THE E-COURIER
NEWS & EVENTS
June 5-11, 2022
This Week at Christ Covenant
If you are unable to join us in person, we hope you will join us on the livestream.
Sunday Morning | 10:45 am

"What Is This You Have Done?"
Genesis 45:1-
Kevin DeYoung
Sunday Evening| 6:00 pm

"Choose Wisely"
Matthew 7:12-27
Kevin DeYoung

To download and/or print the bulletin for worship this Sunday, click here.
Spotify is a great way for all of us - young and old -
to be able to learn songs we sing together in worship.
You can find this week's playlist by clicking here.
Livestream Options

We will not be livestreaming morning and evening worship on Facebook or Vimeo. We will continue to livestream on YouTube and our website at christcovenant.org/live.
Prayer Guides
We hope you will take time to submit your confidential prayer requests either online at ChristCovenant.org/members/prayer or by email at prayer@christcovenant.org. Your pastors and staff are continually praying for you!

We have new prayer guides for your use that can be found at christcovenant.org/prayer. Each prayer guide is printable after downloading and can be found below.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Rom 12:15
Sympathy to:
Susan Sperry on the loss of her brother, James “Jimmy” Boyce.
Ministry to Men Fellowship Breakfast
Saturday, June 4
All men ages 16 and older are invited to attend a men’s ministry breakfast Saturday, June 4, 7:00-8:30am at Stacks Kitchen in Matthews. We will be discussing fellowship, prayer, devotion, and current topics that affect your Christian worldview! The cost is just your breakfast. RSVP by Friday, June 3 by clicking here.
Sunday School Begins June 5
All summer Sunday School classes begin at 9:00 am and will run for four weeks this summer - June 5, 12, 19 and 26. We hope you will find a class that will benefit your relationship with Christ and connect you with others. The new adult class options this summer are the followings:
Cultivating a Devotional Life taught by Wade Byrum and Jeremy Wanamaker,
Presbyterians as Evangelicals: The Present & the Past taught by Don Fortson & Brent Andersen,
Providing Help and Hope in Addiction taught by Bob Goudzwaard & Derek Wells,
The Why, Who, What and How of Congregational Singing taught by Nathan George,
Understanding World Religions taught by Blair Smith & James Anderson.

You can pick up a summer Sunday School booklet that you can find in our lobbies to see the new class options. You can also find this online by clicking here. Our pastors are looking forward to hosting a time of fellowship and prayer each Sunday morning as we begin class. Regular discipleship and fellowship is a vital part of learning to stand on truth and walk in grace together. If you have any questions about Sunday School, please email info@christcovenant.org.
Distributing Communion Elements
Sunday, June 5
At Christ Covenant Church we have both passed the communion elements and walked to stations to receive the elements of the Lord’s Supper. Both approaches have their benefits, and each represent different aspects of the sacrament.

First, passing the elements, which we will do again in the coming months, lends itself to a meditative moment in which we can more easily consider the solemnity and gravity of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. It lends itself to stillness and meditation and can represent the communion of the saints as we pass the elements one to another.

Walking to stations can represent a ‘coming to the table’ which the Lord has prepared for you to recall the familiar words, “come for all things are now ready.” It can point us toward the celebration that awaits us at the wedding feast of the Lamb. Also, it allows the elders and deacons to serve and greet you in the name of Christ. They might want to look you in the eye and say, “The body and blood of Christ, given for you,” or “the peace of Christ to you.” Further, it is an opportunity to sing together or greet each other in Christ saying, ‘blessings,’ or ‘peace be with you,’ or ‘Christ be with you.’

A Few Details
• Families, your non-communing children may want to walk with you. In the Old Testament the children would ask about the Passover. This is a great moment to teach your children about what the bread and wine represent and to clearly explain the gospel to them.
• If you are unable to walk forward, please allow a family member or friend to bring back the elements for you. Please help our elders keep an eye out for those who need to be served.
• Note that ALL elements are gluten free. For the time being we will continue with prepackaged gluten free elements. 

Walking
Finally, we will adjust our traffic flow in order to allow our elders and deacons to serve you and greet you in Christ. Please see the diagram below. If you aren’t sure where to go, don’t worry, simply make your way to an elder and he will be happy to serve you.
1. Exit your pew toward the center of the room and come forward down the aisle next to your section of pews. (There will be NO stations at the back of the room.)
2. In the balcony, allow the lower section to walk up to the main aisle first. The upper sections may follow.
Ministry Highlight: Our Deacons’ Offering
MNA Disaster Response
Mission to North America’s (MNA) Disaster Response allows Christ Covenant to partner with other churches in the PCA in both immediate and long-term outreach to those who are impacted by catastrophic damage caused by natural disasters or mass destruction in the US and Canada. This vital mission is accomplished through disaster preparedness awareness & training in advance of disaster events and by providing support in response to disaster events. Preparedness training is conducted regularly through local and PCA-wide events.

