A. Noah (Genesis 9)
You go and fill the earth with your kind.
I will give you everything you need to fill the earth with your kind.
B. Abraham (Genesis 17)
I will bless you and make you great.
You remain faithful to me. You must travel to a new land. You must be a channel through which my blessings will flow to the rest of the world
C. Moses (Exodus 19ff)
You keep my commands
I will make you “a treasured possession,” “a kingdom of priests,” and “a holy nation.
D. Jesus
Jeremiah: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people”
Ezekiel: For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees. Then, you will be my people, and I will be your God.
The New Covenant
God will forgive us; God will be with us and in us.
If we believe in Jesus and turn our hearts toward him.
E. The Spirit of Christ Community
All the covenants say the same thing – Leave the old land (the world) and go live in the new land (the church). And for me, there is no better way to do that then covenant community.
Fr Raniero – Preacher to the Pope: The church is full of the Spirit but its people can sometimes be bound up. The Spirit needs to be unbound – released, fed, watered, nurtured
Baptism in the Spirit – Jesus urged us to receive (Acts 1:5; 8). This experience released the Holy Spirit in my life – and yours. Paul said, You fools, do not go back to human ways now that you know the Spirit (Gal 3)
God is calling us to be true disciples – to have a New Testament Mindset
1 – to give Jesus the first affections of our hearts – and to seek him – The UPWARD
2 – to live a life worthy of the call – with one another – The INWARD
3 — To give away what we have received – The OUTWARD
In closing, I believe covenant community is a movement of grace from the Lord. I embrace the covenant community because I want to live a holy life and having brothers and sisters help me do that better than I can on my own.