Be sure to join us at Copperas Cove City Park this Sunday for church at Rabbit Fest. The start time is 10:45am. Thirty Fifth Mile will provide the music and Brian will deliver the message. Thirty Fifth Mile will also play a concert later that day at 2:30pm.

Hello friends and family of Fellowship Cove. I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. Remember that Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is because of His victory over death that we can be assured of eternal life if we place our trust in God’s Son for salvation. Here is a montage of the music from the Easter service.

I’m currently reading about the Holocaust for one of my upper-level History classes. Conservative estimates put the Jewish death toll around six million. Such a large number can be difficult to comprehend. Around two-thirds of the Jewish population in Europe were wiped out. Approximately two-fifths of all Jews worldwide were systematically murdered under the Nazi regime.

Imagine that you are a farmer living in the German countryside when a Jewish mother and father show up at your door with their two young children seeking refuge. You would surely know that if you were caught harboring Jews, you and your family would face certain death. Would you risk the lives of you and your family by providing them with a safe hiding place or would you determine that it’s not your problem? Consider this: when faced with the decision to take on the cross and give his life for our sins, Jesus considered it his problem.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
~Isaiah 53:5

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
~I Peter 2:24

Today was our eight-year anniversary as a church. And to celebrate, we ate lunch afterwards. Today’s theme was “Something from Your Heritage.” For a church of our small size, we have good representation of different ethnic and culture backgrounds, including Irish, German, Asian, Native American, and Indian. Since we are near Fort Hood, the largest military installation in the free world, we are fortunate to have people from nearly every part of the U.S.—from the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, the Midwest, New England, and, of course, the South. We hope the ministry of Fellowship Cove has blessed you and your family.

If you haven’t noticed yet, the website underwent a small facelift this week. The most important change is that we are using the WordPress blogging engine to power the blog on the main page of the website. To the average reader, it does not appear to be a big change. However, this allows our staff to very easily add and edit blog entries on the website. This means more updates on what’s happening and more devotional entries to encourage you throughout your week.

The other main change I added is a “meet the staff” page. There, you’ll find short bios on our staff members. Remember to check back often for blog updates.

p.s. You can add your own comments to the blog entries also!

The eyes and hands of Christ
Matthew 26:50a, John 13

In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, Judas signals the Roman guards of who Jesus is by kissing him on the check. It is the most notorious act of betrayal in history. So much so that Judas’ very name is often used synonymously with words like liar, betrayer, backstabber, etc. “Don’t be a Judas” people warn. I often wonder how I would have responded to such an act. What would I have said? What would I have done? I can only imagine the anger and hurt I would have felt. Now the question is; how did Jesus act? I don’t know how many times I read through this story and never picked up on the words until someone pointed it out to me. When I read them I was, at the least, baffled. In direct response to Judas’ kiss Jesus said “Friend, do what you have come to do (Matthew 26:50a).” Jesus called him friend. If you would have asked me everything I knew about Judas prior to reading this verse; a friend of Jesus would not have been on my list. Still, Jesus was able to see something in Judas that was deeper than his deeds; something beyond his sins and treachery. He was able to see what my eyes were not able to see. That’s what Jesus does. He looks beyond our deeds, beyond our sins, and beyond our own acts of treachery; and despite our failures He calls us friend. I think of this passage often, especially now when I am forced to be in such close proximity with people I would not interact with otherwise. Every day I try to look at people with the eyes of Christ. Every day I try to look beyond the outer deeds that irritate me most, and I have to admit it’s a challenge. I long and pray to have the eyes of Christ, but unfortunately, at times, it stops just shy of a longing. It seems to be my elusive Pegasus, my never ending endeavor. Still, I keep praying.

Now, I have found with prayer that I don’t often get what I ask for, but I most often get what I need. Sort of like the crippled beggar in Acts 3. The crippled man wanted money, but Peter just healed him instead. I wanted the eyes of Christ, but maybe that’s not my only Pegasus. Maybe I just never saw the whole picture. Maybe what I really needed was to wash some feet. In John 13 Jesus removes his clothing, lowers Himself to the position of a servant, and washes the feet of the man that would soon hand Him over to the Romans to be crucified. Christ knew that Judas would betray Him. He knew the price he had placed on His life, yet He washed his feet regardless. Jesus was setting an example for the disciples (v 15) to follow. He was showing them that the only position that mattered was one of servitude. Oh, how many nights I have spent praying for the eyes of Christ when it was His hands I needed most of all. Yes I need the eyes of Christ, but what good does it do if it stops at just compassion. Let me finish my thought with this. It was the eyes of Christ that brought Him to the sea, but the hands saved Peter when he wailed; it was the eyes of Christ that lead Him to the Cross, but the hands that bore the nails.

We have a new YouTube account set up. The link is www.youtube.com/fellowshipcove. We’ll have our shorter videos (such as our songs from Sunday morning) hosted there. For sermons, you’ll have to visit www.vimeo.com/fellowshipcove. Since YouTube imposes a 15-minute restriction on all video clips, we’ll have to use Vimeo for the sermons. Why not just use Vimeo for all of our videos? Well, YouTube has insanely higher traffic than Vimeo so we’ll use YouTube whenever possible so we can be as visible to the public as possible. If this is all confusing, just follow us on Facebook and you’ll be updated on any new videos as they are posted.