The covenant renewal service

is a practice that continues in churches and Christian communities today, often near the beginning of the new year. It has undergone many revisions and adaptations, but its purpose as an evocative ceremony of commitment to ongoing discipleship and Christ-like character has always remained intact.

Here is the text from the Covenant Renewal service that was held on the morning of New Year's Eve at Carme United Methodist Church:

Jesus, Savior

          In Pastor Jessica’s excellent message yesterday, she made it clear that salvation has more than one meaning in the Bible.  We 21st century Christians almost always use the word to describe spiritual salvation, by which we mean being saved from our sins and their consequences.  But it is a much fuller, richer, and more complex idea than just that.

Let’s Hear It For the Lambs!

      Sunday, I talked about two titles for Jesus that seem to point in opposite directions: Lion of Judah and Lamb of God.  In fact, they are flip sides of the same coin, representing the hard as well as the soft sides of God’s love for each of us.  I talked about how much we tend to prefer Lion-like leaders today, but that many of the key aspects of Jesus draw on his role as Lamb of God.  Here’s a few paragraphs that I didn’t have time to include Sunday:

In Sunday’s sermon, I closed by thinking through what a real worst-case scenario might look for us leading up to Christmas.  I offered the following:

What would Our Worst Case Scenario be this holiday season
if we had to imagine it?