september 2014 - clover sitesstorage.cloversites.com/covenantchurchofeaston/documents... · 2014....

In August we explored the attribute of God’s mercy in our series

Fingerprints of God. The idea of God’s unlimited mercy is one of the most

encouraging promises of the Christian faith. What a source of personal

hope to know that we cannot plunge the depths of God’s benevolence, we

cannot find the borders of its vastness.

The contrarian in me caused me to wonder if I was missing some lim-

its to God’s mercy. God’s offer of it does not end, but we still find a way to

restrict it. These are self-imposed limits; when we declare to God that He

couldn’t possibly forgive us this time, in this situation, for this action. May

God in your prayers, study and worship break down these lies we believe.

There is one more curb on God’s mercy. We impose borders when we

decide who is worthy and open to the message of God’s grace. We look

around our neighborhoods, our schools and groups of friends and personally

make decisions about who would and would not be receptive to God’s Good

News.

It is the “good” people, the fairly moral people who remind us of our-

selves that we are comfortable speaking of our church involvement and our

relationship with God. The rough edged, the belligerent, the outwardly

broken; we decide they will not react positively to God’s forgiveness and so

we stay silent.

We decide that God’s graciousness will go nowhere with the person

who only cares about wealth, who will bend the rules to acquire it, who

would sacrifice family and friends in order to get rich. Fortunately for

Matthew and Zacchaeus, tax collectors who would fit that description, Je-

sus did not decide for them that they were beyond the border of God’s

mercy.

We decide the person who ridicules Christianity is not open to God.

We conclude the individual who publicly opposes Christianity, has insur-

mountable barriers to God’s goodness. The Christians in the New Testa-

ment certainly thought that of Paul before God threw open the heavens of

His mercy to Paul.

May we learn to respond to God’s prompting regarding his ability to

give new life like the prophet Ezekiel. God, in a vision, leads Ezekiel out to

a valley full of dry bones. The bones of people long dead. God asks Ezekiel,

“Son of Man, can these bones live?”

Ezekiel responds, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

God alone knows who is open to His boundless mercy. God does the

heavy lifting, by His Holy Spirit, of convicting and calling people to new life

by His grace. When prompted by the Spirit to speak of His love, may we

not impose limits on His limitless mercy, but instead pray “O Sovereign

Lord, You alone know” as we give the reason for our hope as Christians.

Pastor Cary

Limited Mercy

Th

e S

alt

Sh

ak

er

Co

ve

na

nt

C

hu

rc

h o

f E

as

to

n

Volume 2014, Issue 9

SEPTEMBER 2014

The Sa lt Shaker

9:00 am Foundations — Covenant’s confirmation class for middle school youth located

in the lower level Youth Room. This year we will be going through the New Testa-

ment with leaders Bill Austin, John Drummond and Kyle Lent.

CrossFit — High School youth class led by Carl Otten will meet in the Youth

Pastor’s office.

Adult Sunday School Class — “Don’t Sing Songs to a Heavy Heart” will focus on

Christian care giving led by Crista Forstrom. Topics to include: battling cancer,

death of a spouse, divorce, job loss, depression, infertility & others. Adults will

meet in Room C.

10:30 am Adult Sunday School Class — John Anderson and John Heitz will lead a class

using the video series by John Ortberg, The Me I Want to Be”, which will answer

the question, “How do we make life in God grow in us as ordinary Christians? This

class is not for spiritual giants but for the majority of folks who struggle day to

day and want to grow in their faith. Adults will meet in Room C.

10:45 am PreK thru 5th grade Children & Junior Worshippers — KICK OFF PANCAKE

BREAKFAST WITH YOUR TEACHERS IN THE FELLOWSHIP HALL! Then on

September 14th kids will be dismissed after the music portion of the Worship

Service for their own classes. However, on the 1st Sunday of each month, the

Junior Worshippers (3rd thru 5th graders) will remain with their families to fully

participate in the Worship Service.


ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL Beginning September 7, 9:00 AM

Room C Led by: Crista Forstrom

During the months of September and October the 9 AM Adult Sunday

School class will focus on Christian care giving. Based on the principles

in the book “Don’t Sing Songs to a Heavy Heart,” the class will include

testimonies from people in our congregation that have gone through dif-

ferent types of loss and struggle. We will discuss issues and hear real

stories about some of the following topics: battling cancer, death of a

spouse/sibling, divorce, job loss, miscarriage, discrimination, depression,

child with disabilities, infertility, and others. Everyone has a “heavy

heart” at some time in their lives. Learn how to identify and be sensitive to others struggling with

these serious issues.

