Our Covenant with God: Giving Thanks

SERMON TITLE:   “Our Covenant with God:  Giving Thanks”
SERMON TEXT:    1 Corinthians 10:27-11:1 and 11:23-26
PREACHER:           Rev. Kim James
OCCASION:           November 1, 2020, at First UMC  (Communion and Pledge Card Consecration Day)
 
 
INTRODUCTION
 
                Throughout the month of October, we spent our worship time thinking about the theme of “Our Covenant with God.”  We ran through the Old Testament, covering God’s covenants with Noah, Abraham, Joshua, and the prophet Jeremiah.  Along the way, we dropped hints about the covenants God had with Moses and David; and, each Sunday, in our calls to worship, we read about covenant themes from the Book of Psalms.  If you were paying really close attention, you might have noticed that, in my Pastor’s Pen column in the November newsletter, I even mentioned the idea of covenant in regard to John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah.  And last Sunday, from the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews, we read about God’s new covenant established in Jesus.  After all of that, you might think that we would have run completely out of covenant material.  But, no, we haven’t. 
                That’s why we could read this morning about the cup of the new covenant in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.  In our reading from chapters 10 and 11, the Apostle Paul was instructing that rather-new congregation about how they should behave inside and outside of worship.  All for the glory of God, they needed to imitate Paul, just as he imitated Christ.  In other words, their covenant with God should include giving thanks.  

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