Covenant Life Church

This week, we’re continuing our series called “Flip the Script.” We have established that the world has a script, a set of expectations that people are supposed to follow. However, the Word of God tells us in Romans 12 that we’re not supposed to conform to those customs and behaviors; if we’re going to be followers of Jesus, we have to live according to His will for our lives and flip the script in every area.

Just like other things, the world has a script they want us to follow about money, but the way believers approach money should look different. Our basic understanding of money should come from the Bible. If every good and perfect gift comes from God, there is no such thing as YOUR money. We’re merely stewards of what the Lord has blessed us with, distributing it according to His priorities and principles.

When most of us read Mark 16 or Matthew 28, we think of missionaries and those who go to foreign countries to serve for a week or two. We think that’s how you fulfill the call to go and preach or make disciples, but every day, we get a chance to get up and drive into a “village” full of people who don’t know or don’t care about Jesus. It’s called your job.

Most of us think of our jobs as a hindrance to doing the work of the ministry, but what if we flip the script on that mindset? What if we walked into our workplace every day and saw it not as what’s keeping us from going but the destination God is sending us? When Jesus told us to go, what if He meant work or school instead of church or overseas?

This week, we’re starting a new series called “Flip the Script.” Jesus never explicitly said that we’re supposed to be IN the world but not OF it, but the concept is laid out in John 17:14-16. For pretty much every part of your life, there is a plan or pattern this world wants you to follow: social norms, ethics, values and standards of behavior. These patterns dictate what we do, where we go and how we talk.

There is a gravitational pull toward conforming to the world’s script, but Paul says in Romans 12:2 that we should not conform to it. Don’t give into it; don’t just lazily and obediently do what the world wants you to do. If there is a pattern laid out by the world, the people of God need to break it. This series is all about exposing the areas where we may be following the script and challenging us to turn it upside down.

In Jeremiah 29:11-14, God is speaking to the exiles in Babylon. His message to the Jewish people who had been deported from Jerusalem was one of hope and a future; He wanted them to know that He had plans for them despite their hardship. While graduating isn’t the same as being deported, it is a huge accomplishment reflecting hard work and dedication, and it is a move the rest of the students’ lives.

For Graduation Recognition Sunday, Matt Carlisle — a member of our high school ministry team — encourages young people to build their lives on the firm foundation of God’s Word. By pointing out five common things we’re all likely to face, he illustrates that the things from our childhood can follow us through adulthood, but he also reminds us that Jesus can help us change and overcome the challenges of life.

Motherhood is a double-edged sword. We do not deny that children are a gift from God, but it is equally true that being a mother is a sword that will pierce your soul — as it says in Luke 2:35. Although that verse is about Mary seeing Jesus suffer on the cross, what mother hasn’t felt the slice of that sword as they have watched their own children suffer through the trials of life.

Motherhood is messy. It’s difficult and leaves you with emotional baggage that you are too often too busy, too religious, too polite, too numb or too wounded to deal with, but Jesus is a Healer. If we truly believe our church is in a season of healing, it would make no sense to spend Mother’s Day glossing over things that cause pain. This week, we’re trying to help moms find healing.

Last week was a pivotal moment for the people of Covenant Life. We learned together that there’s power in the presence of God, and we don’t have to wait until the future to access it or worry that we missed it in the past. We can access it right now in our present. Many people prayed to God at the end of service, seeking His help in forgiving those who hurt them and trying to live out His will for their lives, but that type of life change doesn’t happen overnight.

When the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land, they faced many battles and setbacks, but before they could move forward, they needed to stop and heal. The men required a physical circumcision to be set apart for God, but the hearts of everyone in the group needed a spiritual circumcision — a separation from their past selves. The same is required of us; the Lord must be allowed to mend us, so we have the strength to ascend the mountain and seek His glory.

The tent of meeting, which we read about in Exodus 33, was a tent that Moses set up outside the camp of the Israelites. He would go into the tent and meet with God about the decisions he needed to make and directions he needed to take in leading Israel toward the will of God. It was a place where Moses could be in the manifested presence of God. As a matter of fact, some translations called it the Tent of the Lord’s Presence.

When we think of talking to or hearing from God, we often think it may happen at some point in the future or that we missed opportunity sometime in the past. However, the Bible refers to our bodies as temporary tents and says they are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to worry that we’ve missed our chance or wait until the future; we can enter into God’s presence any place and time — right here in the present tense.

When Jesus Christ walked out of the tomb on Easter morning, He walked out in a resurrected physical body. When He was on the earth, He was in a physical body. He was — and IS — a real person. He’s not a mythical figure or a philosophical construct; there is a real Jesus this morning who not only lived, died and rose again but also Who is alive and well this morning and will live forever!

From almost every church on Easter, an invitation will go out to follow Jesus, but not everyone who claims to be a Christian is one. However, not every pulpit is preaching the real Jesus revealed in His Word. The goal of following Jesus isn’t fame or fortune. It is forgiveness of sin, relationship with Him and a commitment to His Kingdom. It’s the ability to say with confidence, “That’s my King.”

There is much to be learned in the four gospels by reading about the crucifixion of Jesus, but what often gets lost in the sensory overload of the events described is the perspective that only time and distance can offer. If you just read the accounts, you’ll get the impression that it was a power play, a political assassination or a religious feud. However, the Bible tells us that Jesus was sent for this.

The crucifixion didn’t happen by accident. It was the plan all along because He loves the world that much. It wasn’t an assassination; Jesus willingly laid down His life. In fact, when Jesus talks about the cross in John 3, He refers to an event from Moses’s life that happened 1,800 years before He was even born. This week, we’re going outside the crucifixion accounts to find new depth and insight.

This week, we’re recognizing what is known around the Christian world as Palm Sunday, which is recorded in all four gospels. It was immediately recognized by all who were present as an announcement of Jesus as the Messiah. Their King had arrived, a moment they had been anticipating for centuries, but although the triumphal entry happened exactly as they had expected, there were a lot of things their hearts were not prepared for.

Thanks to the benefit of hindsight, we understand what Jesus was doing and why it had to be the way it was. When King Jesus arrived, He started to put things in order and reset people’s priorities, which is the same thing that happens when we encounter Jesus today. Using the events of Palm Sunday, Pastor John shares four things we can do to align our misplaced priorities with the Kingdom and get our hearts ready for the King.