Covenant of Hope
Ministries Sunday Sermon_12_15_2013
Good
afternoon, and welcome to this Sunday Sermon for Covenant of Hope Ministries. I
am Rev. Laura A. Neff. The ministry knows me as the Rainbow Minister. Find us
posted on Sundays and studies on Wednesday. Our locations are online only:
Our Main Video Feed: Covenant_of_Hope
We have
email (instant messenger if you need me) through Facebook every day. These are
now extremely variable. We’re still working this out between the two of us as
to what will happen, our Elder, Cal Jennings and I. I will inform you further
regarding changes. These changes were made due to health reasons. The sermon
length has shortened dramatically. We are unsure as to when there might be
video presentations.
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.
- Please keep Elder Cal Jennings in your prayers as he is very
sick and truly is seeking answers to his health, life, and prayers.
- Please pray for my friend Kerry Barban Huffines for her pain
and suffering and a swift recovery from surgery. Please also keep her family in
prayer.
- Please pray for my friend Teresa’s sister who is in stage four
cancer.
- Please keep others known by any of us up in prayer for
whatever they might need.
- Please pray for Paul, a friend of my brother Scott, who is
seeking employment and has had no success.
- Please keep my friend Heather in prayer for patience and safe
haven.
- Let us keep another friend, Jeff, and his family in prayer
after a disappointment that has them searching for answers.
- Please keep my whole family in prayer for the pain, suffering,
and chaos we are going through.
- Pray that the adversity and the pain we have seen around the
world would be relieved, and swept away. May we find common ground in many
ways, even if we start with just one step.
- Remember those who have been lost either violently or
peacefully this week.
- Keep the ministry in your thoughts, each member, no matter
their location, their circumstances, because a group of friends, a ministry,
should support one another.
- There are many in our ministry who are searching for more in
regard to our presence with my health, and with the health of others. We pray
that there would be health found once more, and that we have answers to all and
for all.
Prayer: Father in heaven, we
thank You for this day and for these who are here to share it with us. We are
blessed with the gifts You bring to us, whether we recognize them or not. We
pray peace will be shared here on earth. We pray for those who have been sick,
our friends, our families. We pray for those who have left this life and the
families that mourn them. We pray in thanksgiving that You are here to bring
solace and hope to one and all. We pray this in Your Holy Name through the
Savior Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.
Opening Song: Rejoice for the Steps and Fear Not
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTTHO_aa-4g
Sermon: The title says this: To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil,
A Psalm of David when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide
himself with us? There are a pair of verses that go with this explanation.
Those include I Samuel 23:19 KJV – Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth
not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of
Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?
I Samuel 26:1 KJV – And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah.
Saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachiah, which is before
Jeshimon?
There are
many times we pray for deliverance. That can be delivering us from all types of
situations, ranging from life threatening to the torment of heart, mind, or
soul. Evil and the deliverance from it would be mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer,
which we share through our Savior.
Psalm 54:1-4 KJV – Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by
thy strength.
Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after
my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.
Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my
soul.
He’s
wishing and praying that God will think about listening, giving ear to the
words which David shares. He is making his case by sharing that his enemies do
not share the belief that the Lord God would have been set before them. God
helps those who are faithful. God helps and is with us if we hold each other
up, as well as ourselves.
Psalm 118:7 KJV – I shall not die, but live, and declare the
works of the LORD.
The best
part about faith is in the fact that when God shows us more than we expect, or
even what we hope for, we feel as though we have come back to life. We are
willing to shout for joy and say that it’s because God has given us answers.
God is good. He will answer prayers, and bring blessings, if we listen, hear,
and share that which we have listened to and heard. It’s not supposed to be one
sided. We’re supposed to work in tandem. That is how hope, faith, peace, and
more would lead us to unconditional love as shown and shared through Christ
Jesus. Here we come with the words Fear Not. This is something that is often
shared during this time of the year. Yet, this is far, far from the gospels. In
fact, it is the prophecy that our gospels would be fulfilled.
Isaiah 41:10 KJV – Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not
dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea,
I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Here it
would be proven in the New Testament. Romans 8:31,
32 KJV – What shall we then say unto these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Sacrifice
is the single most difficult consideration. We saw it with Abraham and his son.
We see it again with God and His Son Jesus. It is the fact that they were
willing to do so much to save others, to prove faith can exist and will indeed
be shared and seen in our eyes, our hearts, our spirits, and our souls. What
can David pray for next? He wants, and pleads that the enemies not see the
truth, that they are cut from it. What is he willing to do for this? Well, take
a look at what is shared here in Psalm 54:5-7 KJV –
He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut
them off in thy truth.
I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O
LORD; for it is good.
For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath
seen his desire upon mine enemies.
God
delivered him! So what does David do? He says PRAISE GOD, of course. This is
what we often forget to do. When our trials and tribulations are taken from our
shoulders, we often forget to praise Him for deliverance. That’s why Jesus said
to remember the prayer He gave us. DELIVER US FROM EVIL, He says and we pray.
Yet, still, even with this confidence, this knowledge of God’s grace and hope
would dissolve in his fear that something will not be given. Faith is something
we all struggle to hang on to. This just proves that fact. Psalm 89:49 KJV – Lord,
where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy
truth?
It makes
it that much more difficult if we are afraid to see what’s right in front of
us. God’s love is ALWAYS with us. In fact, it’s right in front of us. All we
have to do is trust in that fact. That faith shares so much, including the
deliverance of His faithful from the evils in this world. 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: O Come, O Come Emmanuel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPfdD3pBUig
~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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