God promises...we respond

A covenant is a formal agreement between two people, but it is much closer to a marriage vow than to a business contract. It is a solemn promise always to be there for the other person in every possible way.

God promised Noah to protect the earth. God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would become parents of a great nation. God promised Moses and the people of Israel that "I AM" would always be with them, no matter what.

Because God's promises, unlike human ones, are not made to be broken, the covenant God makes is unwavering. God is steadfast, staying in relationship with us whether we are aware of it or not, whether we greet it joyfully or try to evade it, whether we express this truth in the way we live or do everything we can to deny it. We cannot weaken God's commitment.

What God decides is set in stone; and before God determined anything else about our world, God decided to love us.

God's plan is that we will reciprocate this love, living out our days in intimacy with our Creator and extending this harmony to other people and to the world around us.

But God does not force us to make this choice. One of the peculiar things about covenants is that they require freedom from both parties. Just as a 'shotgun wedding' is not true marriage at all, our participation in God's covenant cannot be compulsory. God hopes that we will freely choose this. Freedom is a double-edged sword, however; and in order to be free to accept it, we must also be free to reject it. Out of deep respect for us, God allows us to be free - free to stay or free to walk away.

Andy Langford and Mark Ralls, in Along the Way: Beginnings and introduction to Christian Faith, p74.

Beth Dawson's story

One of my most favorite memories as a child reminds me of God’s covenant love for all of us. I was about eight years old and playing out in my back yard. It was a beautiful summer day, sun shining, big puffy clouds in the sky. As one of the clouds passed over the sun, streams of sunshine came pouring through. I remember thinking that this must be God pouring His love and light over me. I was totally awestruck at the sight and the feeling.

This is how I like to think of God’s covenant love to me. When life gets too hard or when I get too arrogant, I try to take myself back to that time and place of childlike wonder of how much God can love. There have been many times when I have failed and faltered in faith and life, but knowing that God will never leave or forsake me keeps me in a place of wonder and hope.

Bryan Black's Story

Two summers ago, I headed out with our Youth Choir for its annual mission tour. The return trip from Texas brought us through my hometown of Birmingham, so naturally we gave a concert and spent the night sleeping on the gymnasium floor of Bluff Park UMC, my home church. Birmingham has become a good deal more sophisticated over the last fifteen years and the church has built an imposing new sanctuary that dwarfs the one I knew as a child. But in concert, I stood facing the choir just a few feet from the baptismal font in the old Sanctuary where my parents had presented me for baptism forty years ago. They made a covenant with God and the congregation on my behalf that I would be kept in the faith. Many of the people who made the promises and lived the examples are no longer with us including Mrs. McCracken, the kindhearted woman who taught the first children’s choir I ever sang in. She wasn’t there to see me come home with my own crop of teenage singers, but her promises, my parent’s promises and God’s faithfulness revealed the power of a covenant unbroken by time and change.

Brent Vicars' Story

A covenant that I have is with a former student from my first youth ministry. I meet him when he was 14, and I was his Sunday school teacher. He was a nice enough kind, kind of a loner, but in need of some direction. When he was 15, I asked him to come to work for me in my business as my first employee. He ended up working for me for 4 years until he left for college, going from just a kid I hired to answer the phone and send out the mail, to a trusted partner and someone who I not only mentored, but also someone who taught me a lot as well. While working together, we discovered a mutual love of the outdoors, and started backpacking together all over TN and NC on weekend trips with friends and my family. When he left for college, I kept in touch with him, spending time with him when he was home from school, giving him advice when he was in trouble, and trying to help him achieve his goals for life. Shortly after he left for college his sophomore year, his parents divorced and he went into a major depression. I called him often, even drove to his school one weekend to take him to dinner, and tried to help him see that his was not his fault. Eventually things got better, and even I after I left the business world for full time ministry, he and I still kept in contact and still spent time together. His junior year of college he called me up, stressed out about finishing his course work and graduating, and asked if we could take a 3 day backpacking trip. This became the first of our now yearly trips around the holidays. Even though he has graduated for the University of TN and is now making his life in Knoxville, we still keep in touch. I have since moved to Marietta, and don’t see him as often, but we still talk, he still calls and asks for advice, and we still get together each year for three days around Christmas to go backpacking. I have a covenant with this young man to be his mentor, and it is one I take seriously and thank God for. Even though he is normally the one calling for advice, I am the one who seems to be learning the most.

Betzy Mitchell's story

When my daughter was in Elementary School she struggled mightily. Everything was difficult and frustrating. By the end of the third grade it became clear to me that the public school system was not able to meet her educational needs. So I started looking for the answer. I looked at private schools, schools affiliated with churches and even a boarding school, trying desperately to avoid the call I knew God had put on my heart. Homeschooling.

I knew to take on the task of homeschooling my daughter meant giving up my at-home-mom time. No more tennis on Thursday mornings. No more racketball at the club on Fridays. No more lunches with the girls…… Homeschooling my daughter meant putting her first and I knew God wanted me to learn this lesson.

It was an incredibly hard year for us both. My daughter missed her friends and I did too! I often railed at God accusing Him of insisting I take on this herculean task without given me the tools for success. And somehow, yelling at God allowed me to hear His voice. Persevere. Hold fast.

At the end of the year she could read! And add, subtract, multiply and divide. I was so proud of her accomplishment and knew she was ready to tackle all the challenges ahead.

My daughter is in college now. You’d never know she didn’t learn how to read until she was 9 years old. She is doing exceptionally well and dreams of being a Supreme Court Judge! But more importantly, she thanks me often for the year we spent together. She learned to read and I learned the joy of sacrifice.

Forrest Cate's Story

As a junior high member of Pittman Park MYF, I was very active in the church. With no doubt some degree of pride, I was representative to Administrative Council and was often asked to speak at youth events and functions. I was pretty much in with the cool crowd.

Our neighbors down the street, who decidedly weren't in the cool crowd, often rode with us to church on Wednesdays and Sundays and to youth events. I remember one particular incident when I was adamant with my mother that I didn't want to have to car pool with them because of the potential damage to my image they might cause. "Don't give me all this Christianity stuff, if you can't give your neighbors a ride to church," my mother rebuked me in no uncertain terms. It remains a seminal reminder for me of the covenant of Church Membership.

Linda LeSueur's Story

Years ago I felt called by God to become a teacher. I was blessed by a great college experience and hired by Cobb County before I had even graduated. I loved my students and all the challenges and rewards that came from working with children and seeing them get excited with the learning process. Once our family came along I know that I could not be the teacher I needed to be and the mother I needed to be at the same time. I prayed for guidance and God directed me to preschool in the church when my youngest child went to kindergarten. I had grave doubts but I gave it a try. What a blessing God had in store for me! All these years later God has continued to bless my life with the wonderful relationships nutured through the Weekday staff, the parents and most of all the children. We help the children learn about God every day in the things that they see, hear, touch and taste. Jesus is their friend and they know him. They in turn help us see God through their joy and excitement over every new thing they learn and experience. I am so thankful for God’s direction in my life.