What is a Covenant? Covenant is one of the Bible's core theological themes. Generally speaking, a covenant is an agreement, commitment, or promise between two or more parties that establishes the terms of their relationship. In a specifically Christian sense, covenants are a solemn agreement made between people and before God establishing the terms of their relationship. A covenant is not a legal document or contract. Unlike legal contracts, the viability of covenant relationships depends solely upon the integrity of the people actually making the covenant; the partners in a Christian covenant are accountable to one another and to God, not to some judicial overseer. In the bible, covenants are made between people as well as between people and God (we read about these especially in the Old Testament). Examples of covenants between people include the covenants made between Abraham and Abimelech (Gen. 21:22-24), Jonathan and David (1 Sam. 18:1-3), and Ruth and Naomi (Ruth 1:16-18), just to name a few. Even more significant than the covenants made between people, God has made a number of crucial covenants with his people. In many instances these covenants are associated with a symbol or sign that marks the covenant. With Noah, God makes a covenant to never again destroy the earth by flood and he marks that covenant with a rainbow (Gen. 8:20-9:17). God makes a covenant with Abraham and renews and/or expands it a handful of times (i.e. Gen. 12:1-3; Gen. 15; Gen. 17). These covenants are also marked by signs. In Gen. 15, God promises Abraham that he will have numerous descendants and they will posses the land of Canaan. God marks this covenant with a sign by instructing Abraham to cut animals in half and later God causes a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch to pass between the halves. In Gen. 17, God renews his covenant with Abraham and marks the covenant by changing Abraham's name (from Abram to Abraham) and instructing Abraham along with all the other males in his "house" and all of his descendants to be circumcised as a sign of his covenant with God. The lengthy covenant made between God and Israel at mount Sinai had several signs associated with it (i.e. the Sabbath, Exod. 31:12-13). In the New Testament, Jesus fulfills the old covenant and establishes a new Covenant. Jesus marks that covenant with the eating of bread and drinking of wine and ordains that we in the church should continue to practice this ritual sign of the new covenant established by Christ (Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). Why do we make covenants? Covenant commitments have always been important part of the community of God's people. So, we as God's people continue to make a number of covenant commitments in line with what God's people have always done. God is committed to us, we should be committed to God, and we should be committed to one another. Covenants are the agreements that establish the terms of those commitments. Marriage is covenant commitment to your spouse, church membership is a covenant commitment to your brothers and sisters in Christ, and a small group covenant is a specific commitment to your brothers and sisters in your small group.
What is the small group covenant? A small group covenant is an agreement amongst the members of your small group that establishes the terms of your relationship with one another. Most importantly, it establishes 4 commitments that are essential for a small group to work well: 1. Each member agrees to stay committed to a personal relationship with Christ. If members of the group are not committed to Christ, participation in the group is, frankly, pointless. 2. Each member agrees to stay committed to serving and loving their brothers and sisters in their small group out of the love and grace they have received from God. This is the pattern of love and service that God has established in scripture. 3. Each member agrees to stay committed to regular attendance. Small groups are not something you should decide to attend or not on a week-by-week basis. Regular attendance is required to achieve the hopes and goals we have for small groups. In order to be committed to one another, you have to be with one another. There are obvious and reasonable exceptions to this including work schedules, illness, etc. But, in summary, if you can be at your small group, you should be at should group. 4. Each member agrees to come to group each week prepared to participate. This includes making every effort to carefully listen to and consider the sermon (if you can't be at the service, sermons are available online and on itunes) and coming with the intention of being honest and increasingly intimate. Intimate relationships take time, but can be achieved with a commitment to honesty. Making these commitments and honoring them is crucially important. Writing "yes" on a piece of paper does not, in and of itself, provide any spiritual benefit or in any way guarantee that anyone will actually honor these commitments. This piece of paper is merely a symbol. But, as we have seen, signs, symbols, and rituals have always been and continue to be an important aspect of making covenants. So, we are asking that everyone in small groups participate in the ritual of writing "yes" on this covenant as a symbol of your agreement to the four commitments outlined above. This ritual is a sign that marks the beginning of a covenant commitment between group members. Furthermore, it provides a unique opportunity for small group members to hold one another accountable to the commitments they have agreed to make. Finally, It is our hope and desire that everyone in the EPBC community will be involved in a small group. However, the commitments outlined above are crucial to the health of each small group. Therefore, we ask that you please prayerfully consider both how regularly your circumstances will permit you to attend group and how significant a priority small group participation is for you personally. If you will not be able to attend group regularly -- either because your circumstances won't allow it or because your not at a place where groups are a priority for you -- we will ask you to be a part of Pastor Jeff's foundations group (which currently meets on Saturday mornings) rather than a sermon-based group.
