Blessings upon Blessings

October 23, 2025

Leadership Notes

     My lovely wife and I have lived in Michigan for almost thirty-five years now. Before that, Minnesota, then Missouri, then Kentucky, then California. I can say, with the utmost confidence in my memory, that we have not experienced a run of beautifully idyllic weather like we’ve had in these past several weeks. We feel so unworthy of God’s gift of living in Michigan. God is good, all the time…

     We’ve had a turkey in our freezer since last year. It was one of those “loss leaders” from Meijer during the holiday dinner season. It was about fifteen pounds. Around $7.00. So, on Monday, beautificent day that it was, we decided to finally roast that turkey. For over four hours, the house smelled of Thanksgiving. Added bonus was, with the oven on {granted, only 250°, as we slow-roast} it kept the downstairs comfortable. Our furnace is still off. Plus, since the Lions game was on that evening, it was even more Thanksgiving-y. God is so, so good:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

Serve the Lord with gladness!

    Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!    

It is he who made us, and we are his;     

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,    

and his courts with praise!    

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;    

his steadfast love endures forever,    

and his faithfulness to all generations.

     We are blessed beyond measure. Imagine being so fortunate that you can spend an October afternoon protesting something that isn’t real. Watching the news Saturday evening, I had to ask myself, “Self, why are all these old people so angry?” And so awkwardly cringey? Even when I was a young {late teens and twenties} leftist idealogue, I never was into the whole crowd/protest/rabble virtue signal. Never have been. Never will be.

     After final analysis, here is my list of the Top Three Things accomplished by Saturday’s protests:

1.     

2.     

3.    

It was all kinda hilarious. I know some will disagree with my take, but ain’t that the beauty of our fortunate lives? We can talk about real or imaginary threats while enjoying the blessings of liberty.

     I’ll let CNN commentator Scott Jennings have the last word. When asked if he thought people at last Saturday’s protests were wasting their time, Jennings replied:

“I don’t really care whether they do it or not. Listen, you guys spend your time however you want. It’s a free country. Not a monarchy.”

Oof…

     Which segues us into something more serious. Well, maybe not so much serious as worthy of celebration. We are a church of people who love Jesus. Our love for Jesus leads us to love each other and our communities. It is the love for our communities which informs our mission and outreach. Make no mistake. Our primary purpose is to worship God and learn from His Word. That’s the most important affirmation from The Westminster Confession of Faith. Our chief end is to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Out of that flows how we help those around us.

     Here at Covenant Church our love for Jesus is manifested in a variety of ways. Concrete ways. We help all kinds of people in all kinds of ways. None of which involve sloganeering or sign waving. I love how James 1:19-22 captures it:

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to

hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not

produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all

filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the

implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving

yourselves.

My second favorite from James is this:

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but

does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or

sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you

says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving

them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also

faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show

me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my

faith by my works.

-      2:14-18

     God has richly blessed our church so we can be a blessing to others. There is no drama here…simply joyfully embracing what God has prepared for us to do.

     And now, your Moment of Spurgeon:

“Be kind. Let every tone of your voice, every gesture of your

limbs, every look of your face show the kindness of your heart.”

With Much Love and Affection,

            Richard