Covenant
of Hope Ministries Sunday Sermon_8_10_2014
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. I have often described myself as the Rainbow minister. My reasoning for that is this: the rainbow symbolizes faith, understanding, and God's strength to forgive, heal, and so on. 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.
- Pray for our member Theresa Bogard’s family. There are several
that need prayer. Her nephew was run over by a car after a wreck. His mother,
Donna, is suffering a great deal of anxiety as a result. Her sisters Patty and
Kim, as Patty is getting worse, her spine is deteriorating at an alarming rate.
Her uncle is in the hospital as well.
- Please keep a friend, Debby, in your prayers for a swift
recovery after major surgery.
- Bring my friend Jeff into prayer as he and his son are having
a tough time right at the moment.
- Please keep Elder Cal Jennings in your prayers as his health
doesn’t know where it wants to be.
- 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 two events from this past week
are fruitful and give us hope for the future.
- 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 have many who are suffering illness, injury,
and more. We bring them up to You in prayer knowing that healing and comfort,
sympathy and empathy, with faith and hope can be found in Your strong embrace.
We pray for those we know and do not. 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:
Glory Road
Sermon:
This
has been one of those weeks. I was given a verse, just one verse, back on
Wednesday. The rest came through a phone call with one of the members of the
ministry and a chat with another online. The topic, miracles and salvation.
Everyday miracles was the theme brought to mind by one of the two. Reaching the
view of Salvation as brought to us through the Holy Spirit and led by the path
of Jesus. We’ll start with a verse that gives us a great deal of hope even in
the midst of chaos.
Revelation 22:5 KJV – And there shall be no night
there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God
giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
If
we remember our Scripture, God gave us light in Genesis. He also brought the
night. In this verse, night would be no more. It speaks of God giving “them”
light. Who would they be? They are the ones to survive the judgment brought
from the book Jesus would be reading from. Well, that leads us to our next
verse.
Psalm 36:9 KJV – And my soul shall be joyful
in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.
Our
souls would rejoice in his salvation. We would be joyful in the LORD. This is a
true blessing, a gift of hope in God’s view of unconditional love. You see,
there is always time to change our ways. We have the ability to climb up onto
that path Jesus gave us. It is known as repentance, but it should be greeted as
an everyday miracle. Why, you might ask. Well, it isn’t easy to see
unconditional love. It wouldn’t be to share it either. To see God’s
unconditional love, we have to absorb it, and then offer it to any and all, no
matter what the situation might be. Remember, you can love the person, but not
the bad actions they pursue.
Daniel 7:27 KJV – And
the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole
heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
The
kindom under the whole heaven, and the people of the saints will receive it. It
is an everlasting kingdom and all the cities, states, countries and more will
serve and obey him. Look at it this way, evil will be GONE. We won’t have to
worry about war, famine, flooding, landslides, and all the rest. God would make
the world new, brand new. Now, why would He do that? If you remember your
Scripture, God made a solemn promise to ensure that the whole earth would never
again be covered in water. He also promised that the children of Abraham would
be numerous, and brought to the path of truth, that’s the path of unconditional
love. Learning what that path means, and how to keep it up under our feet is
something we do every single day, sometimes starting over again. Now we see
that there is a reflection of that very promise.
Romans 5:17 KJV – (As it is written, I have
made thee a father of many nations.) before him whom he believed, even God, who
quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
What
does it mean to quicken someone? Restore them to life, that’s what it means.
Remember, Jesus would judge the living and the dead, they would rise to be judged.
Think for a moment. This proves to us that calling those things which wouldn’t
be as they once were. That would be a miracle. It brings to mind the little
miracles that would happen around this world to everyone, if we pay attention.
Here we come with the next verse, showing what our suffering will bring.
II Timothy 2:12 KJV – If we suffer, we shall also
reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.
Notice,
suffering brings us the ability to reign. Denial of the gift of our Savior and
God with the Holy Spirit, then we too will be denied entry into the kingdom of
unconditional love, the kingdom of God. It is a warning that the path, as Jesus
said, would be long and narrow.
I Peter 1:3-4 KJV – Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten
us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you.
Look
at this, an inheritance that can’t be corrupted, it is pure, and won’t
disappear on us. This is what our path is leading us to. How did it come about?
Mercy, one of the gifts of unconditional love brought it to us. That also gives
us an everyday miracle, hope. Many don’t realize that hope would be one of the
best gifts, because it leads us right to that path, and keeps us from falling
off of it. Now we get to see who, what, how, and why.
I Peter 3:21 KJV – The like figure whereunto
even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the
flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ:
There
we go, we’ve got the baptism of Jesus. That baptism gave the ability to see and
feel the Holy Spirit, even though He had to suffer on the cross to bring that
gift. The gift of the Holy Spirit is also a miracle. Now, why is that? Well,
when you let the Spirit into your heart, your mind, your spirit, and soul, it
will be easy to see beyond what people do, to what they would be. You will ask
what that means. Well, remember, God created man and women. He then gave them
free will. We have a choice to listen to our hearts, or the seven troubles all
would, and could, suffer. You know what those are. They include vanity, envy,
lust, enmity, wrath, shame and doubt. It isn’t easy to avoid even one of these
troubles. That’s why we have prayer, where we can ask forgiveness. What would
that be considered? Repentance, because it leads us to do something good. That
something good could indeed be considered an everyday miracle. 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:
Living in the Promised Land http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqIyIvL-gBs&index=14&list=PL614A115BF39E5936
~Shalom~
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
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.
This mission statement speaks of the rainbow in the darkness.
Every time I would have a seriously traumatic thing happen in my life I would
wake in the middle of the night. When I do I see a rainbow at the end of my
bed, or even through the window behind my head. I’ll see that rainbow in a dark
room even during the day. It will hover in the shadows and reassure me that God
is with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment