Covenant Sunday

Break ground, bring hope

At the beginning of each new year, we invite people linked to The Salvation Army to commit the year ahead to God and live in covenant with him.

A covenant is a commitment to a faithful relationship. God is loving and faithful and, in response, we are invited to love him and love others, to put our faith in him and walk with him each day.

Covenant Sunday is an opportunity to formally respond to this invitation. Corps across the territory will hold special worship meetings, usually at the beginning of January, where covenant cards are provided for people to sign.

The theme for Covenant Sunday this year envisions a Salvation Army that is moving forward, breaking new ground together in order to bring hope.

Courageous discipleship isn’t loud or showy. It’s about being energised by faith, a quiet and steady force that moves us to act with conviction, even when the path ahead is uncertain.

In Hosea 10:12, we are instructed: ‘Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unploughed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord.’

Each of us carries ‘unploughed ground’ within – hardened places, hidden fears that can resist the transforming love of God. But it is in the act of surrendering our vulnerabilities, seeking a fresh start and committing our lives to God that we begin to experience hope.

Discipleship is the slow work of spiritual formation, rooted in grace, shaped by Scripture and deepened through prayer and community. It’s about seeking what God wants, not just what feels comfortable or familiar. And it’s about having an outward focus, stepping beyond ourselves to notice, to serve and to respond.

A prayer of commitment

Loving Father,

The depth of your unconditional and unceasing love is beyond my understanding, but today I respond to that love.

Break down the areas of my heart that have become hardened. Transform what resists you, so that I may be one with you.

As your love lives in me, may my thoughts, words and actions courageously flow and radiate this love outwardly in my community. Energise my faith, so that through me your Kingdom may come.

May this Covenant of Love inspire me to break ground and bring hope in my life and this community.

Amen.

Read the video transcript.

‘A covenant is a relationship between two partners who make binding promises to each other and work together to reach a common goal. They’re often accompanied by oaths, signs and ceremonies. Covenants define obligations and commitments, but they are different from a contract because they are relational and personal.’ (Whitney Woollard, The Bible Project)

Learn more about covenants with The Bible Project