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Have you ever heard someone say that they've been blessed? What were they referring to? Most of the times I've heard that phrase it was in response to good things happening to them: loved ones gathering for a visit, a great new job, a beautiful home... But when Jesus talks about the people who are blessed by God he talks about brokenness, grief, humility, and suffering. What's going on here?! This Sunday, October 30th, we'll be looking at a very well known portion of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as found in the book of Matthew: the Beatitudes. I hope you'll be able to join us as we try to understand what Jesus is talking about -- and the difference it can make in our lives. Special Guest this Sunday: Supt. Greg Yee This Sunday will also include a special visit by our Conference Superintendent, Greg Yee. Greg has led the Pacific Northwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church for the past 3 years and he's excited to be able to join us in worship and bring a greeting from our Conference office. I look forward for you to get a chance to meet Greg! Trunk or Treat this Monday! Once again CCC will be hosting our annual Trunk or Treat event this coming Monday evening. For a number of years now we've welcomed families from our community to our church parking lot where we've parked our vehicles and opened our trunks like a mini neighborhood where kids can go from car to car and collect candy.
Why do we do this? Because our motivation is to build relationships with everyone around us. By being a part of the events and activities in our community, we build positive connections that God can use to allow us to share His love with them. Our deepest hope is that these families will experience new life in Christ -- maybe the seed that leads to that new life will be planted in the form of a mini Snickers! You can still participate by bringing your car and passing out candy -- or simply come and visit with those who come. Following our Trunk or Treat event, Cascade Bible Church will be holding their Harvest Carnival. Spread the word to your neighbors about this great way to spend their Halloween evening! When I was a kid I remember getting into fights with my sister and then having my mom tell us to forgive each other and shake hands. I'm sure that there were times when I went through the motions of shaking hands simply out of a sense of obligation and the pressure I was feeling. As we've been reading through the New Testament together using the Covenant Community Bible Experience, this week we've come across a short, personal letter from the Apostle Paul to a man named Philemon. It's a simple message asking Philemon to forgive his runaway slave, Onesimus, who is coming back to him as a new Christian. This Sunday, October 23rd, we'll be reading this letter and considering what it has to say to us today. I hope you'll be able to join us.  Agros is a wonderful ministry that our church has supported financially for a number of years - most visibly in the White's annual pig roast fund raiser around the 4th of July. This Sunday, October 23rd, we'll have some representatives from this marvelous ministry join us in our worship. Guillermo Jimenez and Nekita Jones will share briefly about Agros and what's been happening with the Honduran village of Bella Vista that we've been supporting.
 It's pretty easy to get set in our ways. There's a certain comfort in doing things a particular way and knowing what to expect. And there's nothing inherently wrong with continuing to think and act in the same way... except when there's something better that our stubbornness is keeping us from experiencing. This week in our Covenant Community Bible Experience readings, we've been following the story in the book of Acts of Jesus' disciples sharing the Good News about new life in Christ. They've basically had to just deal with situations as they've come up - there were no examples of what "church" should look like. Except that all of the first Christians were Jews. They had centuries of history in living with God under the Old Covenant. Were they supposed to leave all of that behind now that they had received Jesus as the promised Messiah? And was the Messiah for non-Jews, too? This Sunday, October 9th, we'll be looking at a pivotal story in the life of the early church: Peter's encounter with Cornelius. This story has a lot to say to us as we seek to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. I hope you'll be able to join us.  Our MOYO group is continuing to grow and provide a place of support and connection for moms with young children both from within our congregation and from throughout the valley. But along with these growing numbers come some expenses that we haven't budgeted for. So this coming Sunday we will have a "love offering" to help out. Please consider bringing something extra to give to this wonderful and growing ministry. We're also looking for some "mentor moms" who would be willing to join the group on Tuesday mornings in order to build friendships and offer some encouragement from personal experience. Please see Lisa Whatley for more information.  There's still plenty of time to jump on board our journey of reading through the New Testament in a way you've never done it before. Simply go to cbe.covchurch.org and sign up to receive daily emails with links to video summaries, audio versions, and to read the day's passage on your device. There are a number of small groups that have sprung up throughout the valley and you're welcome to join in on these "book club style" discussions of our reading.
We've run out of physical copies again, but more will be arriving in about a week. |
Pastor JeffThoughts about living as a Jesus follower and life at Community Covenant Church Archives
December 2020
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