Covenant Life Church

What if the wise men only went to where Jesus was because they were excited about the astronomical changes going on in the eastern sky? The shepherds, the innkeeper and countless descendants of King David could have easily all had other things on their mind. We don’t know whose lives were changed as a result of their role in the Christmas account, and as a result, it’s possible they all missed Jesus. If you look around, there’s a lot of things going on during this season — shopping, decorating, cooking, wrapping, vacationing, attending parties and more. It would not be hard to have something to do every day of December. It’s easy for us to shake our heads in judgment at how spiritually dull the people of the Bible were, but in all of our running around this time of year, are we also missing Jesus?

Every year in the fall, Pastor John sits down and re-reads the Christmas accounts from Matthew and Luke, asking the Lord to show him something fresh. This year, he was struck by the difficult decisions that had to be made in order for the birth of Jesus to take place exactly the way it did. These were gut-wrenching and dangerous decisions. We have certainly faced gut-wrenching and dangerous decisions before, and there will be more of those types of decisions off and on the rest of our lives — not just once or twice but over and over. This week, we’re exploring some principles we can glean from these Christmas accounts to help us have courage as we face hard choices.

When you think about Christian holidays, most people think Easter and Christmas pretty quickly, but it’s possible that Thanksgiving is as much a Christian holiday as any other. The giving of thanks is at the core of what we do and who we are as believers. Followers of Jesus should be the most grateful, gracious, and appreciative people in the world. Here’s why — the word thanksgiving is not complicated. It’s two parts: thanks and giving. It means that we give our thanks to someone outside ourselves. Gratitude requires that you recognize the contributions that have come from some source other than you. That’s easy for a follower of Jesus because we know that everything we have comes from God.

This week, we’re continuing our Boldness Series. Acts 4:13 says the members of the Sanhedrin saw the boldness of Peter and John — and that’s true. Boldness is visible, but if we’re not careful, we will think boldness always looks the same way. We might start to believe that boldness is simply a set of behaviors and that repeating those behaviors will always be the boldness God wants from us. In reality, boldness is not behavior; it’s belief. Instead of coming from a commitment to a set of behaviors, it comes from a commitment to a set of attitudes and beliefs. Sometimes, boldness manifests itself in ways you would expect, but other times, it looks very different. This week, we’re looking at some diverse pictures of boldness and trying to figure out what those pictures have in common.

The Bible says the Old Testament passages were given to us as examples. In many cases, the things that played out in the physical world represent things that play out for us in the spirit world. This means that we can look to how they fought battles in the Old Testament to help us know how to fight our battles now. If you’ve ever felt outmatched in a fight, you’re not alone. Rarely did the children of Israel have a tactical or numerical advantage, but the Bible shows us over and over that things are not always as they appear. This week, we’re talking about Gideon’s once again to see what we can discover about bold warfare.

Last week, we began a series on boldness. Some people have a negative view or understanding of boldness. They confuse it with rudeness or arrogance. In reality, though, it should be defined as the power to live according to your purpose and priorities. For followers of Christ, the power comes from the Holy Spirit, and the purpose and priorities are established by God and His Word. This week, we’re continuing to talk about Gideon from the book of Judges. The first bold thing Gideon did was to lift up his head. He was hiding in a wine press trying to thresh some grain, so his family could eat. His first step towards getting out of that pit was just to lift up his head. It’s no different for us; if things are going to change in your life, you must have the boldness to lift up your head.

Pastor Dharius Daniels from Atlanta said at a recent conference that we sometimes have to choose closure without clarity. These are moments in which the matter has been settled even though we don’t understand everything, and it’s a liberating truth. When you have questions weighing you down and situations you can’t explain, it can either keep you stagnant or just walking in circles. Instead, we want to learn how we can continue to move forward. If you have been walking through a season of doubt, confusion or questioning, it’s time to lift up your head. The season of head-hanging and stagnation is over. Stop looking at where you’ve been and look up to see where you’re going. Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for us to give us an abundant life, but you will never find God’s abundance looking down or looking back. You have to lift up your head and let the King of Glory into your everyday life.

