Covenant Update

Dear Covenant Church Family:

Today was a great day at Covenant, with 29 members and friends attending.  Attached is today’s bulletin, which I have provided in the past but for the past few months have been unable to share.  Please check out Tina’s provided Mini Messages which I think you will enjoy.

 We have a number of prayer requests and praises as well.  Pastor Don asked for prayers for Diane who was sick today.  Tina Pinkoson asked for prayers for her father Joe who went to the ER on Friday for a heart catheterization; he turned out to be OK but was advised to cut back on fried foods and was put on some new medication.  Larry Noegel asked for prayers for the brother of church members Patty and Nancy who is now home from the hospital but still not doing well.  Pastor Don also asked for prayers for his friend David Roy who is dealing with cancer.

 We had additional praises as well today.  Pastor Don had a praise for Missy who had safe travels to Guatemala with her students for a mission trip.  Carol Parker had a praise for her 100-year-old sister who was now able to return home after being in rehab to recuperate from a broken hip.  Craig Alexander had a praise for a friend who visited our church today.  Tina welcomed Paul and Victoria McArthur who had not been to church in quite awhile, so we also got to sing to Victoria whose birthday was just yesterday.  Brenda Dolwick had a praise for her brother and sister-in-law who have just retired from a career of missionary work overseas.  Larry Noegel had a praise that the Fred Pearson funeral was a very nice event yesterday morning.

 Pastor Don’s sermon was titled Use It Or Lose It!  His scripture was Matthew 25:14-30, called Parable of the Talents.  Pastor Don began by explaining that parables in the Bible bring heavenly meaning to an earthly story.  Jesus gave 5 talents to one man, 2 talents to another man, and 1 talent to another man.  The two men with the more talents invested them and returned twice as many talents to Jesus.  The man buried his one talent because he was “afraid”, and later returned that one talent to Jesus.  Jesus tells us we are to use the gifts God gives us, and to use them to make a difference in the lives of other people.  He will only give us what we can handle.  If we fear the opportunities God shares with us, we are wasting our opportunities.  We are to be proud to use our gifts and to use our opportunities while we can.

 If you would like to listen to this sermon, all recorded sermons can be accessed at https://gainesvillecovenantchurch.org/ and then choose Sermons on the home page, and then choose today’s message.

 I wish you all a most blessed week!              

 Ron