Covenant Update

Dear Covenant Family:

We had a great day at Covenant today.  We only had 24 attendees at this morning’s church service which was the lowest we have had in a long time, but we know at least two couples either had COVID or a bad flu.  Attached is today’s bulletin, and you can read all our announcements there.

Prayers requests were asked for a number of folks.  Helen Ann Noegel asked for continued prayers for Mack and Carolyn Vlacos, Mack is still too weak to come to church and misses it terribly.  Victoria McArthur asked us to pray for our country. 

We also had two praise reports.  Edwina Hope had a praise for her grandson Luke who will begin his teaching experience tomorrow in the country of Africa where he is serving in the Peace Corps.  Nancy Parke praised God for all His promises to us, that He keeps all his promises and He holds out His arms for all of us!

Pastor Don’s sermon was titled He Touched Me and is based on two parts of scripture from Matthew:
Matthew 8:1-3 – When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. ² And a man with leprosy came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” ³ Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Matthew 7:7-11 – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ⁹ Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? ¹¹ So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Don began by saying many people like going to massage therapists because their touch can be so relaxing.  Many people also like to hug others that they are close to.  He also noted that God touches us on a regular basis, as illustrated in the highlighted scripture.  The bottom line is the leper asked because he believed and he received!  If you missed church today, I encourage you to listen to Pastor Don’s sermon at https://gainesvillecovenantchurch.org/ and then choose Sermons on the home page, and then choose the sermon you want to hear.  Remember that you also get a bonus when you listen to his sermon because you will also get to hear the anthem sung by the Sounds of Hope today. 

Then, we went back to Covenant at 4 PM for a peanut boil where all the peanuts were boiled by Pastor Don.  He had three different versions of boiled peanuts where he altered the amount of salt and how long they were boiled.  Pastor Don is a true Master Chef of Peanut Boiling!  We had about 30 people attend, and we had lots of desserts and ice cream and drinks so I believe everyone left pretty full, and would not need dinner tonight. 

In a separate email, I will send two pictures from the peanut boil.  One picture will show the large number of boiled peanuts that were available, with plenty left for the boiled peanut afficionados to take home with them.  The other picture is of a very special guest who surprised us at the peanut boil – see if you can identify her!!  The peanut boil was a great success and we look forward to doing it again next year!!

Cindy and I will be away the next two weeks visiting family in DC and PA, so I will be unable to send any updates until I return.  I wish all of you a very blessed two weeks while we are away.

Ron