Joel asked me to speak on the centrality of covenant theology in the mission of God and in seeing

the kind of Christianity established that Christ says will love in the world. And so that is

exactly what we're going to do. We're going to talk about the God who makes and the God who keeps

his covenant. We're going to talk about why that matters for us and for our children, for all who are far off,

and why the story that we believe we are in matters and matters deeply.

So let's begin, let's ask for the Lord's help, and we'll get to work.

Our Father in heaven, we give you thanks that you are an almighty God who makes covenant with your people

and keeps your covenant. We give you thanks that

you are abounding in steadfast love, that you're slow to anger, that you have great mercy towards us,

and that it's not an ethereal mercy, but one that you have demonstrated in history towards us

through Christ and by your spirit. So help us now we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, a few years ago, a member of my church out in Ogden, Utah, Refuge Church, is the church

that I helped pastor out there in northern Utah, found one of those decorative plates that you've

probably seen on the wall of your grandmothers, your great-grandmars, maybe your mom's house, those ones with the artsy prints on them that are not to be used

under any circumstances as an actual plate.

And this one, which turned up in an antique store, just right on the main, historic main street,

down the street from our church, featured an illustration of three church buildings,

historic church buildings on the front. And the reason that it caught their eyes so quickly is that

one of the churches, they instantly recognize, hey, that's my church. That's the church building

that we meet in, which is a historic brick church building that we purchased about eight years ago

and enjoy meeting in to this day. So they bought the plate, which was, I'm thankful they did before

anybody else got a hold of it. And now it sits in my office. I hung it on the wall as a reminder

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