Covenant Connections

December 11, 2025

Many Examples of God's Faithfulness at Covenant

Dear Church - You perpetually impress me with the ways that we follow Jesus' example of joy and generosity:

1) With your help, our Deacons have provided Christmas gifts and meals to 30 families right here in our neighborhood using our connections at our local elementary schools. We are serving 80+ local children, with a combined 250 gifts. This is another record number for us... thank you for joining together in spreading the love of Jesus Christ.

2) Our music ministry continues to blossom and grow. The line-up for Saturday's Christmas Concert is amazing and will be a blessing to experience. Vocal choirs. Bell Choirs. Jazz Bands. Soloists. Many thanks to Stephanie Santos-Owens for organizing and coordinating this Christmas gift for our congregation.

3) On Monday of this week, Pack 132 (the cub scouts who meet at Covenant) surprised us with an overwhelming amount of donated food intended for our food ministries at our onsite pantry and food ministry at Northwest Pointe Apartments. See the photo below, and let's give thanks to God for scouts who seek to support and participate in our ministries of care and compassion. Thanks especially to Mike and Wendy Edwards for their leadership in this event.

What a blessing!

For the CS Lewis fans during this Advent, I remind you, "Aslan is on the move!"

+ Pastor Kevin

Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025

Sermon: "Joy of the Feast"

Rev. Dr. Kevin Starcher

Scripture Readings:

Luke 14:12-24

Musical Selections:

GTG #88 - O Come, O Come Emmanuel

https://youtu.be/-QOrDOv6Ie4?si=Y7KwENoLzl1lnl1I

Joy to the World (Unspeakable Joy)

https://youtu.be/rqxMvvptf9I?si=V4dq0a56TiiItHOP

GTG #80 - You Shall Go Out with Joy

https://youtu.be/SoHcfN9zxr0?si=ZVz-2euauT2hUox4

Jacqueline Rush Memorial Blood Drive

Friday, December 26th, 9:00am to 3:00pm at Covenant. Schedule your appointment at RedCrossBlood.org and enter: CPCBoise or click here.

This is a critical time of the year to give blood, so please give just one more Christmas gift, the gift of life.

Northwest Pointe Apartments

A few folks from Covenant have initiated a weekly food pantry for Northwest Pointe Apartments residents over the past few weeks. We have had 15-25 families take advantage of the pantry each week. We are beginning to discern how God will use this ministry.

We are organizing volunteers to run the food pantry at Northwest Pointe Apartments on Mondays at 4pm. If you would like to be involved in this ministry, please sign up in Planning Center here.

Deacon Visitations

Would you like a visit from the Deacons or know someone that would like one? Please let Phil Ruebel or Chris Zimmer know.

Are you willing to assist Phil and Chris with visiting members who are unable to attend a service? Contact them with interest or questions about what this would involve at philruebel@gmail.com or ctzimmer@gmail.com.

Weekly Pastor's Bible Study - In-Person and Livestreamed on Zoom

We will be studying the scripture for the upcoming Sunday morning. You can join these meetings every Wednesday at 10:00am in person or on zoom here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87109279902

Men's Tuesday Evening Bible Study

The Tuesday night Men’s Bible Study has concluded its study of the Gospel of John. We will resume on Tuesday, Dec 2, with a four-week Advent study focusing on the words Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love using resources from the Bible Project

Contact Doug McAbee (gotpyruvate@gmail.com) for additional information. Meetings will be held in Room 7.

Women’s Bible Study

Women’s Bible study is excited to invite you to explore what it means to be Women of the Covenant.

It is in our name of Covenant Presbyterian Church, but what does it mean? We will look at the lives of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, Isaac, and Jacob, and understand more deeply God‘s commitment to us.

We meet Tuesdays from 1-2:30.

We will meet Tuesday the 2nd and Tuesday the 9th as normal.

We will meet December 16 early, from 12-2:00 pm for a potluck lunch.

We will then take a Christmas break until January 6 when we will continue our study on Covenants.

For more information, contact Kay Grant at 208-571-6792.

Men's Thursday Morning Bible Study

The Men's Thursday morning Bible study meets at 7am. Fred Ritsema is leading us through the book of Acts.

Looking forward to seeing you...invite a friend!

Contact Tim Brekke at tim.brekke@gmail.com with any questions.

9:30am Adult Education Hour - We have an array of Adult Education offerings that will happen in the Fall season during the 9:30-10:30am hour. Nursery care will be offered during this time, as needed.

Families, please note that this Sundays youth group has been moved to December 14th.

Bema Small Group

We will meet on December 10 at 7pm in the Van Wyk room. We will be discussing episodes 19 (A Strengthened Heart) and 20 (With All Your Heart), which can be found:

https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/19

https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/20

Or on Itunes, Spotify or any other podcast app.

We will take a break Dec 17-31, and will meet again Jan 7.

Our discussion schedule can be found at this link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NP0TX1Pa8NbfgBKLNb_55td_37uly2nckrLzxggqbQ8/edit?usp=sharing

We will meet at the church. If you want to join but can't come to the church, please let Tracy know so we will have our Zoom meeting running:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85005177504?pwd=LfkjpPrPfzSpiGal0k5wjejn0HrlYE.1

Please contact Tracy Sauerwein (tracysauerwein@gmail.com) with any questions.

Book Club

Book Club will continue on Thursday, January 21st at 10:00am. We will be discussing the book James by Percival Everett. The book is an action-packed reimagining of Mark Twain’s classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from the perspective of the enslaved Jim.

Everett shows Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion in a radically new light in James. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father. Thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. While many of the familiar set pieces of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain, Everett reintroduces us to Jim in a bold new way.

New readers are always welcomed and encouraged!

Covenant Library

Covenant’s church library has many books related to Advent and Christmas. They are located in the different sections, such as, church resources, devotions, Bible study, family and inspiration. Some of the church section books tell the stories behind hymns that we sing this time of year. Knowing those stories might enhance the meaning of the familiar words. After the holiday celebrations, you might want to select a new devotional book or read an inspirational story to assist getting through the winter and post-holiday time.

Some books to consider: The History of Hymn Singing as Told Through One Hundred & One Famous Hymns in the Church Resources section; How Sweet the Sound: The Power and Promise of 30 Beloved Hymns by Laura L. Smith and Holiness in Hidden Places by Joni Earaeckson Tada are in the inspiration section.

Women's Fellowship

Please join us on Thursday, January 8th at 10:00am in the foyer for a time of fellowship and devotion. All are invited. Hope to see you there! Contact Julie Byers at julie@boisemagic.com or Janie Zimmerman at Jzimm4214@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Men's Monthly Fellowship

Join us on Tuesday, January 6th at 9:00am for Christian fellowship, discipleship, coffee and donuts.

Food Pantry Needs

The food pantry is currently not currently in need of anything. We appreciate everyone’s help in keeping our food pantry stocked.

Love Packages

We have collected & sent 1526 Bibles, books, CDs, and/or DVDs this year to Love Packages. Please continue to place the items in the basket on the bookcase by the Connection Center..

Update from Zambia: "Theological resources are very expensive and the average middle class Bible college student cannot afford to buy Bible Concordances, Dictionaries and Commentaries. The lay person is motivated to read their Bibles, enriched by the group study packs. Many pastors are motivated to start a Christian library at their churches. Thank you Love Packages for all the materials."

Prayer Team

Our prayer team meets every Tuesday morning at 10:00am in the prayer room. If you would like to be added to our weekly prayer email, contact our prayer team at prayer@cpcboise.org.