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.

The angel, Gabriel, who had appeared to Mary and Joseph to announce the birth of Jesus, also appeared to the priest, Zechariah, and announced to him that his wife, Elizabeth, would conceive and bear a son that he was to name John (later to be known as John the Baptist).

But Zechariah didn’t believe God, because, like Sarah and Abraham, his wife was way past childbearing age. So God took away Zechariah’s voice because of his unbelief, and he was mute during Elizabeth’s pregnancy, until the baby was born and they brought him to Zechariah to be circumcised.

There was some disagreement over what the child should be named. Elizabeth said John, but friends and relatives wanted to call him Zechariah. “There is no one among your relatives who has that name [John],” the others said. And when they turned to Zechariah, he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.”

And immediately God gave him his voice back and he prophesied the words from which the words of this song were taken.

Way of Peace
Words from the prophecy of Zechariah
Music by John Fischer

Blessed be the God of Israel
Who accomplished our release
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
To guide us into peace

As he spoke through the mouth of the prophets of old
Deliverance from our fears
To give His people the knowledge of His love
By forgiveness of their sins

The words he spoke to Abraham our father
Still remain to this day
In holiness and righteousness before Him
We shall live all our days

The tender mercies of our God
With sunrise from on high
Shall visit us in the shadow of death
To guide us into peace

Release, salvation, deliverance, knowledge, love, forgiveness, holiness, righteousness, mercies, and peace. These are all the things that God gives. This covenant is called a new covenant. A covenant is an agreement between two parties. This is a covenant in which the two parties are God and us. But it’s the most one-sided covenant in the universe.

You saw what God’s part is. Here it is again in case you missed it. Release, salvation, deliverance, knowledge, love, forgiveness, holiness, righteousness, mercies, and peace. Okay, so what is our part? Here it is: believe and receive. That long list of declarations are all God’s part of the deal. Believe it and receive it is our part. That’s the new covenant. As someone put it, “Everything from God, and nothing from us.”

Now wait a minute, John, I can hear you say. Didn’t we just study the Book of James where he talks a lot about works, and didn’t Jesus talked about being a doer of the word and not just a hearer? That sounds like a lot more than “nothing from us.”

The point here is that works don’t earn you anything. But they are evidence that you have put your faith in Jesus and have received Him into your heart through the Holy Spirit. With Him in your life, things will change. And what you do will be done through the power of God in your life; not by your own strength or spiritual manipulation. So it’s true: “Everything from God, and nothing from us.”

Click here for a YouTube version of “The Way of Peace”.

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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].