Beginning September 7, 10:30 AM

Room C Led by: John Heitz & John Anderson

John Anderson and John Heitz will lead a class using the video se-

ries by John Ortberg, “The Me I Want to Be” which will answer the

questions, “How do we make life in God grow in us as ordinary Chris-

tians?” This class is not for spiritual giants, but for the majority

of folks who struggle day to day and want to grow in their faith.

Beginning October 5, 10:30 AM

Room A Led by: Bobbie Morgan

The Women’s Sunday morning Life Group will begin on October 5th at

10:30 in the Small Classroom (Room A). The group will be using the

book “Having a Mary Spirit” by Joanna Weaver. You long to serve God

with grace and strength, to reflect Christ in every word and action.

Yet you find yourself continually struggling to bring that vision to life

in your daily walk. In this life-changing book the author directs your

gaze past your own shortcomings to the God who stands ready, willing,

and able to make a new woman out of you. If you are interested, con-

tact Bobbie Morgan ([email protected]) to order a book.

This fall is the perfect time to get involved in a

Life Group.

It is not a natural tendency to want to partici-

pate in a small group. In fact for some of you

it may be downright scary. To commit a couple

of hours of your busy schedule to meet weekly

or bi-weekly or even monthly with folks you

don’t know very well, can be intimidating and

unattractive. However, it is the opposite! It

will become one of your most important activi-

ties of the week/month and help you under-

stand more completely how to know God and to

relate to others.

For more information, contact Paul Veerman

([email protected]), Bill Croasmun

( b c r o a s @ g m a i l . c o m ) , B o b R i e g e r

([email protected]), or Pastor Cary

([email protected]).

LIFE GROUPS

The Sa lt Shaker

Fare Sundays 9/14 & 9/21

After each Worship Service in the Welcome Center there will be the opportunity to see who, when

and where each Life Group is meeting. Stop and talk to the leaders over a cup of coffee or tea. Get

more information, sign up for existing Life Groups that are expanding, or new ones that are launch-

ing. Whatever it is, we want you to get involved in one and know that you are cared for by this

church. Pick up a brochure in the Welcome Center or visit the church website for more information

on Life Groups (http://coveaston.org/#/life-groups/current-life-groups).

MEN’S RETREAT “Living with Integrity” The Pilgrim Pines Men’s Retreat, October 10-12, is designed to ignite your passion to live for

Christ. Through engaging worship, practical teaching, spiritual direction and great fun we take an

exciting journey together as men over a Friday night through Sunday noon. You will be challenged

through worship & teaching to live a life of integrity. The Men’s Retreat always provides a great

time of outdoor recreation on beautiful Swanzey Lake in New Hampshire.

(Continued on page 5)


As believers, we are instructed to sing praise and thanksgiving to

God. Colossians 3:16 says: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing

psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." With that command comes a promise: as we sing

together, the word of Christ will dwell in us richly!

Therefore, come lift your voice in praise alongside the Covenant

Church Choir! Rehearsals will be Wednesdays @ 7:30 PM beginning

September 3rd. All are welcome!

Come October we will be preparing for Christmas; so if you want to

get in the spirit of the Christmas season early, come on out!

Also, feel free to join us for the Fall Season Kickoff Party - Sunday,

September 14 @ 1 PM. Other details to follow.

WORSHIP THE LORD WITH GLADNESS

Men’s Chorus Rehearsal

Wednesday, October 15 7:30 pm

This year’s Speaker Team includes: Dale Kuehne, Michael Carrion, Jeff Olson, and Chris Bannon. Ad-

ditional highlights include a Financial Seminar, Spiritual Directors, & more food than you can handle!

Register online at http://pilgrimpines.org/mensretreat/. The cost is $150 per person and includes 6

great meals, snacks, ear plugs for your snoring roommate, programming supplies and all the coffee

you can drink.

(Continued from page 4)

MEN’S RETREAT “Living with Integrity”

CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

The Sa lt Shaker

If You Don’t Bring Any Young Children to the

Worship Service . . .

Just as God had to instruct Israel in how to

properly worship Him1, children need instruc-

tion too. Not sure how wiggly and energetic

ancient Hebrews were (they might have been a

little worn out from all that wandering?), but

worship included family.

