Covenant Life Church

This week, Pastor John is sharing the annual State of the Church message, looking back at our ministry impact in 2021. Together, we’ll explore what we saw in the areas of attendance, giving and The Jericho Project, and we will discuss our church’s three areas of prayer for 2022.

There are 168 hours in a week, and we spend 167 hours in some place other than church. To be both more effective and more biblical, we need to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” and change the way that we think about church. We spend all 167 hours of the week focused on getting ready for the ministry of a one-hour church service when we should be spending our church services preparing f...

Last week was officially the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, as established by President Reagan in 1984. In Genesis 1:27, we find that God is the Creator of persons, and in Acts 10:34, we find out that He is no respecter of those persons. That verse in Genesis is all we need to know about why human life is sacred. It says we are created in the image of God Himself, which means that we have this div...

Last week, we talked about how prayer should not be a last resort for followers of Jesus Christ; it should be our first instinct. As we face each new day, challenge, opportunity and blessing, we should pray first, but as passionate as we should be about facing every situation with prayer, the phrase “pray first” is incomplete. What happens after we pray or while we’re praying has just as much to d...

Unfortunately, many believers today view prayer as a last resort instead of recognizing that it is a tremendous privilege to bring our requests before the throne of the Almighty God. Too often, we get ourselves into trouble because we do not pray, so before we plan, brainstorm or call for the wisdom of our counselors, we have to learn to pray first. Have you ever done what seemed right or made an...

Based on Jesus’s descriptions of faith in Mark 11 and Mark 16, which focus on moving mountains and miraculous signs, how would you rate your faith? Would your ranking change based on certain circumstances? This week, we’re learning how to overcome our doubt and increase our faith when it may be limited. Once our doubts have been dismantled, we can then ask God for more faith, enabling us to accomp...

Every Christmas, we pause for a cute family photo and eat a delicious meal, but after the presents have been opened, we return to life as normal. Stores that close one day each year reopen, and we get back to our normal responsibilities. This week, we’re talking about how we can hold onto the joyful anticipation and hope of the holiday season throughout the year, and it all revolves around slowing...

Did you know the first reference to Christmas in the Bible is not in Matthew or Luke? It’s not even in Isaiah or any of the other prophetic books. It’s in Genesis. No mention of wisemen or shepherds. No angelic visitation, no mangers and no one hating on the poor innkeeper yet. Even so, right there in the first book of the Bible, there it is: a reference to Christmas. This week, we’re talking abou...

When you read the account of Christmas in the Bible, you will see many people — including the shepherds, Mary, Joseph and Zechariah — who had unforgettable experiences with angels, but there were some major players in the unfolding events who got no direct, divine notice of their role. Not everyone got an angel. While God certainly still speaks to us through angels, He often speaks in ways that ar...

This week, we’re going to explore the fact that everything in our lives can change in a moment. As a matter of fact, the things that we remember most — the surprise proposal or the surprise break-up, the call with the job offer or the call with the diagnosis — are moments that changed everything. It’s been said over and over, but you should never underestimate the power of a moment. In Luke 2:8-20...

This week, Pastor John shares an update on The Jericho Project, the local and global outreach of Covenant Life to join the fight against human sex trafficking. We’ll look back at the start of the Project and discuss our three-pronged approach to “rescue the Rahabs” and restore the lives of those who have been negatively impact by this terrible issue. We will discuss our work with House of Cherith...

This week, we’re taking a break from our “Humility” series to seek encouragement from the Word of God. The world is full of uncertainty, and many people — both in our local church and the Church at large — are going through serious and difficult situations. In Psalm 46:1 (KJ21), the Bible says that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” We must remember that trouble does...

As we begin to wrap up our series called “Humility: The Key to Childlike Faith” over the next few weeks, Pastor John will focus on the things that will kill pride and help us walk in the character of Jesus. A few verses after Jesus starts talking to the disciples about the Kingdom at the start of Matthew 18, He tells the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant. This week, we will use this parable to exp...

In this week’s message, Pastor John steps out of his comfort zone, moving aside the pulpit and being honest about what God is doing in his life. By learning about his experiences and focusing on the words of Christ in Matthew 18, we will explore the idea together that everyone has their own way of doing things, and we often put limits on God because of pride. We want to follow Him — but only if we...

This week, we’re continuing our series called Humility: The Key to Childlike Faith and looking at the ways that pride disrupts our relationship with Jesus. In order to see the destructive properties of pride, we’re looking at the first creation to sin: Lucifer, who we more frequently refer to as Satan or the devil. By looking at his life before he fell, we can be sure that we don’t follow his foot...

Throughout our lives, we may ask God why we must face difficult situations and circumstances. We may lament the injuries and illnesses that we endure, but we tend to forget that the Lord is incapable of making a mistake. He is always faithful, and if we’re still alive, it means that He has more for us to do and accomplish. Using the experiences of Paul, Elijah and Mephibosheth, Pastor Jeremy talks...

Throughout our lives, we may ask God why we must face difficult situations and circumstances. We may lament the injuries and illnesses that we endure, but we tend to forget that the Lord is incapable of making a mistake. He is always faithful, and if we’re still alive, it means that He has more for us to do and accomplish. Using the experiences of Paul, Elijah and Mephibosheth, Pastor Jeremy talks...

Pastor John Butler Real. Relational. Reaching. https://www.covenantlifebremen.org/

Throughout our series called Humility: The Key to Childlike Faith, we have explored the idea that being effective in the Kingdom of God revolves around being truly and authentically humble. Last week, we talked about the fact that pride prevents personal and spiritual progress. This week, we’re looking at something else that pride prevents: spiritual intimacy. The word intimacy has lots of differe...

Last week, we started a new series called Humility: The Key to Childlike Faith. In the first message, we learned that pride is the opposite of faith. If we have faith in God, we are totally dependent upon Him. If we are full of pride, we are dependent upon ourselves. True faith in Jesus is rooted in humility. This week, we’re going to look at another aspect of the struggle between humility and pri...

In Matthew 18, Jesus tells the disciples that they must turn from their sins and become like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Becoming like children does not mean that we become simplistic, shallow, scared and selfish. Instead, we are to become humble and remember that our place is God’s Kingdom will not be determined by our ability, education, worldly wisdom or physical attractiven...

Though only five chapters long, the book of James encourages us to be doers of God’s Word. We’re not meant to merely listen to its teachings; we must take the next step and obey. It’s all about putting our faith into practice — what it commonly called Practical Theology. The faith of every Christian should be one that is not merely known or believed but one that is also acted upon. This doesn’t ha...

Why do we invest money with someone called a broker? Why is the slowest time of day — when we’re often stuck in traffic and going nowhere — called rush hour? How does glue not stick to the inside of the bottle? Why does spending a lot of time in the sun lighten your hair and darken your skin? Beyond these silly examples, there are many things in our lives that don’t make sense, leading us to feel...

According to Matthew 28, the mission of every Bible-believing church in the world is to go and make disciples. As a matter of fact, it’s called the Great Commission because there is no greater call on the lives of believers than this one. We are to be witnesses of the faith we have in Jesus — not just with our words but with our lives — and help push people along in their spiritual development as...

In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus makes it clear that it’s His will for you to be saved, healed and set free. As we begin or continue to walk on the path to freedom, we have to remember that it’s God’s will for us to be free and to be healed of our emotional pain and mental strongholds that have clouded our judgment for so long. This week, we will examine the four words that Jesus used to get free from His s...