We recognize that when we abide in Christ we will bear much fruit while apart from God we can do nothing (John 15:4-5). We recognize that we are to love and serve one another out the love that comes from God and the special portion of grace that he gives to each one of us (Rom. 12:1-8; 1 Cor. 12; 1 John 4:19). And we recognize the opportunity we have to stir one another up to love and good works if we do not neglect to meet together (Heb. 10:24-25). Therefore, it is with great hope and humble expectation that we ask God to empower us to honor and keep the following commitments, that we might grow up in every way into Christ who is the head of the church (Eph. 4:15-16): We commit to prioritizing and maintaining a personal relationship with Christ. We commit to serving and loving the brothers in sisters in Christ in our small group out of the love and grace we receive in our personal relationship with Christ. We commit to weekly attendance and participation in our small group, as we are able, between now and May, 2016. We commit to coming to group prepared to be honest in the pursuit of increasing intimacy and prepared to discuss the week's sermon, as we are able. Name Print "Yes" Date
Appendix A -- What about Matt. 5:33-37? In Matt. 5:34-36 Jesus teaches, "Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black," (ESV). So, do this mean that we should not make covenants? Two observations are important. First, Jesus is not talking about making covenant commitments (like our small group covenant) in this passage. Notice that Jesus teaches not to take an oath at all and then goes on to explain what he means by "oath". Jesus says we are not to take an oath by heaven, or earth, or Jerusalem, or even our own heads. What Jesus is saying is we are not to swear on or to anything when we make commitments. Perhaps you've heard (or said) people say, "I swear on my mother's grave, I'm telling the truth," "I swear to God I didn't do it," or, "or swear on my life I'll be on time,". Those sorts of "oaths" are exactly what Jesus is prohibiting. When we make commitments, we are not to swear any sort of oath. So, it would be wrong for us to make any covenant that said, "I solemnly swear on my own life and with God as my witness that I will..." But, as you can clearly see, no such language is included in our covenant. The small group covenant is simply an affirmation that we are making a few commitments. And we ask God to help us keep those commitments. Asking God to help keep a commitment is quite different than swearing in his name as some sort of guarantee that we will keep our commitments. Second, Jesus is explicitly clear that he is not teaching us not to make commitments. Instead he teaches that when we make commitments, our word alone -- a simple "yes" or "no" -- rather than our word in addition to swearing some oath, should be sufficient. In verse 37 Jesus teaches, "Let what you say be simply 'yes' or 'no'; anything more than this comes from evil," (ESV). So, we are most certainly supposed to make commitments; to say "yes" and "no" to things. What we are not supposed to do is swear any sort of oath when we make commitments. A simple yes or no should do. So, as outlined above, we are making a covenant commitment because covenants have been an important part of what God's people have always done. And we are asking you to make that commitment by writing "yes", not be swearing any sort of oath. Therefore, our small group covenant is consistent with the teaching of scripture, including Matt. 5:33-37.
Appendix B -- 2015-16 Small Group Schedule Groups Start -- week of 9/13 Thanksgiving Break -- week of 11/22 Christmas and New Year's break -- weeks of 12/20 and 12/27 Easter Break -- week of 3/27 Groups End -- week of 5/1