Faith Covenant Christian Church

11:00 a.m. Service

CALL TO WORSHIP

*INVOCATION

*CONGREGATIONAL HYMN

*RESPONSIVE READING

*PRAYER

SONG OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP

WELCOME / ANNOUNCEMENTS / FELLOWSHIP

OFFERTORY PRAYER AND OFFERING

*INTERCESSORY PRAYER

*PRAYER OF FAITH AND COMMITMENT

SPECIAL MUSIC

WORD OF GOD – Pastor Nokomis Yeldell, Jr.

*INVITATION TO SALVATION AND DISCIPLESHIP

PRAYER OF COMMITMENT

Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I want to turn from my sins, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe He died for my sins and that You raised Him to life. I want Him to come into my heart and to take control of my life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow Him as my Lord from this day forward.

In Jesus’ Name, amen.

[You may join Faith Covenant Christian Church by: Baptism, Christian Experience,

Re-Dedication, Transfer Letter, or Watch Care]

HOLY COMMUNION (1st Sunday Of Every Month)

BENEDICTION

This Week's Message

Date: April 26, 2026

Preacher: Pastor Nokomis Yeldell, Jr.

Sermon: Thank God For Jesus

Scripture: II Samuel 12: 10-12

10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ 11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

Continuity Of Christian Faith And Obedience To God

Many parents all over the world are investing so much money in the education of their children from nursery to university. However, this only develops the mind of the children, and sometimes the body, but not necessarily the spirit. Some children have received the best education, yet they have not turned out well in life. They have not become responsible citizens. They have caused their parents sorrow and societal problems. This is because the spiritual life of the children was neglected.

Malachi 2:15 says, among other things, that God wants godly offspring or children from the union of a man and a woman in marriage. Parents must personally teach their children the Word of God and train them in the way of the Lord.

God expected the Israelites to teach their children the law He had given them so that they would obey it. They were to use every opportunity and time to teach them. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). God still expects this of parents today. The effect of the Word of God on them will prevent them from embracing any strange or evil influence thereafter. Psalm 119:165 says those who love God’s law have great peace and nothing causes them to stumble. Not only will your children have great peace, but you, too, will have great peace over them because they are obedient to the Lord.

Both fathers and mothers should teach their children the Word of God. Don’t be too busy to do this. The father should provide the leadership. In the absence of a father, either because of death, separation, or divorce, a mother should not abandon parenting, especially teaching her children the Word of God. She should approach this divine assignment with faith in God and receive grace to do the work of both a mother and a father together. God, the Father of the fatherless, will help such mothers and see them through.

Teach your children the Word of God so that they will also teach their children when they start their families. This will ensure continuity of the Christian faith and obedience to God. “For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children” (Psalm 78:5-6).

SUNDAY SCHOOL NEXT WEEK

SUNDAY SCHOOL – May 03, 2026

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"Christian Expectation of Grace" ~ Jonah 3:1-5; 4:6-11

Lesson Aims: After participating in this lesson,

each learner will be able to:

1. Identify the reason for Jonah's anger.

2. Describe how God's desire to extend grace to

Nineveh expresses impartiality.

3. List ideas for extending God's grace to neighbors

from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Jonah 3:1–5

1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” 3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very Iarge city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day's journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

God Sends Jonah (Again) Nineveh Repents Even though Jonah ran away from God’s command—God sent the great fish to swallow him and bring him back—Jonah has a second opportunity to heed the call. It could be that Jonah is still sitting on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, freshly out of the great fish (gross). Or maybe he first returned to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice, as he promised from the belly of the creature (Jonah 2:9). The text doesn’t say. Whatever the case, God comes to Jonah and repeats the command to preach in Nineveh. In essence, God is giving Jonah a “do-over.” His patience and mercy are on display for Jonah, who had disregarded the message the first time. God has not given up on Jonah, and God has not given up on the residents of Nineveh, despite their sin and heinous treatment of subjected people. When God commands, “Go to the great city of Nineveh,” He does not mention the city’s wickedness again (Jonah 3:2; compare 1:2). That was the part that Jonah could wholeheartedly agree upon! God simply instructs Jonah to “go” and to “proclaim” whatever message that God will supply, at the appropriate time. Sufficiently humbled and compliant after three days inside the fish, Jonah gets up and travels to Nineveh. To be clear though, this journey would take weeks on foot, depending on where he begins. Jonah is now willing to heed God’s direction. Nineveh was not yet the capital of an Assyrian Empire, but it is called simply “a very large city” (Jonah 3:3). It is so large that its metropolitan area takes “three days” for Jonah to traverse. After arriving, Jonah journeys to the heart of the city, proclaiming the message that God has given him: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (v. 4). In a modern context, this sounds strange. We are not in the habit of closely listening to the words of traveling prophets, those proclaiming a message of judgment on the street corner. Assyria and Israel were military enemies. The residents and leaders of Nineveh face the curious sight of a lone, courageous prophet in their midst—one whose reputation for accuracy might have preceded him (see 2 Kings 14:25). And they listen to the message. Before Jonah makes it through the entire city, his message has its intended effect. As a result of Jonah’s faithful, but reluctant, preaching, “the Ninevites believed God,” signaling their profound repentance with fasting and other signs of mourning, “from the greatest to the least” (Jonah 3:5). From the king on down, the people repent and ask God’s mercy (see vv. 6–9). When God sees their repentance, He responds in the way that God always responds to a repentant heart: He shows mercy (v. 10).

