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: March 15, 2026

Preacher: Pastor Nokomis Yeldell, Jr.

Sermon: Is It Worth It ?

Scripture: Joshua 2: 8-11

8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

Putting Love Into Action

In a relationship with God, giving isn’t optional; it’s expected. God gives generously to you, and he calls you to give to others in need as his love flows through your life. The Bible teaches that giving to others is an important way of spreading God’s love in our world. Since God has given us the ultimate gift – eternal salvation – and is constantly pouring blessings into our lives, we should respond by giving as well. Matthew 10:8 urges: “Freely you have received; freely give.”

Giving is all about putting love into action. Jesus tells us in John 13:35, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 1 John 3:16-18 describes how to love through giving: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” Giving to others is part of living a faithful life in relationships with Jesus. Galatians 6:2 urges everyone who follows Jesus to, “Carry each other’s burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Luke 6:38 points out that those who give to benefit others will benefit themselves from doing so: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good portion – packed down, firmly shaken, and overflowing – will fall into your lap. The portion you give will determine the portion you receive in return.” By faithfully giving, we welcome God’s blessings into others’ lives and our own lives. Acts 20:35 proclaims, “… as the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Research supports those biblical truths, showing that those who give to others experience benefits that include more happiness, less stress, stronger concentration, and better mental health than those who don’t give to others.

The biggest blessing of all from faithfully answering God’s call to give is pleasing God, which strengthens our relationships with him. As Hebrews 13:16 says, “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

SUNDAY SCHOOL NEXT WEEK

SUNDAY SCHOOL – March 22, 2026

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Welcoming Others in Christ

Acts 10:9-15, Acts 10: 30-35, Galatians 3:28–29

Lesson Aims After participating in this lesson,

each learner will be able to:

1. Recount the events of Peter's interaction with Cornelius.

2. Explain Galatians 3:28–29 in light of Acts 10.

3. Make a plan to initiate conversations across the wider

family of God to dismantle walls of division.

Acts 10:9–15 9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 101 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." 14 "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."

A Shocking Command At the time of Peter’s vision, Cornelius’s trusted messengers were on their way to find him. God had been moved by Cornelius’s generosity to the poor and devout prayers, and God sent him a message about Christ (Acts 10:4–6). Cornelius was to meet Peter, but God needed to prepare Peter for was about to happen. Peter is a man of action, with a strong sense of justice. It is Peter who leaps to Jesus’ defense and cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest when Jesus is being arrested (John 18:10–11). One can easily imagine that the Holy Spirit (ever a gentle and good teacher) knows how difficult it will be for Peter to accept that the gospel is even for his Roman oppressors. To prepare Peter, God sends a vision. It was noon, and Peter—an itinerant preacher traveling on foot— would be hungry. Two meals a day were normal in first-century Jewish culture, and the noon meal was often the first substantial food of the day. As a meal is being prepared, Peter goes up on the roof to pray and falls into a trance (v. 10). He sees heaven opened, with a sheet descending, one filled with animals, reptiles, and birds—several creatures Jews were forbidden to consume according to the Sinai covenant (see Lev. 11:13–30). Then a voice comes from heaven, inviting Peter to eat from these animals (Acts 10:13). Peter reacts with repulsion. As a devout Jew, he rejects food that is unclean. Eating it would make him ceremonially unclean—excluded from sacred spaces, needing to wash himself and his clothes, remaining unclean for a period of time (see Lev. 17:15–16). But the voice rebukes Peter. The declaration raises the question, What is it that God has made clean? Peter—who has studied for years at the feet of a Lord who often used metaphors to describe the kingdom of God—realizes that this vision isn’t only about dietary laws. God is talking about people!

Acts 10:30-35 30 Cornelius answered: "Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31 and said, 'Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. 32 Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea. 33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us." 34 Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

Galatians 3:28-29 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Equality in Jesus Cornelius’s story must have floored Peter. First of all, Peter learns that this was happening at the same time as his vision, which shows God’s hand. Secondly, “a man in shining clothes” (v. 30) is a description of angels (compare Luke 24:4; Acts 1:10). It would be shocking that a Gentile would be singled out for a visit from angels who declare, “God has heard your prayer” (v. 31). Cornelius’s role as a Roman centurion could make him responsible for quelling rebellions, upholding Rome’s violent control of Judea. Peter must have noticed the irony: a man from the very system that killed Jesus now stood before him saying, “We are all here . . . to listen” (Acts 10:33). Meanwhile, the Jewish leaders felt threatened and were responding harshly to those who called Jesus the Messiah. Peter had already been arrested and flogged (Acts 4–5), and Stephen had been martyred (Acts 6–7). Some of the Jewish authorities were persecuting the messengers of the new covenant, while here a Roman commander was ready to hear. Peter accepts this as God’s doing. He declares, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (Acts 10:34–35). Paul echoes and expands this truth in Galatians, insisting that not only are Gentiles equal before God, but in God’s sight, there is “neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female” (Gal. 3:28). Ethnicity, class, and gender are not barriers to becoming God’s child. For Peter and Paul, the Spirit is the great equalizer. If the Spirit had come upon Cornelius and his household, then they were already holy—living temples of God. And if every believer is a temple, then no ethnicity, social rank, or gender can give advantage in the kingdom of Jesus.

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. In May, 2025, we celebrated our 11th 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.