Covenant of Hope Ministries
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.
- We have a pair of friends suffering grief, one has lost their
mother, another has lost their grandmother, both have worked with my husband
for more than five years. May their families’ grief be brought solace through
our prayers and our love.
- Continue your prayers for Phoebe Fair’s family as they continue
to grieve her loss.
- Please keep Elder Cal Jennings in your prayers
- Please pray for my friend Teresa’s sister who is in stage four
cancer. Keep Teresa and her daughter in prayer for many other things that have
been weighing down on their hearts, minds, and spirits.
- Please keep others known by any of us up in prayer for
whatever they might need.
- Please keep my friend Heather in prayer for patience and safe
haven.
- Let us keep those who have suffered from the weather in
prayer, as they continue to weather the storms, the cold, and the dangers that
can be found within them.
- 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 bringing many of our friends, families, and more up to You for healing, faith, hope, and more. We are thankful for Your grace and goodness and unconditional love. These are our prayers we bring to You dear Lord, through the gift of the Savior Jesus Christ and the hope of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.
Opening Song: Where Joy and Sorrow Meet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhCXEdjyZNY
Sermon: This week we are going to look at
sorrow and being sorrowful. There are many in our ministry and among our
friends who have either suffered, or are suffering sorrow. It doesn’t matter
what types of sorrows those would be. In fact, what does matter is that we are
keeping those men, women, and yes, children, in our thoughts, our prayers, that
there be hope to see that the good memories can help with their grief. Friends,
family, and yes, even strangers can bring hope from interesting directions. God
can bring solace, as we all could do the same. This can be done through a phone
call, a card or letter, flowers, a hug, a smile, a kiss, and so many other
ways. Let’s see how Scripture shares this. There are almost as many in the Old
Testament as there are in the New Testament, splitting nineteen and fifteen
between them. Due to this fact, there are many ways to consider this. What will
be considered would in fact be how God helps us soothe our sorrows. We don’t
want to grieve forever. In fact, we should indeed grieve, but only for a while.
Celebrate the lives of those lost. Celebrate the good memories, and the lessons
learned from the bad ones. This is very difficult for so many to manage. It is
also something every culture, every form of religion, faith, or creed,
including every view of the Christianity, would do differently. Why is this?
Every human being absorbs their pain, sorrow, fear, joy, hope, and more,
DIFFERENTLY. Why is that? God gave us free will, our own individual hearts,
minds, spirits, and souls. In Scripture, JOY and SORROW would be found together
in only eleven verses but in only seven of the scrolls. Let us study these
beginning with
Esther 9:22 KJV – As the days wherein the Jews rested from
their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from
mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and
gifts to the poor. What wonderful thoughts! Don’t you think so? Changing sorrow to
joy. Mourning transformed to a good day. Then there are the days of feasting
and joy, sharing, and giving. There’s nothing better than to transform those
sorrows, those pains, and our mourning into celebration. Why should we do this?
Well, a life has been lived, a tragedy, trial, or tribulation has been faced,
you survived, and surpassed that which brought it to be. That’s worthy of
celebration. Don’t you think? Through God’s love we can overcome, and build
upon the hope as to what tomorrow brings. This next verse shows just that as a
sufferer finds a way to turn that sorrow to joy here in Job 41:22 KJV – In his neck
remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.
Ah, you remember the
thought that laughter is good medicine, in fact the best medicine. Here we see
just that in Proverbs 17:21 KJV – A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:
but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Oh and then we can’t forget the fact that we
might feel like prisoners to this life but there’s the hope of the future, as
shared with the freedom and the celebration of that freedom, joy, gladness,
what’s better than that? It overcomes fear, pain, sorrow, as shared here in
these three verses from Isaiah.
Isaiah 35:10 KJV – And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall
obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 51:11 KJV – Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall
return, and come with singing, unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon
their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall
flee away.
Isaiah 65:14 KJV – Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of
heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of the
spirit.
We see the same again here in the scroll of Jeremiah 31:13 KJV –
Then
shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I
will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them and make them rejoice
from their sorrow.
There is the beautiful hope that is the resurrection of the
Messiah. We see it shared by our Savior here in John 16:19-22 KJV – And ye now therefore
have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your
joy no man taketh from you.
The joy that Jesus wanted to share with us didn’t sink in as it
should have. Instead, people were sad and sorrowful where they should have
rejoiced. Jesus died for US. He descended to hell, to suffer, and then to
realize that there is both joy and salvation in the gifts of God, and He could
prove it to us. We just have to accept it, share it, hold it in our hearts.
That’s what is shared here in II Corinthians 2:3 KJV – And I wrote this same unto you, lest,
when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having
confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.
Notice,
we see in the visit to Corinth, that there is the need to share joy and
celebration AHEAD of his arrival. Why is that? Nobody wants to walk into a
world of sorrow. They would much rather overcome it and find a reason to
celebrate life, love, faith, and hope in God’s gift of unconditional love. 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: Psalm 43:3-5 To God My Exceeding
Joy
~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.
Nice, uplifting sermon Rev. Laura! It's encouraging to those of us who are suffering or sorrowful. Thank you very much!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to bring a smile to your face my friend.
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