We continue our series on the New Covenant using the songs from the New Covenant musical as a track to run on. And there will be a link to a YouTube version of the song to listen to at the end of each Catch. Enjoy and learn.

Alleluia
Words by John Berridge (1716-1793)
Music by John Fischer

Do this and live the law commands
But gives me neither feet nor hands
A better way His grace doth bring
It bids me fly and gives me wings

Alleluia… Praise the Lord

These next two songs in the New Covenant musical capture the joy of the believer who first discovers that the life God is asking them to live is not up to them to pull off. It’s truly a life-changing reality that catches us all by surprise. That’s because none of us have ever experienced anything like grace.

Grace does everything. It finds us, saves us, empowers us, and brings us finally home to eternal life in heaven. Such release has no counterpart in most people’s experience. No one expected this.

But all of us — those with Christian backgrounds and those with none — all know plenty about what it is to have demands on ourselves that we cannot possibly perform. We never seem to fulfill the expectations that we and others put on ourselves. Most of the dysfunction in our families comes from our attempts at covering up our failure to meet the expectations of parents, teachers, pastors, bosses and others. And even when we become Christians, we simply add God to the list of people we have already disappointed. It’s a system — a basic human infrastructure we build of rationalizations, excuses, distractions, deferments, guilt, blame and lies to protect ourselves from admitting the inability to live up to standards we and others set for ourselves. It’s human to do this. It’s built into our DNA. It’s universal.

And then along comes God’s grace that undercuts all of this.

After living a lifetime of not having the feet or hands to do what we are expected to do, here is God giving us a new list, but not without blessing us with the very power we need to do what He asks. Not only that, but the list is very short. It consists of two things — loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. And then, wonder of wonders, guess what He does? He sets that love inside us, kind of like telling us to fly and giving us wings. It’s not like anything we’ve known before.

No wonder the rest of this song is filled with praise. Alleluia, over and over again. He tells you to love and gives you the love to love yourself and others; like He tells you to fly and gives you wings.

Alleluia. Alleluia. Praise the Lord!

Click here for a YouTube version of “Alleluia”.

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LET’S RALLY AROUND DEBORAH

Lately we have been led to bring before you, the Catch Community, certain members of our community who have served us and now we have a chance to serve them by helping provide for their needs which are bigger than they can handle alone. As you read about Deborah’s situation, be open to the Lord’s leading. If you wish to send a monetary gift, click here, and when prompted to “Add special instructions to the seller” click on the (+) sign and write “for Deborah.” And if you have a working Mac computer to donate or any other ideas to discuss with us, send an email to Marti at [email protected].

We want to tell you about someone many of us know, and all of us can learn from.

Deborah is a mom of three young children, all under 14. Her days are full in the way only a mother’s days can be. School schedules. Meals. Appointments. Encouragement. All the small, unseen things that hold a family together.

Her husband is a disabled soldier. That alone brings challenges most families never have to think about. But Deborah carries more than that.

She lives with constant migraines. Frequent kidney stones. Adrenal insufficiency. Some days, just getting out of bed requires grit most of us never have to summon. On a good week, she can manage maybe 10 hours of work from home. On a hard week, even that feels like climbing a mountain.

And yet, she keeps going.

Deborah is not without skill or drive. She’s a highly capable web engineer with strong experience in SEO and helping businesses improve their online visibility. She wants to work. She wants to build steady income for her family. She has the talent to do it.

What she needs right now are a few practical pieces to make that possible:

First, a working Mac computer. It’s the primary tool for the kind of web and SEO work she does. Without reliable equipment, it’s difficult to take on consistent projects.

Second, help getting their vehicle back into working condition. Reliable transportation affects everything. Medical appointments. Family needs. Basic stability.

These aren’t luxury requests. They’re the kind of immediate, practical needs that can shift a family from constant strain to steady footing.

As many of you know, Catch Ministry maintains a small emergency fund. It’s overseen by a volunteer board and reserved for urgent, short-term needs affecting Catch citizens. The fund is limited, but it exists for moments like this. For sisters like Deborah.

If you’re in a position to help, would you consider it?
Maybe you have a working Mac you’re not using.
Maybe you can give financially toward vehicle repairs.
Maybe you can contribute to the emergency fund so it’s there for Deborah and others who may need it next.

When one part of the body struggles, we don’t look away. We lean in.

Let’s lean in for Deborah. Monetary gifts click here. Anything else, write Marti at [email protected].