Church Blog
No Comments Church Online: Stop In The Name of Jesus
If you missed Sunday or just want to share the service with your friends…..Below is the video of the message given on 2.13.2012 “Stop In The Name of Jesus. Enjoy and share!
Whats Going On In February?
- Pre-Order your Reveal Worship Ministries CD “At All Cost” at the welcome center ($10 pre-oder promotion)
- “Sent” is a prophetic evangelism ministry beginning Wednesday February 8th in the 4-5 year old toddler room (see Heather Moore for more info)
- Third Watch Prayer – February 27-28, from 10PM on the 27th to 6am on the 28th (see Pastor Jerry for more info)
- Mens Prayer Wednesday’s at 7pm (see Billy Hutto for more info)
- The Briefing – February 12th @ 5pm (If you are or want to be a leader in our church be present for this event)
- Off The Wall Small Group Sunday evenings at 6pm (worship and bible study) see David Gregory for more details
- Date Night Challenge (FREE) – Saturday, February 18th at 6pm – 8:30pm. Sign up at the welcome center or email marriage@myccchurch.com (for more info see Amber & Phil Kingry)
- Intercessory Women’s Prayer – Tuesday night at 7pm (meet in the guest reception room)
- Next Wave Spiritual Renewal Conference will be March 23rd & 25th in Gatlinburg, TN Register Here.
- April 15th – Prepare for our Foundation Stone Offering
- Book signing – Pastor David will host a book signing for his new book “THE FORMING PROCESS” March 18th after the service
Church Online: God is God
The message from Sunday, God is God is now available online. Share this with your friends and family.
Help Needed At Church Wednesday
Wednesday December 28th at 10am Pastor David is asking for help at the church to take down Christmas decorations and help clean up. If you are free please report to the church at 10am to help get started.
Thank you!
Covenant Connections Church Schedule over the Holidays is as follows:
There will be NO 10:00AM Service on Sunday, December 25th. Instead, please join us for a Christmas Candlelight/Communion Service on Sunday, December 25th @ 6PM!
Church Offices closed on Monday, December 26th & Tuesday, December 27th.
NO church service or classes on Wednesday, December 28th.
New Year’s Eve Service from 7PM-9PM on Saturday, December 31st.
There will be NO 10:00AM Service on Sunday, January 1st.
Church Offices closed on Monday, January 2nd & Tuesday, January 3rd.
On Wednesday, January 4th, we will resume our normal scheduled classes and services.
Have a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Be blessed!
Do you ever feel like a complete failure as a parent?
Someone on Facebook posted, “Do you ever feel like a complete failure as a parent? I do right now.” Every day popped in my mind instantly. I have been struggling with that feeling myself lately. Then the Lord reminded me of my parents, how great of a job they did in raising me and my sister and how we didn’t always follow their guidance. Unfortunately we live in a fallen world and we are not our children’s only influence and no matter how we raise them, they have to live their own lives and make their own choices. I think as parents we feel like we can never be good enough for our children. We feel like we could teach them better, we could spend more time with them, we could show them more love. Well, don’t beat yourselves up parents. We are all children of God and he gave us the Bible, an instruction manual on life. He spends every second with us, never leaving or forsaking us. As for love, how could you show more love than to give up the life of your only son? Yet as perfect as He is we still rebel and sin. We as parents can only do what is in our power to do. The most important things we can do are love the Lord, trust Him, and let our children see that in us. If there is one thing I learned from my parents and I pray that my children learn from me, it is that God is good and His love conquers all. I know that I am not perfect and I will fail my children from time to time but, if they learn that one lesson, they will be o.k. and I will have done o.k. as a parent. Stay strong and never give up on your children or yourselves as parents. Teach them right and wrong, teach them about God, and live your life as an example. If you do that, they’ll turn out just fine and you can be confident that you did your best.
Christmas Cantata
We know, its not even Monday! Share with your family and friends and watch our Christmas Cantata again. What an amazing service.
Shop With A Cop (Help Needed)
Last year our church came together to help save Shop With A Cop by raising over $1,600 for a few children that needed our help. This year the city is doing fundraisers. One of the ways they are raising funds is to offer a Christmas tree auction. We have purchased a tree & some ornaments. We need more! We need to raise $300. Any money raised above this amount will go to the charity “Shop With A Cop”. The tree auction begins on Friday and ends on Saturday. Please bring checks to the church between Monday and Thursday of this week. If you have any questions please call Ryan Lucia at 678-446-7603.
