You Are Welcome Here !

Are you looking for a church to call home ?? You don’t have to drive across town to worship. We’d love for you to worship with us. If you’re asking the Holy Spirit to lead you to a body of believers where you can worship God in spirit and in truth, maybe you’re looking for us -we are certainly looking for you !
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
[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
Date: February 16, 2025
Preacher: Pastor Nokomis Yeldell, Jr.
Sermon: Don’t Allow Material Things To Blind You
Scripture: Luke 12: 18-21
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Finishing First by Finishing Last
Matthew 19:30. … But many who are first will be last,
and many who are last will be first.
This is the finale verse in a teaching section following the story of a rich young man who walked away from a conversation with Jesus, being very sad – sad because he was unwilling to give up his riches for the Kingdom.
The picture we get here is of a troubled fellow who is uncertain of his position in the kingdom of God. And of course, Jesus would be able to see and know what truly constituted the central issue in his life and the condition of his heart. The young man had a guilty sense that not all was well. Jesus goes to the heart of the matter with this man, and that is his covetousness and hoarding of riches. He was ultimately trusting in them rather than God. He could not give up his wealth; he could not find the ability to trust God and live in the unseen and the unknown, needing rather to find confidence in what he could hold onto. The more one has, the more one has to lose. And this can add to the complication of trusting in God alone. Material gain can be a mixed blessing for sure.
The disciples are astonished by this because it was the general teaching of the time that the possession of wealth was evidence of the blessing of God. If those blessed by God’s goodness cannot be right with God, then who can be? And Jesus says that really nobody can without God’s power and work in their life.
Jesus says that God can be trusted to be a just and fair accountant for eternity! At the end, great reward is there for those who do as the disciples did in giving it all up – they specifically being told of a future of honor in the Kingdom. So, for many of those who may appear to be last, materially speaking, may end up first, spiritually speaking, and at the time that really counts.
You can indeed finish first, but you do that by finishing last on purpose – having a heart of generosity for others and for God’s kingdom, all the while trusting God to meet your own needs sufficiently.
Let Go Of The Banana !
People have been wrestling with the words of Jesus for almost 2000 years. You just can’t pin Jesus down. He is relentlessly focused on following God wherever that takes him and that often leaves us spinning in place.
In Matthew 19:16-30, a young man who shows up and asks Jesus what it will take for him to have eternal life. It is an important question. In the 10th chapter of Mark, the question comes out slightly differently. There the man asks what he has to do to “inherit” eternal life. (The same word is used in Luke 18:18.) Matthew, with a copy of Mark in front of him, changed the word from “inherit” to “have”. What does that tell us? “Inherit” suggests that eternal life is something a person might receive off in the distant future. “Have” suggests that it is possible to live in eternal life now. Matthew sees eternal life as a certain quality of life available to us now, not merely a quantity of years on the other side of the grave. The gospel of John shares this same understanding.
The writer of 1 Timothy combines the teaching here about wealth and eternal life in 6:17-19, “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.”
Eternal life has something to do with “the life that really is life.” Life like it is meant to be. Life as God intends it.
Whenever you read this passage remember the story of the monkey trap where a banana was placed in the bottom of a glass with a small opening at the top. The monkey would reach in, grab the banana, and then get stuck because getting his arm out required him to let go of the banana.
Maybe Jesus is saying the same thing here about our wealth, possessions, and eternal life.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler
(Born February 8, 1831) was the first Black woman to become a medical doctor in the United States. At that time most medical schools did not admit African Americans and fewer than 300 doctors among the 54,500 in the United States were women. She was also one of the first African Americans to write a two-volume medical book. She published A Book of Medical Discourses in 1883, specifically aimed at women and the care of their children in which she wrote: “Having been reared by a kind aunt in Pennsylvania, whose usefulness with the sick was continually sought, I early conceived a liking for, and sought every opportunity to be in a position to relieve the sufferings of others.”
In 1852 Davis married Wyatt Lee. In 1860 she was admitted to the New England Female Medical College in Boston. Lee briefly paused her education to care for her husband, who suffered from tuberculosis, and returned in 1863 after his death. When Lee graduated in 1864, she was the first African American woman in the United States to earn a medical degree and the only African American woman to graduate from that college. The following year she married Arthur Crumpler and took his name. The couple had a daughter, Lizzie.
In 1865 with the end of the Civil War, Crumpler worked with the Freedmen’s Bureau, a government agency formed to help formerly enslaved people, and with many Black community and missionary groups to provide care. She focused her medical activity on the illnesses affecting poor women and children. Crumpler died (March 8, 1895) at age 64 in Hyde Park, Massachusetts.
