Christ Covenant 08.10.14
Community Church

Weekly Update

Church-wide trip to Potomac Nats game, Sunday, August 17,

at 6pm (including the Cowboy Monkey Rodeo - woohoo!)
Click here to purchase tickets, or get more information.

Contact Wes, Sebastian, or Samantha to RSVP.

Young Lives

Thank you so much for your partnership with Young Lives in the 2014 5K! We are so grateful for your church and the way you team together to support local teen moms through Young Lives. Your support helps us to keep reaching you moms with Christ's Love

Blessings, Megan McCormack

Two Outstanding Books

I (Pastor Bill) have had the opportunity to read two books this summer with deep and lasting significance.

Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men by Dr. Leonard Sax, MD

As a trained pediatrician and psychologist, Dr Sax brings background, experience and conviction as he answers the question: "What is about American culture today that is producing a growing number of of 26 year old males who have not completed college, don't hold a steady job and are living in their parent's basement while they play video games?" There are lots of real-life stories to illustrate his points, and many footnotes to further research. Combined with Hurt 2.0 by Chap Clark, I'm prayerfully seeing ministry to students, particularly young male students, in a new light.

Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church by Michael Horton

A professor at Westminster Seminary, CA, Michael Horton connected all the dots for me with regard to the state of church life in the United States today. I knew from my own life how the "Gospel Renaissance" in my own heart changed my life and ministry. I observed that many/most churches and church goers were mired in self-salvation living. This book brought it all into focus with good connection to the entire history of God's work on planet Earth. It is deep enough that it would be helpful to have some background knowledge of church history and theology, but even if difficult, this is an insightful book. If you'd like to hear a sermon where Dr Horton summarizes this book, Click Here.

Christless Christianity - Dr. Michael Horton -
A Five-Minute Introduction To The Problem

Learn the New City Catechism: One Question Per Week

Each week we'll be posting a question and answer from the New City Catechism, along with a brief video explanation.

Question 32:
What do justification and sanctification mean?
Answer:

Justification means our declared righteousness before God, made possible by Christ's death and resurrection for us. Sanctification means our gradual, growing righteousness, made possible by the Spirit's work in us.

NCC Q32: What do justification and sanctification mean?

Click here for a tutorial on using the New City Catechism!

Sunday Sermon

Topic:
Hearing The Voice Of God: Free To Fail

Passage:
1 Samuel 3:1, 7-11, 19-21

Thank You For Serving In Children's Ministry This Week!

Mark Coleman

Rachael Orzechowski

Elyse and Hannah Coleman

Breakfast for School Staff!

Christ Covenant has the opportunity to provide breakfast and coffee for the staff of two local schools on August 25th. We want to welcome them back and give them a great start to the school year. This is a way to show love and be a part of our community! You can help by donating food items, contributing financially, or picking up and dropping off food. Be on the lookout for a sign up form, or contact Bill Lindner for more information.

Represent!

Christ Covenant T shirts for sale in multiple sizes. Comfortable and stylish, and just $5 each. See Allison Webb for purchase, or pay via Paypal at 4cfxbg.org and pick up on Sunday morning.

Grace in FXBG: From Pastor Bill's Blog...

We recently had dinner together as a church followed by open discussion in small groups about new directions for our worship of God at Christ Covenant. I'd like to continue that a bit in light of what I learned, and to share with those not there.

Praying Together
If prayer is like breathing in the life of a believer, then Praying Together - Corporate Prayer - would be like breathing for the Church assembled. It should be a part of every gathering. It should be God-focused, biblical in content, expressive of the life and needs of those gathered and intelligible to all...to read more, click here.

EPC on YouTube

Take some time this week to check out the Evangelical Presbyterian Church's channel on YouTube. Start with this video, which lays out a proposed vision statement and strategies for the future of the EPC:

Strategies for Transfer to Transformation

Click Here for a written synopsis of this presentation.