Jonah 4:6–11

6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it light for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said. “And I'm so angry I wish I were dead.” 10 But the Lord Said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

Jonah Complains; God Explains Although Jonah had been successful in his mission, he is far from happy about it. In fact, he is angry. He goes on to complain that he knew all along that God would be compassionate, and this was exactly why he had tried fleeing in the first place. Jonah knows God to be “gracious and compassionate . . . slow to anger and abounding in love” (Jonah 4:2; compare Ex. 34:6). Jonah’s level of frustration is so great that he voices a desire to die (v. 3). Instead of just heading back home, Jonah makes a shelter for himself “waited to see what would happen in the city” (v. 5). Perhaps Nineveh would relapse, and God would bring destruction after all. Jonah could only hope. If you are familiar with the story of Jonah, this reading picks up where many retellings leave off. God isn’t done with Jonah, and the Lord arranges an object lesson. He provides “a leafy plant” as shade to minimize discomfort (v. 6). It is a world without sunscreen, after all. And Jonah is “very happy” (v. 6). But the comfort is short-lived. Next, God destroys the plant by sending a worm to ruin the shade (v. 7). As the plant withers, God sends ‘a scorching east wind’ to take its place, and the sun beats down on Jonah to the point that “he [grows] faint” (v. 8). With Jonah’s small comfort gone, he pleads again to die. God shows up to question Jonah and to explain this curious object lesson. Jonah is angry about the plant; he liked it and did not want to see it wither. But God is really asking, What is the appropriate level of concern for others? Jonah found himself worked up and remorseful about a plant, but he first encountered it a day earlier! It was God who supplied the growth and created it in the first place. The point really isn’t about a plant, obviously, just like Jonah’s misplaced anger wasn’t just about the loss of shade. God reminds him that “more than a hundred and twenty thousand people . . . and also many animals” reside in Nineveh (v. 11) Jonah’s response is not recorded. This is the very end of the book. But the message is about God’s mercy and concern for all people. God created them, cares for them, and offers grace and mercy in abundance.

About Us

OUR HISTORY

Faith Covenant Christian Church began on February 27, 2014 following a fellowship dinner for displaced former members of Crossroads Christian Church. Following that first meeting, we formed a Planning Committee and began meeting @ Best Western Hotel at Cedar Bluff.

On May 7, 2014, we adopted the name Faith Covenant Christian Church, with our foundational verse being Jeremiah 50:5. On June 22, 2014 an invitation to membership was given by Rev A. David Baxter and 21 people united with Faith Covenant Christian Church. Women’s and Men’s Ministries began having regular meetings. In September 2014, we began having Sunday School and Wednesday Night Bible Study. In November, Youth Ministry began. By the end of 2014, ten more people joined, three as new converts. We moved to 1027 Summer Wood Drive on April 1, 2015. Following a yearlong pastor search, Violet P. McRoy, was called as pastor on April 18, 2016. In March 2018, Pastor McRoy resigned as pastor, due to poor health and other personal issues. God quickly responded to our prayer-laden search and Nokomis Yeldell, Jr. was elected to the pastoral position on April 16, 2018. On Easter Sunday in 2025, we moved into a new sanctuary at 1021 Summer Wood Drive. On May 03, 2026, we celebrated our 12th church anniversary and are looking onward, upward and forward to serving God faithfully.

OUR PASTOR

Nokomis Yeldell, Jr.

Pastor Yeldell was born in Mt Pleasant, Texas, the third of five children of Nokomis and Dollie Pearl Yeldell. His father, also a Pastor for over 60 years, was called to Memphis, TN, where Nokomis Jr. grew up. Following graduation Pastor Yeldell attended Southwestern Christian College. He then served four years in the United States Air Force. He then decided to move to Knoxville, TN to further his education. After serving in leadership capacities in various ministries at Foster Chapel Baptist Church, Pastor Yeldell was called into the ministry in 2010.

