Covenant Update
Dear Covenant Family:
Sunday was another good day at Covenant. We had 24 folks in attendance, and it was good to have Betty Arnette back. We had feedback that Carol King has been successfully treated for her irregular heart rate and that is great news. This week Sam Parker will have a heart test done so keep Sam and Carol in your prayers.
Covenant members and friends have donated $3,000 for humanitarian aid to Ukraine, so that money has been sent to the Baptist Foreign Mission Board (BFMB) to be shared with people in Ukraine. We will continue to collect donations and will send all money received to Ukraine through the BFMB. Thanks to everyone for their generous donations. Attached is the Covenant bulletin for you from yesterday’s service.
Pastor Don’s sermon today was on encouragement and his scripture were verses from Acts chapter 11.
Acts 11:20-24 – But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. 23 Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; 24 for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And considerable numbers were added to the Lord.
Barnabas was a man of God, his name means “encouragement”. He was sent to Antioch because of its good news of growth, with the plan for Barnabas to encourage them all and to grow the church even more. And the church continued to grow!
Acts 11:25-26 – And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
Why did Barnabas leave Antioch to go find Saul? Barnabas had done all he could do to grow the Antioch church. He knew that Saul would be able to take the people to a higher level of understanding. Barnabas was humble and not envious or jealous, and wanted to make sure the people in Antioch had the best leadership possible, even if that meant him conceding his position to Saul.
Pastor Don concluded by saying that Covenant has been encouraging to the Ukrainian people because we have shared our money and time (prayers) to encourage them in their difficult time created by the Russia invasion. The entire free world needs to continue to encourage the Ukrainian people in their response to the Russian invasion of their country.
May God bless your coming week!
Ron
