Why Do We Sing?

Earlier this month, good friend and colleague, Lee Cooke, posted his thoughts on why sing in worship. As director of worship and music ministries at Asbury UMC, he has refined this wonderfully.

"All of us have music that we like to hear. Technology now lets us have music around us all the time. The availability of constant music is one thing that keeps us from singing. Why sing when you can listen to professionals? Well, there are several good answers to that question.

First, we sing because God created us to sing. The scriptures encourage us to sing to God and praise him!

Second, singing helps us to know what to think about God. The songs we sing are complex statements of faith that have stood the test of time. Our hymns form our faith!

Third, we sing because singing is a window to our souls. Lots of us make the mistaken notion that if we aren’t professionals, we shouldn’t sing. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God loves to hear us, just like we love to hear our grandchildren. We express who we are as we sing. Fourth (and last for this list, but not conclusive by any stretch—I’m not talking about how thrilling the sound of singing is, how fun it can be, how meaningful, etc.!!!!), people who sing together are a powerful force for faith. We are children of God redeemed by God’s wondrous grace. When we sing of God’s grace, there is a power present that is not of this world—it’s of heaven.

When we sing together, don’t just stand there with an embalmed look on your face. Sing like no one but God is listening. God doesn’t care how we sound. He just smiles and pats us on our collective heads!!!!"

See you Sunday,

Of Praise, Pumpkins and People

Time is flying by! First, a great big Praise! It seems like weeks ago, on Easter 2012, we marched out to our side lot, and turned a few shovels of dirt, as we prayed for the blessings of being able to build a new building. Some 15 months later, we have occupied the spot and have broken it in well. The official consecration service will be held Sunday, September 8th, at 10:00 AM. Our bishop, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey will be present, as well as several former pastors. The Chancel Choir, Praise band, Redeemed, and our Handbell Choir will lead us in special music for the day. You won't want to miss this for anything. Following the service, we will take a few minutes to convert the space into our fellowship hall, and serve a meal. Brisket or chicken will be served along with whatever fixings you bring. Invite your friends and family for this grand celebration of all the Lord has been able to accomplish with your generous support.

Secondly, of Pumpkins. As you are aware, our Church has provided a Pumpkin Patch for our community. And while it will be different this year, with the absence of the Mason family, who lead this gigantic effort for the first 8 years, the Patch will go on. We have seen a great response from many people to step up and help put on this wonderful event. You will all be given the opportunity to jump in and help with the sales trailer, field trips, working weekends, etc. I know you will. Oh, did I mention the first two loads of Pumpkins will arrive Sunday, September 29th, with other trucks arriving October 13th and October 20th? All hands will be needed on those Sundays to help unload all those pumpkins to make a patch. Be on the watch for other details of events, etc. A short schedule is in this newsletter. New this year, we are asking some of the non profit groups that have been helped or need help in the future from our Patch funds to be here on the weekends. That way the community can see, as well as hear, about how funds raised benefit others.

Third, People. With Brother Byron having to “retire”, we are trying to discern where and what we need to help our church continue to grow. Some of our leadership will be studying our mission and our needs, in order to best determine what staffing, paid and unpaid, we need to have. Please, please be in prayer as we seek Gods’ will for us and how we are to be the Church our Lord Jesus needs us to be.

Finally, let me encourage you, if you are not now participating in a Bible Study or Sunday school group, to do so. We are called to be disciples, and a disciple is first and foremost a learner of Christ and the Life He calls us to lead. We have many excellent classes on Sunday morning for you, your children, and for your youth. Jump in. Ask me and ask around for the best fit for you and then try it out.

See you in your place of worship.

September 2013 Newsletter Available for Download

September Newsletter

The September 2013 Covenant Newsletter is ready to download and pick up.

1. You can pick up a paper copy in the church narthex the next time you are at church.
or
2. You can download it directly from our website – www.CovenantUM.org. Just look for the "Downloads" section in the right hand column of the first page and click on "Current Newsletter". It looks like this:

You will need to have the free Adobe Reader on your computer. If you don't have it, you can get it here.

See you Sunday,

August 25th Sermon Download Available

This morning's sermon, Bent Out of Shape is now available as a free MP3 download from our website. http://tinyurl.com/5j6nl3. This is part of Brother Chris' Summer School sermon series.

August 18th Sermon Download Available

This morning's sermon, Whole Hog - With Both Feet is now available as a free MP3 download from our website. http://tinyurl.com/5j6nl3. This is part of Brother Chris' Summer School sermon series.

Food for the Soul - This Week at Covenant

Public School Opens
Not only should we be more careful as we drive around town, we need to Pray for our schools, staff,students, family, and administration. May God's Light be Shared in the schools. We had a great day yesterday, as Lindsay shared in the Blessing of the Bags. 

Wednesday Night
6:00pm - Join us for the last Summer Solace Worship Service, in the Sanctuary. A short devotion, prayer, Holy Communion Service. Indeed Food for the Soul. We won't feed you supper, but the Lord will feed your soul

Saturday Morning
8:00am - Men's Breakfast and a short workday following.

Sunday
We get to worship all over again. A baptism at our 9:00am service, Recognition of the Covenant Preschool and Mother's Day Out staff at our 11:00am service.

