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. At this time, he is in the hospital once
more. May the Lord bring his spirits up and help heal him.
- Please pray for relief in the trials and tribulations
for Sister Theresa due to continued pain and suffering from that same hit and
run accident late last year.
- Pray for those of us mourning the loss of dear and
close family or friends in our lives.
- 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 our sick and wounded that they may heal.
Prayer: Father in heaven,
our prayer today is to have the Spirit bring healing to each of our bodies,
minds, spirits, and souls. We pray for Your grace and hope while studying Your
Word. We thank You for these gifts and the many more You have brought us. May
our fears be drawn out of us. Help us to see the many gifts Your love brings
and the unknown locations where it might be found. May our pain and sorrow be
eased in the hope and faith You hold within us. May peace be brought from our
hearts and shared 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 would 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: Ancient Words ~ Michael W.
Smith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkTUoJT_gVU
Sermon: Today we are
continuing to pursue the full understanding of belief in our Lord and Savior
Jesus and the Heavenly Father above. Many people on this earth have a hard time
believing due to the amount of chaos that goes on here on this earth. The
strongest part of belief begins with each individual person and the ability to
take our knowledge of God’s Word and the Truth within it and apply it to our individual
and collective lives. The Apostle Paul and Apollos share that thought with
their congregations as shown here.
1 Corinthians 3:5 KJV – Who then is Paul, and
who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to
every man?
Notice how they share here that ministers who directly
knew Christ, share that belief in His divine strength with those around them.
They are working toward salvation, not just for themselves, but for all those
who believe. It’s not easy to believe something you can’t completely comprehend
until you learn how to comprehend His love through more than words on paper.
1 Corinthians 15:2 KJV – By which also ye are
saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed
in vain.
Remembering is the important thing. God wants us to
remember Him. Jesus wants us to remember Him. That is why they bring us
Scripture through the Holy Spirit. It is also the reason we have Scripture in
the first place. Yet, still we have problems, sorrows, depression, that prevent
us sometimes from seeing the full glory of God. That is due to earthly chaos caused
directly by the Evil One as Jesus and God have shared more than once.
2 Corinthians 4:4 KJV – In whom the god of
this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
This is where faith and believing have to rescue us. Yes,
I said rescue. Belief is more than just reading and learning Scripture. It is
applying the Word, and pursuing the methods within the Word with faith, hope, and
understanding. Once we can do that, we will find, no matter what chaos this
earthly life may bring, we have hope, and the gift of Unconditional Love
through Jesus’s last gift to us as He rose from the dead, the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 4:13 KJV – We having the same
spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I
spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
The next thing we must remember as true Christians is to
share the reason by which we are Christians. Share your heart with each other,
the belief that, no matter what happens on this earth, Jesus has faith in each
of us. The important components of belief would include faith, hope, love,
understanding, and knowledge, not necessarily in that order. There is a better
world waiting for us. God’s love proves that much.
Galatians 3:22 KJV – But the scripture hath
concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be
given to them that believe.
See this? The PROMISE by FAITH of JESUS CHRIST is given
to those who BELIEVE. That’s a promise repeated over, and over again throughout
Scripture. Take the words BELIEVE, BELIEVED, BELIEVERS, BELIEVEST, BELIEVEST, BELIEVING,
a total of 447 times. There is a very good reason to repeat this concept of
believing. People lose faith all the time. This is because of the earthly chaos
we see everywhere around us, and sometimes even within us. Belief is a powerful
gift given to each of us who are willing to learn, listen, hear, feel, the gift
of God’s Word and its true meaning, which is the same always, even when we
interpret it individually and then share it collectively with those around us.
Belief is powerful, as shared here.
Ephesians 1:19 KJV – And what is the
exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the
working of his mighty power,
God is a powerful gift. That’s why the sacrifice of Jesus
on the cross resonates with people this far into the future. On that day when
Jesus died, the single greatest gift was brought to each and every one of us,
so long as we believe in that sacrifice and understand He was ensuring we would
all find that very special place at His side when this world ends.
Philippians 1:29 KJV – For unto you it is
given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer
for his sake;
It isn’t easy to be a true Christian, a follower of
Christ. In fact, even today it can be one of the most difficult journeys we
make in life. Yet, if you think about it, we see what believing in His almighty
gift of Unconditional Love in everything around us and within us. All we have
to do is believe, and then we will see Him. 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: El Shaddai ~ Amy Grant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuXB1a3NBCw
~ 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.
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