Covenant
of Hope Ministries Sunday Sermon_8_23_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.
- Please pray for a friend of mine Debby, who has just had
surgery this past week for a problem that has caused a great amount of grief.
She has been in quite a lot of pain. Pray that her pain would ease. She is
filled with faith and hope.
-Please pray that my new niece has a wonderful future. She was
born this past week as a gift of God.
- Please keep Elder Cal Jennings in your prayers as he is still
having so many issues with his health and has been unable to do what he loves
to do, that is to spread the gift of Jesus and His love to all.
- Please pray for my friend Teresa’s sister who is in stage four
cancer. Please pray also for relief in her current situation. That her patience
continue and be rewarded.
- 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. Please pray that the news we received this past
week will prove fruitful in the coming week.
- 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 thank You for the gifts of patience and hope.
We bring to you the families and friends who have suffered strife and more this
week, that peace and comfort fill their hearts, minds, spirits, and souls. We
pray for those who have been ill that they may heal. We pray for those who have
died violently this week. We pray all of these things in Your Holy Name through
Jesus Christ our Savior, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall
be.
Opening
Song: Here
I Am Lord http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcxOkht8w7c
Sermon:
Earlier
this week I was given a single verse. That verse is one I sent to you in a
message via email. With it came the inspiration for this sermon today. The gift
that this one verse brings is something so many of us need right now. Let’s
take a look at this gift and share it together.
Philippians 4:13 KJV – I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me.
A
close friend of mine wrote this particular verse in a message to our mutual friends
and I just before she had surgery a few days ago. Endurance in her struggle to
regain her health and strength after cancer and many other issues including
excruciating pain. There have been many surgeries to do whatever possible to
remove that which has caused all her pain. Her family and friends have been
rock steady, a gift God and Jesus brought to her during the toughest of times.
Here is the parable Jesus brought that fits quite well. It is the parable of
the Vine and Branches.
John 15:1-13 KJV – I AM the true vine, and our
Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every
branch that beareth fruit, he shall purgeth it, that it may bring forth more
fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of
itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
If a man abideth not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is
withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are
burned.
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye
will, and it shall be done unto you.
Hearin is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye
be my disciples.
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my
love.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I
have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in
you, and that your joy might be full.
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved
you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for
his friends.
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
When
I was a young adult, eighteen, I heard this parable, and just this parable
alone. For the first time I heard it in a way that impacted everything in life
from that moment on. Friends of mine acted it out, sharing a visual portrayal
of these very words. They did so in order to bring the truth to those who did
not know, and prove that if you listen and hear, love can grow. That love is
unconditional, whether family or friend.
What
did that do to my heart and spirit? It gave me hope, and brought the first
inklings of what He had in store for me. At that time I was in a clown
ministry. Yes, that’s what I said, a clown ministry where the eight of us wore
grease paint and colorful clothes. My clowning name was Rainbow. Why was this
so? Well, like many times in the work I have done in the last eight years or
more, the Bible dropped open in the middle of the story of Noah and the Ark,
the covenant God brought, the seal of that promise, the rainbow.
This
parable was, in the notes from my Bible, connected to the first listed, which
is written in Philippians. Truly we should look closely at these and see how
much they bring to us. What did the words Paul wrote to the Philippians bring
from those written by John? In truth, it is simply this: Jesus and the Father
brought us unconditional love. They also gave us something more. Yet, even now
many do not realize just what that something would be.
Through
the past week there has been a lot of horror. We have seen it in the senseless
murders, riots, even the threats of still more war. When Jesus brought us this
parable, and the Holy Spirit brought the words to Paul, we see one thing, and
one thing alone. That one thing is HOPE. The greatest gift of unconditional
love is our SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. Why is that? Well, He gives us HOPE through
the gift He brought to us, the HOLY SPIRIT. Remembering the words of God
brought from long ago into new points of view now, today, makes them more
meaningful, and gives us the ability to see them in a new light. That is what
the Spirit brought to us this week through my hands. 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: Thank
You Lord http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM8QC0EhfCc
~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
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.
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.
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