Good
afternoon, and welcome to this Sunday Sermon for Covenant of Hope Ministries. I
am Rev. Laura A. Neff, and the ministry knows me as the Rainbow Minister. These
are our locations online only:
Our Main Video Feed: Covenant_of_Hope
We have
email and Instant Messenger available, just send a message via any of our
locations and we can give that information. We’re still working this out
between the three of us as to what will happen, our Elder, Cal Jennings, our
Apostle/Shepherd, Mary C. Michel-Lynch and I. The IM is available if you ask
first and identify the reason as being part of the ministry. This IM is
connected through Facebook as well. I will be informing you further in regard
to any changes. being made. These changes were made due to health reasons.
There will be live sermons, and the sermon length will be shortened
dramatically, but we are unsure as to when that might be.
Note: There will be no sermon on
December 30, 2012.
Birthdays &
Anniversaries: Scott Newman on the 19th, my parents anniversary on the
22nd, my sister Donna on the 26th, my husband Ron on the
29th, and our wedding anniversary on the 30th. If any
others have birthdays, please feel free to include them in this list.
Prayer List: We have many on our prayer list. Some wish to remain anonymous, and others only wish to have their first names mentioned. Our prayer list has grown from last week. This is our current prayer list for this week.
Prayer List: We have many on our prayer list. Some wish to remain anonymous, and others only wish to have their first names mentioned. Our prayer list has grown from last week. This is our current prayer list for this week.
Pray for Newtown, Connecticut and its citizens, that they might
heal and recover from the tragedy marked by somber and solemn processions this
past week.
Continue your prayers for Sister Mary. I get an extensive update
just after Christmas and will let you know. Things still haven’t changed much
in her recovery at this point. She is in 24/7 care with a staff that
continuously keeps me informed. She has ingested something that could bring her
harm, but they caught her soon enough to prevent it. Please pray that their
swiftness would in fact assist in efforts to bring her toward finding a method
at recovery. They do have her sitting up in a chair/walker. That’s a great
thing, and God is good!
Pray for our family. There are several things weighing us down,
and they don’t all include my health, or that of any member of the family.
Though, those don’t hurt.
Pray good things can occur as a result of the doctor’s
determinations for me, and as to the negotiations for other situations in our
family. Praise God for the fact that some of those things the doctor’s
determinations included, have indeed helped, and without adding medication, but
instead reducing them. Praise God for the gift of time for one of our financial
problems. Perhaps we might get that improved by His grace. Now, that’s
something to praise God about.
Pray for Elder Cal, as he has still been feeling pretty rotten.
May God provide him wellness, and bring that flicker of hope into a bright and
roaring flame.
Pray for friends Karen, Christie, her son Calvin, Art, Heather,
Chris and his family, Jackie and her father, Debby, Tom, Teresa, Hope, Joe and
his family as they lost his mother-in-law, Robert’s brother and his brother’s
fiancee suffering some serious chaos, and several others.
Phoebe Fair and her family need more prayers as she has gone in
for another series of ups and downs in time for the holidays. Pray that she
might be home for Christmas, in place of the hospital. She has had an infection
and her electrolytes and sodium levels went awry this past week. Keep prayers
up for her recovery. We add prayers for her family in the mourning of her great
grandfather Zig Ziglar, motivational author and speaker, who passed away
recently
We pray for Teresa and Hope during the end of the year for their
issues of many forms.
Pray for Thomas, as he is having a lot of chaos in his life.
Pray for our outreach ministries, and all on their separate
prayer lists, no matter where in this world they would be.
Prayer: Father in heaven, we
thank You for this day and for these who are here to share it with us. We look
to you for solace and comfort when tragic occurrences mar our hearts and
consciences. We pray for the lost, the injured and the despairing families this
week and every week. We pray for friends and family as they face the end of
this year and work toward the new one yet to come. We pray for our enemies,
that they might drop their arms, as we drop ours, and realize we are one and
the same, brother to brother and sister to sister. We ask these things in Your
Holy Name, Amein and so it shall be.
Opening Poem and Song:
The
Gift of Peace http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/bd949d652
Song of Joy http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/b18f17fa2
Sermon: There are many things we often
would rather not wait for. As children we could hardly wait to grow up. As
adults we wish time could stand still. We all, no matter our age, wonder what
God has in store. Most of us are impatient, not wanting to wait and see what
the dawn of a new day might bring. Everyone in a hurry to get there, and not
enjoy what would be right before them. Well, here is a view of the thought that
sometimes it is better to wait and see what God will bring today, and on into
tomorrow. Also, to wait on the Lord is to watch and learn. Isn’t that something
we’ve heard from teachers and others in this world? Well, why wouldn’t God
request the same of us? Here we see just that in Psalm
37:34-35 KJV – Wait on the LORD, and keep
his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut
off, thou shalt see it.