Faith Covenant Christian Church represents Pastor Yeldell’s third and prayerfully final pastorate.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

FAITH COVENANT Christian Church accepts the Holy Scriptures as the revealed will of God, the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice, and holds to the following foundational truths:

1. The One True God

GOD IS… He is the eternally existent and immutable Father, Creator of the Universe and everything therein. He is the Lord of heaven and earth, and in Him we move and have our being. He is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Our Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is One God in three distinct persons: one in essence and purpose and distinct in personality and function. He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. He is the essence of love, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, mercy, grace, holiness, righteousness, and justice.

2. The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the eternally existent Son of the living God, the fullness of the Godhead bodily, the image of the invisible God, and the firstborn of all creation. Through Him was made everything that is made—things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things are held together.

He was born of a virgin, and lived a sinless life. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God through His substitutionary death on the cross. He was resurrected bodily from the dead, and sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us.

3. The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth, who goes out from the Father and testifies about the Son. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of guilt in regards to sin and righteousness and judgment. He is given to all who believe, for Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit according to the promise of God the Father, who gives the Spirit without limit. The Holy Spirit lives with us and in us, bringing about the endowment of power for life and service, as well as the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry. These gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to His own will (Hebrews 2:4) include: prophecy, service, teaching, encouragement, contributing to the needs of others, leadership, mercy (Romans 12:6-8), message of wisdom, message of knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, distinguishing between spirits (discernment), tongues, interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).

4. Salvation from the Penalty of Sin

By grace, through faith, we are saved from the penalty of sin. Mankind, though made in the image of God, has inherited through the first man, Adam, a sinful nature. By this nature, all mankind has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and thereby, was alienated from God; dead in transgressions—gratifying the cravings, desires, and thoughts of the sinful nature; following the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air; stirring up wrath against himself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed. But God did not appoint mankind to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—and saved us by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

5. Salvation from the Power of Sin

By grace, through faith, we are saved from the power of sin. Having been crucified with Christ, we put to death the deeds of the body so that sin shall have no dominion over our mortal bodies. We have received the Spirit who is from God so that we may live by faith, understanding what God has freely given us to accomplish His purpose:

He has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our personal knowledge of Him as Savior and Lord.
He has given us His precious and magnificent promises by which we may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
He has given us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ, His church, may be built up.
He has given to us the manifestation of the Spirit through spiritual gifts for the common good.
He has given us the ministry of reconciliation: that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him.

6. Salvation from the Presence of Sin

By grace, through faith, we are saved from the presence of sin, for the Lord Jesus died and rose again, and will Himself come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God. The dead in Christ shall rise first, and we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth will pass away. And we shall dwell with God in the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. We shall be His people, and God Himself will be with us and be our God. He will wipe every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will have passed away.

7. The Inspiration and Inerrancy of Scripture

God’s Word is TRUTH. The Holy Scriptures (both the Old and New Testament) is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. We are saved from the penalty, power, and presence of sin by grace through faith that comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, which testifies of Jesus Christ. By His Word, God has revealed Himself, His plan, His purpose, and His ways—so that we would come to Him to receive eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.

OUR MINISTRIES

Faith Covenant Christian Church operates under a FIVE FOLD Ministry concept

I EXALTATION

Deacons- Bro. Reggie Lindsey

Holy Sacraments And Sacred Days – Sis. Earlenia Lindsey

Media- Sis. Tiaeshia Kelso, Bro. Anthony Lindsey

Music- Bro. Reggie Lindsey

Program – Sis. Earlenia Lindsey

Public Relations – Bro. Reggie Lindsey, Sis. Sabrina T. Wilson

Pulpit – Pastor Nokomis Yeldell, Jr.

Reconciliation – Ministerial Council

Ushers – Sis. Teresa Farmer

II ENABLING

Benevolence – Sis. Earlenia Lindsey

Food Pantry – Bro. Karl Townes

Hospitality – Sis. Teresa Farmer

Intercessory Prayer – Sis. Earlenia Lindsey

Missions – Sis. Earlenia Lindsey

III EDUCATION

Bible Study – Pastor Nokomis Yeldell, Jr.

Youth Church –

Sunday School – Bro. Reggie Lindsey

Supplemental Education And Training – Bro. Reggie Lindsey

Vacation Bible School –

IV EDIFICATION

Church-Wide Edification – Sis. Sabrina T. Wilson

Men’s Ministry – Bro. Karl Towns

Women’s Ministry (WICS) – Sis. Teresa Farmer

Youth – Sis. Earlenia Lindsey

V EQUIPPING

Administration – Sis. Sabrina T. Wilson

Finance – Sis. Teresa Farmer, Sis. Tiaeshia Kelso, Sis. Sabrina T. Wilson

Transportation – Bro. Karl Towns

Trustees – Bro. Karl Towns

Kitchen Ministry / Special Events – Sis. Teresa Farmer

Comfort And Care Ministry - Pastor Nokomis Yeldell, Jr.