Happy Thanksgiving
0 CommentsI want to let the church know about an outreach that the Singles did over Thanksgiving. What happened with this outreach excites me about future efforts to reach our community with the gospel. I’ve asked Drew Garfield to share specifics of this project:
It all started with a member of our church, Dennis Castaneda, and his passion to bless those both in and outside the church who are in need and would be helped by a Thanksgiving meal. Nothing would have happened if Dennis hadn’t approached Mark Mitchell about Covenant Life getting involved in what he and others have already been doing for a couple of years. What is really exciting is that, by getting the church involved, we were able to expand from the five families Dennis helped last year to blessing 30 families this year!
After Dennis approached us we started work on the logistics. I began gathering names from the pastors, Dennis and several school counselors at area public schools. Members of the singles ministry donated nearly $1800 to purchase food, and then at the November Big Meeting the singles pastors took their respective spheres to three local Giant supermarkets to do the shopping for the meals. The next day more singles came out to help prepare and deliver the baskets.
It was particularly rewarding to be able to work with the different school counselors; they were so grateful for our help. One counselor told me that one of the mothers began to cry when she heard that we would be providing a meal for her and her children. Others who were served included a mom and her kids who were planning to eat pizza for their Thanksgiving meal, a family whose home is without heat or electricity and a single mom who recently lost her job.
It was great being able to show kindness toward people in real need. It was also exciting to see the joyful and willing help of the singles in our church; there is something really amazing about seeing a group of people come together to help someone else.
I’m grateful for Drew’s leadership that made this event possible. Dennis, I want to commend your heart to see the members of our church expressing love and care for the needy in our community. Thanks for your initiative!
December 12 2008 at 12:29 pm
Update on Gen2Gen
0 CommentsA couple changes to our previous post:
First of all, because of some sickness going around at the retirement community, Gen2Gen’s trip to Asbury Methodist Village scheduled for this Saturday had been postponed until January.
Also, sorry to say, we posted the wrong link in the last post. To find out more about Gen2Gen, the ministry Ellie Berry has started, click here.
If you’re interested in participating on their next trip, or for more information, you can
e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
December 9 2008 at 4:18 pm
Your Generosity
0 CommentsThank you for your participation in our Christmas Offering this past Sunday and for giving so generously.
Here’s a list of ways your giving is going to be used to bless people. The organizations are linked so you can learn more about them and how to support them.
• Children of single parents at Covenant Life
• The Lord’s Table Soup Kitchen, a ministry that regularly provides meals for the hungry
• The Shady Grove and Rockville Pregnancy Centers, which offer counseling and other free services to those in crisis pregnancies
• Good News Jail and Prison Ministry, which appoints two chaplains to proclaim the Gospel at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility
• Celestial Manna, distributing food to people in need, from single parent households and large families to low-income neighborhoods and local shelters