Singles Ministry Meeting: May 18

How often do you stop and think carefully about why you live the way you do?  When is the last time you considered why you read the Bible, pray, tell others about Jesus, or attend church?  If someone interrupted you while you were busy and asked, “Why do you do the things you do?” What would you say?  What’s the first answer that comes to mind?

Answering this question is the reason we’re meeting together as a ministry, on Friday, May 18.  As your pastors, we want you to be reminded of why we all live, act, and believe the way we do.  To see and comprehend the greatness of our God.  To be reminded of the beauty and splendor of who He is.  And to behold Him for who He reveals Himself to be in the Word, and respond like Ezekiel:

“And I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face.” (Ezekiel 44:4 ESV)

We believe that beholding our God for who he is, is the only sustaining and joy producing motive for the sacrifice, discipleship, fellowship, evangelism and daily discipline of the Christian life that we are called to pursue.  We want you to join us in beholding our God so we can worship him, love him and recall how glorious and worthy he is of our all. 

During our time together we’ll sing songs that help us behold the God of our salvation and learn from Scripture to remind us that the focus of all our Christian living is the worship of the one true God. 

We hope you will join us Friday, May 18, at 7:30 p.m. in the main auditorium. And think about who you can bring along to behold the God of the gospel with us.

Check it out: Outdoors Rec Group

CovLife members, John Ripley and his wife, Lindsey, have started a Christ-honoring Outdoor Recreation group in an effort to bring Christians together, build friendships and enjoy our God and the outdoors.

Ripley’s Ventures is the group name, and it’s primarily for anyone passionate about God and the outdoors. Group ventures include caving, hiking, camping and more. Non-Christians and all skill levels are welcome. Check out the group and its upcoming activities on Facebook and Meetup.

Local Missions

Summer is fast approaching, and I wanted to draw your attention to a few great opportunities to serve in the community at our 2012 Local Missions Summer Outreach. Each year my friend Todd Keeler organizes an outreach team whose aim is to:

• serve the local community and show the love of Christ
• host a Christian day camp at neighborhood sites (Emory Grove, Laytonia, Washington Grove)
• build an on-going ministry in the community

This years’ summer outreach week is July 7-14, and Todd needs the help of several dependable, creative, leadership-oriented individuals to make this event happen. Hope you’ll consider serving on this outreach team and passing the word on to others!

A few of the positions are more urgent than others, so if you’re ready to serve, check out the immediate needs listed directly below. If you’d like to serve later in the summer, check out the outreach week listing.

For more info, or to sign up, e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Thank you for continuing the mission to share the gospel and make disciples of Christ!

Immediate volunteers

• Site Leaders: Work with the Mission Leader and Assistant Site Leader to plan for the week of outreach. Lead a group of youth in providing a Christian day camp for one of the neighborhood sites.
• Assistant Site Leaders: Assist the Site Leader, lead the youth by example, and reinforce what is communicated by the Mission Leader and the Site Leader.

Outreach Week volunteers

• Administration
• Coordinators: Creative Team, Volunteers, Transportation
• Operators: Kitchen, Tech
• Team Leaders: Drama, Music, Media, Recreation
• Translators
• and more!

Year-round volunteers

• Homework Clubs
• Tutoring Ministry

OneU - Introducing Daryl Boffman

Friends,

OneU, our evangelism ministry at University of Maryland-College Park, continues to be an effective means of preaching Christ and making disciples for the glory of God. There’s a ton of good, gospel work that God is doing on campus through the OneU staff (Jon Smith, Chavia Groveman, Angel Cabrera, Kelly Wilson and Paul Wilson) that I’m thanking God for regularly.

OneU has recently added a new staff member whose sole job is to be preaching Christ and continuing the mission to reach the lost and make disciples of all nations. His name is Daryl Boffman, and his goal is to begin serving on campus beginning this fall. He’s a good friend of mine, and has been a member of the church for about a year now. If you’re not currently supporting a OneU evangelist and/or would like to learn more about the ministry and how you can support it, download and read his newsletter (PDF, 590kb). He’d be happy to meet with you and talk about OneU and the work at UMD. 

Soli Deo Gloria,
Hydro

March - BIG Meeting **Audio and Handout Now Online**

Joshua Harris preached from 2 Timothy 1:8-14, “Our Mission Together.”

The mission of the church and the ministry is to make disciples of Christ. How will you participate in the mission?

