This week we discussed the New Covenant. What makes the New Covenant so very special to us is that it is considered a grant or an unconditional covenant. This Covenant is not based on our doing. It is based on God’s gift to us. A gift is not earned. If it were, we would have to do something to earn it. Rom. 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
Therefore, we praised God for His Covenant, that He loves us so much and wants us back so desperately that He holds Himself responsible for getting us back.
We looked at the fact that the New Covenant is a promise that God makes to us to forgive our sins and restore our relationship with Him for all who believe in His Son, Jesus the Christ. Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant, and His death on the cross and resurrection are the foundations of the promise.
The new covenant is also a series of unchangeable and irreversible promises that God made. The new covenant is the gospel of grace inaugurated in the blood of Jesus Christ.
One of my favorite of God’s promises is the He will never leave me or disown me. Once I made the decision to make Him my God, He placed me in His hand. Now, nothing can remove me. I am secure in His loving protection.
Think About It:
God wants us so desperately that He made The Way and He is accomplishing it.
Devotional:
Learning about the New Covenant and the fact that it is an unconditional covenant can make someone become lazy and think there is nothing for me to do. In so doing they can even stop following the path of Jesus. We must understand that this covenant is based on relationship through faith. The sole responsibility is on God to fulfill His covenant, but because we have faith in Him and therefore trust Him to do what He promises, we will follow His commands because we know it pleases Him.
We need to continue to listen to the voice of our King, Jesus. “My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me” -John 10:27.
“My voice” means listening to His voice in prayer and following His commands from the Bible.
Stop whatever you are doing for the next few minutes and think about how great our God is. Our God sent us His Son who is our King. Our King then died to give us eternal life. Our King came to give us life and to give it to us abundantly- John 10:10.
That life starts now. When Jesus returned to Heaven, he sent us Holy Spirit so we can constantly have the presence of God in our lives no matter how dark or low the valley is. We will fear no evil, for He is with us. Psa. 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me;
All that God wants is your heart. He wants your love, for you to love Him with everything you have.
Will you make mistakes and do things that you don’t want to do? Yes! When you sin against God by doing those things you don’t want to do, turn your heart back to God and ask Him to forgive you.
Give Him thanks and praise for His unconditional covenant, the New Covenant.
Group Questions:
1. What does unconditional covenant mean?
2. What is God’s part in the covenant?
3. What is our part in the covenant?
4. $5.00 if you explain the New Covenant to your parent through my story of going to Disneyland.
God Encounters:
Last week we watched the movie, The Star. The teachers and I were blessed to see most of the kids sit quietly through the movie. The movie is about how the ordinary can be extraordinary. It was a movie about a donkey who wants to be a part of something extraordinary. He ends up carrying Mary mother of Jesus so she safely give birth to our King.
It helped me to realize that we all carry our King. When someone finds out I am a Christian, that get to see a part of Jesus in me. So, how are you displaying Jesus?
“My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me” -John 10:27
There are many rewards in God’s Kingdom. There are rewards in the kingdom of heaven for the good works we do here on Earth. However, there are also rewards that we can have here on Earth when we follow His commands.
How many can you think of? I will give you a dollar for each one you tell me on Sunday.
Upcoming Events
Princess Ball: March 8th at EC Denver- 6pm
VBS SCUBA: June 10th-14th 2024
Testimonies:
Three weeks ago, we had a sweet time of prayer and prophecy at the end of service. Several student’s heard God’s voice and shared it with each other. One student saw a picture of a Dove while praying over another student. She prayed and asked God what it meant. He said it meant that student is growing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
‘“God says: In the last days I will give my Spirit freely to all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.” Acts 2:17
$10 Memory Verse:
and to Jesus, the mediator of a New Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. – Hebrews 12:24
