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.
Note: Today is the
celebration of Mother’s Day. May we remember our mothers, and realize they are
a treasure brought to us by God Himself. Just as each of us would be, let us share
that gift with our mothers, one and all.
Monday is my daughter’s birthday. She will be 21.
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.
I need a new prayer list. I haven’t had anything new in months save
a select few. Here are the ones that are new.
We have a new prayer, and it is most urgent, tragic and more.
This comes from Pastor Mary Kemuma Moriango, wife to Pastor Richard Nyaitira.
He passed away in December. Sadly, he left wife and five children, two boys and
three girls. They need prayers for school fees, food, and shelter for them.
Pray for the memory of Pastor Richard, for his family, and his friends.
Continue your prayers 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.
Pray that Elder Cal Jennings would heal at last, don’t just
pray, claim that God can heal him, because we know He can do just that through
the Spirit which was given through Jesus.
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 her new career.
Pray for my eldest son who is just beginning his collegiate
pursuits, that he would grow in his learning and understanding.
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 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 results from 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.
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
blessed that You brought us to our Mothers, and that we have our Mothers in our
lives. We thank you for keeping their memories alive, each of the mothers who
are gone from life as we know. We praise You for helping us celebrate the gifts
of life, including motherhood, which gave each of us life itself. We pray for
those who have lost their lives, no matter the method. We pray for those who
mourn, wives, husbands, children, and more. We pray for those at war, fighting
for peace. We pray for those who have suffered, may they receive healing and
solace. We pray for those in sorrow, that they might find solace. We pray all
these things in Your Holy Name, the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, and the gift
of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.
Opening Song: The Gentle and Forgotten
Art of Blessings https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6BkT6-CDIjw
Sermon: Our sermon today starts out with
the title and that would be Confidence in the church of God. Already in this title and what follows there
would be a wording change, potentially these words are * For the sons of Korah which could also be seen as of the sons of Korah. We don’t even get
to start with the psalm we are working with which is Psalm 46. Let’s start with
the reference verse for our title. That
verse is here in I Chronicles 15:20 KJV – And Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel and
Unni, and Eliab, and Manaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries on Alamoth;
Psalteries
are musical instruments. In other words they will bring music to the location.
What a beautiful gift, the gift of music for Israel, for the sons of Korah. This
shows something more, as shared in our first verses of Psalm 46:1-2 KJV – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble.
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
We have,
at least most of us, have heard this pair of verses in many shapes and forms.
You can also see it here in the NIV where it shares the same verse as Psalm 46:1-2 NIV – God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in
trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
In the
King James we have a word change seen in the
midst of the sea which also could be the
heart of the seas. You can see that change in the NIV version of this pair
of verses. This is a comfort, a gift of that comfort, as music can be for many,
if not all. Remember that Selah is a musical term. So all of this relates to
the gift of music. That is regardless of what the next verses, something we
should remember in times of trouble as seen here in Psalm 46:3-4 KJV – Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the
mountains shake with the swelling thereof, Selah.
There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
What a
beautiful sight. Imagine bringing natural beauty and having it flow from the
city of God. These bringing not just beauty, but hope in our faith, a blessing
as shared here. Then there is the fact that others shall understand, as this
verse shares in Isaiah 8:7 KJV – Now therefore, behold, the LORD bringeth up upon them the
waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria and all his
glory: and he shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks:
This
isn’t just any river. It is one that can, and will bring us pure faith, purely
unconditional love. Now, think about it, unconditonal love is what will give us
more than hope, it will free us from the troubles of the earth that currently
exist. Now, that’s a beautiful thought. These other verses show the same, just
in different points of view. Yet, every one of them comes from the mouth of
God. We’ll start with Revelation 22:1 KJV – And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as a
crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and the Lamb.
Clear,
clean water, untouched, not needing purifying, because it is already. That’s
something the earth hasn’t had in a long, long time. We have salt, sewage, and
other potentially frightful things in our water, but all that will be gone when
God brings us home, to the home we should have had in the first place. We see
it here, a very clear view of what God is working toward.
He chose
David to be over the people of Israel, not just people, God’s people. He chose
Jerusalem as His city. That’s a very important point of view to see. It is
shown easily in the next verse, one that has been sung about, and more. Think
about it, there is singing in all forms, music in all shapes and sizes, this
verse shares that same ideal.
Psalm 48:1 KJV – Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of
our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
This has
been shared in so many ways. We can think of many songs, many poems, and more in
regard to this verse. Yet, look at this verse and how it connects to our
chapter, even just at the beginning. God is our strength, our security, our
hiding place in many ways. Why do we want to hide in God’s embrace? That’s easy
to answer. It’s the safest place you can find spiritually, emotionally, and so
much more. Let us think about that as we see more regarding our verses in Psalm
46. Here we see more from
Look at
it this way. Those who have brought pain and sorrow will do one thing, or many
at once. They will say they’re sorry for what they’ve done. They apologize.
Sometimes it is hard to apologize for things we have done, at least immediately
afterwards. Forgiving others is either easy, or difficult, sometimes it takes
no time at all, others it can take quite some time, but it can be done if our
heart grows in understanding. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to then find something
so beautiful as what is shared here in
Angels,
we’ll be amidst God and angels. What a beautiful idea! What an amazing sight
that would be! Standing in the company of God and His angels. 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)
~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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