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.
- Continue your prayers for Phoebe Fair’s family as they
continue to grieve her loss.
- Please keep Elder Cal Jennings in your
prayers. He needs multiple surgeries but
his heart is not strong enough to go through them. Besides needing his pacemaker replaced and
his surgical hernia repaired he has a precancerous tumor in his stomach that
urgently needs to be removed or healed.
- Please pray for my friend Teresa Travis's father. He is dying with fluid on the lungs, a mass in the other, and is too weak for other tests. He is in congestive heart failure. Please pray that he can leave this world without pain, and with dignity. Pray also for his family, that they share the good memories, and their father's love.
- Please pray for my friend Teresa Travis's father. He is dying with fluid on the lungs, a mass in the other, and is too weak for other tests. He is in congestive heart failure. Please pray that he can leave this world without pain, and with dignity. Pray also for his family, that they share the good memories, and their father's love.
- 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.
Belated Birthday
Greetings: Elder
Cal Jennings’ Birthday was yesterday. May you be blessed with healing and hope
this year, dear friend.
Prayer: Father in heaven, we
thank You for this day and for these who are here to share it with us. We
praise Your grace and glory in the gift of dreams and pray that they are shared
hopes with others whom we care about and love. We pray that Your mercy and love
would encircle all who are in pain, sorrow, and fear. We pray for healing of
heart, body, mind, and soul for the many who would need it. We pray all 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: Michele Tumes – Dreams (God Is
Good) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4H76PaFpmY
Sermon: We’ve been discussing dreams and
today we will study the dreams of Joseph. Now, just to provide the background
for this series of verses, Joseph is the youngest son of Jacob. His brothers,
out of jealousy, sold him into slavery. As a slave Joseph spent quite a lot of
time in Pharaoh’s prison, until, that is, he accurately interpreted the dreams
Pharaoh had been experiencing. This after the baker, once a prisoner himself,
remembered the ability he had. So, let’s take a look at the dream Pharaoh
experienced.
Genesis 41:15-16 KJV – And
Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can
interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream
to interpret it.
And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
In all instances of dreaming, it is God speaking to the
one having the dream. Sometimes, if not all the time, it takes another to help
discern that same dream. So, Joseph is doing just that as Pharaoh continues
here in Genesis 41:17-24 KJV – And Pharaoh said
unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:
And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:
And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.
Pharaoh wants to understand first, what the dream is
about, and second, why it would be so important. Through this he realizes just
how important it would be for his kingdom and the survival of all. It is also
where, if you look at it, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the
few. Let’s see what the interpretation was according to that which God gave to
Joseph. Genesis 41:25-32 KJV – And Joseph said unto
Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about
to do.
The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.
And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.
This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.
Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.
And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.
And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.
This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.
Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.
And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
Well,
that is one amazing dream! He now knows that everyone must prepare for the
worst and hope for the best. What would that best be? It’s obvious, peace,
hope, faith, and love, of course. Sharing in the bounties in times of need,
note I didn’t say want, would be of benefit, not just of the body, but of the
spirit and the soul. Understanding our dreams, even if they are nightmares,
which this one borders on, would be important, not just to our bodies, but to
our spirits and our souls. They affect us, and as such, will affect those
around us. The toughest thing in many cases is for us to be able to put our
dreams into words. Or, in the case of Pharaoh, to understand what the dream was
telling him. When you dream and it sends you from your bed, good or bad, look
at what might have caused that dream. Listen to your heart and you’ll find God
gives you an answer. It might not be in a timeframe you’ll like. It might not
even be an answer you like. Yet, an answer it will be. 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: Dream Weaver http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgCWgfwlk0M
~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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