Why The Upper Room?

At Covenant Fellowship, we believe our children and youth are the future of the Church.  This is why we chose to name our youth group The Upper Room.

 

The Practical Choice

We have only been in our new building for a couple of years, and we are preparing to build our youth room on the second floor of our campus.  So, there's the practical name...  The youth facilities will be upstairs in an area dedicated to our young people to give them a sense of ownership and pride, to allow them to decorate, and to give them a venue for spiritual growth and expression.
 

The Significant Truth
In Biblical times, most houses had an upper room built onto them.  This room was a place that was very important to those of the Jewish faith.  It was a room where families would go to pray and entreat God's power.  In fact, according to many scholars, it was so important that even poor families kept the room well prepared and ready at all times to welcome guests and visitors.  Of course, the upper room that is the most famous, as it was foundational in the formation of the early church, is the room where Jesus and the Disciples gathered for Passover shortly before Christ was arrested.  But there are other upper rooms mentioned throughout the Bible, as well.  Upper rooms were not only places of prayer and worship, but of safety and security for early Christians, and a place where several recorded miracles occurred! 

To learn more about Upper Rooms, their importance in the early Church, and specific examples in Biblical history, click here.
 

What We're Taught

Jesus taught His disciples several important characteristics of being a follower of Christ through the actions He demonstrated during His time with the disciples in the Upper Room.

Servant Leadership

Perfect Enduring Love

Patience and Long-Suffering

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The first lesson that Jesus taught in the Upper Room was that of being a servant.  He stressed to his disciples the importance of having a servant heart, and He demonstrated this in a very personal way by washing the feet of his disciples.  Jesus demonstrated servant leadership.

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Jesus showed that His love for us is a true and perfect love.  During Jesus' entire ministry, he knew the one that would betray him was in his midst.  In fact, in the sixth chapter of the book of John, Jesus said "Did I not choose you, the twelve?  And yet one of you is a devil."  Jesus was referring to Judas.  Yet, when Jesus washed his disciples' feet, He didn't exclude Judas.  He took Judas' feet, the feet of the betrayer, into the very hands that would be nailed to the cross by this betrayal.  Jesus loves even those who betray Him.  As we are ALL sinners, and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), we have all betrayed Jesus.  Jesus demonstrated perfect love in that He loves us unto the end, even when we betray Him.

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Jesus demonstrated that He loves us in spite of ourselves.  Let's take a look at Peter.  Stubborn and strong-willed, Peter corrects Jesus telling Him that there's no way Jesus is going to wash HIS feet!  How arrogant and over-the-top was that?  But Jesus didn't take it personally.  He recognized the sin for what it was, and He loved Peter regardless.  While we may not be like Peter, every time we sin, we are telling Jesus that we know better than Him.  Jesus demonstrated that His love for us is patient and long-suffering, even when we're in our sin and in spite of ourselves.

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Discipleship & Growth

At Covenant Fellowship, we want our youth and young people to understand Christ's love for them and how to show Christ's love to others.  In this world we live in, Satan is always trying to convince our young people that they're not worthy of Christ's love.  It's so easy, even for adults, to think that "Jesus could never love a sinner like me."  Our young people are constantly bombarded with this from social media, from their friends, and even often from family.  Nothing could be farther from the truth! 

 

In The Upper Room of Covenant Fellowship Greenville, we learn what it means to be disciples of Christ... to have a servant heart, to love others where they are and when they are, to grow as followers and to build on a foundation of faith that will allow our youth to grow into strong Christian servant leaders wherever they may go.