Covenant Christian Church

Covenant Christian Church We affirm the faith, baptism, and spiritual gifts of all and invite you to bless this church with your presence and service.

Mission Statement
of Covenant Christian Church

We are spiritual seekers working to grow in our love of God, deepening our connection to each other and sharing with the world our passion for justice and peace. Welcome Statement
Of Covenant Christian Church

As God’s grace is present in all creation, our welcome is extended to all spiritual seekers – people of all races, all ethnic backgrounds, all

generations, all physical and mental abilities, all economic conditions, all gender identities, all sexual orientations – celebrating the diversity of our faith journeys.

06/18/2026

Strait From The Heart
Thursday, June 18, 2026
by Loren Strait

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
(Matthew 4:5-7 NRSVue)

Maybe the prosecuting attorney couldn’t get Jesus to budge when it came to Jesus’ own personal relationship with God so it makes sense to widen the net a bit. Let’s go with national identity. How he got the judge of the universe to move the trial to the pinnacle of the temple is certainly impressive! So, here we are, in the holy city on the pinnacle of the temple. It is the one structure that represents the people and the standing of the nation before all nations. It is the center of national identity, the place where economic transactions are settled, the place where Rome has political influence, and the place where the guy in overalls has one of the strangest moments in Jesus Christ Superstar!

To bring Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple of the holy city, with the “If you are…then…” is to bring Jesus to make a statement about how his relationship with God aligns with national identity and allegiance. Will Jesus establish himself as the voice of God to the people? Will he take the leap to force God’s hand to put a nation in his hands? Will he gather the support of the masses to officially proclaim he is God’s agent like so many rulers and tyrants of the world have done and continue to do? Will he take this gift of Spirit and this calling of God and use it to establish power over and upon?

Within all this I wonder if Jesus is challenged to come to terms with what kind of presence he will be among his own people. Will he be the Son of God who comes to serve and minister to the people or will he be a so-called son of god who comes to be served and to make a nation of his own liking in opposition to a reign according to God’s liking? Will he test God to proclaim himself or will he test himself to proclaim God? To mention angels is to touch the notion that angels are messengers. What and whose message will it be that Jesus proclaims? Whose message, even as citizens, will we proclaim?

Prayer: I do not call upon you to prove yourself to me. I ask that you move within me that I may faithfully prove myself to you. Amen.

06/17/2026

Strait From The Heart
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
from Loren Strait

The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
(Matthew 4:3-4 NRSVue)

Suddenly the judge of the universe tells the prosecuting attorney, “You may call your first witness.” Jesus takes the stand. Don’t get me started on Jesus putting his hand on the bible to swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It ain’t gonna happen. The first bound bible, the Codex Sinaiticus, didn’t come out until the 300s, and the first printed bible,the Gutenberg Bible, didn’t come out until the 1400s. You’ll just have to jump to Matthew 5:37 and settle for “yes for yes and no for no.” The questioning begins. “If you are…”

I recognize that Jesus’ response comes from Deuteronomy 8 and I find that fascinating. In Deuteronomy we are deep into the story of the Hebrew people at the mountain with God where a covenant is made and a proclamation proclaimed that will define the identity of a people from this day forward. Nestled in the moment is the reminder that God has been with you through all the hard times in the wilderness. And when it came to being famished, God provided manna, and fed you. You had nothing else, no one else but the One who heard you cry out and delivered you. Not only did God provide food to live on but a wisdom to live by.

Jesus brings this moment into the testimony with the prosecuting attorney. “If you are….then…” As much as I would like to get into a conversation about stones and bread, I find myself fixed on the “If - Then.” Jesus is placed in the situation we believers face every moment of our faith’s journey. Will we be what God says we are or will we be what others expect us to be. Just as Jesus has to determine whose words of life he will abide by and live out, so too are we challenged with such a determination. The world will rush in with a myriad of micro-compromises. Little by little the living word of God which Jesus proclaims is how we are to live, can become a word among many. If we are the people of God, the followers of Jesus, how do we remain vigilant to the one voice that truly feeds us?

Prayer: Forgive me when I put qualifications the world imposes on the living word you speak to me. Grant me clarity and courage. Amen.

Reminders of resurrection on Covenant’s holy ground.
06/17/2026

Reminders of resurrection on Covenant’s holy ground.

06/16/2026

Strait From The Heart
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
by Loren Strait

He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished.
(Matthew 4:2 NRSVue)

Once again the imagery invites us to bring other stories of the bible into this moment with Jesus. With “forty” we hear the stories of Noah and the wandering of the Hebrews following their flight from Egypt. Both amazing stories of God confronting the evils of the world to make all things new again. With “forty” we hear the whispering metaphor of a “generation” or an “age” and an “era.”

