Bring Up Your Faith and Set It Free

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.

Main Site: http://covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com/

Rev. Laura’s Other Sites: Facebook & Twitter & Google+ & Blogspot

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 our family recovers from the losses of two pets. One of those being our dog Little Bear. The other being our daughter’s cat Patches. Help us to remember that God holds all creatures in His loving arms even in death.

- Please continue praying for a friend Susie Bartholow as she is, as far as I know, still in hospice. She has been in very grave condition with cancer. She is home with her family while in hospice care.

- 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 members Theresa and Wayne that their trials and tribulations would cease.

- 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.

Prayer: Father in heaven, we thank You for this day and for those who are here to share it with us. We thank You for blessings You bring to each of us. 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 who suffer pain, that their pain be relieved. 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:  Walk With You https://youtu.be/7CZKIrRTIRs?list=PL614A115BF39E5936

Sermon: Good afternoon. Today we have a new inspiration brought by the Spirit of God. Often there are dreams, sometimes some quotes found, even friends or family that would bring that inspiration to life and the Spirit takes over. Here is what has been given to us today.
Faith is not easy to keep. It wouldn't be easy to gain, either. God worked very hard to show us what faith would be. He brought so many methods to do so, bringing people, even ourselves, out of situations as we prayed. 

Faith is not easy to keep. It wouldn’t be easy to gain, either. God worked very hard to show us what faith would be. He brought so many methods to do so, bringing people, even ourselves, out of situations as we prayed about them and the method to get back to His arms. Today, after a very sorrowful week for my family, this view of faith, and hanging on to the fact you can regain it, would be found here in this verse.

Acts 14:22 KJV – Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Notice, confirm the souls of the disciples. What does it mean? The truth behind this would be that the faith exists within us. We just have to pull it out and have it lift us up, even while in the pits of despair, fear, pain, or anything else. Let us take a look at a very familiar view of gaining faith here in this verse.

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.

If we stop believing, can we start up again? YES! Everyone falls down. It isn't all that difficult to pick ourselves up again. All we have to do is try. When it came to the view of doing such, Jesus shared the mustard seed parable. A small amount of faith can do so very much, moving mountains for example. People ask, 'how in the world can this be?'. Mountains have many viewpoints. Mountains don't have to be the dirt and rock under our feet or in front of us. They can be our trials and tribulations. If we use our faith in the way God and Jesus taught us, we'll find that any problem is smaller and easier to overcome. Gaining the strength to bring our faith up out of the depths of despair and more would bring us that much closer to happiness and joy. After all, isn't that what we want the most? They are just two elements of love. Faith adds to the happiness, and joy, and they bring us closer to the righteousness of God's love. 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 KJV)

Closing Song:  Because He Lives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M-zwE33zHA&index=80&list=PL614A115BF39E5936

~Shalom~

Rev. Laura A. Neff ~ The Rainbow Minister

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Calvin Jennings ~ Facebook & Twitter & Blogster

Covenant of Hope Ministries

Main Site: http://covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com/  

       

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

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.