Parents are commanded to train their children

in the ways of the Lord2 and to bring them

before Him for blessing3. They are to model

their faith in action so the children will ask

why we do whatever it is we are doing. Most

of us struggle with keeping our own faith on

track, let alone being responsible for the

life-forming spiritual nurture of another. It

is too much, they need our prayers and support.

Recall those same kids as infants, when their

cries and spitting up on Pastor at their bap-

tisms or dedications was so cute. And the

covenant we made with them and their parents.

We come together on Sunday mornings to wor-

ship God—to bless Him with our praise of His

sovereign majesty. Being as He created the

boundless energy and curiosity of little ones,

it’s safe to assume He knows what He’s getting

into when He calls them to Himself. “From the

lips of children and infants you have ordained

praise because of your enemies, to silence the

foe and the avenger4.” When Jesus’ disciples

argued over who gets to be

‘It’, Jesus “took a child and

had him stand among them.

Taking him in his arms, he

said to them, ‘Whoever wel-

comes one of these little

children in my name wel-

comes me; and whoever welcomes me does not

welcome me but the one who sent me5.’”

In many of our modern, sophisticated con-

gregations, children are often viewed as

(Continued on page 7)

All the men of Judah, with their wives and

children and little ones, stood before the LORD.

2 Chronicles 20:13


To better meet the needs of our families with young children, we will now offer kids’ classes during

the 10:45 worship service for PreK through 5th grade. Children K-2nd will still be dismissed after the

music portion of the service to Children’s Worship, and now 3rd-5th graders will also be dismissed for

their own class, Junior Worship. However, on the first Sunday of each month, the Junior Worship-

pers (3rd-5th graders) will remain with their families to fully participate in the worship service.

There will be no children’s classes during the 9 AM service.

Foundations (Jr. High) and CrossFit (High School) will still have class during the 9 AM worship ser-

vice. There will continue to be nursery & PreK (children age 4 and under) childcare at 9 AM.

SUNDAY SCHOOL CHANGES

If You Don’t Bring Any Young Children to the Worship Service . . .

distractions. We tolerate children only to

the extent they promise to become “adult”

like us. . .Interestingly, Jesus put a child in

the center of his disciples, “in the midst of

them,” in order to help them pay attention6.

Children learn by doing, and worship is active,

learned, and doesn’t come naturally. Parents

may need to explain what is going on in the ser-

vice, may need several tries to redirect the

kids attention, may even need to get up once or

twice. Or more. It’s hard work and a spiritual

battle. We see in 2 Chron. 20:13 that even the

little ones are before the Lord, but their par-

(Continued from page 6) ents may have the previous verse going through

their head: “We do not know what to do…7”.

If you find a child distracting the quality of

your worship, take that as a call to pray for him

or her and the parents, rather than the turn-

and-glare. Children need to feel a part of the

congregation, not just the Children’s Ministry

at the church. We are taking a risk if we al-

ways remove them from “adult worship,” that

they will as teens and young adults then feel

connected to the congregation.

____________________ 1 Pick just about any page in Exodus or Leviticus 2 Proverbs 22:6 3 Mark 10:14 4 Psalm 8:2 5 Mark 9:36-37 6 Hauerwas & Willimon 7 2 Chronicles 20:12b

Vacation Bible School 2014

Thank you for your prayers and support to make VBS an

amazing and fun outreach to our community!

Bob Lindquist, along with Diana and Mike Ambrose attended this year's Annual Covenant Conference

in Chicago June 23-27th. As always, it was an amazing experience and a testament to the vitality

and growth of our church. Some key take-aways from the conference included:

27 new churches were received into membership and there are now 842 churches in the Covenant

Average weekend attendance increased for the 22nd consecutive year and is now over 210,000

each week. This is more than double from 20 years ago

There have been 67 church plants over the past 3 years

A resolution was passed on immigration, with the intent to better inform and help Covenanters in

having a Bible-based discussion on immigration

The updated Mission Priorities are:

Start and Strengthen Churches

Make and Deepen Disciples

Develop Leaders

Love Mercy, Do Justice

Serve Globally

To learn more, visit the conference website at http://www.covchurch.org/gather/ and download the

delegate summary or check out the copy posted on the bulletin board outside the Church Secretary’s

office. Of course, you can also reach out to either Bob Lindquist, Diana or Mike Ambrose.

