Covenant Renewal

At Every Covenant Renewal Service,

you should

1. Come into God’s presence

We get called in. It is imperative. You have to come.

2. Confess and Repent of any outstanding sins 

Do this everyday but if the Spirit brings up anything you haven't confessed and repented of, do it now.

3. Receive the Lord’s pardon

Stop groveling in regret, shame and guilt. Stand up forgiven, bold in the presence of the Lord.

4. Forgive anyone that has wronged you

Really, you can do this today. Even big wrongs against you. It only takes a few seconds, if you will.

5. Rejoice with singing

How can such forgiven and forgiving sinners not rejoice?

6. Hear the Word of the Lord, read, preached, and applied

Not just hear it with your ears, but hear it with your heart.

7. Be a hearer of the Word and not just a doer

Now do it. When the charge of the Word is clear, your resistance is disobedience.

8. Commune with God and His people

At the Lord's Supper, you should be at peace with God and as far as it depends upon you, at peace with all saints. Then sit down and eat with them.

9. Depart in peace

Go out in His peace, peace with God and men to fulfill His mandate for every knee to bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Take Heed, Pay Attention

One of our big problems is forgetting, or shall we say, failing to remember. Another major sin we regularly commit, is not paying attention. Parents do this when they fail to notice where their little ones are and what they are doing. The parents sin, as well as the children, when these little ones get into trouble. The problem compounds itself as the children age and get into bigger trouble because the parents are asleep.

         One good place to practice paying attention is here at church. Pay attention to the liturgy. What is going on? What does it mean? What does it mean for me? For my wife? For my husband? For my children? For our relationships together? There is a tremendous amount going on here each Lord’s Day and you cannot get out of the responsibility because you did not understand. You did not understand because you did not pay attention. You did not heed the Word, the Spirit. Stop doing that. Stop passing the buck. Stop making excuses. Instead, take heed, pay attention.