Covenant
of Hope Ministries Sunday Sermon_1_8_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.
- Sister Theresa has several prayers to include this week. Her
nephew was run over by a car and was last known to be critical condition. Her
sister Donna went into shock and had a breakdown as a result, praise the Lord
she has calmed down since then. Her sister Patti is suffering a continuously deteriorating
spine. Her sister Kim is anxious to go see Patti, and also concerned with Patti
and her condition. Sister Theresa is having many things, financially,
spiritually, and family wise that are bearing her down quite a lot.
- Please keep Elder Cal Jennings in your prayers as he has been
suffering a lot with his weakness and more this week. Pray also for his methods
of communicating with us. May God answer our prayers to assist him in
continuing to do so.
- 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.
- Please keep my whole family in prayer for the pain, suffering,
and chaos we are going through. Pray that our answers will be managed in a
miracle from the past week. Praise God for that blessing. Praise God, more than
half our prayers have been answered. May the Good Lord Above bring us one last
answer for something closer to stability.
- 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. There have been far too many worldwide lost in violence,
friends, family, and even colleagues suffering terrible things.
- 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 thank you for patience and faith. We bring friends and family and those we don't know up to You in prayer for their troubles, trials, and to help their faith. We bring to You those who are injured and suffering that Your love and grace will bring them peace. We ask only that Your healing grace and love embrace each of them. We do so in Your Holy Name through Jesus Christ our Savior, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.
Opening
Song: Faith
as Small http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TpR2O5Z8rg
Sermon:
This
week has been tough for so many. In fact this year I have heard and seen so
much strife around this world we live in. Just a few days ago an entire
community went into an uproar to the point state patrols had to replace city
and county forces due to the amount of violence. This was in the area where I
grew up as a child. Now, many around the world have seen this very same
scenario. Some of us up front and in person. It is in times like these that we
really wonder how we can hold onto faith. Remember, it isn’t easy, but even the
smallest spark of faith is enough to help it grow. Let’s remember this as we
reflect on something Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew
13:31 KJV – Another parable put he forth
unto them saying, The kingdom of heaven is like
to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed into his field:
Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is
the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air
come and lodge in the branches thereof.
You
can’t grow faith and peace without sharing it. One tiny seed needs sunlight,
earth, and nurturing. Peace needs faith, love, and the ability to share them
one to another. Faith needs heart, spirit, and soul, and it too can grow. You
notice something? Everything needs something to grow, from the smallest, to the
largest, from imagination to reality, from concept to four dimensions and
functional. Every single consideration starts with one element. That would be
faith. Here is another time Jesus teaches a lesson in faith.
Matthew 17:20 KJV – And Jesus said unto them, Because
of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and
it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Obstacles
don’t just have to be like a mountain to climb or go around. They could be something
we feel would be a disability. Remember, Jesus gives us ways around those. It
may not pull you out of that wheelchair, or out of that bed you’ve had to be
confined to, but, it can, in fact, free your mind. You see, free will is the
best gift of unconditional love. Remembering that fact, the gift of all time,
will give your spirit and soul wings, even if we haven’t got limbs able to
move.
When
my children were young there was a neighbor who couldn’t speak, couldn’t walk,
and couldn’t move most of her body. Yet, she had an unmistakeable spirit. You
always knew she was in the room. She could laugh, even if she couldn’t make
words with her voice. What was the best part? She willingly shared it with
anyone who would just say hello. I have worked with people who can’t walk, see,
or hear. It is amazing how the loss of one ability brings to life a stronger
view of the rest.
One
of my siblings proved to me that even without legs she could do so much. She
could climb just using her hands. Even with all that was against her, my sister
survived, and thrived until the mechanical wonder that saved her life at birth
stopped functioning. Jesus proved that disability shouldn’t hold you down, and
disease the same. All you have to do is travel back through Scripture and see
the miracles He provided. What did these miracles bring? Faith!
The
loss of my sister did something once my sorrow had disipated. She, in my memories,
brought me the rainbow. Yes, you read that correctly. Years before that, when I
was on my way to college at eighteen, my little sister was seven. On that last
day she pulled my hand in hers and asked me to take the rainbow and help it
grow.
It
took me around eighteen years to figure out what she meant by that. What
happened then? I met my mentor and two others came with her. They taught me
that my faith did exist, even if I couldn’t see it. The gift of that mustard
seed was enough to prove my sister’s words true. Two years later I was
ordained. That was now seven years ago. Faith, no matter how small it starts
out to be, can grow so much. There is the mustard seed, and also the grain of
sand. Imagine if you will, each step out on faith would be like adding one more
grain of sand to a sandcastle. There could also be a single seed becoming a
vine filled with roses, or grapes. All those take faith, love, and the
willingness to help them grow.
It
took nineteen years, yes, nineteen years, for my faith to go from a mustard
seed to where I became a minister. Where did it start? My little sister gave me
a gift. That gift was this: Take your rainbow and share it, then the darkness
will go away. She was right. God gave her that wisdom. It was that memory that
brought me to where I am today. Without doubt, that little mustard seed was
seen by three people who were, and are, my mentors in the ministry. They helped
me see how to make that little seed grow.
Jesus
said have faith. It could be the smallest pinpoint of light. Yet that tiny
pinpoint could light up the world if we let it do so. How can we do it? Share
it. Faith only grows if you give it life, and pass it on. Faith is a gift of
God’s love, through Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. 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: Song
of the Parable of the Mustard Seed (Seasons) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90R3G9WjnAs
~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