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. You
can find us posted on Sundays. These are our locations online only:
Our Main Video Feed: Covenant_of_Hope
We have
email and Instant Messenger through Facebook available most Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
and Sundays 10AM to 2PM ET US. We’re still working this out between the two of
us as to what will happen, our Elder, Cal Jennings and I. I will be informing
you further in regard to 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.
Birthdays: My youngest son and I celebrate
our birthdays at the end of this week. My son will be fifteen. I will be
forty-three.
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.
Continue your prayers for Little Phoebe Fair as she just
completed her final round of chemotherapy. This week will be amazing for her!
Pray that she comes through and her cancer stays into remission. Give her
family faith and hope.
Pray for our family. Praise the LORD more than half of those
have been solved. There are family members who continue to need prayer. Claim
that God knows and will be there. Praise God, one of the single largest
problems we have had is now done with. Pray that a solution will be found for a
serious test I must have, claim that Jesus can give us answers for that. The
cost is simply out of reach at the moment.
Pray for Elder Cal, these are urgent prayers. He was taken to
the hospital yesterday. He is in critical condition at the moment. May God
provide him wellness, a method toward better communication, 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, during
the start of the year for their issues of many forms.
Pray for Fran who is suffering a lot of pain and other issues.
Pray for Karen’s granddaughter Cyndal.
Pray for Marie’s Aunt Connie.
Pray that the Lord will find a way for my family to reach the
ability to solutions that are necessary for health, shelter, and more.
Pray for our outreach ministries, and all on their separate
prayer lists, no matter where in this world they would be.
Pray for all the members of Covenant of Hope and all those who they
reach out to. May each of the members find grace and peace in His love.
Pray for our leaders, local, state, federal and around the
world. That they make good decisions for the many.
May the LORD allow us to claim His truth and His healing hands.
May we listen and hear and understand what those things we listen to and hear
as well.
Prayer: Father in heaven, we
thank You for this day and for these who are here to share it with us. We thank
You for the blessings brought to us, even in the midst of trial and
tribulation. We praise Your ability to bring light into the darkness, as the
rainbow, or just as brilliant light. We bring those who need prayer up to Your
ears, that they may be healed, comforted, and understood. We pray all of these
things in Your Holy Name, Amen.
Opening Song: Trading My Sorrows http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/watchandlisten/play/b192def7e
Sermon: The title for this chapter is as
follows: Zeal of David to serve God. It is directed to the chief Musician,
Maschil for the sons of Korah. Now, what does this title mean? Well, in the
Scriptures written in the King James circa 1890-1910 there would be this to share:
A psalm giving instruction of the sons. So, basically it is to teach these sons
of Korah. Let’s take a look at the first verse as shared here in Psalm 42:1 KJV – As
the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
Okay, so
what is a hart? According to the dictionary, a hart is a type of deer. So the
deer pants for the water. A soul should want as much as the deer, to seek the
LORD. Now, that’s an interesting comparison, but it also tells us quite a lot.
Add to this, pants could also be seen as braying. So, braying, it’s a type of
calling out, as such, this means we should do the same. There is a song that
says ‘shout to the Lord’ and that surely fits this ideal. Let us look further
as we explore Psalm 42:2 KJV – My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall
I come and appear before God?
Now, we
have heard the words living God, and you can recall our Savior saying ‘This is
my body’ as well as ‘This is my blood’. As it is now Lent, these words are to
be considered as almost a foreshadowing of what would be. Remember, Jesus is a
descendant of David’s line. I say ‘is’ plain and simply because Jesus lives in
each of us, as God and the Holy Spirit do the same. Here is one way to remember
how Jesus brought us to recall this particular verse. John
7:37 KJV – In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and
drink.
If anyone
wants the wisdom of God’s truth, then all they have to do is come to Jesus.
He’ll give us all that we need in regard to knowledge, so that we might put it
to use. Once we do both, wisdom can be both seen, heard, and understood. We
also see a similar view, turning away from the deceit and seeking the truth. I Thessalonians 1:9 KJV – For
they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how
ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
Serving
God should be seen in truth, not in what others think, but in what He tells
each of us. We have similar views, that is why we gather together to minister one
to the other. That is one of the many reasons we reach out to each one of us,
no matter the way we do so. Let us remember that love is found when we just
look around. Look, see, just turn through the pages of those listed and
realize, God has given us friends, as family, just as our family can be our
friends. Yes, that sounds like the same thing backwards, but it’s truly friends
as family, and then family as friends. Sometimes though, our hearts get so
burdened we forget that very fact. That’s what we see when David shares this
here in Psalm 42:3-4 KJV – My tears have been my meat day and night, while they
continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I
had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the
voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
When we
remember the love of God is not just seen through our eyes, but in every living
thing. You realize, even the wind lives. The stars, the sun, the moon, all of
them live. They may not live in the same fashion, but they all live just the
same. If they did not, we wouldn’t see solar flares, eclipses, phases of the
moon, or the seasons as they change. This is yet another reason to have music,
songs, in our spirit, our soul, and our being. You can see this in Isaiah 30:29 KJV – Ye
shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness
of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD,
to the mighty One of Israel.
Even with
all this, we can feel like we’re alone. Our souls can feel as though our souls
are being tortured. Yet, there can be hope, we just have to look for it. Even
in our worst times, remember to praise God, because He will give us a path out
of the darkness. Psalm 42:5 KJV – Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou
disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of
his countenance.
Note
here, not only would God be able to quite a tortured and tormented soul, He can
help us smile in the face of adversity. Again, that’s not always an easy
thought. It’s also not easy to see the possibility. Yet, if you think about
life as it has been for each of us, there are times we can smile through our
tears, laugh in the midst of terror, and more. This is where trusting in God
comes in. Remember, fear not, as Jesus and many others have said. This is
shared here. Psalm 56:3, 11 KJV – What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do
unto me.
We don’t
just hear this once, we hear it three times. Here is the second. Isaiah 50:10 KJV – Who
is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant,
that walketh in darkness, and hath no
light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.
Listen
and hear, you’ll find a reason to follow. This is what is being shared. Also,
you’ll find something even more interesting in regard to trust. That something
is hope. We see that shared in our final verse. Lamentations
3:24 KJV – The LORD is my portion, saith my
soul; therefore will I hope in him. Hope is that light standing still in
the darkness. Like our mission statement shares, we are here not to exploit
fear, but to conquer it, and overcome all that is created through fear together
as the rainbow in the darkness. That is what we all should 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)
Thoughts from Elder
Calvin Jennings - It seems that you are saying that, if you
thirst for God, then you can have faith that God will see you through, even
when people and things are against you.
Closing Song: Wonderful Words of Life
~Shalom~
Covenant
of Hope Ministries
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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