Christ Covenant Community Church

Jacob is a man with great promises from God who chooses to live life by his own strength and schemes. Not until late in life does he face the end of his own self-reliance. He discovers that he is both unable to overcome God and that God can be trusted. Though he limps away from this encounter, Jacob has now learned to walk by faith.

Rob and Tiffany celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary with the story of the Heavenly Father's grace that brought them through seasons of difficulty into a new and authentic relationship with Him and each other.

Renewing our response to God's grace with a commitment of service.

Prayer is about "drawing near" to God. Pastor Bill speaks to three heart issues that prevent drawing near, as well as the place to find God's answers to those problems.

It is a healthy practice to step back from the rush of life to look back at where we have been with what the Father has done, and then look forward to prayerfully get a sense of what the Father would want to do. That is exactly what we hope to do in January with Covenant Renewal. This week we consider the value of Bible reading, by looking at the life of Esau, a person who squandered his opportunity to bless others because his heart loved immediate gratification more than the promises of God.

Perseverance is a response to God's grace that Paul speaks of and that Mary embodies.

The people of Israel were looking for a new king, but instead a Savior was born in Bethlehem. This reminds us that our deepest need is first to be rescued, for only then can we be guided by our new King.

The Vision given to Daniel includes a glimpse at how God's people will thrive in the difficult days ahead. They will believe. They will resist. They will teach. And they will pray.

Daniel receives a vision that he cannot understand and faces a decision: trust God? or trust his understanding? As it turns out, the vision comes true across the centuries of world history after Daniel, teaching us that God is trustworthy and sovereign, and calling us to trust God even when we don't understand.

Daniel, after years of life lived well in response to grace, has a visionary encounter on the banks of the Tigris. Here, he gets peek behind the curtain of physical reality. Knowing that life is hard, Daniel discovers one cause of why life can be hard, but find assurance that we are not alone.

Daniel is a model of "Kingdom Praying."

The Pilgrims who came to Plymouth are an example of gospel community that can instruct and inspire us.

Daniel has a vision and we see that the times in which he lives - and the times in which we live - are God's times.

Daniel has a vision of four strange beasts that are meant to remind us all that God is present in our lives right where we are, and the He is sovereign over everything we face in life.

Daniel is free and secure in the Gospel to serve others - to bring benefit even to Babylon - even when that service is unappreciated or betrayed. Still, even when that grace leads him to the lion's den, Daniel is brought through and points to the true and greater One who was betrayed and abandoned to death - but who conquered it for us!

Belshazzar the King is confronted by the hand of God writing judgement on the wall. Seeing the sin beneath his behavior helps us discern and challenge the idols of our own heart as well.

At the end of a long career, Daniel is now out of sight and out of mind. Until there is a need for him. No matter the ups or downs of life, a heart that is set on trusting God will be at peace and ready to serve.

Once again, Daniel is interpreting a dream for King Nebuchadnezzar. This time it points to the coming fall that follows the King's pride.

Three young men make a choice to stand out from the crowd by not letting the king write the next chapter of their lifestory. What looks like a final chapter in a furnace, becomes instead an encounter with the Living God.

Daniel faces a crisis in a dysfunctional workplace - one that threatens his life! In the face of that, his trust in God becomes the resource for serving the King in a way that brings life to all and glory to God.

Daniel faces a question deeper than "What can I eat?" Instead living hopefully in a hostile world is all about "Who do I trust?"

Steering Committee Wanda Haney shares the story of God's grace in the midst of loss and sadness when her husband Wendell suddenly dies on September 11, 2008.

Like us, Daniel lived in troubled times in which some people surrendered to the culture around them, and others attempted to separate from it. Daniel was different. He chose to serve by living out the prophet Jeremiah's word in Jeremiah 29 to settle in the new land . ., plant . ., marry . ., and pray for the peace of the city (of Babylon!).

A life- changing encounter with the Living God is what made Isaiah, Peter, and now each of us, live-changing people for God.

Fifteen years after Paul meets Jesus on the Damascus Road, he is seeking direction for ministry and has a vision of a Macedonian man. We see evidence of the dramatic change of heart that the Gospel has effected in Paul.

Saul of Tarsus begins his journey to Damascus authorized and intending to persecute and imprison the followers of Jesus. Along the way, Saul meets Jesus, and his life is metamorphasized. What parts of this encounter are unique to Paul and what parts are to be expected in any encounter with the Risen Savior Jesus?

The Gospel of Grace now moves beyond Jerusalem to Samaria - geographically nearby, but culturally distant. There, an unlikely magician name Simon comes to faith, but like us, he has unfinished heart work. Peter, used of the Holy Spirit, becomes the friend who can help Simon navigate the pathways of the heart.

A painful situation - persecution - is also used by the Father to fulfill His purpose of extending the Gospel of Grace beyond it's current confines in Jerusalem to the ends of all the earth. While there is certainly death and mourning, we see how we can find our place and our joy in God's greater purpose.