Evangelical Covenant Church Annual Meeting

The Sa lt Shaker

http://www.covchurch.org/gather/


I’m sorry I haven’t written in a

few months, but I’ve had some

hard decisions to make regard-

ing my health. I’ve been in and

out of the hospital with in-

fections for over a year.

Each infection affects my

short-term memory and I’m

told it will only get worse.

So now I have a visiting

physician who knows I’m not

going back to the hospital.

We are trying different

treatments to see if it

helps, but I’ve made the

decision to DNR.

I view this as my last

season of earthly life

and God is making it glorious!

For starters, I figured out

how to use my computer with

my thumb. It’s slow; but at

least I can do stuff like mix

music and use Facebook. I’m

also blessed because a new

church has opened downtown

called “Full Covenant Taberna-

cle” and it’s now another

church I can call home. I’m

doing things at two churches,

but this church does the more

upbeat praise songs that I do.

I’m not crazy about hymns, but

I gotta do hymns at the first

church I go to, zzzzz! But the

pastor and most of the mem-

bers are on Facebook, so we

can lift each other up in the

Lord.

I’ve already made friends

there and one of them comes

over once a week to help me do

music because I can’t work my

communication device due to

nerve damage. Right now we

are working on “Ten Thousand Reasons”, and I can’t wait to

do the next song! Someone on

Facebook posted the song “In Jesus’ Name”, and it deeply

touched me. My poor health

make me feel shook up be-

cause there is so much I

can’t do anymore.

I’m aching to do “In Jesus Name”’ because no matter

what season we are in, God

is fighting for us! The en-

emy is defeated! If you’re

having a bad season in your

life, check out the link to

the left because I

think it will totally lift

you up!

Now I could die in a month or

in 40 years — the doctors just

can’t figure out why I’m get-

ting infections; but I view this

Earth as a classroom where we

all learn who we are in Christ,

and at my funeral I want it to

be a little like a graduation.

So I’m busy trying to share

Jesus every way I can!

Snoopi Botten www.theflameofhope.com

THE SEASONS OF LIFE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgKry5VYs74

The Sa lt Shaker

TREASURER’S REPORT The financial results of the Unified Operating Fund for

the seven months ended July 31, 2014 were as follows:

INCOME

Unified Receipts $292,453

Investment & Other Income 1,498

Total Income $293,951

EXPENSES $266,775

Excess of Income over Expenses $27,176

The Church continues to experience a surplus of income

over expenses, primarily because of the delay in filling

the Associate Pastor position that was anticipated in the

Financial Plan for this year. As you have previously been

advised, the congregation voted on July 13 to indefinitely

forgo filling the Associate Pastor position in favor of

continuing to employ a part-time Youth Pastor and a new

part-time Discipleship Director. This will reduce near-

term personnel costs, but the Financial Plan for 2015 will

include a new item — the minimum required contribution

toward our mortgage, which now amounts to about

$500,000. In order to support these changes, offering

income will need to increase next year over the planned

amount for this year. More specific information con-

cerning the financial commitments neces-

sary to support the 2015 spending will be

forthcoming in the next few months.

In the meantime, the Summer financial

giving doldrums are upon us. Offering

income for the first four weeks of Au-

gust has averaged just over $8,200 per

week, compared to anticipated average weekly spending

of over $9,900. If you have departed from your giving

schedule during the Summer, please consider returning

to your schedule as soon as possible and filling in those

gaps from the Summer months.

Bob Fiscus, Treasurer

Birthdays & Anniversaries

9/1 Lillian Valente

9/2 George Mulligan

Melissa Otten

Ian Nilsen

Christian Nilsen

Lainey Grumet

9/3 Jill & John Monroe

9/4 Lucia Zager

Dan White

9/5 Joe Anderson, Jr.