There are three words that the enemy would tell you are words of doubt but are actually words of faith. You might believe these three words show weakness and foolishness, but instead, they show strength and godly wisdom. They sound like heresy to religious people, but they sound like refreshing honesty to people who are searching for answers. This week, we’re talking about those three words — I don’t know — and how we can constantly pursue Jesus without ever fully understanding Him. Why? Because the things of eternity can’t be contained in the things of earth. God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours, but being honest and humble enough to say those words can help us grow closer to Him. NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to capture the entire message. We wanted to share what we were able to record in hopes that it will strengthen your faith, and we invite you to access the full sermon notes by visiting this link: https://www.bible.com/events/49509216. Please click “Save” on the event to ensure that you can revisit it later. Thank you for your understanding!

Have you ever been in a situation where you knew you needed to take a stand? You may want to influence your friends at school or share your faith with someone at work. Many people want to stand up for their beliefs, but they wonder if they have what it takes or struggle with the fear of rejection. This week, Pastor Jay Mann shares a lesson in courage from someone who made history: Esther. She thought she was a nobody, but she did something brave and made a difference on behalf of her people. Together, we’ll learn the steps needed to find success and seize the moment — just like Esther.

Arguably the number one thing most people ask Pastor John is “How do I find God’s will for my life?” Religion has made the will of God some great mystery — like it’s something to search for our whole lives. We expect to get a job, hold an office, start a ministry or receive a title. We are looking for the answer in a destination, but what if it’s simpler than that? The core verse for this series is Romans 12:2, which contains two different sentences. The first says that we’re transformed by the renovation of our thoughts; the second says that we will learn to know the will of God once our mind is renovated. This week, we’re continuing (and possibly concluding) our Transformation Series with a message about God’s will.

This week, Pastor Robby reminds us that yesterday is not today. The things that defined us yesterday don’t have to define us today, and the things that were bad yesterday can be used for good today. In Lamentations 3:22-23, we read that God’s mercies begin afresh each morning. One second is all it takes for the clock to flip from 11:59:59 p.m. to 12:00:00 a.m. and for our lives to change forever. This encouraging word uses two different healings from the New Testament — the blind man in John 9 and the lame man in John 5 — to point us back to the source of these changes: Jesus. Encountering “That Man” is what causes the clock to flip, and it’s not just a one-time occurrence. He will meet us over and over, showing up when we need Him most and revealing different aspects of His character.

We are still in a series called Transformation. We are not to be conformed to the way the world does things; we must be transformed by the process of metamorphosis. In order for us to be transformed, we have to renew or renovate our minds, and every good renovation starts with demo day! You have to remove the old stuff that limits your growth, takes up space, or isn’t a good reflection of the owner. This week’s message is called Poison Paradigms. A paradigm is a mental construct. It’s how we make sense of the world, taking new information and integrating it into something you already believe and understand. Everybody has paradigms, and they are useful — unless they are built on lies. To become like Jesus, we have to let Him pull down the poisonous paradigms and strongholds of our minds.

For the past four weeks, we’ve been a series called Transformation, in which we’ve been looking at the ways God wants to change us from the caterpillars He found us as into the butterflies He wants us to be. It is not just a slight adjustment — it’s a radical transformation, a metamorphosis powered by the Holy Spirit. Maybe, the biggest takeaway so far is that the process starts on the inside and works its way to the outside. Nothing is more crucial to deep, lasting change than our thoughts and attitudes, and Romans 12:2 says they need to be renewed. The word renewed means renovated, and a key part of any renovation is demo day. That’s where you rip out the old and remove the stuff that just doesn’t fit the new design. That’s the name of the message and our focus this week: finding out what needs to be demolished from our thoughts and attitudes.

We’re in the fourth week of our Transformation series, which is based on Romas 12:2. The word “transformed” in this verse comes from the word from which we get “metamorphosis,” and everyone knows that is the process by which caterpillars become butterflies. Jesus didn’t come, so we could be better caterpillars; He came to change us into something completely different and new. Last week, we found out that accomplish that by changing the way we think. We have to renovate our thoughts and attitudes, which means approaching everything from the perspective Jesus instructed: we have to love God and love others. The title of last week’s message was “Start with Love,” and we’re going to continue that discussion this week by talking about what love looks like.