Click HERE to listen online or download the audio from the March 13 BIG Meeting.

Click HERE to download the Ministry’s Mission handout (PDF, 582kb)

NEXT Conference - Orlando, FL

Every Christian has a vital part to play in the local church.  Focus on God’s plan for the body of Christ and what it means to play your part.

Details & registration info can be found HERE.

Early Bird Registration (December—March 31st)
+Individual: $150; Married Couple: $225

Regular Registration (April—May)
+Individual: $175; Married Couple: $250

If you’d like to attend NEXT, but are in need some financial assistance, please contact Marybeth Fairchild at (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)).

Hope to see you there!

One To One Bible Reading - How To Get Started

Can you think of people in your life that you would like to see progress spiritually–perhaps a non-Christian colleague, a friend at church, or a family member? One-to-One Bible Reading is a way to help them understand more of God’s Word in a way that is simple and personal. Pastor David Helm will be with us on Saturday, March 3, to bring this important teaching to Covenant Life. Come early for coffee and donuts in the lobby.

The seminar will address who this kind of relational Bible reading ministry is for, describe how it works and provide training to put it to use. The focus is on using your new Bible-centered relationships as the springboard for evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development.

For more details click HERE.

This seminar is FREE, but we do need ask that you register HERE.

Singles Seminar:  Conflict in Community - A Mess Worth Fixing with Paul Tripp

The Singles Ministry of is excited to have pastor and author Paul Tripp teach on the realities of conflict, and address how we can benefit from relationships.

All of us begin the relationships in our lives expectant and hopeful, and we all face disappointments we never expected. Hurt and conflict somehow become the ingredients of all of our relationships. At this conference you’ll learn why hope turns into disappointment, peace into conflict, and discover how your relationships can be what they were designed to be.

Singles who attend the marriage conference; What Did you Expect will greatly benefit from this singles seminar. Marriages involve unavoidable conflict—often this isn’t fully realized until one is married. This Singles Seminar essentially takes the microcosm of conflict from the marriage conference and gears it towards an audience of singles to help them prepare for marriage, and practice conflict resolution.

We hope you will join us! REGISTER HERE.

Saturday February 4 | Main Auditorium
6:30PM – Doors Open
7:00PM – Conference Opens
7:20PM – Session 1
8:10PM – Break
8:30PM – Session 2
9:15PM – Q&A
9:30PM – Close

BIG Meeting:  January 2012 **CANCELED**

The January 2012 BIG meeting has been canceled due to Isaac being in Uganda and Kevin being in Central Asia.  Please remember to pray for both these teams!

Enjoy your extra Care Group night!

-The Singles Pastors

December. 13th BIG Mtg:  Tony Reinke will be speaking on his new book, Lit!

Hey my friends!

We have a unique blessing planned for everyone at our December 13th Singles Big Meeting.  Our own Tony Reinke will be guest speaking and imparting to us a God-focused message from his new book, Lit!

We’ll learn that words matter to God.  Our God is a God of self-disclosure & revelation.  Happily, throughout history He has guarded and preserved His revelation to His people in the form of written words.  The words of Scripture proclaim to us in brilliant, vivid detail, the uniqueness of our God.  The words of Scripture capture the beauty & power of God’s redemption in Christ.  Words matter to God and therefore they should matter to God’s people.

Although we live in a culture today dominated by images (which has certainly brought many blessings to us), our image dominated society can also lead to a loss of appreciation for the written word.  Some of us have little time to read.  Some have little desire to read.  Some of us find reading difficult and not leisurely. 

In his book Lit! Tony asks a couple of questions that are worthy of our attention:
“What will we lose if we ignore books?”  “What will we gain if we fill our lives for the next twenty years with disciplined reading?”

Braden, Kevin & I believe everyone will be inspired, and equipped biblically and practically by this message.  Tony is going to help us see the benefit of reading and the connection that reading has in our walk with God.  Whether you’re a reader or have never picked up a book in your life this message is for you.  You’ll be inspired to read and you’ll be equipped with practical ways to start reading & read more effectively.  So make sure you don’t miss this opportunity. 

We’re having dinner together at 6:30pm in the South Lobby, and the meeting starts at 7:30pm in the Events Center. 

Please, as always, think about who you can invite to the Big Meeting and then actually invite them!  I believe this message will be really accessible, and possibly more inviting for some people, especially to those that are far from Christ. 

Love you all…
hydro