Covenant Life Church

In December 2023, Pastor Robby unexpectedly lost his only child, Kylie. Despite being raised in church and having a great relationship with God, nothing could prepare him for the tragedy, and in the aftermath of her passing, he has faced countless questions and a lot of searching. Even now, he still can’t fully process the grief and cope with the new world in which he and his wife are living.

This week, Robby opens up about his experience and the many “God moments” that have led him back to the pulpit. Amid all the things he still doesn’t know or understand, he has discovered that there is one thing he has needed more than anything: hope. Together, we will discover that hope has a name, and it’s Jesus. In fact, the name of Jesus contains everything we could ever want or need.

This week, we are finishing a short series called “Glimpses of Glory.” Sometimes, the glory of God gives you an understanding of the name and nature of God. Other times, you will receive cleansing from sin or calling to ministry. Now, we’re talking about times that the glory of God manifests itself in a tangible way, where Heaven touches earth in a way that is undeniable and unforgettable.

If we are truly going to pursue the glory of God the way He is calling us to, we have to open our spiritual minds up to the possibility that God may express Himself in ways we’ve never seen and didn’t expect. In this message, we’re exploring times in the Word and in our own lives when God expresses Himself this way, offering glimpses of His glory that are spiritual in nature but physical in expression.

This week, we are finishing a short series called “Glimpses of Glory.” Sometimes, the glory of God gives you an understanding of the name and nature of God. Other times, you will receive cleansing from sin or calling to ministry. Now, we’re talking about times that the glory of God manifests itself in a tangible way, where Heaven touches earth in a way that is undeniable and unforgettable.

If we are truly going to pursue the glory of God the way He is calling us to, we have to open our spiritual minds up to the possibility that God may express Himself in ways we’ve never seen and didn’t expect. In this message, we’re exploring times in the Word and in our own lives when God expresses Himself this way, offering glimpses of His glory that are spiritual in nature but physical in expression.

Throughout our current series, which is called “Glimpses of Glory,” we are talking about how God longs to show us His glory but can only share glimpses of it because of His overwhelming power and majesty. However, even a glimpse or a moment in His glory can change your life!When we talk about glory, we are talking about a manifestation of God in a way that is transformative; it isn’t understood so much as it is experienced.

Last week, we looked at what happened when Moses asked to see God’s glory in Exodus 33. God revealed His name and His nature. This week, we’re using Isaiah 6:1-8 to explore the concept of cleansing and calling. There is no question that what Isaiah experienced in this passage of Scripture was a manifestation of God’s glory. It may have been a different experience than that Moses had, but it was no less powerful.

This week, we’re starting a new series called “Glimpses of Glory,” which is focused on the glory of God. The roots of this series are found in a previous series we completed last called “Covenant Living.” We encourage you to watch or listen to these messages if you have not done so. Exodus 33:11-23 served as the basis for that series, and we’re revisiting it for this series, too.

There are many different passages in the Bible where God revealed His glory to people and many expressions of that glory, but churches don’t talk about it much because it’s difficult to understand and cannot be controlled. With this series, Pastor John is attempting to restore a biblical understanding and appreciation of God’s glory, starting with a message called “The Name and Nature of God.”

In Matthew 6:9-10, Jesus tells us how to pray that God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. In a sense, He’s trying to bring heaven to earth. In Ephesians 2, we read that Satan is the ruler of the kingdom of the air. He deceives people into doing the opposite of God’s will. He creates chaos and confusion. His whole purpose is to pollute the atmosphere here on earth with the same things that await him in Hell.

This week, we’re talking about how easy it is to get polluted air in your lungs — even spiritually. Satan is really good at this. He can lead us to focus on negative things and breathe in the air of Hell until we are in a full-blown panic. On the other hand, we see that Jesus never allowed what was going on around Him to get into Him. We must learn to do the same; we have to change the source of what we breathe.

We’re continuing our relationship series called Crosswinds. Headwinds give you lift, and tailwinds give you speed. It’s the wind that comes across that will take you out. The Kingdom of God is built on relationships, and if we plan to have a growing intimacy in our vertical relationship with God, we have to pay attention to the horizontal relationships we have with others. It’s important that we address the crosswinds damaging our relationships.

In this series, we have been talking about three big crosswinds. If you eliminate these things, about 85% of your relationship problems will be solved. We talked about excessive alcohol and sexual impurity, and this is our third week talking about immaturity. In the Bible, Jesus is calling us to be child-like to make it in the Kingdom of God, but Paul warns us to grow up and not be childish. We have been learning that the difference is humility.

We are continuing our series called Crosswinds, which is all about the things in your horizontal relationships that hinder your vertical relationship with the Lord. How you treat people matters, and if we’re going to pursue the glory of God, we have to pay attention to our relationships with others because God is definitely paying attention.

So what are the crosswinds that will take out your relationships? We’ve talked about excessive alcohol consumption and sexual immorality. Last week, we began talking about immaturity, and we’re continuing that discussion this week by focusing on how we should change the way we speak, think and reason to be more mature believers.

This week, we’re beginning the last message in the Crosswinds Series, which has been all about the things that destroy our relationships and disrupt our spiritual progress in pursuing God’s glory. In other words, we’re exploring the horizontal things that become the lid for the vertical things in our lives. Wind isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. Headwinds provide lift, and tailwinds provide speed. Crosswinds, on the other hand, aren’t helpful for anyone.

Our two opening scriptures (1 Corinthians 13:11 and Matthew 18:1-4) both reference childhood, but one seems to encourage it while the other seems to reject it. Jesus says that we have to be like children to be successful in the Kingdom of God, but Paul says we should put away childish things. For this message, we’re going to talk about the crosswind of immaturity, which takes a tole on our relationships. The key is to learn to be child-like but not childish.

We’re in the middle of a three-part series on relationships called Crosswinds. If you picture a cross, there are two pieces of wood: a vertical piece and a horizontal piece. Throughout this series, we’re talking about horizontal things — how we conduct ourselves and interact with people around us — that can hinder our vertical pursuit of God’s glory. While headwinds give us lift and tailwinds give us speed, crosswinds are never helpful.

Last week, we talked about the first common crosswind in our relationships: the excessive use of alcohol. We learned that it never helps and provided resources to help those dealing with this issue. This week, we’re going to talk about our next crosswind: sexual impurity. It’s mentioned often in the Bible, but many churches don’t discuss it. Together, we’ll explore how sexual impurity is killing our marriages and other relationships.