Covenant Presbyterian Church Augusta

9/15/2024 Take Up and Follow

As followers of Christ, it is hard work to decide when to speak and when to remain silent. We feel called to speak up about injustice, but we also don't want to damage relationships. We believe that accountability is important, but we don't want it to overshadow the grace of God. We have passion for an issue, but we don't want to silence others or diminish their dignity. When should I speak, and when should I bite my tongue? Our readings from Mark and James both address this conundrum and I'm looking forward to exploring them with you.

9/8/2024 "It's Not Fair"

Andy Cooke is one of the most even-keeled people I know, but if you want to get him riled up, just tell him something isn't fair. As our children have learned, arguing about fairness is not the way to get Andy on your side. It's a human thing to want life to be fair, but life is often otherwise. We recognize that truth in our own lives, and we see it in the story of the Syrophoencian woman in this Sunday's gospel reading from Mark. The woman's audacity seems to surprise Jesus, and his response might surprise us. We'll explore this story together in worship on Sunday morning.

9/1/2024 Trustworthy Tutorial

When you need to learn to do something, finding trustworthy sources of information can be a challenge, especially if you consult the internet. Luckily we can take the "old school" alternative and consult Holy Scripture, which gives us two excellent tutorials about how to live as faithful people in our Psalm and Epistle lessons this week.

8/25/2024 Keeping Covenant

We've been in Ephesians the past few weeks. We'll finish that book with a reading from chapter six this Sunday, but our focus is moving back to the Old Testament story. Our reading is from First Kings, and it is the story of King Solomon's dedication of the temple. It is one of those stories that can be hard to read on your own, but which can really open up when take some time with it. I'm excited to read it with you.

8/18/2024 Care-ful Living

Be careful.This is what we say to people we love when we think they might be in a risky situation - a friend meeting a blind date for the first time, a teenager driver leaving the house to meet friends on a Friday night, or a child climbing on playground equipment. We care about the people we love, and we want them to be okay."Be careful" is the opening phrase in this Sunday's lectionary reading from Ephesians, and there's a sense that's there love behind this caution as well. As people of faith, we are to be careful (though not fearful) in how we live.

8/11/2024 Imitators of God

The latter half of the book of Ephesians deals with ethical behavior in Christian communities. In the sermon, we look at Ephesians 4:25-5:2, and particularly the phrase “be angry but do not sin” alongside the story of Wilma Derksen, a Mennonite woman whose daughter was murdered in the 1980s.

8/4/2024 Worthy of the Calling

This Sunday and next, we will be looking at Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Paul's letters sometimes look like internal documents that we were not meant to see, but the truth is that we all need to see them. We need to wrestle alongside these early Christian communities and figure out what we believe and how we will act. And it seems timely to work on this before we kick off the fall calendar in a couple weeks.

7/28/2024 "I The Lord of Sea and Sky"

The fourth and final hymn of our "Then Sings My Soul" sermon series is "I, the Lord of Sea and Sky," which is perhaps more familiarly known as "Here I Am, Lord." I have a clear memory of singing this hymn in the pews of my home church when I was in high school. My youth group friends and I would sing it with gusto; this hymn was one of our all-time favorites. I'm looking forward to singing it with you on Sunday and considering how this hymn both testifies to God's power and reminds us of God's call to each of us to be part of God's work in the world.

7/21/2024 "Lord of the Dance"

This Sunday we continue with our series, "Then Sings My Soul."  Today's him is "Lord of the Dance."  There are so many beautiful things about this hymn - its summary of Jesus' life, the image of dancing, and the well-known Shaker tune "Simple Gifts." I'm looking forward to exploring the hymn with you more in worship on Sunday, and maybe we'll even be inspired to do a little dancing together!

7/24/2024 "Be Thou My Vision"

Last week, we began our July sermon series that we are calling Then Sings My Soul. We will continue our series this Sunday as we contemplate another of your favorite hymns: Be Thou My Vision. Our Scriptural focus will be the story of God coming to Abram in a vision in Genesis 15, and we’ll think together about what it means for God to "be our vision," as the writer of this hymn would have it.