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.
We wish
all the mothers out there a very Happy Mother’s Day.
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 bring the
blessings of His love for our mothers as we celebrate Mother’s Day.
- 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 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.
Sermon: Good afternoon. Today’s inspiration came from four
or more directions. The first being the frustration regarding our normal
location for our posts. The second from Elder Cal Jennings who had a great
point. Now, you’ll find the midweek sermon on his page at Blogster as shared
down in the closing. A third one happens to be Mother’s Day. Why in the world
would I add this consideration? Well, the majority of mothers have a certain
view of understanding, specifically in regard to their children. This sermon is
in regard to that very understanding. Once in a while we must learn to listen
so that God can clarify what He’s telling us. That takes meditation, prayer,
and for us to put it in action. We’ll start here.
Psalm
49:3 KJV – My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the
meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
Too often we forget to think
before we speak. To speak with the wisdom of God’s word we have to open our
hearts to something more than knowledge. One must combine that knowledge with
experience. Once we manage to do that understanding comes to our hearts, our
minds. When we have this gift, it lifts our spirits and souls. Now, that’s a
great reason for us to gain knowledge, leading to understanding and thus
bringing us wisdom. Let’s look at more in this regard.
Psalm
53:2
KJV – God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there
were any that did understand, that did seek God.
Notice, God wants us to seek
him. In order to do so we have to learn and understand regarding His existence
and ability to fill our hearts, minds, spirits, and souls. You’ll realize those
four parts of us get spoken of quite a lot, not just in our conversations, the
sermons and studies, but in the Word of God. They might not be those exact
words, but they share the same points of view. Now we get to patience. When it
comes to understanding we must first pay attention and then afterwards have
patience in God’s love.
Psalm
107:43 KJV – Whoso is wise, and will observe these
things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.
Here we have another
consideration in this next verse. That one would be ‘fear’. So many ask why
fear would be considered in Scripture beyond fearing evil. Well, there are more
than the single view of fear. This one would be necessary to understand. This
particular definition is as follows: reverential awe, especially toward God. So
here we see a verse describing just that and how understanding is able to come
from the ‘fear of the LORD’.
Psalm
111:10 KJV – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise
endureth forever.
Ah, see here in this verse
‘his praise endureth forever’. How and why does it do so? The gift of wisdom
brought on by the understanding we have of the knowledge we gain. Add to that,
fear of the LORD is the BEGINNING of wisdom. We must have something to learn
before we can understand and then gain wisdom by putting that understanding in
action. 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
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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