MESSENGER

Sunday, April 28, 2013

What It Means To Be Rich In The Love God Brings

Covenant of Hope Ministries Sunday Sermon_4_28_2013
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:
Rev. Laura’s Other Sites: Facebook & Twitter & Google+ & Blogspot
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.
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. We haven’t been many names for the prayer list, save two or three. Please bring any you might have.
Please continue to pray for Pastor Eric from our Outreach Ministries. He is having issues with his leg and needs funds to manage fixing the problem, pray that the funds are made available for his health and strength.
Please pray for success for my youngest brother, that his continued education be beneficial toward a great career.
Pray for my daughter as she prepares for graduation from college.
Pray for my eldest son who is just beginning his collegiate pursuits, that he would grow in his learning and understanding.
Pray for my daughter, who graduated college Friday, that her life and career, though just beginning, be a beautiful experience.
Pray for Elder Cal he is having pain and trouble breathing. I had chest pain spiritual nourishment be increased. He also has had some technical issues, but does have his Iphone so he can receive messages. He also has had some other technical issues with his normal computer. May God provide him wellness, a method toward better communication, and bring that flicker of hope into a bright and roaring flame.
Pray for our member Wayne, who has been absent for a while but is back to work on his faith and connecting with us once more.
This is one that Rev. Lisa Tyler brought us: Robert is a quadraplegic man in hospital with blood pressure and fever problems. There are many others, but God knows the names.
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 grandaughter Cyndal.
Pray for Marie’s Aunt Connie.
Pray for my friend Grace as she has had pretty bad migraines. Pray also that her stepson would make the right decisions. They are having a hard time, may we have praise from the LORD.
Pray for my friend Laura who continues to heal.
Pray that a test done this past week would bring answers as to my health.
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. Praise the LORD more than half of those issues have been solved. There are family members who continue to need prayer. Claim that God knows and will be there. Give praise that a solution has been found for a serious test I must have, praise You, Jesus for the gift of answers for that. The cost is now a very good possibility.
Pray that pain, which all who we love and care about may suffer, would ease, no matter the type of pain it would be.
Continue your prayers for the continued success for little Phoebe Faire. She is doing very well. Praise the Lord.
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 Ministries 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 are grateful that You hear our voices. We are blessed no matter what answer we receive. We have many prayers to bring you. There are many names, and many reasons for these prayers, and we give them all to You. May Your love be listened to, and heard through the faith we have in Your Son Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.
Opening Song: With All I Am



Sermon: Well, here we continue the ideal regarding the gift of tomorrow. For example, tomorrow is, though unknown, filled with possibilities, so long as we do not worry so much about what tomorrow might have in store. We do that far too often in life, it doesn’t matter who we would be, how positive, negative, or realistic we would be. In this case, as it was last week, it is hope, faith, praise and so much more seen in a dream of tomorrow.
Psalm 45:8-10 KJV – All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;
Who is the writer speaking of? As our last sermon shared, the writer speaks of God, of course. Who are the kings’ daughters? Do you know? It doesn't give a number, but it does say that these women would be honorable and there would be a queen, a queen of Ophir, or a queen of the rich. So, these women are honorable, but the queen is of the rich. It says to listen to God, in the present, not from the fathers of the past. In other words, look toward the future and leave the mistakes of the past behind. Look toward that future with God at our side. Now, there’s something we often have issues with, just like the Israelites. Do you know who the queen of Ophir might be? Consider this, the rich could be rich in understanding, faith, love, and more. It isn’t always about money or stature in Scripture. What’s the saying? ‘It’s not what you have, it’s what you do with it.’ Look at this, the queen is found on His right side. We know what it means to be on the right hand of God.
Deuteronomy 21:8 KJV – Be merciful , O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.
Psalm 45:11 KJV – So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.  
God wants us to remember that being good, though it is never easy, it is better for us to do so, because it brings out our true beauty. Remember, beauty is found within, not on our skin. We have to remember that, because God sees that beauty, because he is our Lord, of course, and we worship him, no matter who we are, where we live, and so on.
Psalm 95:6 KJV – O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
We forget, sometimes, that it is better to be grateful, thankful, toward God for all He has given us. After all, He gave us life, and life is what we make of it, because He gave it to us.
Isaiah 54:6 KJV – For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
We often don’t think of God calling us home, but that is what this verse shares. It links to our verses because it is the beauty of what we should be, what we would be, if we had listened and heard. There it is again, listening and hearing, you can’t do one without the other, unless you do as the saying says, ‘let it in one ear and out the other’. It is where we hear it but don’t, and look like we listen but we won’t. It isn’t speaking about listening and hearing each other, though this would be beneficial, this actually speaks in regard to listening and hearing God. Home, what does it mean calling us home? It isn’t calling us to paradise after death here on earth, it is closer to realizing His teaching, and His path would be far better than being the one lost in the maze. Jesus said the same.
Psalm 45:12 KJV –And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favor. Tyre is a seaport city. Daughter of Tyre, the women, or a woman, who live there. What type of rich would these verses speak of? Rich as in money or stature, or rich as in fulfillment no matter how much or how important we would be? In the NIV, it speaks as money and stature. The rich are asking for favor. Remember what Jesus told the rich man? He told us to sell all that we have and follow Him. He wasn’t just talking about monetary goods, but far more than that. This is speaking to have the rich be equal to the humble. Now, this is not to say you couldn’t be rich and not also humble, it just takes a lot of learning to realize that it’s the people, family, that is much more important. This is the gift. A gift given on all ends of the financial scale. Now, that’s something we all must think about.
Psalm 45:13 KJV – The King’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.
Remember what we have learned about vanity. Who is the King here? Perhaps if we thought in the realm of vanity, envy, and such, the king would be earthly, and we know all about that potential. Here, however, we speak of being wrought of gold, in essence, purity, truth, God’s richness.
Revelation 19:7, 8 KJV – Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
The marriage of Christ is often something we look forward to. The wife is Israel, and her descendants. It is often known that we view cities and countries as feminine, so Israel as the bride of Christ, this is seen from other views as shared in our Psalm. 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: Here I Am To Worship



~Shalom~
Rev. Laura A. Neff ~ The Rainbow Minister Facebook & Twitter & Google+ & Blogspot
Calvin Jennings ~ Elder Facebook & Twitter & Blogster
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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