And then there is the easily missed imagery of being “famished.” I think of the story of Isaac with his sons Jacob and Esau and how Jacob used Esau’s hunger to deprive him of his birthright and used Isaac’s hunger to trick his father into giving him his brother’s blessing. I think of the whining and complaining generation in the wilderness whose hunger led them to cry out against Moses and God who surely brought them out here just to die. I think about the hunger of Elijah who takes the last morsel of food from a widow and her son before they die of starvation only to find their act of sacrifice led to a miracle in which the morsel does not run out but feeds them all until the drought has passed.

To be famished is to find yourself desperate. To be famished is to see existence through the lens of life and death. To be famished is to be confronted with a sense of powerlessness. To be famished is to be confronted with your standing in the world and the world’s sense of what a just society, a just humanity is. To be famished is to find yourself in the world but not of it.

There is a question that also comes with being famished. What are you hungry for? After the experience of God’s Spirit and the forty days and nights of wrestling with what all of this could possibly mean, Jesus is now confronted with clarifying where he will stand and for what he will live his life for. This is not merely a statement of physical hunger. It is the announcement of a declarative moment. Called out and claimed by God, filled with the Spirit, the very power and presence of God in him and in the world, immersed in the deep wrestling of the soul and the implications of that soul finding its way along the paths of this world and this life, Jesus now must take a stand to declare what it is he is hungry for. It is the question of every believer who claims the name of Jesus. For what do we hunger?

Prayer: In the experience of all you have and continue to give, may I hunger for you.

06/15/2026

Strait From The Heart
Monday, June 15, 2026
by Loren Strait

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil.
(Matthew 4:1 NRSVue)

For a moment, I invite you to let go of everything you’ve been told about the devil. Let go of those Sunday School lessons and those fire and brimstone sermons. Let go of those horror novels and movies too. No red beast cast down from heaven. No horns. No pointed tail. Just let it all go, for the moment. Or for forever if you wish or need to.

As we journey through the testing of Jesus this week I want you to think more about Satan in the book of Job. One doesn’t need to get far into the first chapter of Job to discover a different image of the one called “devil” or “satan” or “the accuser.” The image here is not of evil coming to destroy or devour or to convert your loved ones to the opposing political party. Here, we find one with the task of determining whether or not Job, Jesus, humanity, is really what God says they are. Think of a “prosecuting attorney” who brings the questions that seek to get to the truth of the matter.

So, our story of Jesus’ testing begins with the Spirit, the wilderness and the devil. Jesus has been baptized. The Spirit of God has been poured into Jesus and now it drags him out into the wilderness where, like all the ancestors and saints and called ones before him have been driven to discern whether or not they are what God calls them. God has made a claim about Jesus and it is time to see if the claim will stick. The courtroom is ready. The bailiff enters. The judge of the universe enters. We are told to take our seats and buckle up for the ride.

The psychological tension mounts. What could Jesus possibly be thinking? God has made a claim, not in part but in the whole, regarding the life of Jesus. God doesn’t have a spotless record when it comes to claiming the “well qualified.” Then again, how does one not love the tension when it comes to determining “qualifications” as God sees them as opposed to our own expectations? How does one not encounter the inner tension of God’s claim on oneself? Am I really all God says I am? Am I really able and willing to be what God says I am? Can I do this? Should I do this? It’s not just a question for Jesus. It’s our question too.

Prayer: Of all the voices that tell me who and what I am, may I live into your claim upon me above all things. Amen.

Covenant at the Pride Parade! Holden was off in the grass looking at a lady bug.
06/14/2026

Covenant at the Pride Parade! Holden was off in the grass looking at a lady bug.

06/14/2026

Sunday Worship 6/14/2026

06/13/2026

Daily Devotions
Saturday, June 13, 2026
by Susan Lee

Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

I have gone back to the book “One Year Book of Hymns” devotional readings based on hymns of faith. One of the hymns for this week is I love to tell the story. The chorus; I love to tell the story! ‘Twill be my theme in glory -- To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

The story is of Jesus and His glory and of Jesus and His love. It was written by Kate Hankey (Arabella Catherine Hankey) in the 1800’s. She taught bible classes for girls in London and wrote this song when she was confined to a year of bed rest due to an illness.

Do you share the story of Jesus and His love.

06/12/2026

Daily Devotions
Friday, June 12, 2026
by Susan Lee

Galatians 5:22-23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.”

One of the key fruits of the spirit is love. My study bible says ‘The fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us.’ As we join our lives to His the fruits of the spirit grow in us. The hallmark of our Christian walk should be love. As we express love in our interactions with others we reinforce that we are followers of Christ. As we mature in our faith we are compelled to guide others in their journey.

What fruit of the spirit do others see in you today?

06/12/2026

See you Sunday!

Join the Rainbow Faith Coalition at Capital City Pride this Sunday, June 14, at 10 am for our third annual Pride worship service.

Can't make it to Pride? Catch the service online at https://www.youtube.com/

Address

2700 72nd Street
Urbandale, IA
50322

Opening Hours

Tuesday 7:30am - 11:30am
Wednesday 7:30am - 11:30am
Thursday 7:30am - 11:30am
Friday 7:30am - 11:30am
Sunday 8am - 1pm

Telephone

(515) 276-3781

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