Covenant Life Church

As we continue our series called “Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests,” we’re looking at the men and women of the Old Testament who formed the foundation of our faith. We’re learning the events of their lives and the lessons they can teach us. Knowing the entire Bible is from Jesus and points to Him, we are also trying to identify the types and shadows of Christ we see throughout the OT. Last week, we looked at the life of Noah, one of the patriarchs — or fathers — of the faith, and this week, we’re looking at a prophet and priest named Jeremiah. While we explore the lessons that Jeremiah’s life can teach us, please remember that these are not stories or works of fiction; they’re accounts. These people actually lived, and many of them are verifiable through other historical records.

All scripture is inspired by God and given to us for a purpose — not just the verses about Jesus or those that appear in the New Testament. All 66 books are important. They seem like stories, but they are accounts of actual people and their actual experiences, and the Bible teaches us that those experiences have been recorded, preserved and transmitted to us to teach us what to do and what not to do. We ignore these passages to our peril, and we need to hear about Abraham and Samuel, Elijah and Eli. We need to know about Deborah and Jael, Moses and Jonah. To help us, we’re kicking off a new series today called “Patriarchs, Prophets, and Priests,” in which we will spend time learning about the major players throughout the Old Testament to determine how those people and their experiences represent or foreshadow Jesus.

We don’t have to be defeated, doomed and depressed another day of our lives. The gospel of Jesus Christ still has the power to change lives, but those who have been going to church for years may be asking, “Why isn’t this working?” It’s because Christians have been mirroring the feelings of the world around us rather than relying on the Bible for strength and stability. We want to do everything else with everyone else, and as a result, we don’t study the Bible or put it into practice like we should. Instead of allowing Satan to continue to steal the Word from us, we need to lock it down and let grow. This week, Pastor Mark Stroud from Kingdom Rock Family Worship Center explains how we underestimate the Word of God and offers nine steps to make it stick in our lives.

According to the Bible, our mission as believers is to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching these disciples to obey all of the Lord’s commands. As we carry out this mission, God has given us unique gifts, talents and responsibilities, and He encourages us to know and understand that He is always with us — no matter what we do or where we go. This morning, we’re going to unpack what it means to “live on mission,” so we can fully trust God and do what He has called us to do.

This is the time of year that people talk a lot about freedom. Most of these discussions revolve around political freedoms and civil rights, but there is a freedom that the Bible talks about that really has nothing to do with any of those kinds of external freedoms. It’s the kind of freedom Jesus was talking about when He said, “If the Son sets you free, you are truly free!” Truly free. That’s true freedom. True freedom is the kind of freedom that can exist no matter what form of government you live under. It is a freedom on the inside that supersedes any lack of freedom on the outside, but the opposite is true as well. f you are lacking in this freedom on the inside, it doesn’t really matter what kind of political or civil rights you have on the outside. Today, we’re going to talk about four aspects of true freedom the Bible offers to everyone.

If you have attended more than one service at Covenant Life, you have probably heard us talk about The Jericho Project. As a matter of fact, if you’ve just driven near the church campus, you have likely seen the banners that we have about The Jericho Project. You may know about its existence, but you may not know exactly what it is. This week, we’re going to talk about The Jericho Project — what it is, what’s the connection to Jericho, how we’re going to carry it out and how you can get involved. We’re also going to share some exciting news. Our hope is that, by the end of today’s service, you will be able to give a clear, memorable answer to others who may ask about The Jericho Project.

The relationship that Jesus had with His 12 closest disciples was a special one. They were hand-picked by Jesus after a whole night of praying about which of the larger group of disciples would get pretty much unrestricted access to Him 24/7. He was many things and filled many roles for them, but when you think of it all together, Jesus was fathering these men. He was a living expression of our Heavenly Father in their lives, and the way He treated them over the course of those years is a good pattern for us today as we try to figure out how to navigate this thing called Fatherhood. Today’s message is focused on fatherhood and the way that Jesus treated His disciples, but the biblical principles of parenthood apply to moms and those in other relationships. We encourage you to look at how Jesus led the disciples and strive to put these lessons into practice in your life even if you aren’t a parent.

Jesus once told a parable about two houses, and if you looked at the two houses side by side, it would have been hard to tell the difference. However, Jesus introduced a variable: torrential rain. This turned out to be the deciding factor because one of the houses was built on sand, and when the rain washed away the sand, the house collapsed. Every person builds their lives on something, and those lives are the houses that Jesus was talking about. When we build our lives on Jesus Christ and put our faith in Him, we are able to make it through any storm — even those that make us weak by coming again and again. This week, we are talking about how to keep our faith strong in a crisis, looking at the faith of two people in the Bible and see what we can learn from them about surviving our own crises.

People don’t seem to have an issue with songs, shirts or sayings about Jesus, but things tend to get weird when we mention the Holy Spirit. In light of Pentecost Sunday, it’s time to see what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit, so we can get to the root of this standoffishness and learn to respect and welcome Him in the same way that we welcome Jesus. Part of the problem is that, when it comes to the Holy Spirt, we like to focus on Acts 2. We talk about the rushing mighty wind, tongues of fire and boisterous worship of the 120 in the upper room. It’s a wonderful and powerful moment, but you can’t get to know the Holy Spirit by only looking at one scene or description. We need to look at some different passages to round out our understanding of Him.

When Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3, God responded by asking, “Where are you?” Because of His omniscience, God did not need to know Adam’s physical location; instead, He was asking about his location relationally. Something had changed in their relationship, and God wanted to encourage introspection and remind His creation of the way things ought to be. As believers today, we must regularly assess where we are in relation to God, and we can use the Bible like a map, helping to orient ourselves based on three sets of opposite directions. By understanding where we are and where we’re going, we can ensure that we’re growing closer to God each day and living in a way that points everyone around us to Jesus Christ.

The word “rapture” does not appear in the Bible and comes from a Latin word meaning “to carry or snatch away.” That is the definition of the word that appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 and is defined as “caught up.” This means that the rapture is the snatching away or catching up of all believers from the earth, and it is a common teaching in most evangelical churches. Because of its level of detail and the emphasis that Paul places on it, scholars consider 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 to be the definitive rapture passage in the Bible. Even more, it is presented as a revelation of Jesus directly to the apostle, which adds special significance. This week, we’re going to study this passage — and others — to better understand what the rapture is and how we should respond to that knowledge.

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, Covenant Life Church is pleased to continue the Taboo Series, a series of messages designed to address topics that are considered “taboo” and are not talked about in many church services and sermons. As part of the latest installment, Pastor John and his wife, Valerie, are opening up about their mental health journey and sharing the lessons that they have learned along the way. Together, we’ll work to define mental health, explore possible causes for mental illness and discuss resources or treatment options for those in need. If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one or would like emotional support, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (English) or 1-888-628-9454 (Spanish). The network is available 24/7 across the United States. TTY and Chat options are also available for those who are deaf or heard of hearing.

The word “soul” in the Bible refers to the core of a person and the place where thoughts originate, decisions are made, and feelings are experienced. Anything that changes what you think, how you feel or what you do changes your soul. What we know about biblical motherhood is gleaned from the examples of mothers found in scripture, and no example is as prominently displayed as Mary, the mother of Jesus. This week, we’re going to look at Mary’s life as a mother to discover how mothering Him changed and affected her soul.

The first time Jesus came to earth was all about being the sacrifice for our sins. The next time He comes, He will set up His earthy Kingdom, and we will rule and reign with Him forever. However, there was another period that He was on the earth in the flesh that doesn’t often come to mind. We may understand the purpose of the first coming and the second coming of Christ, but what about the 40 days that He lived on this earth after the resurrection? There does not appear to be any biblical or prophetic reason that Jesus had to be on earth for those 40 days, but He always had a reason for everything that He did. This week, we are going to track some of His movements and activities during that 40-day period, and in doing so, we will discover — as noted in the title of this message — that He came back for us.

This week, Bruce Deel — who founded City of Refuge in 1997 — teaches on Jesus’s encounter with the “woman at the well” in John 4. By examining the four ways that Jesus interacted with the woman, we will learn more about how we can effectively meet the needs of those around us and open doors to share the live-saving message of the Gospel. Located in one of Georgia’s toughest neighborhoods, City of Refuge provides housing, medical and mental health care, educational training, vocational training, case management, an auto repair training center, a safe house for the victims of sex trafficking and a host of other services to the disenfranchised and homeless of Atlanta.

When it comes to Easter, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype, and we often put undue pressure on ourselves to say and do all the right things. The reality is that this day is special all by itself because God came to earth in the form of a man, lived a perfect life, died on a cross, was buried in a top and rose again from the dead. We can rejoice today because Jesus is alive and lives forever, but the message of the resurrection will only change your life if you let it. It will only change your life if it matters to you, and no one cares more about this message than dead people. This week, we are looking at three groups of dead people described in the Bible and how the resurrection changes their lives.

God wants to draw us close and bring understand. He wants to heal, comfort, strengthen and renew, but if we're going to allow God to do these things in our lives, we must be willing to get real. Sometimes, we have to say aloud the things that have been holding us hostage inside. This week, we're going to dive into Psalm 73, going verse by verse to see what God wants to say to His people. Together, we'll explore what the author of this psalm, a man name Asaph, says about God and discover how to apply the lessons we learn to our own lives.

What are you pursuing? Are you locking your eyes on Jesus, or are you easy prey for deceit? Many people think that godliness is a way to material gains; they try to bargain with God and say things like, "If you do this, I'll do that." Instead of trying to acquire and achieve more, we must realize that we can rest in God's sufficiency and know that we have all we need because of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us. This week, Jay Webb from West Metro FCA explores what it means to pursue contentment.

We live in a nation of doers. It’s the American way. We are addicted to activity, and if we ever find ourselves with a spare moment, we feel compelled to fill it with something — social media, news, streaming, reading and more. Why do we act like this? Because we’ve been groomed to believe that if we’re not doing something, we’re wasting our time. It’s into this crazy lifestyle that verses like Psalm 46:10 and Luke 10:38-42 speak. Be still and know that I am God. Only one thing is worth being concerned about, and Mary has discovered it sitting at the feet of Jesus. This week, we're looking at the importance of quiet moments and quiet seasons in the life of a Christian.

We’re coming to the last couple of messages in the CL 168 Series until after Easter, but we must continue to put into practice all that we have learned. We must work hard to become a church that leverages every hour of every week to move the needle on the Kingdom of God — not just the one hour of the week that we are together. Our foundational scripture in Ephesians 5 tells us that we all have something God wants us to do and that we all must live thoughtfully and wisely, maximize every Kingdom opportunity, come together for corporate worship and have a private personal connection with the Lord ourselves. This week, we are exploring what a CL168 life looks like on a daily basis.