MNA Disaster Response provides support to PCA churches (households of faith) in disaster affected communities through a network of staff and volunteer damage assessment teams, first response teams, site managers, and key leaders. MNA recruits and mobilizes volunteers, receives and distributes supplies and equipment, brings awareness of specific needs, channels recovery funds, focuses prayer and provides spiritual encouragement to our PCA family and their communities.

Volunteers are needed to respond quickly in short-term and long-term recovery efforts after a disaster. They can help as general volunteers for an immediate response that can include tree and debris removal, chainsaw work, tarping roofs, handing out blankets and helping provide warm meals. Or as longer-term key leader/coordinators and site managers who assess needs for rebuilding and support for local congregations as they minister to their neighbors.
If you are interested in being a volunteer, volunteer registration is open every day all throughout the year. You can register at any time. To register, simply fill out the application at https://resources.pcamna.org. Whenever volunteers are needed members of the volunteer team are notified and details of the service opportunity are published at www.pcamna.org. Volunteer registration includes a background screening. This background screening does not commit the individual to serve but simply clears the individual to serve. Volunteers must be at least 15 years old. No matter what our age or availability to be part of a volunteer team, everyone in our congregation can be involved by supporting disaster relief efforts with our prayers.

Pray for the congregations in impacted communities. Pray for loving ministry to neighbors and opportunities for volunteers to share the gospel as they offer help in cleanup and rebuilding. Pray for God to use our disaster response for His glory. Pray for resources to meet the need for response no matter how many events may occur this year. Praise God for the ways He has used MNA’s Disaster Response to care for His children.

Our gifts today through the deacons’ offering will be put to work immediately to assure that MNA is able to respond as needed during hurricane season and well beyond. 100% of donations to MNA Disaster Relief are used for victim assistance. To learn more, go to https://pcamna.org/disaster-response or contact our Outreach & Missions office.

On Sunday, place all special/monthly communion offering gifts in an envelope (found in pews) and label it ‘Special Communion Offering’ and include the name of the ministry before placing your gift in one of the tithe boxes located inside the sanctuary at our main doors in the north, south and toward the main lobby. You can also give online by clicking here. Thank you for your gift!
Congregational Meeting
Sunday, June 5
The Session has called a congregational meeting for the purpose of voting on officer candidates and returning sabbatical officers. It will be held on Sunday, June 5, immediately following morning worship services. Please note that those who attend morning worship in-person on Sunday, June 5, will be voting on these nominees. We will not have online or advance voting available. We look forward to your participation in electing new officers. Candidate biographies are available to pick up in all the lobbies of the worship center and online by clicking here.
Serve the City
June 13-17        
Christ Covenant Youth Ministry (CCYM) is excited to announce that over 40 of our middle and high school students will be serving our community through Serve the City 2022! During the week of June 13-17, our students will be partnering with two local churches to help facilitate their Vacation Bible School programming, joining Urban Eagles in their sports ministry to youth in diverse neighborhoods, as well as assisting many of Christ Covenant Church’s senior adults with house projects. Pastor Eric Russ will lead our students in evangelistic training and implementation toward the end of the week.

Would you join us in prayer leading up to and during the week of Serve the City? Pray that our students and volunteers would be compelled and emboldened by the gospel to love God and love their neighbors by sharing Christ with those around them! Ask that God would use our students’ words and deeds to plant seeds in the hearts of those our students are serving. Pray that God would use this time to develop deep friendships among the middle and high school students involved in CCYM. And, most importantly, pray that God would be glorified in Charlotte.
Radius Conference
June 29-30 
It’s not too late to register for the Radius Missiology Conference (RMC), a unique two-day event hosted at Christ Covenant Church where the ideas, philosophies, and methodologies of historic and contemporary missions are discussed and taught by pastors, missiologists, and experienced cross-cultural church planters. The RMC is an ideal opportunity for pastors, missionary candidates, and church leaders to become better informed on the state of modern missions and learn how Radius can assist local churches in equipping their members to take the gospel where it has never been. A special discount is available for Christ Covenant. When you register online, select the regular price tickets ($100) and enter promo code CCC-Discount and you should get $75 per person as the registration fee. Visit https://www.radiusinternational.org/missiology-conference/ to learn more and to register.
Men, are you in the fight? Don’t do it alone!
Pastor Eric Russ preached forcefully on the sin of pornography on March 6 on "The Battle Against Lust" from Matthew 5:27-30 and asked us if we were in the fight. Many men are in the fight, but they are fighting alone, and making little progress. If that is you, we urge you to join Set Free. We are a group of men who will help you in the fight with resources and accountability. Send a confidential email to setfree@christcovenant.org and we’ll join you in the fight!
Women's Summer Bible Studies
Women of all ages are welcome to invited to join a Summer Bible study and bring a friend!
Both studies are free!
Summer Morning Study
In God’s unfolding plan of redemption, a way He helped His ancient, chosen people to believe in the coming Messiah was through appointed feasts and festivals. These gave the Israelites a picture of the Messiah who would come over a 1,000 years later. In this 6-week study, we will focus on how the 7 feasts recorded in Leviticus 23 pointed to and were fulfilled in Jesus, and what meaning the feasts have for us today. Click here to register and to learn more about this study.
Summer Evening Study
Join Women's Ministry on Tuesday evenings in June and July as we study the spiritual disciplines. We will come together each Tuesday to enjoy snacks, fellowship, a testimony, and teaching on that week's spiritual discipline, based on the book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney. Come learn more about these important spiritual disciplines, including prayer, Bible reading, worship, evangelism, and service! Click here to learn more and to register.
Our Afghan family is on the Move!
Our Afghan family is getting closer to having more permanent housing! The time that they've spent at the Silvers' apartment has been a wonderful time of respite for them. They've gotten to know many of our church members and have learned a lot about living in the United States. So many have given their time, talent and treasure in helping Sikandar and his family and it is so appreciated!
 
