As one reads the Bible, it becomes clear that covenants dominate its pages. As was preached in this past week’s message covenants are what God uses to carry the story of redemption along. This way of looking at the Scriptures is a helpful hint in terms of reading the Bible. In addition to this, the notion of covenant has practical implications as well. God is presented as a covenant keeping God, which is important and in response we must imitate that in our lives as brothers and sisters. What does this mean for us living together? In this post I want to explore the idea of covenant community.
When one uses the word covenant it includes the idea of relationship, which is a great place to start. Holy Covenant Church is made up of individuals, but ultimately she is a body of believers who exist together for the express purpose of honoring the Lord. In short, we have a relationship not just with God, but with one another. How does this relationship play out in the midst of doing life together? One good place to start is to study the “one anothers” of the Scripture which are littered throughout the Bible. They include things like loving (Jo. 13:34), stirring up (Heb. 10:24), and accepting (Rom. 15:17) one another.
But perhaps the most important aspect of a covenant community’s “one anothers” is the confessing of our sin (James 5:16) and the forgiving of one another (Eph. 4:2). This is the case because invariably we will sin against or offend one another. This happens in families or amongst brothers and sisters within the covenant community. And as such, we must reflect the nature of God’s covenantal faithfulness which includes responding graciously to sin and being faithful even when others are not.
It is important for a covenant community to be committed to operate in the ways that God does, perhaps even more so than that, a covenant community is committed to the culmination of the covenants, Jesus the Christ. The aforementioned exhortations regarding the “one anothers” are grounded in his work. Because of his work, we receive and extend forgiveness. As this is done, he continues to build the community, a community that grows in maturity and closeness. This is the sort of covenant community that Holy Covenant Church desires to be, through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Sermon Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddLX1QlGjHA