Covenant Update
Dear Covenant Family:
Today was a busy and wonderful day at Covenant Church. We had 27 people in attendance and the attached bulletin provides updates on our upcoming Christmas Social next Sunday December 19 at 5 PM, the Christmas Eve service planned for Friday December 24 at 5 PM, and the planned YAH group meeting on Tuesday January 11 at 10 AM. Be sure to check out these activities coming up and we hope to see you at some (or all !) of them.
We had a lengthy health update on a number of members. Francis Bush has now moved into The Village and would like to hear from church members. You can mail him cards at 8015 NW 28th Place, Gainesville FL 32606. If you would like to call him, his number is 352-443-2373. Mary Lou Morrow is recovering from recent surgery, Betty Arnette is in final stages of rehab following her receiving a pacemaker, and Marilyn Bishop is asking for prayers for her brother who has been in Shands for quite awhile and has now moved into Hospice.
We also had our annual church meeting after church. We re-elected Ron Marks to a new 3-year term on the Trustees and elected Craig Alexander to his first 3-year term on the Trustees. Craig has been a huge help at Covenant throughout 2021 helping us to get a handle on our maintenance issues and overseeing a number of projects we carried out this year. The Trustees now need to develop a plan to deal with a number of large church projects that will need resolution in the coming months and years. The Trustees will report back to the members as we move forward in this process.
This week was week 3 of Advent, and the message was The Joy of Home, with scripture Zephaniah 3:14-20 and Luke 3:7-18. Craig and Becky Alexander were the readers of this message.
Reader One: It’s a reunion, every time we go home, every time we embrace those we love, no matter how long it has been. It feels like sunrise, like the clouds are parting and the rain has ended. It is joy, nothing less than pure joy to grab hold of those who are home for us, who make home for us. Whether we wake up to them every day, or travel many miles to see them again, it is joy to go home.
Reader Two: The prophet Zephaniah tells us to rejoice at the thought of going home. The prophet tells us to imagine being set free, being unburdened, being released to live, to fully live in the grace and wonder of life itself, surrounded by those who love us like no one else. And then to live like that was our truth even now, even here. It is joy to go home.
Reader One: John the Baptist reminds us, however, that it takes choices to live in this joy. It doesn’t just happen; we choose to make life a joy by how we love others, by how we serve and love others, by how we serve and give and care for others, by how we do the job we do and how we impact the world around us. We build joy as we build a home in this world and the next.
Reader Two: We light these candles, the candle of hope, and of peace, and of joy, as a sign that we are on our way home, and we walk with a skip in our step because we can see the destination, and it is pure joy. It is time to go home.
Pastor Don’s sermon was titled Joseph and the Angel and his scripture focused on Matthew 1:18-25.
Matthew 1:18-25 – This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Pastor Don told us that this scripture shows that God sent a message to Joseph through an angel. God does the same with us, He speaks to us also in a lot of ways if we are listening for Him. Joseph was a kind and righteous man and wanted to treat Mary properly. He was willing to let her go, if that was the righteous thing to do. However, in verse 20, he clearly understood he was hearing directly from God even though he did not completely understand the meaning of the message. Just like Joseph, we may not always understand the message God is sending us, but we just need to believe and carry out God’s request to us. Joseph believed and followed God’s directive without questioning Him. So should we.
I wish all of you a blessed week.
Ron