We are in the middle of a series called Transformation. Jesus did not go through all that He went through on this earth, so we could stay exactly the same as we were before He found us. Jesus paid the price not just for us to be saved but for us to be changed. So far, we have talked about the dual realities of salvation — the spiritual reality and visible reality — and the need to surrender ourselves to the process of transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. This week, we’re continuing the conversation and focusing on what it means to start with love. Maybe you’re beginning to believe there is a sliver of hope, but you don’t know where to start. Start where Jesus did with Peter: start with love. Forget about the habits you still have in your life, the mistakes and the failures. Repent and ask God for forgiveness, but when it comes to moving forward and being changed, we need to learn the value of starting with love.

We started a new series last week called Transformation, which explores how the gospel of Jesus is one focused on transformation. Everyone who has been saved and surrendered their lives to Him has experienced this: from death to life, lost to found, darkness to light. What we learned in the first part of our series is that too many churches have offered salvation without transformation, but it is God’s will that His followers start to develop and express the character and nature of Christ. Salvation isn’t the end; it’s the beginning. We also talked about the need for sanctification, where what has happened on the inside begins to be expressed on the outside. Romans 12 says to be transformed instead of conformed, and that word is where we get our word “metamorphosis,” which is used to describe the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. This week, we’re diving deeper into this idea. If we want Jesus to transform us into new creations, we must surrender to the cocoon — where sanctification occurs — and trust in Him as the Power of the process.

The Bible talks a lot about the things that need to change in the lives of believers, but the American church is virtually silent. The Bible discusses transformation as a lifestyle, but the American church positions it as a singular event. The foundation of transformation is repentance, but many American churches are offering salvation without repentance. We tell people they don’t have to change; they just pray the magic prayer, and they’re in. This week, we’re starting a new series called Transformation — rooted in Romans 12:2. The gospel of Jesus Christ is all about transformation. We call it getting saved, which means that we’re being removed from serious situations like going from death to life or darkness to light. However, the Bible makes it clear that it isn’t a one-time transformation. As we will discover together, following Jesus is about a process of continuous transformation.

The wise King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes that a triple braided cord is not easily broken, and there are three biblical strands — three threads — that we’re going to weave together: the need for devoted servant leaders, the power of hope, and the ways we’re called to care for the crushed and broken around us. This week, we’re bringing these three things together to launch a new ministry focus for Covenant Life called the Hope Initiative. Together, we will explore ways to help widows, orphans, the elderly and those in poverty by providing opportunities and experiences that can serve as the breeding ground for hope.

During Jesus’s ministry on this earth, thousands of people got to see, hear, and interact with Him. They got to make up their minds about whether or not to follow Him. Another generation got to base their decision on the testimony of those who knew Him and walked with Him, but eventually, everyone who had known Him in the flesh passed away. Where does that leave us? How do we get to know Jesus today? The good news is that Jesus Christ is not just the Son of God; He’s the Word of God. You can’t separate Jesus from His Word. They are eternally intertwined, which means that getting to know the Word helps you meet, learn, and know more about Jesus Himself. This week, we’re digging into the creation and trustworthiness of the Bible, helping us come to see it as a firm foundation upon which we should build our lives.

Over the past two or three months, we have celebrated Memorial Day, Flag Day, Juneteenth and Independence Day. Because of these holidays, there’s been a lot of talk about different kinds of freedom, including political, civil and economic. It is a subject worthy of discussion and a necessary component of a healthy human soul, but there’s one aspect of freedom we don’t talk about often. Based on Luke 4:18-19, it’s clear that freedom was central to the ministry of Jesus. He came to this earth to declare freedom — from our sin debt, from sickness, from death, from shame and so much more! The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, which means that He brought freedom everywhere He went. This week, we are exploring what it looks like to walk in the freedom that Jesus gives us.