Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our sermon or
midweek study. You will normally see us posted on Sunday and Wednesday. I am
Rev. Laura A. Neff. Our ministry was built on the truth of God’s love. It
doesn’t conform to society’s wishes. This ministry shares the Word of God, the
Spirit of Christ Jesus. Those who know me well will recognize that there are
definitive differences in the creation of every sermon from this point forward.
It is God’s will that has brought this to be. We wish only that God’s truth
will be shared within His words as brought to us by the Spirit as it fills my
heart, mind, and soul to be shared with my hands, but with His words alone.
You will find us in the following location: http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
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 grows or changes every week. This is our current
list.
- Please pray for Elder Cal Jennings who has been suffering
greatly with his health. May the Lord bring his spirits up and help heal him.
- Please pray for relief in the trials and tribulations for
Sister Theresa and myself as we have had a great many over the past year and
more.
- Be thankful for each day we live as we do not know what
tomorrow brings.
- Pray for our nations that the voice of God be heard through
the Spirit.
- Pray for our friends and families that their tomorrows
bring blessings and pray our own be the same.
- Pray for those suffering as a result of the terrors that
have occurred just this past week around this world.
- Pray for our sick and wounded that they may heal.
Prayer: Father in heaven, may Your grace brought
to us fill our hearts and souls through the Spirit. We thank You for that gift
and the many more You have brought us. May our pains, sorrows, and fears be
drawn out of us. Help us to see the many gifts Your love brings and the unknown
locations it might be found. May peace be brought into our hearts and may we
learn to share it with others. May Your gifts of love shine through us toward
others. We pray for the poor, the sick, the sorrowful, the wounded, and the
frightened. We pray for the soldiers, the Samaritans, the children, and the
rest. We pray in thanksgiving for every gift brought us. We pray that every
tomorrow bring good things. For each of these we pray in Your Holy Name,
through our Savior Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so
it shall be.
Opening Song: Grace ~ Michael W. Smith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRXDsbRQNlA
Sermon: There are times in our lives where we
have to be reminded how much God loves us. So many people feel as though they’ve
been abandoned in one way or another. God never abandons us. We abandon Him. Yet,
if we were to open our eyes, hearts, ears, spirits, we’d see just how much He
brings us through His grace. Faith and love found through Jesus Christ, our
Savior. That’s what we need to see. We need to see how much is continually
sacrificed to share His love. Many will ask how and why there could still be
sacrifice even this far beyond the resurrection of Christ. That’s simple. Too
many of us have become blind and refuse to see. With faith, we can do anything.
God wouldn’t have brought us Jesus Christ if we didn’t need Him. Yes, need Him.
That’s where grace comes in. Jesus brings us grace to walk within the footsteps
of faith. It’s like protection. Everyone likes to have their view of
protection. In this case it doesn’t require more ammunition than an open heart,
an open mind, and the willingness to follow. Let’s start here.
I Timothy 1:14 KJV – And
the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in
Christ Jesus.
Now, add to this, not only do we have to remember His grace
is for the ones with few sins, it is as much so for the continuous sinners. Do
we realize we are sinning? No, probably not. Yet, God realizes it. He gave us
Jesus to forgive us the little sins. Shouldn’t we forgive each other for the
little things we do wrong to one another?
Luke 7:47 KJV – Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are
forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth
little.
If you remember to love one another, that makes it easier to
forgive. If we cannot forgive even just a little, then we can’t love more than
a little. Some say it is impossible to forgive. Others say they don’t know how
to forgive. Still more say they can forgive but never forget. If we don’t learn
to forgive and forget, no matter how long it may take, then we can’t see the
full love and faith and hope God has for us through Christ Jesus. It’s amazing,
you know, how hard we can make it for ourselves to forgive and forget. Those
who need that forgiveness don’t always make it any easier. That’s as much a
part of the problem as it would be the solution. There are those who have asked
me how I can look past the bad and see the good. That’s easy. Yes, I said easy.
It took me a long time to learn how, but it gets easier with practice. Someone
then asked me how you can practice forgive and forget? Well, today you forgive,
tomorrow you forget. You don’t forget the entire incident because it is a
learning experience. Take what you learned into the future. Leave the pain and
sorrow behind. That’s what it means to forgive and forget. That’s where we find
the grace of Jesus Christ in His love. That’s why, when we forgive the ones who
have brought us pain, or sorrow, and then forget it, we have learned the lesson
Jesus was, and still is, teaching us. Now that’s something to think about as we
pray in the prayer that Jesus taught us saying:
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)
Closing Song: Open the Eyes of My Heart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHZ9iuo1kRs&index=162&list=PL614A115BF39E5936
~ Shalom ~
Rev. Laura A. Neff
Elder Calvin Jennings
Covenant of Hope Ministries Main
Site: http://www.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://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
Our mission for Covenant of Hope Ministries is not to exploit
fear, but to conquer it, and overcome all that is created through fear together
as the bringers of the light of Jesus found in the midst of darkness.
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