Not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation to EVERYONE who believes
Good evening!
We’d like to let all y’all know that events at Cove Nazarene have been cancelled pursuant to the
Declaration of Local Disaster published by County Judge Roger Miller at1:10 pm on March 13, 2020.
The ladies St. Patrick’s Day celebration scheduled for Saturday afternoon (tomorrow) has been cancelled as have ALL regular church services for Sunday, March 15th, 2020.
Please join us for Sunday worship on our Facebook page as we live-stream Pastor Ann’s message.
What are your gifts and talents? In the Nazarene Church we believe that God has given every person on earth unique gifts and talents to be used for His Glory. Why would He do that? Jesus explained that we are His body on earth. Just as the human body has many parts that do many things, God created humanity with talents and abilities to do many different things.
Take for example, our eyes which are designed only to see. They can’t taste or smell or hear. Our eyes serve us by allowing us to view the world around us. Each of our senses performs a service to the rest of the body by doing what it was designed to do. We don’t think about how our bodies work when everything is doing its job. We take for granted that our feet will carry us, our hands will hold things and that our mouth will taste that wonderful burger that our eyes see on the plate in front of us.
Our gifts and talents lie beneath the surface. They aren’t as obvious as our hands and feet. Many of our talents appear as we grow and mature, becoming apparent in school or other activities. Some are only released as we become better acquainted with God and His purpose.
Michelangelo was blessed with an artistic talent that required many parts of his body; his eyes to take in information about the human body, his mind to process that information and break it down into the smallest details, his hands to carve and paint, his back to lift, his feet to take him to the marble quarry or onto the scaffolding. Because all of these diverse parts worked together for him, we have been able to enjoy his sculptures and paintings for hundreds of years.
Just as Michelangelo created extraordinary works of art that have served as reminders of God and His creation, each of us has a unique place in God’s plan to serve in the body of Jesus. As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, our own extraordinary gifts come forth for us to share with the world. Are you curious to learn more about the gifts and talents that God has poured into you? Would you like to use them as part of Jesus’ body? We would encourage you to join us Sunday morning to hear Pastor Ann bring as she brings us a message of how God can help each of us grow in our gifts and talents.
As young people, others frequently ask us what we want to be when we grow up. When we reach adulthood, we are asked what our one year plan or five year plan is. Let’s be honest. Most of us don’t know. We have a general idea of what we don’t want to be. We don’t want to be poor. We don’t want to be an addict or alcoholic. We don’t want to be homeless. We don’t want to be a slave or a servant.
A servant? Where is the glory or glamour in that? There is nothing prestigious about being a servant. It’s not even on the ladder of success, is it? In our culture the word servant brings to mind positions like housekeeper, butler, doorman, parking valet or chauffer. But are these really the servants of our culture?
Our entire economy is built on the service industry. Think about that for a moment. We serve others in many of the jobs in this country. That qualifies us as servants. If you work in a restaurant, retail, or entertainment venue you are probably serving others. Attorneys, doctors, law enforcement and other first responders are all serving others. What about government employees, financial gurus, bankers? Yep. Servants. IT? Servant. Parents and teachers? Servants. President of the U.S.? He serves the whole country.
Are you beginning to get the picture? Most of us are servants. Most of us serve others without giving it a second thought. And yet, if we are told that we should be servants we become defensive and disagreeable.
Jesus called us to be servants. He washed his disciples’ feet to make his point. If the Lord would do that for his students, perhaps we should give this whole servant idea another look.
If you work in the service field (all those careers listed above) perform your job joyfully. Would it be terrible to help your neighbor carry in her groceries? How demeaning would it be to invite your co-worker to share a meal? Are you able to hold a door for someone? Sometimes serving takes no greater effort than greeting a stranger with a smile. Perhaps being a servant is one of the best things we could be.
We are having a worship service on Sunday morning at 10:55 a.m. Pastor Ann will be exploring this topic further and helping us understand what Jesus has in mind for us. Please join us in the sanctuary or on Facebook live at 11:30.
Pastor Ann has been speaking to us about the Vision of our church.
BOLDLY SEEKING. BOLDLY CONNECTING. BOLDLY DISCIPLING.
These are simple words but deep concepts. Last week she brought us a message on discipling. She began with another set of simple words that have deep lasting consequences.
“We are all following someone. We are either following God or we are following Satan.”
With that thought in mind, lets reach back to those other words – seeking and connecting. If we are following God, we are seeking to know Him more. We are making an effort to connect with Him. We do these things through His Word, through time in prayer, through study time with others and through praising Him in song, dance, writing and other expressions. We are intentional in establishing and maintaining a relationship with Him.
But what if we are following Satan? For most folks this is about choosing a path that’s different than the one God set before us through Jesus. Any path, every path that doesn’t lead to Jesus cross and resurrection is a path that follows Satan.
Following God or following Satan isnt’ the same as being a disciple. To become a disciple means to make a deliberate, intentional choice. To follow Jesus as a disciple means yielding to His control and His rules ALL THE TIME. It is an emptying of personal desires and a filling of desire to be more like Him.
To put God first, before everything else in your life, takes faith and courage. As we follow Him and are filled with His Holy Spirit, our desires change. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Only he who believes is obedient. Only he who is obedient believes.” Obedience is the key word to being a disciple.
Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew were disciples that Jesus called to himself. When he invited them to “follow me” they literally dropped what they were doing and went with him. Faith, courage and commitment. No looking back. Instead, discipleship is about looking forward and stepping in our Teacher’s footprints.
To hear more on this incredible topic, please join us Sunday morning at 10:50 in the Sanctuary or near 11:25 on our livestream. We look forward to meeting you then!
Who doesn’t love legos? These strange little blocks have fascinated us for generations. They come in different sizes and colors. Some are magnetic, others light up but they all have one thing in common. To be fun or useful they must be connected.
One lego is not entertaining. It is just an odd block; a strange shape taking up space. One lego cannot bring a smile or encourage a person to create something new. It just is. One. Lego.
Like legos, people come in many sizes and colors. Some we are attracted to or repulsed by. Others light up our lives. Like legos, people need to be connected to fulfill our purposes. No one is created to be completely alone.
God is the cornerstone in our lego building. Without Him, none of our other connections will hold together properly. Relationship with Him is the most important connection we can make. This connection begins in the blink of an eye. When we realize that we are incomplete without Him and seek Him through prayer, He responds immediately.
God’s purpose for our lives can only be attained when we are connected to Him and in turn to other people. Being connected to God is more than a concept we talk about at church. When we are willing to be connected to Him through worship, through study of the Word, through prayer and through service we begin to fulfill His purpose for our lives. As we do this, we find our lives to be more full, richer and filled with more joy than we have ever known. He will pour His peace into us, so that we can function in this fallen world even as we feel it falling around us. He gives us strength to stand and is the rock we stand on while the world shifts like sand on a beach. We invite you to come be one of God’s legos. Join us Sunday morning as Pastor Ann takes us deeper into what it means to be BOLDLY CONNECTED. Service begins at 10:55 and the sermon will be livestreamed in case you can’t join us in the sanctuary. See y’all Sunday