Proverbs 23:4-5
“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”
February 23, 2025
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Ministering Mightily – Matthew 25: 31-46
Lesson Aims:
1. SUMMARIZE Jesus’ description of what will happen at the final judgement.
2. CONTRAST the behavior of the “sheep” with that of the “goats”.
3. WRITE a plan to serve Jesus in the week ahead as the “Sheep” do.
The Day of Judgment
Matthew 25:31–33 NIV 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Jesus gives a description of the final judgement. This echoes the teaching of other Jewish rabbis: God shall judge the deeds of all people and repay according to what they have done (compare Rom. 2:6–11). There will be two groups of people at the day of judgment: those who have been reconciled to God through saving faith in Jesus, and those who reject God and are dismissed from His presence for all eternity. And the “Son of Man” shall judge (v. 31). This is language from Daniel 7:13–14. Daniel saw God’s chosen representative and king who shall receive all honor and dominion. Jesus is this king—the one whom God uses to unveil His indisputable, final authority. Jesus shall sit on the throne and be surrounded by a myriad of servants who could strike terror in the hearts of mortals like us (v. 31). No one will miss this final sorting. Jesus compares Himself, the judge and king, to a shepherd who separates sheep and goats. The lambs represent those who receive a favorable judgment, while the goats receive an unfavorable judgment. To be exalted to the “right hand” of the king was considered an exceptional honor and indicative of authority.
The Sheep on the Right
Matthew 25:34–40 NIV 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
To those on His right, those who have received favorable judgment, the king gives blessing and reward. They receive an “inheritance” (v. 34) as children of God with positions of responsibility and authority in God’s kingdom. Jesus gives the reasoning behind this, and it seems to take the “sheep” by surprise. The king says that they were kind to Him when He was hungry, thirsty, and a stranger (v. 35). He focuses on their actions and doesn’t mention what they believe. As the letter of James says, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:17). Genuine faith is dynamic and must, by definition, express itself in God-honoring ways. Jesus reveals a profound truth about His relationship to humanity: to show acts of kindness to another is to do the same for Jesus. He experiences emotional and physical pain right along with people who are in need.
The Goats on the Left
Matthew 25:41–46 NIV 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
To those on his left, those who have received an unfavorable judgment, the king speaks words of rebuke and condemnation. They are removed from God’s presence like the enemies of God. As in the case of the “sheep,” the judge’s sentence seems to catch the condemned by surprise. “When?” they ask, did they ever turn their backs on the needs of the Lord before them, the one now sitting in judgment. They don’t recall seeing Him hungry, thirsty, unclothed, a stranger, or in prison (v. 44). The king says, “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (v. 45). Their failure to reach out toward those in need was a failure to serve Jesus. At this judgment, God in His perfect fairness gives to each person according to what they have displayed from the heart: either a desire to place God’s grace and compassion at the center, or a desire for a selfish existence apart from God. According to Jesus’ words, everyone can display their reception of Him through acts of compassion and mercy. It simply cannot be true that we know Jesus, while at the same time turning our backs on the needs of His people—those with whom He identifies. What our hearts lead us to do reveals our choice between eternal life or a curse.
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, 10 more people joined, three as new converts. We moved into our current space on April 1, 2015 and look forward to serving God faithfully. Following a yearlong pastor search, our pastor, Violet P. McRoy, was called 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 Pastor Nokomis Yeldell, Jr. was elected to the pastoral position on April 16, 2018. In May, 2024, we will celebrate our 10th church anniversary and are looking onward, upward and forward to serving God faithfully.
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.
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:
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.
We start our day of worship off with Sunday School at 10:00 a.m. We use Urban Ministries Sunday School Lesson
Worship Service is at 11:00 a.m.
(We have simultaneous Children’s Church for age 5-12)
We have bible study with a corporate prayer at the conclusion.
Deacons- Bro. Reggie Lindsey, Bro. William Lundy
Holy Sacraments And Sacred Days – Sis. Earlenia Lindsey
Media- 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
Benevolence – Bro. William Lundy; Sis. Earlenia Lindsey
Food Pantry – Bro. Karl Townes
Hospitality – Sis. Teresa Farmer
Intercessory Prayer – Sis. Earlenia Lindsey
Missions – Sis. Earlenia Lindsey
Bible Study – Pastor Nokomis Yeldell, Jr.
Youth Church –
Sunday School – Bro. Reggie Lindsey
Supplemental Education And Training – Bro. Reggie Lindsey
Vacation Bible School –
Church-Wide Edification – Sis. Sabrina T. Wilson
Men’s Ministry – Bro. Karl Towns
Women’s Ministry (WICS) – Sis. Teresa Farmer
Youth – Sis. Earlenia Lindsey
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.
The only thing we love more than visitors is new members !
1027 Summer Wood Road, Knoxville, Tennessee 37923, United States
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