Good afternoon, welcome to
Covenant of Hope Ministries. My name is Rev. Laura A. Neff, the Rainbow
Minister. The choice for Rainbow has to do with the fact that the rainbow
symbolizes a promise made and one that can and will be kept. I made, long ago,
a promise to God that I would do all I could to keep that faith within me. We
are normally posted on Sundays for
sermons and Wednesdays for studies. You can find these posted in the
following locations.
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 Susie Bartholow as she is in hospice. She is in very grave
condition and currently in hospice with advanced cancer. Hospice care is at her
home with her family. They all need as much support in spirit as we can bring.
- Pray that the tensions ease in the family. Pray also that the actions being worked out will assist in doing just that and more. Pray that tempers don’t flare and we don’t reach the breaking point. Pray that those who have suffered allergies and colds this past week get well once more.
- Pray for Elder Cal Jennings who is in ill health and a quandary regarding all that has been going on in this world.
- Please pray for another member, Theresa, who is having issues with all sorts of things, spiritual and physical, financial, and more. She has recently gotten out of sinus surgery and is still healing. Pray that her healing goes well and swiftly.
- Keep other friends, families, and even those around us in society in our thoughts and prayers that they be safe, secure, and well.
- Pray that the tensions ease in the family. Pray also that the actions being worked out will assist in doing just that and more. Pray that tempers don’t flare and we don’t reach the breaking point. Pray that those who have suffered allergies and colds this past week get well once more.
- Pray for Elder Cal Jennings who is in ill health and a quandary regarding all that has been going on in this world.
- Please pray for another member, Theresa, who is having issues with all sorts of things, spiritual and physical, financial, and more. She has recently gotten out of sinus surgery and is still healing. Pray that her healing goes well and swiftly.
- Keep other friends, families, and even those around us in society in our thoughts and prayers that they be safe, secure, and well.
- Keep the
ministry in your thoughts as well, that we may continue on even in times that
are bad.
- Brother
Wayne is still trudging through the processes of settling his father’s estate.
Keep him and his family in your prayers.
- Our families
and friends who have been in our hearts, keep them in your thoughts and prayers
that they be safe, healthy, and let them know they are always loved.
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 blessings brought and for those yet to come. We
bring prayers for those who have been seriously ill. Help those who are working
to fight serious illnesses the ability to find solutions. We pray for those
lost and those who mourn. We pray for patience and courage for those we love
and care about, and ourselves as well. We pray for peace to reach out from the
heart and be heard, felt, and understood. We pray that Your grace and love
would fill the hearts of the many in this world. 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: Walk With You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CZKIrRTIRs&list=PL614A115BF39E5936&index=26
Sermon: Again today I am bringing
you a verse or two with a short sermon and the Our Father. This week and those
both prior and yet to come have been a test for many of us. It is challenges
like these that we need to bring peace toward and His love as well.
Romans 12:9-10
NASB – Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is
evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted one
to another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.
I have examined this
particular verse in three views of the Scriptures, King James, New American
Standard, and New International. They share basically the same thing, true, with
different wording. However, the clarity is just as important as the way
Scripture is worded. The past few months we have seen a lot of chaos, hatred,
violence, and even extreme leniency with blindness toward what should be seen
as the truth, the path we are supposed to be walking. Scripture always has a tendency to draw upon
something spoken of earlier. Much like any writing, reflecting on important
links helps draw a better perspective.
Here is one such example.
Amos 5:15 KJV – Hate evil, love good,
And establish judgment in the gate!
Perhaps the LORD God of hosts
May be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
And establish judgment in the gate!
Perhaps the LORD God of hosts
May be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Hate evil! That’s what it
says. What is evil? Well, anything that doesn’t conform to what is good in God’s
eyes. Note, I said God’s, not necessarily ours. God hasn’t got blinders to some
things. Humanity has a tendency to turn that blind eye and not see things that
must be seen.
Love good! Yes, we should
love the good things that are seen, felt, heard, and so on. However, there is
something to ask. Do we always know what those good things are? Could we see
them in the first place? Sometimes that blind eye misses the good as easily as
it does the bad.
Where does Amos say He is to
establish judgment? In the gate. What gate does it speak of? Well, if you look
at the New International it speaks of justice in the courts. Justice, not
judgment. Justice, in scriptural terms, is righteousness. Judgment is, also in
scriptural terms, an ability to make objective, authoritative, wise decisions.
Well, it is the hope, in
both verses, that God will have mercy on the descendants of Joseph. Add to
that, we ourselves will have mercy on our brothers and sisters, as God would
have for each of us. Let us remember to not be hypocrites in our love or faith.
If you believe in the ideal of love one another, you can’t say you hate
someone. You don’t have to like what people do. The actions are the decision of
free will. We don’t have to like those actions. There are times we don’t like
our personal actions or reactions. If we don’t beat ourselves up about them, we
shouldn’t do the same to those around us for theirs. No, it’s not an easy
lesson to learn. 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: Be Still and Know http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHlbnNUHQGI&list=PL614A115BF39E5936&index=32
~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 ©
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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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