Covenant

After a busy Christmas period it was time for me to lead my first covenant service. 

The covenant service, is when the Methodist Church celebrate all that God has done, and affirm that we give our lives and choices to God. 

The traditional Covenant prayer (below) is a serious response by the congregation. The prayer embraces the whole of our life, in all its parts.

I am no longer my own but yours.

Put me to what you will, 

rank me with whom you will; 

put me to doing, 

put me to suffering;

let me be employed for you, 

or laid aside for you,

exalted for you,

or brought low for you;

let me be full,

let me be empty

let me have nothing:

I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.

And now, glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

you are mine and I am yours. So be it.

And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.

I enjoyed leading my first covenant and found it such a privilege to see the congregation renewing their promises. In my sermon, I mentioned the song 'this is me' from The Greatest Showman. My message was....

Let's say to people 'I believe in a gospel of hope, love, and acceptance. I'm not ashamed. This is me'

Throughout my sermon I mentioned the Methodist Church calling. Our calling....

"The calling of the Methodist Church is to respond to the gospel of God's love in Christ and to live out its discipleship in worship and mission"

After the service we had a vision day to see how we can move forward in mission. I thought it would be a good idea to have a vision day after the congregation shared the covenant prayer. We looked at worship, learning and caring, service, and evangelism from our calling to help explore ways of moving forward as a church. 

I am really excited what God is doing and looking forward to 2019.