Covington's Calvary

09/08/2026

Wow!

Now someone greater than Solomon is here. Luke 11:31 nlt

READ Luke 11:27-32

“Wow!” was the response of our team members who toured a retreat center—purchased at great cost by a person with a vision for the refreshment and encouragement of people serving in ministry. We were amazed by double-decker, queen-sized bunks and bedroom suites with king-sized beds. The exquisitely equipped kitchen and dining area also generated wide-eyed delight. And, just when you thought that you’d seen it all, there were more surprises—including a full-sized, indoor basketball court. Every “wow” was warranted.
The Queen of Sheba had a similar “wow” response when she visited King Solomon in ancient Jerusalem. When she “saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built . . . she was overwhelmed” (1 Kings 10:4-5). Centuries later, another royal son of David—Jesus—appeared, and He amazed people in other ways. Everywhere He went, people recognized the wonder of His wisdom and works (Luke 4:36), and He urged them to see that “someone greater than Solomon” had stepped onto the scene (11:31 nlt). The stunning ministry of Jesus grants forgiveness of sin—purchased at great cost, His death. He welcomes anyone who will to come to Him. And those who do will experience His beauty and grace and will sing His praises now and throughout eternity. Wow!
By Arthur Jackson

REFLECT & PRAY
What about Jesus compels you to say, “Wow!”? If you haven’t yet experienced the goodness of God through Jesus, what’s keeping you from getting to know Him?

Dear Jesus, please continue to open my eyes and heart to see how amazing You are.

09/07/2026

09/07/2026

From the Deadly Sword

I will sing a new song to you, my God. Psalm 144:9

READ Psalm 144:1-2, 9-15

Sabin Howard’s remarkable sculpture A Soldier’s Journey breathes with vitality and anguish. Thirty-eight bronze figures lean forward across a fifty-eight-foot bas-relief that traces the life of a World War I soldier. Completed in 2024, the panorama begins with a heartrending goodbye to family, leads us through the naive elation of departure, and moves into the horrors of battle. Finally the sculpture returns us home, where the veteran’s daughter peers into his upturned helmet—only to foresee World War II.
Howard sought “to find the thread that runs through humanity—that human beings can reach great heights, and they can sink to the level of the animal.” War reveals this reality.
The psalmist David knew well the bloody consequences of war. Aware of its tragic necessity to confront evil, he praised the God who “trains my hands for war” (Psalm 144:1). Yet he also recoiled from combat, praying, “From the deadly sword deliver me” (vv. 10-11). David looked forward to the time when the young won’t die in war, but sons “will be like well-nurtured plants” and daughters “like pillars carved to adorn a palace” (v. 12). On that day “there will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets” (v. 14).
Looking back, we remember those who’ve fallen in battle. Looking ahead, we sing with David, “I will sing a new song to you, my God” (v. 9).
By Tim Gustafson

REFLECT & PRAY
How has war affected you? What can you do to work for peace?

Father, we remember those who’ve died in war. We long for Your lasting peace.

09/06/2026

Good morning FB family and friends. It's another Lord's Day and a beautiful day to be in worship. Hope you can be with us in person at Calvary Baptist Covington. Our worship time is 10:30 am. If you live in the area we invite you to vist our church and worship with us. We are still live streaming at 10;30 am on Covington's Calvary FB page. We only need 11 more followers on our new FB page to live stream on our new page. Our new page is Calvary Baptist Covington. Once we have 100 followers we will be using Calvary Baptist Covington as our new FB page.
God bless!

09/06/2026

Hope Renewed

Encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 1 Thessalonians 5:14

READ 1 Thessalonians 5:4-15

Thia was puzzled. Why was his eighteen-year-old son spending so much time in the library these days? His son, who was autistic and rarely spoke to anyone, would usually return straight home after class. What changed? When pressed, his son finally replied: “Studying with Navin.”
Navin, it turned out, was a classmate who'd noticed that Thia’s son was struggling in class and had invited him to study together. This budding friendship—the first in eighteen years—greatly encouraged the disheartened father, who’d given up hope of his son ever having a friend.
Hope was renewed because one person cared enough to come alongside another who needed help. In Paul’s ministry to the early church, he knew this also applied to our hope of salvation. For believers in Jesus to “be awake and sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6), living in the hope of His return, they had to help one another (v. 11), especially those who were struggling.
That’s why, even though these believers led lives of love that pleased God (4:1, 10), Paul reminded them to “encourage the disheartened, help the weak” (5:14). When we notice believers in Christ who are fearful, anxious, or despondent, and we come alongside them—whether to listen, offer a kind word, or sit quietly together—God can use us to give them the strength and courage to hold on to their hope in Jesus.
By Jasmine Goh

REFLECT & PRAY
Who in your community can you come alongside this week? What can you do to show them care and attention?

Dear God, please help me to care for the disheartened and the weak so that their hope in Jesus may be renewed.