I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself
like a green bay tree.
“A green
bay tree” could also be seen as “a green tree that groweth in his own soil.”
In many
ways this is a sort of foreshadowing of the words Jesus shared in the parable
of the Vine and Branches. Yet, we see it from a different point of view. In
order to grow and realize what it is to be a child of God through Christ, we
can’t just blink and that’s what will be, we have to wait and see how the
ideals and the thoughts would actually blossom within us.
Psalm 37:36-40 KJV – Yet he passed away, and, lo,
he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of
that man is peace.
But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of
the wicked shall be cut off.
But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their
strength in the time of trouble.
And the LORD shall help htem, and deliver them: he shall deliver
them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.
Sometimes
while searching for something we will not realize it is right there in front of
us. From experience in just that, the realization is, if it is lost, there is a
reason for it, and most likely it is right before you. Smile when you realize
that when you want peace, you must give it to have it. Yes, it is unusual, but
unless you open your heart to peace, and draw it from within, then you won’t
find what you are looking for. The same can be said for love. You can love
yourself, but until you share love, others won’t see it. Love comes in billions
of billions of forms. It bears a strength unforseen.
The
strength we don’t often realize we need is just a prayer away. God has strength
that is built on one thing. That one thing is unconditional in its extents. It
is LOVE. Regardless of our thoughts on salvation, God loves us. Sure, there are
those who are misguided, wicked, evil, and so forth, but that doesn’t mean they
can’t or won’t be loved.
When
gifts of grace are recognized, you see them in living color. This is seen
through the eyes of Simeon. It was a promise made and kept, as shared with him
through God’s love and his faith. It was said to be the last thing that would
happen in his lifetime on earth. Sharing what salvation can be, as the psalm
shares and is fulfilled here in Luke 2:25-30 KJV – And behold there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was
Simeon; and the same man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of
Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should
not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents
brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said.
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to
thy word:
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
Simeon’s
views here make me smile, because we’ve seen his reaction many times, all over
Scripture. John and the Apostles shared their view of Jesus after resurrection.
John also gave us the Revelation, and a most majestic view of Christ the Lord.
It gives us hope for that which is shared here. I
Thessalonians 4:17 KJV – Then we which are
alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet
the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The best
promises are kept, all the way back to Noah, and on through our Savior and His
apostles. Not only are they kept, they are demonstrated, stated, and proven.
The cement we don’t always need to see, but does indeed show. The promise of
heaven and salvation is one that we see repeated again and again in Scripture.
If we go back to this verse, we can see it yet again. Psalm
3:8 KJV – Salvation belongeth unto the LORD:
thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.
Now
remember what Selah means, think about it, stop and think about it. Every
sermon, every series of verses, chapters, or whatever we find in Scripture has
a point where it asks, in some cases literally, for us to stop and think about
it. This is what Selah means for us here. It’s a good idea to do just that. The
reason to feel that way is found in this final verse of Isaiah 12:2 KJV – Behold, God is my
salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength
and my song; he also is become my salvation.
There was
something in a dream, a nightmare, and also in Scripture, be not afraid, for I
am here. Some wonder why there are the words “fear not” and then there are
those that are “fear of the LORD”. What is it that is different between them?
Good won’t have to fear a thing. Evil and wickedness do. It is a beautiful
world when we see it through the eyes of love, where trust and strength and
salvation are held securely. Now, that’s something to think about as we pray in
the prayer Jesus taught us saying: After this manner
therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13 KJV)
Closing Song: Let There Be Peace On
Earth http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/b8a6ef762
Covenant
of Hope Ministries
Our Main Video Feed: Covenant_of_Hope
Scripture
Excerpts: The New Open Bible Study Edition:Copyright © 1990: Thomas Nelson
Publishers, Inc.
Scripture
Excerpts: Holy Bible: Copyright © 1982: E. E. Gaddy and Associates, Inc.
Scripture
Excerpts: Holy Bible: Copyright © circa 1890-1910: International Bible
Press,The John C. Winston Co.; Philadelphia, PA., USA
Sermon or
Study Copyright © 2012 http://covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com/
Our mission for Covenant of Hope Ministries and
Poetic-Expressions is not to exploit fear, but to conquer it, and overcome all
that is created through fear together as the rainbow in the darkness.
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