Covenant Update

Dear Covenant Family:

Today was a great day at Covenant.  We had 31 folks in attendance for our Memorial Day observance.  Please see the poem Tina included in today’s attached bulletin titled Freedom Isn’t Free.

We had a number of prayer requests and praise reports shared today.  Becky Alexander asked for prayers for a family friend in Puerto Rico who is dealing with metastatic prostate cancer.  Sam Parker asked for prayers for Carol for the coughing issues she is currently experiencing.  Maurita McKee asked for prayers for a friend of their granddaughter for the father and baby son who were both hit and killed by a car while crossing a street, and was witnessed by his wife and mother of the baby.  Victoria McArthur asked for prayers for Paul who will be having a medical procedure this week. 

Shaw Grigsby had a praise report that he had a doctor’s appointment this week and has been cancer-free now for five years.  Tina Pinkoson also reported that she has also been cancer-free for 11 years for her thyroid cancer.  Missy Mauldin reported that the Rock School where she teaches has had 22 American students baptized this school year and one student from Africa. 

The Sounds of Hope sang a special song to commemorate Memorial Day weekend titled Blades of Grass and Pure White Stones.  It is a song they sing most years for Memorial Day, and it is beautiful.  In addition, Tina put together a slide show of slides from Arlington National Cemetery and possibly some other veteran cemeteries as well.   It was beautiful music, as always, and the slides added an additional wonderful perspective for Memorial Day.  We are so blessed to have the incredible music we have every week from this very talented group of ladies!

Pastor Don gave an excellent Memorial Day sermon based on the scripture from

John 5:13 – Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends. 

A sacrifice was needed when Jesus agreed to go to the cross for all of us.  Don compared that to the sacrifice the men from all our wars have made as well for others.  Jesus told His disciples that they needed to live with a purpose, and our purpose should be to reconcile the world to come to God.

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 all of you a very blessed week.

Ron