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. His heart has given him such a hard time,
and nothing more can be done according to the doctors. Jehovah Rapha heal his
heart. He has recently learned that a very dear friend of his has passed away. May
the Lord bring his spirits up and help heal him heart, mind, spirit, and soul.
- Please pray for relief in the trials and tribulations
for Sister Theresa due to continued pain stemming from surgeries after a
terrible hit and run accident late last year.
- Please pray for my dear friend Kristy, who has gotten
some relief in her financial situation, but it came at a great cost to her
heart, mind, and spirit in the past three years.
- Please pray for the friends and family members of our
member, Debbie Bolton’s dear friend, Grant, who passed away Friday. Remember
these others in his family as well, remember
his wife, Judy, daughter, Kim and his granddaughter, Madison and his brother,
Keith and his wife, J-Anne. Debbie Bolton has been friends with them for many,
many years, and I knew his voice from her former radio post as she did a
request hour or three.
- 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 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 those in suffering in the Midwest due to the
severe flooding after their recent storms.
- Pray for our sick and wounded that they may heal.
Prayer: Father in heaven, today
we pray for so many who have been hurt, injured, killed, or have suffered and
died from disease and more. We pray for Elder Cal Jennings who is heartbroken
over the death of a very close friend. We pray for Sister Debbie Bolton as she
mourns the loss of a very dear friend. We pray for the families and friends of
both lost to us through death. We pray that peace can be found in our hearts
and spirits and souls thanks to the gift of Your Holy Spirit. 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: Here I Am Lord https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcxOkht8w7c
Sermon: This week’s sermon
has been a tough road for many. Two of my dear friends and colleagues here in
the ministry have lost family, or friends as close as family, this past week.
Elder Cal and Sister Debbie have both been in my thoughts all week. I have been
working on the ideal of believing in Christ, God, and the Holy Spirit. Sharing
how often belief and believing would be shared in Scripture, through the Old
Testament, and all the way through the New Testament. Today we are working with
the Scroll of Romans. Belief shares something with us, heart, mind, body,
spirit, and soul. We should be happy, and joyful in sharing our belief. We
should never be ashamed or afraid to share our faith with ourselves, our
friends, family, and even strangers. This is the intention Jesus and God have
always had since the very beginning.
Romans 1:16 KJV – For I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Even in the times of Jesus and the Apostles, people
didn’t want to believe. There were some who had never even been offered the
potential to share belief in God and Jesus as the Savior. This is why Jesus
brought us into this picture, starting with the Apostles and Disciples, and
continuing to the Teachers, the Preachers, the Ministers, Deacons, Elders, and
so many more. This is why I have worked most of my life with my belief. It took
me a long time to realize that belief has been my salvation. Once I did, I
embraced that gift, because belief is truly a gift. That’s where this verse
comes in.
Romans 3:3 KJV – For what if some did not
believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Belief is not something that everyone can easily manage.
It is a true struggle for so very many here on this earth. We have so much to
learn about believing in God, Jesus, and the potential for eternal and everlasting
life. When we suffer a devastating loss, like two of our members in the past
week, and even my family in the loss of my grandmother just over a month ago,
it shows there can be cracks in that belief. We have to remember that belief
builds us up in righteousness.
Romans 3:22 KJV – Even the righteousness of
God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe:
for there is no difference:
Those who are wondering about this verse, why faith and
belief go hand in hand no matter who we are, or where we come from. That’s the
powerful gift of faith in believing. All believers, true believers, understand
that it is not easy to stay on His path and follow His lead, but it is possible
to see that path and try our best to share that path with others.
Romans 4:17 KJV – (As it is written, I have
made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who
quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
While we live here on this earth there are trials and
tribulations, life and death, laughter and sorrow. Sometimes, in order to see
the good parts in life, we must suffer through the bad episodes that we don’t
wish to revisit. That is something Jesus points out, and what many of His
Apostles and Disciples have done ever since.
Romans 4:24 KJV – But for us also, to whom it
shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the
dead;
We can believe in Jesus, but if we don’t also believe in
God, and the Holy Spirit, we are not fully believing in the power that God’s
Unconditional Love shares with us. We have to remember, believing in the Holy
Trinity, the Three in One, is the entire view of Unconditional Love. This is
what Abraham shared in His walk with God. It is the same for Enoch, Joshua,
Moses, and so many more.
Romans 6:8 KJV – Now if we be dead with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Everlasting life is something people tend not to
understand. It is that part of life that holds so much mystery. True, there is
a lot of mystery in life in general, like how we can have near death
experiences and share them with others, who will either believe or won’t
believe in those types of stories. It is a challenge to understand this
struggle between life and death. Many who have suffered terrible health issues
wonder why they still suffer, especially after they may have had one of these
near-death experiences. I have known more than one person who knew they were
going to die, almost a year before they actually did so, and without notice
from a doctor. Those I have known believed strongly in the gift of
unconditional love and everlasting life, and the link between them. That’s why,
regardless of their stumbling stones in life, they believed each of them would
be here for a reason. This verse shares something I have often caught myself
thinking about. Stumbling stones come in many shapes, styles, and sizes in
life. It is that experience in testing our belief that we have which will share
that testing faith is something we should go on and work through. Don’t fear
those stumbling stones, be glad that you survive them. That’s something more
than one of those I have known over the years, have shared with me.
Romans 9:33 KJV – As it is written, Behold, I
lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on
him shall not be ashamed.
Everything in Scripture shares a beginning and an end.
Everything in life does the same. When we start out in life there are zillions
of possibilities. Depending on life, that narrows down as we grow and age. In
the end, how we live our lives becomes more important than the length of that
life we live. With each of us, we have had our good times, our bad ones, and
those in between. We have had things we are proud of, and things we would
sooner wish to forget ever happened. Time changes all of those experiences into
experience that enhances our beliefs.
Romans 10:9 KJV – For Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
God asked us to do one thing. Jesus reinforced that
request. He then shared the Holy Spirit to ensure that we learned what it means
to believe in Christ, and in the fact that He was crucified, dead, buried, and
resurrected to become part of every person on this earth who believes. It is a
celebration of His love for us that is noted when we prove our belief in the
things we say, do, and even think about in this life. It’s easy to be earthly,
because so many don’t think about it. Belief takes much more than just waking
up, going through life, and going to sleep at night. We have to share our
thoughts regarding belief. We have to share it with ourselves, with God and
Jesus through the Spirit, and with those around us, be they family, friends, or
perfect strangers. This is where this last verse comes in.
Romans 10:14 KJV – How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of
whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Over the years, believing has been something even I
myself have suffered questions and worries about. Do I share enough of God’s
unconditional love for each of those I interact with? Have I expressed just how
wonderful it is to have God’s unconditional love can do for all of us, no
matter the level of belief we have? I sure hope God proves it to each of you. 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)
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: Spirit Lead Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ko4yroBP0A
~ 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 © 2019 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.
Thank you very much for this sermon, Rev. Laura.7u766
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