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 that the good tidings which have occurred for my
family far away from me would continue for as long as it can be.
- Please pray for a friend Susie Bartholow as she is in hospice.
She is in very grave condition with cancer. Hospice care is in her home with
her family. Keep them all in your thoughts and prayers.
- Please pray for my nearby family members as we are going
through some tough times here.
- Please pray for Elder Cal Jennings as he is going through a
whole lot health wise and emotionally as well. Please pray that he will be able
to find and follow inspiration still.
- Please pray for a friend of ours,
Lucy, whose liver is failing. She is going to be on medication but may need a
transplant. Pray that the first option works and she returns to health.
- Pray for a friend of my brother’s,
who is far from home right now. There have been many problems for her right
now. It is our hope that she will return and be here to complete her healing
and more.
- Pray for our members Theresa and
Wayne who had a very rough year last year. May some of their trials and
tribulations end in time for our celebration of the birth of Jesus.
- Pray for those near and far who have
been suffering in battles that do not have to be. Pray that peace can be found
amidst the fear and anger, frustration and more. May hope blossom and bring
that peace once more.
- Pray for our friends and our
enemies, may they all find that the gift of God’s Son, Jesus, holds the hope
and faith everyone seeks.
- Keep hope alive in your prayers no
matter the pain or strife we might suffer.
- May God bless every one of us as we
continue on.
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 pray that You can remind us always what we should
be looking forward to. 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 all those
who are victims of violence. 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: Kumbaya
Sermon: Good afternoon. Today’s inspiration came first thing
this morning while praying to find an answer to what the Spirit was trying to
tell me this week. I had seen a verse in one of my emails. When I did it was
like a light bulb being turned on. This one came in two, just two, verses. We’ll
start with the first one here.
Deuteronomy 28:6
KJV – Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt
thou be when thou goest out.
Note this here, coming and
going we are blessed. Birth and death are the first things that came to mind
while thinking about it. Facing danger and surviving it would also come to
mind. There are many others we could name that fit this ideal. The verses
through this are such that they share blessings of both in and out, fields,
children, domestic animals, and more as we go in and then come back out. It
reminds us of many things Jesus spoke of in His parables. Now, here’s our next
verse, which also shares a view that coincides.
Psalm 121:8
KJV – The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from
this time forth and even for-ever more.
He keeps us safe, now and forever. Listening and
hearing are part of this ideal. That’s shown in the words Jesus brought here.
John 15:4-5
KJV – 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.
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 we don’t live with God and Jesus in our hearts
while we live from birth to death, from acceptance to wherever that might take
us, then it can bring sorrow in place of joy and other emotions, or even
situations. Now, there are those who don’t believe, but there are reasons for
that. Some of those have to do with mankind and how we interact. Others have to
do with the view of brother against brother and more. What do we do? We pull
ourselves back into a place of faith, hope, peace, and love. That place is
found in our hearts, through our spirits, and embedded in our souls. Now,
that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer that Jesus brought us.
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)
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)
~Shalom~
Rev.
Laura A. Neff ~ The Rainbow Minister
Covenant of Hope Ministries
Main Site:
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 © 2015
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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