9/6 Melissa & Carl Otten

9/7 Luiza & Estuardo Estrada

Christina & Jesse Lent

9/8 Linda Gustavson

9/9 Barb Meyer

Matthew Fiscus

9/10 Jimi Meyer

Roseann & Cary Slater

9/12 Ann & Larry Boyle

9/13 Freddy Capossela

Carol & Mark Mojcher

9/14 Billy Kattler

Mike Ambrose

Quinn Kellerman

9/15 Jacob Eckenrode

9/17 Althea Larkin

Kristen Freeley

9/18 Ruth Powell

Cheryl & Mike Blair

9/19 Noah Schaper

Lynne & Mike Sullivan

9/21 Kris & Doug Freeley

9/23 Art Giannotti

Mark Wirth

Elana Fischetti

9/24 Kristian Otten

9/25 Phuong & John Heitz

9/26 Helge Svenson

Carolyn Nelson

9/28 Don Sebestyen

9/29 Cheryl Blair

9/30 Barbara Smetana


Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

2 7 pm Band

Rehearsal

7 pm Prayer

3 7:30 pm Choir

4 7:30 am

Women’s Life

Group

8 am Outside

Group

7:30 pm Men’s

Life Group

5 10 am Joyful

Sisters Life

Group

7 pm AA

7 pm Croasmun

Life Group

6 6 am Men’s

Prayer

8 am Men’s

Breakfast

7 KICK OFF

SUNDAY

9 & 10:45 am

Worship

10:45 am Kids

Pancake

Breakfast

8 7 pm Council

7:30 pm AA

9 6:30 pm Outside

Group

7 pm Band

Rehearsal

7 pm Prayer

10 9 am Outside

Group 7:30 pm Choir

11 7:30 am

Women’s Life

Group

8 am Outside

Group

7:30 pm Men’s

Life Group

12 10 am Joyful

Sisters Life

Group

7 pm AA

7 pm Croasmun

Life Group

13 6 am Men’s

Prayer

7 pm Veerman

Life Group

14 9 & 10:45 am

Worship

LIFE GROUP

FARE

15 7:30 pm AA

16 6:30 pm Outside

Group

7 pm Band

Rehearsal

7 pm Prayer

7 pm Nominating

Committee

17 9 am Outside

Group 7 pm OASIS 7:30 pm Choir

18 7:30 am

Women’s Life

Group

8 am Outside

Group

7 pm JHAMS

7:30 pm Men’s

Life Group

19 10 am Joyful

Sisters Life

Group

7 pm AA

7 pm Croasmun

Life Group

20 6 am Men’s

Prayer

21 9 & 10:45 am

Worship

12:15 pm

Theatre Arts

LIFE GROUP

FARE

22 7:30 pm AA

23 5:45 pm King’s

Kids

6:30 pm Outside

Group

7 pm Band

Rehearsal

7 pm Prayer

24 9 am Outside

Group 7 pm OASIS 7:30 pm Choir

25 7:30 am

Women’s Life

Group

8 am Outside

Group

7 pm JHAMS

7:30 pm Men’s

Life Group

26 10 am Joyful

Sisters Life

Group

7 pm AA

7 pm Croasmun

Life Group

27 6 am Men’s

Prayer

8:30 am

Women’s

Breakfast

28 ONE SERVICE

10:45 am

HARVEST

SUNDAY Out-

door Worship &

Picnic @

Aspetuck Park

29 7:30 pm AA

30 5:45 pm King’s

Kids 6:30 pm Outside

Group

7 pm Band

Rehearsal

7 pm Prayer

BEGINNING KICK OFF SUNDAY 9:00 am: Foundations, Youth & Adult Classes

10:30 am: Adult Sunday School Classes

10:45 am: Children’s & Junior Worship

Women’s Retreat @ Pilgrim Pines

Women’s Retreat

www.coveaston.org

Phone: 203.371.8335

Fax: 203.373.9025

1 Sport Hill Road

Easton, CT 06612

september

September Worship TWO SERVICES EACH SUNDAY – 9:00 am and 10:45 am

September 7 FINGERPRINTS OF GOD: JEALOUSY Pastor Cary Slater

Exodus 34; Ezekiel 8

Holy Communion

September 14 PEACEMAKERS: God’s Passion and Priority for Peace Pastor Cary Slater

Colossians 1:15-20

September 21 PEACEMAKERS: Conflict as Opportunity to Glorify God Pastor Cary Slater

Ephesians 4:1-6

HARVEST SUNDAY — ONE SERVICE at 10:45 am at Aspetuck Park in Easton September 28 PEACEMAKERS: Getting Real with Yourself Pastor Cary Slater

Luck 12:13-15

Loving God, Growing Together, Serving

Covenant Church of Easton

september 2014 - clover sitesstorage.cloversites.com/covenantchurchofeaston/documents... · 2014....

Documents