09/05/2026

Leap of Faith

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

READ Hebrews 11:1-8

About seven hundred emperor penguins in West Antarctica, only six months old, huddled together at the edge of a towering icy cliff fifty feet above the frigid water. Finally one penguin leaned forward and took “a leap of faith,” diving into the icy water below and swimming away. Soon scores of penguins took the plunge.
Young penguins typically jump just a couple of feet into the water for their first swim. This group’s death-defying leap was the first to be caught on camera.
Some people would say that the blind leap into the unknown by those penguins is similar to what happens when a person trusts in Jesus for salvation. However, faith in Him is just the opposite. The author of Hebrews said, “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).
Enoch’s faith pleased God: “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (v. 6). The world hadn’t seen anything like the great flood, and yet Noah “in holy fear built an ark to save his family” (v. 7) because he trusted in God. By faith Abraham followed God “even though he did not know where he was going” (v. 8).
When we first put our trust in Jesus, it’s by faith. As we continue following Him and our faith is tested, we can remember how God came through for these men. Even when we don’t know the whys and hows, we can trust God with the outcome.
By Nancy Gavilanes

REFLECT & PRAY
When has your faith resulted in God’s hand of protection? How do you see God working in your life because of your faith in Him?

Dear Jesus, thank You for being so faithful.

09/04/2026

Love the Truth

They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:10

READ 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12

Jack hates school. The lectures on algebra, grammar, and the periodic table bore him. But he loves building houses. His father takes him to work in the summer, and Jack can’t get enough. He’s only sixteen, but he knows about cement, shingles, and how to frame a wall. What’s the difference between school and construction? Love. Jack loves one and not the other. His love fuels knowledge.
As believers in Jesus, we’re to “love the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:10). Paul says a satanic figure will use “signs and wonders” (v. 9) to deceive “those who are perishing” (v. 10). Why are they perishing? “They refused to love the truth and so be saved” (v. 10). Their failure to love the truth blinds them from knowing it. They’ll be duped (v. 11).
What do we know? That important question depends on a more basic one: What do we love? Our passions incline our heart and direct our mind. We cherish what we love. We protect it and seek more of it. If we love truth and wisdom, we’ll search for them as precious gold (Proverbs 3:13-14; 4:7-9). They’ll guard us. “Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you” (4:6).
What is true wisdom? Jesus says it’s Him. “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Our most important question is who do we love? Love Jesus and you’ll learn His way. He’ll guard your life by guiding you into His truth.
By Mike Wittmer

REFLECT & PRAY
Why is it important to love the truth? Why does Jesus say He is the truth?

Dear Father, please fill my heart with love for You and what’s true.

09/03/2026

The Filling Of The Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18)

09/03/2026

Love Worthy of Our Life

Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. Matthew 16:25

READ Matthew 16:21-28

William Temple, a twentieth-century English bishop, once concluded a sermon to Oxford students with the words of the hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” But he cautioned against taking the song lightly. “If you mean [the words] with all your hearts, sing them as loud as you can,” Temple said. “If you don’t mean them at all, keep silent. If you mean them even a little, and want to mean them more, sing them very softly.” The crowd went quiet as everyone eyed the lyrics. Slowly, thousands of voices began to sing in a whisper, mouthing the final lines with gravity: “Love so amazing, so divine / Demands my soul, my life, my all.”
Those Oxford students understood the reality that believing in and following Jesus is a serious choice, because it means saying yes to a radical love that demands everything from us. Following Christ requires our entire life, our whole being. He plainly told His disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). No one should make this choice flippantly.
Yet following Jesus is also the way to our deepest joy. Life with Him, we’ll discover, is the life we truly desire. It appears to be a great paradox. However, if we respond to God’s love, believe in Christ, and relinquish our selfish, shortsighted demands, we’ll find the life our soul craves (v. 25).
By Winn Collier

REFLECT & PRAY
What will believing in and following Jesus cost you? What will you gain?

Dear God, following You isn’t easy, but I want to give You my life and my all.

09/02/2026

Loving the Stranger

Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners. Exodus 23:9

READ Leviticus 19:9-10, 33-34

A friend’s wife, a master seamstress, made a loving plan before she passed away from a long illness. She donated all her sewing equipment to our town’s sewing guild, providing sewing machines, cutting tables, and more for classes teaching newly arrived immigrants. “I counted twenty-eight boxes of fabric alone,” her husband told us. “Six women came by to pick up everything. Their students are hard workers, eager to learn a skill.”
Others describe such newcomers in less flattering ways. The plight of immigrants has become a divisive issue.
Moses, however, issued God’s view: “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners” (Exodus 23:9). He further shared God’s decree regarding strangers. “When you reap the harvest of your land . . . do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:9-10).
God also declared, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (vv. 33-34).
God set the standard. May He bless our hearts to show love to the strangers among us.
By Patricia Raybon

REFLECT & PRAY
How can you help those in your church or neighborhood from other countries or who speak another language?

Where can you find opportunities to help someone from another culture?

Dear Father, please give me a heart that welcomes others.