Stephen and the authorities are looking at the same events - but hearing different - indeed conflicting - stories. The authorities hear a story about their special identity and what God expects them to do to keep it. Stephen tells the story of Moses and the Old Testament to point out the Father's heart to rescue his hard-hearted people.

The church in Jerusalem was in a season of rapid and dramatic growth when conflict erupted within the church between two different ethnic groups. How the apostles responded demonstrates how hearts secure in the Gospel of Grace can see joy and healing emerge where pain and suspicion had been before.

This well known story presents us with an important question: Is David a model for how we must perform in facing the giants of our own life? Or is he a shadow of the True and Perfect David who was to come? The One Who has rescued us in our fear and now leads us forward to overcome the brokenness and oppression of our world

This passage teaches us about sexual purity by teaching us about Who we belong to and why. Paul is concerned with far more than behaviors as speaks of our costly adoption by a loving God.

Grace is at work to produce in us an "Incarnational Generosity." Even as this grows in the early church in Jerusalem, a husband and wife act hypocritically, and pay a surprising price.

A man crippled from birth seeks charity from Peter and John as they head into the temple to pray but receives instead a supernatural, physical healing. We learn that Grace-Based Ministry depends on God's Timing and His Power, but always requires of us a step - whether to engage or to receive.

Dr. Luke continues his history of Jesus with this history of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promises His people a new person and power; The Holy Spirit Who will turn their hearts towards others.

Unexpected suffering often finds us unable to understand what we are facing or where God is in the circumstances. Paul faced this himself and shows us how to find hope in the midst of suffering.

The story of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8 embodies the promise seen here by Isaiah: a day is coming when the walls of exclusion will be broken down and even those who have been left empty by the idols of their heart will be gathered in to relationship with God.

Our Father's voice is the means of instruction in our Father's thoughts.

God's Servant has a love for the broken and distant people that is like the deep love of a mother for her nursing child and more. His love towards us never fades, because it is a reflection His character, not our performance. In the end, He demonstrates that love with the great gift of His life.

God calls us to trust Him, and shows us that He is trustworthy as He has prepared for our deliverance even before our suffering.

Isaiah was given the name and mission of King Cyrus of Persian 150 years before the king reigned. Similarly, 700 years before the life of Jesus Isaiah is is given in this passage a vision of the LORD's Servant, One who would establish a justice that would do more than "even the score." It would be the restoration of all creation to what it was meant to be. This Servant would do that not only by being compassionate, but by taking upon Himself the wounds of the people.

Amazing! Jesus tells His disciples - and us with them - that He has made us His friends, not just servants of His teaching. His death and resurrection open the way to a personal encounter with Him by grace. We meet Him for a first-hand "knowledge of" Him - a taste of honey - and not just a second-hand "knowledge about" Him or His teaching. This is the power to love others as He has loved us.

Grace and judgment are the twin children of God's Justice and Mercy. Grace helps us see sin as something deeper than just behaviors, so we understand what the Scriptures mean when they say "all have sinned." In the very moment that we see our own sin though, we hear the voice of Jesus: "I am coming judge, but you can receive me now as present savior.

Holiness is not a condition or set of behaviors that God demands of us. It is the work of grace in our lives that brings joy, hope, protection, humility and service. Hear how authentic grace-based holiness protects and frees the work of God in your life. Learn how "Younger Brother Holiness" erodes holiness to make it achievable and how "Older Brother Holiness" hardens our heart and separates from our Father and others.

Paul arrives in Athens to bring the good news of the Gospel. By carefully listening to the artists of the time and observing the life of the city, he finds where the LORD had planted a sermon illustration into the Athenian culture some 650 years earlier, as well as a heart cry that the Gospel would speak to. This missions text guides our own outreach in this same way.

Baptism is meant to be expressing faith through love in response to God's grace. Throughout the New Testament, it is offered to new converts and their children because it was understood in light of the Old Testament practice or circumcision and the grace of the gospel. The Father makes wonderful promises to parents, and He can be trusted through all the challenges of real life.

Baptism - how it is done, who does it and when to do it - is often a contentious matter among Christians. The Gospel of grace gives us a new perspective on how baptism plays a role in the Father's work in our life. Faith expressing itself through love in response to the Father's grace.

The Gospel changes everything! Pastor Bill shares his journey and brief summary of years of Bible study that have brought him to the conviction that the Gospel is creating a new community of grace where women can be gifted and called to serve as leaders.

The Pilgrims and the celebration of the first Thanksgiving in 1621 illustrate a grace-based thankfulness: not just thankful TO God for His blessings, but thankful FOR God Himself as the gift of grace.

There is a hunger in the human heart that yearns for security and love. Trying to meet that need through our own efforts and achievements - self-righteousness - is like trying to quench our natural thirst by drinking salt water. Jesus challenges the Pharisees - and us - to see four different ways that we try to secure our own sense of identity and security apart from the Gospel, even as He calls us to rest in His grace.