Lent has (by grace, through fasting) loosed us from the distraction of good things that can delay us on our journey and has dislodged some things (by grace, through repentance) that so often entangle us as we walk. And so, we journey this week with Jesus, retracing the steps of his final days and hours with a clearer mind and sharper focus, waiting to see again, as for the first time, the marvel of His Holy Week.

Dear Members of New Covenant, Last Sunday we played a short video of Karen James sharing a touching testimony about tithing. If you missed it, you can catch it -- HERE. And this Sunday Fr. Dave McDaniel will share on the same topic. While there are lots of opinions on, and a lot to be said about tithing, I fear I say too little.

As the handcuffs ominously clicked, little Kelly asked, “Where are they taking my daddy?” as her daddy was led from the courtroom to jail. I don't recall how I responded. I was probably as shocked by the immediacy of his exit as was his daughter little Kelly, his wife, Celeste, sister, Betsy, and John and Mary Jane, his mother and father. Too stunned to even produce tears. “Guilty” and away he went.

Most of the three years of Jesus’ ministry took place along the Northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Here He did most of His teaching, preaching, miracles, and fed the 5,000. Most of His disciples were from this region. But just before He took His disciples on His last trip to Jerusalem, where He knew the Cross awaited, He left the quiet, pastoral hills of Galilee for a two day journey to Caesarea Philippi. Why?

Dear New Covenant, We are writing to invite you to 9 o’clock. Beginning in February, we are taking a fresh look at adult formation by presenting four new series at 9:00 am in the Parish Hall. Our format deserves a word of explanation. Glenn, Sheryl, Clint and I will take a Sunday each month and develop a theme or topic. Listed below are two ways to see what is coming. The schedule shows you who is teaching each week. The descriptions tell you what the focus of each module will be.

Please cover our retreat in prayer and prepare for this Sunday's service. The worship team, vestry and staff will be meeting in Daytona Beach Shores for a time of listening, prayer and worship. Andy Piercy will lead us in the retreat and then again in Sunday worship. He is a world renowned singer/songwriter with a heart for worship.

We all have a set of traditions at Christmas, and changing those traditions is never easy even when it’s for good reason. You see until this year, I have always attended Christmas Eve service; I’ve never attended a Christmas Day service, not as a child, not as a young adult, not even as a chaplain. Rarely had our Christmas morning as a family been interrupted by anything other than family desiring a visit. When I was a chaplain, we would rotate the holidays so that no one person had to work each and every one. To be honest, I had offered to handle the Christmas Day service as a chance to give Father Carl and Father Christopher time with their families. As I was viewing it, it was an obligation that I could take off of their plate. As usual, they had much to teach me!

Dear Friends of New Covenant, Barb and I attended an ornament gift exchange party last week, and I had been thinking a lot about receiving. I thought of Martin Luther suggesting that we dishonor God when we try to earn His free gift of grace. It’s not a gift exchange. It’s a free gift. We are receivers. And here we were at a gift exchange. A fun affair! I had to be near the last to go and get an ornament. I was number 54. You know how it works; everyone brings an ornament that goes into a pile. Then you can take one from the pile, or go take one from someone who already has one you like, and then they get to go again. Anyway, I went to the pile, now down to two gifts, and opened a lovely clear glass ball with some white design circumventing its middle. As I walked to my seat, I remembered one of the guests saying she wanted white because her tree was all white lights and white ornaments. So before I sat down, I said, “Here, would you like this?”

Charles Dickens was paid by the word. This helps explain why his novels are so rich in their detailed description and why the dialogue between characters multiplies from scene to scene. A writer has to pay the bills. Adjectives are cash cows. It is interesting then that when he describes Ebenezer Scrooge’s joy in Christmas past, he describes Fezziwig’s Christmas Ball with such economy of language. He conjures for us an image of a single evening made joyous by the generous hospitality of a happy couple. From first impressions, we may think Scrooge has a low capacity for joy. Perhaps because of his life’s early grief, he has numbed himself to these happy moments. Or it may be that the purity of joy in that moment is so tangible, words are not the main things. Scrooge discerns in hindsight that the generous actions of Fezziwig more than surpass the expenditure of wealth or gold.

Friday Epistle, 12.5.14 Dear Friends at New Covenant, There are several things in this week’s letter to you. One is a wonderful testimony about someone inviting a new friend to church this Sunday. Then, I have included a summary of your answers to the two questions I asked in my sermon a week ago, and a link to the more complete list. Finally, at this point I believe I will be sharing on verses 1 and 8 this coming Sunday from the Gospel reading and have shared a couple thoughts. I hope to see you at Lessons and Carols, Sunday at 7:00. Those who attended last year were deeply touched by the word and worship.