Covenant Students
Covenant Students meets on Wednesday nights at 7pm in The Outpost on the campus of New Covenant Church in Longview, Tx.
Genesis 2:18 ESV
The reason God knew man couldn’t make it alone is because he didn’t want to be alone.
We were created for relationship, but we have to make sure we are doing relationship correctly.
Mark 12:30-31 ESV
If God isn’t your first relationship, none of the other ones will work properly.
Three Things Covenant Relationships Provide
1. Covenant relationships give life.
Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
This is easy to tell.
- Am I better or worse because of this friend?
- Am I happier or unhappier because of this friend?
- Am I satisfied or unsatisfied because of this friendship?
- Am I encouraged or discouraged because of this friendship?
For every relationship you have you need to ask, “Does this relationship give life?”
- If it does, keep it, grow it.
- If it doesn’t, end it.
- It is worth it to end a friendship if it brings more death than life.
2. Covenant relationships hold you accountable.
Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
- When you drag iron across iron, the result is both swords are sharpened. Your friendships should address the rough spots in your life.
No one needs a Yes Man as a friend.
- We need people in our lives that are willing to tell us what we need to hear, not what we want to hear.
Proverbs 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend
What a friend says may sting a little, but if they are a covenant friend, it is for your benefit.
You need people in your life to help you stay accountable to the path you have chosen.
- I am a Christian, so I need people to help me stay accountable to God.
- I am married, so I need people in my life to hold me accountable to that marriage
- I am a father, so I need people to help me stay accountable to my children.
- I am a pastor, so i need people to help me stay accountable to my flock.
Accountability isn’t bondage, it is freedom, freedom from the most devastating master, sin.
3. Covenant relationships get you closer to God.
Romans 1:8-12 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.
Covenant only happens with God’s people.
- You can’t be unequally yoked and in covenant and have it all work right.
- Covenant is for people with the same ideals, same morals, same faith, same direction.
- You need to be able to trust them to pray with you, encourage you, build faith in you, not just talk about the latest trends or what’s going on today.
- You can’t be in covenant with a person who isn’t fixed upon Jesus.
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
You are running a race, and if you are connected to someone who isn’t focused on Jesus, they are going to slow you down and tempt you of course.
- Does that mean I can’t be friends with a lost person? No, but you can’t be in covenant with them. They can’t be your squad.
Your first question in beginning of any relationship isn’t, “Are we compatible?” It’s, “Are we both focused on Jesus?”
Small Groups
1. What is the difference between a friendship and a covenant friendship?
2. Why do friendships have so much potential to either help or hurt you?
3. What are the top 3 qualities you look for in a friend? Be honest.
4. Why is your real life best friend your best friend?
5. Do you give your friends life, hold them accountable, and get them closer to God? Explain
Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV
Two Questions:
Do your friendships stir you up to love and good works?
Do you stir your friends up to love and good works?