Service & Church Offices
No children or youth services Wednesday night Nov. 23rd. Church offices will be closed Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week. Thank you!
Mens Prayer Is Cancelled This Week
Mens prayer is cancelled this week because of Thanksgiving.
Mark Allison Debates Atheist Part 2
Part 2 of this video series is the first question to both Mark and Matt Dillahunty. The question is “is it possible to be good without God”?
Mark Allison Debates Atheist Part 1
Did you miss the debate? No worries we have it for you. Mark Allison represented our church and God in a loving and humble way. This video is of the opening statements by both Mark Allison & Matt Dillahunty.
Did You Miss The Debate “Good Without God”
This debate was amazing. Our very own Mark Allison did an amazing job of showing God’s love and answering questions in an educated and loving manner. I believe walls were broken and lives are in balance after this meeting. There is hope and we want to encourage you to continue to pray for the atheist that attended the debate.
Watch it here….
Decorate Flowery Branch
Hello everyone! We need some you Saturday morning to help decorate Flowery Branch with Christmas decorations. Every year Flowery Branch counts on volunteers to do this and also host the Christmas Festival. A few of us at the church have been helping organize the festival but we need more help with the decorations. If you are interested and willing please meet us at the Depot near the caboose in downtown Flowery Branch at 10am. If you have questions please call Ryan at 678-446-7603. Thank you!
GOOD WITHOUT GOD? LIVE DEBATE
Matt Dillahunty from The Atheist Experience To debate Mark Allison from Covenant Connections Church
The South is full of people who believe that to be good you must have God. The Gainesville State College Secular Student Alliance disagrees with that statement. The Secular Student Alliance has arranged a debate between Matt Dillahunty, atheist, and Mark Allison, Christian, on the topic of Good Without God. There will be 5 questions presented by the moderator then time for questions from the audience. The debate will be held on Thursday November 17th at 7:00PM. The debate will be held on the Gainesville State College Campus in the Academic IV building, on the 3rd floor in the multi-purpose room.
Matt Dillhaunty is from Austin, TX where he is the host of The Atheist Experience, an atheist call in show, on Austin public access television. He is well known in the national and international atheist network. Mark Allison is the Professor of Ministry at Covenant Connections Non-Denominational Church in Flowery Branch, GA.
The host, Devidyal Givens, is currently enrolled at Gainesville State College in the Chemistry program and plans to continue her education in the field of Neuroscience. She has been an atheist and a good person for many years with no god.
The moderator will be Tom Preston. Mr. Preston has a Ph.D. in Speech and Dramatic Art (Speech Communication.) Mr. Preston is also the faculty advisor for the Gainesville State College Debate Club.
This event is geared towards believers and nonbelievers alike. The goal is a rational discussion on common life concerns and whether goodness can come from the godless. Hopefully parties from each side of the debate will walk away with a better impression of one another and realize that they should at least approach the idea of working together for the betterment of the world.
Trusting God in everything; the good and the bad!
If you plan to attend
Gainesville State College
3820 Mundy Mill Road
Oakwood, GA 30503
Academic Building IV
3rd Floor Multi Purpose Room
Watch live online @ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/humanist
Transformed Journey Into A Spirit Filled Life – Book Signing
Have you ever wondered if there is more to life?
Bruce Parkman was raised in a good, Christian family, yet through a perception of inadequacies, he felt unloved, unworthy, and lonely. After the death of his mother, he began to question everything he’d ever been taught.
At the age of forty, Bruce had tried it all his own way. What he got was several failed marriages, nights of solitude in empty hotel rooms, and a desperate attempt to find fulfillment through his job. And one night, after too many drinks, he found himself behind bars. In what seemed like a dead-end situation, God came to him in a dream, calling him to ministry and turning Bruce’s world upside down.
In Transformed: Journey into a Spirit-Filled Life, author Bruce Parkman takes readers through his process of discovery and renewal as he re-examined what it means to follow Christ. Using laymen’s terms, Parkman also addresses controversial issues such as praying in tongues, eternal salvation, supernatural healings, and end time events.
196 pages – $12.99 (paperback)
Come to the book signing…..details below.
Event date: Saturday, November 12th from 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Location: Books For Less 2815 Buford Drive Buford, GA 30519
Transformed
The Journey Into a Spirit-Filled Life
by Bruce M. Parkman
I Will Have Breakthrough
Me Blogging?!!!!! Seriously? I never thought I would have the courage to do it? But here it goes……
I have been praying for a breakthrough in an area of my life that I just have not been able to overcome! In fact it is getting worse “in the natural” and I must be honest, and I will say that in the flesh I am discouraged. So during my daily devotional I came across 2 Corinthians 8:2-5 and it spoke to me!!
