Covenant Update

Dear Covenant Family:

We had a wonderful Christmas church service today, with 39 folks in attendance.  Attached is today’s bulletin, please note The Night Before Christmas which Tina added.

Prayer Requests began with Mack Vlacos who is struggling with cracked lungs, a bout of pneumonia, and already impaired breathing, so please keep Mack and Carolyn in your prayers.  Larry Noegel asked for prayers for a friend named Don who is having major heart issues.  Victoria McArthur asked for prayers for her cousin Bud who has stage 4 cancer.  Shaw asked for continued prayers for his friend for whom doctors are trying to save his foot from amputation.  Patsy Sutton asked for prayers for hew 33-year-old nephew Dustin who is near death from issues related to his recent COVID diagnosis.  We also need to keep the global Jewish population and the United States in our prayers during this major period of US and global unrest we are seeing.

We also had two Praise Reports today – Becky Alexander received a positive report from her cancer doctors and does not have to return to him for another year.  Also, Larry Noegel said he and Helen Ann visited Teresa Robbins this week, she is doing well, and sent her love to everyone at Covenant.

Pastor Don had another wonderful sermon on the birth of Jesus.  He began by illustrating that the birth of Jesus showed the conflict between faith and fear that can take over our lives.  Mary and Joeph both had fear over Jesus’ birth because of the circumstances of her pregnancy through the Holy Spirit, and both were assured by angels that they needed to have faith.  The shepherds who visited Jesus were also afraid but were assured by angels to have faith.  The bottom line of Pastor Don’s sermon was that faith can overcome fear if we allow it.  God will calm your fears if you let him.  If you weren’t able to be at church today, I would highly recommend listening to his sermon.  Pastor Don’s sermon can be accessed at https://gainesvillecovenantchurch.org/ and then choose Sermons on the home page, and then choose the sermon you want to hear. 

I wish each of you and your families and loved ones to have a most joyful, peaceful, hopeful, and safe Christmas!

Ron