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.