2 Corinthians 8:2-5
2 That in great trial of affliction the Abundance of their joy and their deep Poverty abounded in the riches of their liberty.
3 For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability they were freely willing.
4 imploring us with much urgency that We would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints
After reading these verses there was a spirit that was awakened in me! LOL. A spirit – His holy spirit and it keeps saying and reminding me that I can do all things through Jesus Christ. I am energized, filled with vision through this!!!
If you are praying for a break through in your own life I would like to ask you also to allow your vision to be opened and enlarged. Even though things may seem a certain way in your life right now, they only “seem” that way! When we face certain obstacles we say things like; “I can’t, it’s not possible”. We give up on ourselves and we question even the moments that God uses us because we don’t feel worthy. “Even beyond my ability” YES that means that we can do all God has called us to do. Verse 4 tells us that there is power when we just allow him to fellowship with us. Today allow the Holy Spirit to get you to get a hold of this TRUTH!!! In Christ I can do ALL THINGS!!! Change your mindset and don’t give up, no matter what. Continue to be steady and be forceful in your pursuit of Him. “Even beyond my ability” what a statement!! To know that through Christ I can accomplish my purpose; even beyond my ability? Verse 5 reads “but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.” Well we know by this word that it is his will for us to do ministry, to love others, to serve, to give,to have relationship, to witness. Our only job is to be obedient to His voice and to wait quietly and patiently on his timing. As we step aside and allow Him to lead our daily living, we must trust Him. For only when we trust Him and only when there is complete trust in Him, are we going to be able to accomplish wholeness.
I sit here typing this and I have examined myself and I have asked myself, will I obtain breakthrough??? Well I know one thing for sure. It will not be in my own abilities!!! But it will be through submission and total surrender to his love. Through these verses God is speaking loud and clear in my ear… He is saying that He is perfect and that, yes; without Him, I have no value, but that with Him in me I shine. He is reminding me that He paid a great price for me because He loves me. He tells me I see your weakness, but they don’t scare Me! He seeks me, and His love forces into my soul, my mind and my heart. So Yes!!! That Spirit of Might and Boldness keeps arising! I will have breakthrough!!! I will keep my faith, I will expect God’s favor in my life and it will show up! I know your favor is coming my way!
Lizzet Flores
Speak To Your Mountains
A few months ago, I was battling with smoking and what a battle it was. It started as a thought process that lasted 10 years in my head and in my dreams. I had quit smoking for over 20 years. However, the last 5 to 7 years of my life contained many heartaches, hurts, and shattered dreams. As a result, I returned to smoking and was tormented for the next 2 ½ years.
Over the course of the last six months, a couple of influential people spoke into my life two very important things. One reminded me that I knew the voice of the Lord and that when the enemy attacked me, to tell him that “it is done”. It was done when Christ paid the ultimate price for us on the cross. Every affliction, every sickness and disease, it was all conquered on the cross.
The second reminded me how God had spoken everything into existence. I had stopped speaking over my life as I had come to a bad place in my own life and in some ways, had given up and began to accept things the way they were not expecting anything good to come from it.
As I began to listen on that faithful Wednesday evening about speaking to the mountains in my life, I took both principals shared with me, to heart and began doing what they told me to do. It didn’t happen overnight, slowly – but all at once – I was delivered from that nasty habit. I know that things started moving and changing in the spiritual once I started speaking it in the natural.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. God spoke everything into existence. When we hear God’s word, our faith is being built. When it comes to Spiritual matters, water is a representation of the Spirit. It is a fact that sound travels 2-3 times faster in water. When I got that revelation in my spirit – water – i.e. it went from my head to my heart – things went into warp speed.)
There is a distinct difference between positive affirmations and standing firm on a word God has promised you and not letting it go. He had told me that there was coming a day soon when the thought of a cigarette would disgust me and that rather than making me want one, it would play a powerful role in my testimony as I shared what God had done for me. However, when I was in the midst of it all, the thought of one didn’t disgust me. It made me want one more! If I had any sort of conversation about what I was going through, I would go smoke because the conversation would get me to thinking on it and I’d want one!
I would say, (as I was smoking a cigarette) “it is done”. I felt like quite the idiot as I was speaking this thing into existence. The whole while, Satan was also in my head telling me how stupid I was for lying to myself and to God. He went on to tell me that there was no way the Lord could really deliver me if I wouldn’t have the obedience to put them down and not light up to begin with. The problem was, that deep down, inside my heart I really did want to quit. I prayed many times for God to give me the “want to” to want to quit smoking. That may sound goofy, but as much as I hate to admit it, I really had no desire to quit and truly enjoyed it. Or I should say, my flesh enjoyed it.
