Worship    

More than music, more than songs, more than atmosphere.
To the Covenant Church, worship is more.

The desire of our heart is to magnify Jesus Christ and exalt His name in praise, worship and dance so that the Spirit of God moves as He pleases, without hindrance. We believe that God wants to achieve something everytime we meet to praise and worship Him. God has His agendas too, and we want those to be addressed.

The Bible says that God is enthroned in the praises of His people-- we desire that every time we come to sing, our hearts are prepared to give our all in spirit and in truth to meet our Saviour, Redeemer, Judge and Coming King in thanksgiving, love and awe. Like Moses, we cry, "Lord, show us your glory!"

Worship is the cry from the depths of a soul to its Saviour, a declaration to the world of a mighty Redeemer's love, humble acknowledgement of His majesty and awesomeness, communion of our spirit with the spirit of God. As the psalmist said, "Deep calls unto deep..."
And through it, we are refreshed, restored, empowered and awed before His throne. Through it, we wage spiritual warfare. For when God is present, and His Name is exalted, He moves on our behalf to bring warning, healing, comfort, deliverance, salvation.
Not just atmosphere and good music, but the Almighty God, Jesus Christ who died in our place, rose again to claim our victory and is coming again to claim His Bride, meeting with His people, touching hearts, transforming lives.

So if you ever have time and are visiting Melbourne, Australia, come in and worship together with us!

Flags and Banners    

When you walk into the Covenant Church, you will probably see flags and banners in use during praise and worship time. Whatever for?

From ancient times, flags (smaller than banners) and banners have been symbolic in battle of the kingdoms they represented, declaring the might and sovereignty of the kingdom. Nowadays, we hardly use them; the understanding of their use and symbolism has dimmed as a result, but the nature of its use has never changed. Only our perception of what they are has.
If you’ve ever seen Hollywood films, and even Chinese movies, on great conflicts in ancient times, the battle scenes almost always include a sequence where an army marches over the rise of a hill, their banner-bearers marching before them. The long array of tall, resplendent cloth fluttering boldly in the wind give a sense of the solemnity, determination and majesty of the kingdom they represent. The more banner-bearers there are, the greater the might of the army supposedly is. The banners were designed to strike fear and trepidation in their enemies.

Song of Songs 6:10 describes the symbolic Bride of Christ like this:
Who is she who looks forth like the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome as armies with banners?

Israel, while they travelled through the desert, travelled in ranks according to their tribe, with the banner of their tribe in front (Numbers 2:17). In their case, the banner was used to declare their identity to the nations they marched through and they were also used as a rallying point for the Israelites when it was time to move on. It would not be out of place to assume that they also carried banners into battle.

Wherever they are used, banners and flags speak something, from the national flag raised at a medal-awarding ceremony at the Olympics to the little flag a child waves at the footy.

What they mean

The different colours of the flags we use during praise and worship are symbolic. Those with flags and banners partner together with the worship team to declare God’s handiwork, to speak of God’s attributes or to war. They reflect what God is doing at the time during worship.
For example, we have had times of sweet, adoring worship, and the silver and gold are lifted, or spread on the ground like an offering when suddenly there is a change of atmosphere. The flags change from being static or swayed to being twirled and spun like the flags bringing in the winners of a grand-prix. Meanwhile, the musicians, sensing the change, have picked it up as the victory call of the drums soars and the tambourines join in with the church erupting in celebration and joy.
We have also had times when it is unexplainably hard to sing, the music just isn’t flowing like it usually does, and the tambourines feel unusually heavy… so there’s a lull, a prayer of faith. The red and purple flag goes up as the worship leader or Pastor declares that Jesus is King and Lord, rebuking the heavy, oppressive atmosphere and commanding it to leave. The beat of a war-drum suddenly begins and rises steadily as the flag-bearers pray and dance. Then, the whole church is praying in earnest as if the people have rallied together to push down a wall until there is a sudden lift in the atmosphere, and the songs can go on.
It is so good to praise the Lord!

As our collection of flags and banners increase, the following list will be updated.

RED represents the blood of Jesus and the victory it bought. Usually used in the context of spiritual warfare and declaring victory over a situation or problem.
PURPLE represents majesty, royalty, the kingship, sovereignty and lordship of God.
GOLD represents the glory of God, and/or the Anointing & power of God.
SILVER is salvation, the work of the Holy Spirit.
PINK striped banner:
This banner was created under the inspiration from Psalm 46:10 that says, Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
This flag speaks of healing, the stripes depicting the 39 lashes that Jesus took as it says in Isaiah 53:5:
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
The tambourines: also used in victory, declaration, warfare, praise and celebration. The colours on them have the same meanings as the flags.
The Bridal tambourine has white and red ribbons and speaks of intimacy, and our authority as the Bride of Christ.