Sikandar (Dad) is scheduled to sign a lease at Sailboat Bay Apartments at the end of this week. Once we have access to the apartment and know the layout, we can determine what items the family needs from what has already been donated. Christ Covenant members can then participate in donating whatever else is needed. Stay tuned.
 
The family are enjoying their vehicle donated by one of our church families. You can see a picture of the family with the vehicle on the screens prior to the beginning of service.
 
Great way for youth to serve
 
Childcare need: We are still in need of people to watch Mehroma (15 month old) while Sikandar & Shila (parents) are having their ESL classes at their apartment. The classes are Monday, Wednesday & Friday from 10:00 to 11:30 am. You do not need to be CARE certified since the parents are present. Click here to volunteer.
Covenant Day Summer Camps
Register today for the best summer ever with Covenant Day Summer Camps! Covenant Day has 29 incredible camps to fill your summer with fun. Want to join a band? There's a camp for that. Want a build a robot? There's a camp for that. Want to get CPR certified for babysitting? There's a camp for that. Want to be a Ninja Warrior? There's a camp for that! 
 
Covenant Day School offers summer camps to inspire, challenge, and equip campers with a variety of hands-on learning, playing, and creating opportunities.
 
Led by passionate teachers and coaches, our summer camp leaders are committed to nurturing campers in the love of God and to giving them the best summer ever. Join in the fun this summer as campers build, run, shoot, kick, experiment, act, sing, dance, write, swing, score, cheer, design, and create.
 
We offer camps for students in grades TK-12 in the following areas: full and half-day Camp Lion Day Camp, sports, art, engineering, theater, CPR & babysitting training, cooking, nerf camp, Ninja Warrior camp and more! Click here for a full listing and descriptions of all our camps. See you this summer!
Mask Section Update
Our leadership continues to evaluate our needs in terms of having a mask-required section. Our mask-required section has moved to the section colored in purple in the diagram below. Please be considerate of those sitting around you who are wearing masks and prefer social distancing.
Envision Capital Campaign
We are hoping to have 100% of the congregation participate in the Envision capital campaign. We are currently at 76%. It’s not too late to turn in your pledge card for the Envision capital campaign! Pledge cards and information about the many upgrades and changes we hope to accomplish through Envision can be found in the brochures and booklets in the worship center and online. You can also make a pledge online at christcovenant.org/envision. We currently have 76% of families participating and $1,087,080 pledges toward our goal of $1,500,000.
Theology for Everyday
Our Senior Pastor, Kevin DeYoung, has recently launched a resource website that houses all of his current and past 3,000+ resources as a hope that it will be a blessing to our congregation and other believers. You can subscribe to receive weekly emails that highlights the newly produced resources that week. This is a great website that has podcasts, sermons, articles, and conference messages to help equip and provide resources for theology for the everyday. You can subscribe by clicking here.
Pastors' Blogs
Employment Opportunities
Current opportunities at Christ Covenant include:
Facilities Maintenance (full-time),
Grounds Maintenance (full-time)

Covenant Day School is hiring for various positions. Details can be found at https://www.covenantday.org/about-us/employment
Watching our Budget
Thank you for your tithes and gifts to all of the ministries of Christ Covenant.
You can give online by clicking here.
Please continue to pray for God’s provision throughout 2022.
This email is our e-Courier weekly newsletter, which complements with the printed copy, The Courier, which can be picked up on Sundays at the doors outside the sanctuary. After it goes out by email, it is made available on the News page of our website. On that page, you can read past versions of the newsletter as well as specific news items about our events in greater detail.
All are invited to join us for worship either in-person or on the livestream at 10:45 am each Sunday morning and at 6:00 pm each Sunday evening. The livestream can be found on ChristCovenant.org or YouTube.