Welcome
Thank you for joining us in gathered worship today! At Covenant, we believe that true hope, joy, meaning, and redemption is found in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we hope that you will be moved towards greater love for Jesus and one another as we pause to praise, pray, and ponder under God’s Word.
The emphasis throughout our Sunday service is that worship is all about God. We gather to worship Him. Our gathered worship is that it is foundationally and fundamentally about God. In our service, we will: worship our Heavenly Father for his miraculous deeds, bear witness to Jesus Christ the Son and the hope he brings through his death and resurrection, be moved to engage with the mission of God through the power of the Holy Spirit as we wait for the return of Christ. All of these activities of worshipping, witnessing, and waiting will be shaped and formed by God’s divine revelation as it is given to us in Holy Scripture.
Our understanding of Scripture, God’s divine action, and theology will shape the flow of our service. Therefore, our worship service is “liturgical” and what you hold before you is our weekly liturgical document. Originating from Greek, this word means, “work of the people”. This means our service is both corporate and communal in nature. We are not individual consumers of a product, but join others in community to participate together in engaging with God. At different points in the service, there will be opportunities to join the liturgy, and we encourage you to enthusiastically participate in these corporate moments of response.
We hope your time with us serves to encourage and fill you with hope and joy.
Call to Worship
No one is like you, LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Who should not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.
Jeremiah 10:6-7
Songs of Invitation
Confession of Sin
Holy Lord, we have sinned without number, and have been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find your mind in your word, of neglect to seek you in our daily lives.
Our transgressions and sins present us with a list of accusations.
But we bless you that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ. Go on to subdue our corruptions, and grant us grace to live above them.
Let not the passions of the flesh nor the lusts of the mind bring our spirit into subjection, but do rule over us in liberty and power.
All: Amen!
Word of Assurance
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
Psalm 145:13B-14
Congregational Prayer
Offering
Weekly Catechism
New City Catechism for Kids – Question 11
Q: What does God require in the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments?
A: Sixth, that we do not hurt or hate our neighbor. Seventh, that we live purely and faithfully. Eighth, that we do not take without permission that which belongs to someone else.
Community News
Covenant Session summary reports
Covenant Session summary reports are available for all meetings up to 4 May 2025. Please use this link to access: https://www.covenantchurch.com.au/aka/sessionsummary
Covenant missionaries profile and updates
Covenant supports a number of gospel partners in Australia and overseas who are faithfully sharing the good news of Jesus. To find out more and how you can be praying for them, please visit: https://www.covenantchurch.com.au/aka/missionaries
Important Dates
| June 14 | Covenant Session strategy & vision planning Dan Chu’s |
| June 22 | Covenant Session meeting 2pm @ Christ College |
Bible Reading
Mark 8:1-21 NIV
8 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”
4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”
5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied.
6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, 10 he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.
11 The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. 12 He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” 13 Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
16 They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
“Twelve,” they replied.
20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
They answered, “Seven.”
21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
All: Thanks be to God.
Sermon Outline
Understanding the Feast
Mark 8:1-21
Cameron Clausing
Feeding Fans
Foolish Foes
Forgetful Followers
Songs in Response
Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God the Father Almighty
Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended to the dead;
On the third day he rose from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father;
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
the holy catholic [universal] Church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.
Amen
Benediction
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Revelation 1:5-6