My message is: Whole Hog and With Both Feet.

Grief Recovery Program Available

• Time: Sundays at 3:30 for 13 weeks.
• Date: First meeting is on August 25th.
• Location: Asbury UMC - Church Administration Building (Welcome to Asbury) Asbury is located on the corner of Johnston and Live Oak. Greeters will be on hand to direct participants to their classroom.
• Phone: 984-4211, Jan Cooke (jancooke@asbury-umc.org), Adult Ministry
• Cost: One-time fee of $15 for workbook. Workbook purchase is optional. There is no fee charged for joining this group.

“Grief Share” is a network of thousands of grief recovery support group meetings around the world.  In this program, participants learn how to walk the journey of grief with support along the way.  These weekly “Grief Share” groups are designed to help people recover from the deep hurt of death and find healing and hope.

There are three components to “Grief Share”, a 13 week program:

1. Groups share a video featuring personal stories of people grieving the death of a loved one along with expert insights on topics important to grief recovery.
2. Participants become part of a small support group where discussion centers on the video but also includes the discussion of problems and successes experienced by group members.  Group members are never asked to share personal experiences unless they make the choice to do so.
3. Groups discuss their workbook, From Mourning to Joy, which includes daily prayers, meaningful reflections, questions and comforting Bible Scriptures.  Each session lasts approximately 90 minutes.

To learn more about “Grief Share”, log onto www.griefshare.org.

I highly recommend this program from personal experience. Do someone a favor and tell them about "Grief Share".

August 11th Sermon Download Available

This morning's sermon, Find the Light, Walk in the Light, Reflect the Light is now available as a free MP3 download from our website. http://tinyurl.com/5j6nl3. This is part of Brother Chris' Summer School sermon series.

Baked Potato & Sweet Sale

Baked Potato & Sweet Sale This Sunday

First off, thank you to all the parents who were able to come chaperone a shift or cook breakfast at the Back-to-school Lock-in. The youth had an awesome time and we really appreciate your support.

But we need your help again. This Sunday, August 11th, we will have our baked potato & sweets sale. This fundraiser will help us replenish our youth fund that allows us to plan all the fun events and mission projects that we do. We are asking for help from all youth (and some adults) to bring sweets to sell. We will also need some help prepping potato fixings, selling after both services, and cleaning up after.

How you can help:

1. Bring individually wrapped sweet treats to sell. 
2. Have your youth present 9:30-1:00 
3. Let us know in advance if you can help us in the kitchen at any point during the event.

Thanks for you help!
Craig & Melissa Hartwell

Mission Kids Returns

Covenant's Mission Kids program will kick-off the 2013-2014 season with its first meeting on Sunday, August 25th from 3:30-5:00 PM. All children in 1st-5th Grades are invited to join us on that day when we will collaborate with the Youth in their mission to prepare flood buckets for UMCOR. (If you would like to make a donation to this worthy cause, a list of needed items for the flood buckets has been published by our Youth Directors in the August newsletter.)

Mission Kids aims to open the eyes of our children about the many ways that, even at their young age, they can show the love of Christ to others. Our calendar of events will be distributed at our first meeting, but we plan to meet on Sunday afternoons once a month during the school year. A typical meeting will include games, Bible, fellowship, snacks and, of course hands-on mission work. Also, we occasionally go on missions field trips where the whole family can be involved in service work together.

***If you plan to register your child for this program, please contact Leigh Nugent, Mission Kids coordinator, by email at vlbraswell@hotmail.com, so that we can prepare enough materials for each child. We are looking forward to another great year of fun mission projects with the children!***

Sincerely,
Leigh Nugent
Mission Kids Coordinator
vlbraswell@hotmail.com

Bible Boot Camp

ATTENTION:  Calling all 3rd grade cadets.  Report for duty on Saturday, August 24 at 9 a.m.  Details of assignment below:

BIBLE BOOT CAMP
Bible Boot Camp is a fun-filled day designed for our 3rd graders to dive into the Bible and discover just how amazing God's word is!  Cadet's will participate in:

• "Weapon Training"
• How to Use Your Bible
• "Basic Maneuvers"
• Bible Study Methods
• "Survival Skills"
• What's in the Bible and Why 
• "Combat Readiness"
• ...and more!

Lunch and snacks will be provided for all of our cadets.  Please email Lindsay Perry at children@covenantum.org to register for this exciting day.

Registration information needed:

• Child's name
• Child's birthdate
• Mailing address
• Home phone/Cell phone
• Parent(s)/Guardian(s) name
• email address
• Child's t-shirt size
• Emergency contact name/number
• Allergies/medical conditions
• Any other information we may need to care for your child  

All 3rd graders will be presented their Bible during the worship service on Sunday, August 25th.  Please let Lindsay Perry know if you have a 3rd grader who will not be able to participate in Bible Boot Camp to assure that we have a Bible for them!

Sincerely,
Lindsay Perry
Director of Children's Ministries
children@covenantum.org

August 4th Sermon Download Available

This morning's sermon, One Bread - One Body is now available as a free MP3 download from our website. http://tinyurl.com/5j6nl3. This is part of Brother Chris' Summer School sermon series.