Many times, when God is looking for our obedience, it’s not always in the natural – such as not lighting up, or deciding not to go to that porn site or deciding not to cheat on your spouse although there is a “sense” of obedience in deciding not to do the things we know will get us into trouble. More importantly, standing on the promises he has given you. Whether those promises were 20 years ago or yesterday. Many times its simply saying “it is done” and then reminding ourselves as well as the devil that it’s not that we say so, but that the Lord says it’s so.
We all have our own “sack of rocks” so to speak. Whether or not we choose to carry them around with us for the rest of our lives or allow God to chisel them and refine them into beautiful diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires is up to us. He will not take us where we are not willing to go. Knowing and understanding where that is, I believe can be a lifelong journey. Many know what they are supposed to be doing, but because of lack of faith in themselves they never rise to the occasion. The understanding of this principle is imperative to moving into one’s destiny. It is my desire that this is merely something that will drive the point home that was opened up to me and that I believe the Lord wants the church to know. The time is now and time is short. God wants to do something mighty in His house. We, as the church, have no idea of the magnitude. This is only the beginning.
It’s time we start taking our lives back, our homes back, our families back and our dreams back. Begin speaking to your mountains today. Stand on God’s promise and tell the devil that IT IS
DONE.
By:
Stephannie Martin
Live Through Him
The Bible says that we have the ability to “live THROUGH Christ…” (1John 4:9) That means we have the ability, the right, and the authority to LIVE OUT of the LIFE of Christ. I am learning to live out of what Jesus died for. He died for my freedom… I choose to live free from all care, burdens, weights, and sins! Jesus died for my victory so I choose to live in victory and be bound by nothing! I am not bound by fear, rejections, condemnation, or opinions. Jesus died so I could have a personal relationship with Him, close to His heart. With Him every moment of every day. So no matter what the world or
my flesh tell me… I will not let ANYTHING separate me from His love for me. This is what it means to Live the Life of Christ or live Christʼs Life. These are just to name a few of the things Christ died for, so that you and I can live through. I donʼt have time to talk about His Authority, His peace, His dominion, His foreknowledge, etc. Just let me say…you lack nothing while living THROUGH the life of Christ!
Making History,
Pastor David Edmondson
Parents, Pray The Answer
Are you praying the problem or the answer? Often times, we have situations in our lives that challenge our faith and prayer lives. How we respond to these challenges has the potential for either building our faith stronger than it’s ever been or leading us into a wilderness that’s hard to maneuver.
There was a time in my life where a change in my response made a huge difference in the strength of my faith. My teenage son had turned his back on God and family and was living a life that would keep any parent from sleeping at night. People at church would ask “How’s your son doing?” My response was usually something like “He’s still living in the world.” until one day when I was praying and I kept hearing myself say that over and over. I felt weaker every time I heard it play in my head. I remember saying to myself “You’ve been praying the problem. Start praying the answer.”. From that day on, my response was “He’s coming home!” And he did. A few months later, my son came home. He was skinnier than I had ever seen him and his skin had a green tint. His body was not healthy from everything he had put in it. But my God is bigger than any damage he had done to his body. My prayer and “answer” was then “Lord, You called my son to Your work at a very early age. I don’t believe You will let anything he did in the world hinder Your will in his life. Thank you for delivering him from evil and for restoring his health so that he can serve you all the days of his life.” I held fast to Isaiah 53:5 which tells us we “are” healed by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. It was done over 2000 years ago. I believed God had delivered my son from every bad chemical he put in his body but I also believed that God was restoring his body and that no negative impact on his body could exist.
Over the next few months, God had me breathe life back into my son by way of speaking His Word to my son, and edifying his spirit man. I began to see my little boy come back alive minus the rage that had previously been there.
Twelve years later and my son is an incredible man with a heart for God that melts my heart. He serves our Lord with zeal and in ways I believe only he, with the experiences he went through, could think of. He found the wife God had picked out for him and together, they have a beautiful daughter who also has a heart for God and His love. God’s favor has certainly found a home in my son’s life and I thank Him every day for loving him through all the “junk” to get him to a grace-filled life.
I share this because I believe there are parents today that are discouraged by what they see their children doing. Pray the answer! Not the problem. God hears your prayers and responds. Believe it! I did.
