Covenant Presbyterian Church Augusta

4/20/2025 Stories Without Endings

The story of Jesus' resurrection is our annual, insistent reminder that God is not done with the world, with us, or with God's own story yet, and, as Pastor Katelyn Gordon Cook explains, it is a reminder that is joyful, perplexing, surprising, and overwhelming all at the same time.

4/13/2025 Stories of Hope

Pastor Andy Cook tells us this week that this Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week with our Palm Sunday service. Holy Week is a time to remember the words and actions of Jesus and his disciples during that last week in Jerusalem before his resurrection. There is a lot that happens in that week, so it is helpful to pay attention to that story across several days rather than just on Sundays. You might even considering taking time to read that story slowly over the course of this coming week. If you open Luke's Gospel, then you can read one chapter from Luke 19-23 on each weekday.

4/6/2025 God is Doing a New Thing

After weeks of penitential and solemn texts, our Lectionary passages for this Sunday offer a different tone. In the midst of Jesus’ sacrificial journey towards Jerusalem, our Old Testament passages proclaim God is doing a new thing, and that God’s redemptive action can fill even those tired and downcast with laughter and joy.  As pastor Karla Conditt Daniels tells us, our New Testament readings serve as reminders; before we can experience the fullness of God’s Spirit, we must empty ourselves of selfish and miserly beliefs. Only then can we be filled with the goodness of God, made known in Jesus the Anointed One.

3/30/2025 Stories of Being Prodigal

We are in for a treat this week as we welcome The Reverend Gail Henderson-Belsito as our guest preacher on Sunday morning. Gail will preach on another powerful story in Scripture - the parable of the Prodigal Son.The stories of Scripture - ancient though they may be - have relevance for us in our present day experiences and circumstances, and we are grateful that we get to share these stories together at Covenant.

3/23/2025 Stories of Abundance

Lent can be a tough time to worship together. There are ashes and talk of death, sin, and repentance. There's usually some sort of fast or self-denial. On the first two Sundays in Lent, we've talked about temptation, wilderness, and promises in the midst of doubt. The themes of Lent are weighty and often do not often feel joyful or upbeat.Today, Pastor Andy Cooke brings you a bit of a reprieve this Sunday. Our focus will be on God's abundance, especially as it is envisioned in Isaiah 55. If we look at Lent the right way, then we are really shifting focus and making room for the joy and abundance of God to have a place in our lives. Repentance and self-denial are not ends in and of themselves. Instead, they are means to make room for God in our lives. This Sunday, we will get a glimpse of what God might bring when we shift our priorities and our actions.

3/16/2025 Stories of Promise

In our Scripture passage this Sunday, we'll hear the story of God making an especially important promise to Abraham. It was a promise that would set the course for Abraham's future and the future of God's people, and God would make good on the promise - as God always does. As we continue in the season of Lent, listen to Pastor Katelyn Gordan Cooke as she urges us to consider the nature of God's promises throughout the story of our faith and the promises that God makes to us today.

3/9/2025 Stories of Temptation

During Lent, we will have a 9-part sermon series based on our theme for the year, The Stories We Tell. This Sunday, Pastor Andy Cooke preaches on Stories of Temptation, and we will look at the story of Jesus and his temptation in the wilderness in Luke 4.

3/2/2025 Clouds and Light

This Sunday, Pastor Andy Cook, shares the story of the Transfiguration, which is one of the last things that Jesus does in Galilee before he "set his face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51). This story is mysterious and powerful. Jesus goes up a mountain to pray and his disciples are perplexed by all that they hear and see. Join us  as we explore this story of clouds and light together.

2/23/2025 Commanded to Love

Last Sunday, we heard the first several verses of Jesus' Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus proclaimed blessings to those who are usually considered less fortunate (the poor, the hungry, the persecuted) and woes to those who are usually considered successful and admirable (the rich, the full, the well-regarded). It is the opposite of what we expect and experience in our own lives.Jesus doesn't ease up in the rest of his sermon, as we hear from Pastor Katelyn Gordon Cooke, "Love your enemies," Jesus commands his disciples. "Do good to those who hate you, bless those that curse you, pray for those who abuse you." Again, it is the opposite of what we expect and experience in the world around us, but perhaps that is why Jesus is so adamant about it.

2/16/2025 A Level Place

In today's sermon, Pastor Andy Cooke brings a powerful message for all of the church.  He preaches on the pivot in America away from Christ's teachings in the Sermon on the Plain, about Christian hospitality, compassion and inclusiveness.