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 my daughter Deanna and her husband Douglas
after their first child was born at 29 weeks 5 days and is currently in the NICU.
Deanna’s blood pressure is not stabilizing and she has had serious issues with
Eclampsia, the reason her daughter had to be delivered so early.
- Please pray for Elder Cal Jennings who has been suffering greatly with his health. At this time, he is holding his own. May the Lord bring his spirits up and help heal him.
- Please pray for Elder Cal Jennings who has been suffering greatly with his health. At this time, he is holding his own. 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 pain from a terrible hit and run accident late last
year.
- 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 those in suffering in the west due to the
severe fires burning through California.
- Pray for our sick and wounded that they may heal.
Prayer: Father in heaven,
our prayer today is for healing, understanding, and hope in the midst of this
last week’s happenings. We pray for those who have lost loved ones and need
comfort. We pray for those who have been injured and killed. We pray for little
Maria Kaye and her mama and daddy, Deanna and Douglas, that the road ahead be
filled with blessings and strength. We pray for Elder Cal Jennings and Sister
Theresa Bogard, that their pain ease. We pray for my sister-in-law Donna who
suffered a very bad fall this past week. We pray for those who mourn the loss
of someone they care about. We pray for those who are ill. 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: You
Say https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIaT8Jl2zpI
Sermon: When someone is
tested for their faith, they often do not realize what type of test they are
being put through, or why it would be a test in the first place. This week is a
prime example for me in that respect. My faith was definitely tested with the premature
birth of my first granddaughter. Yet, that’s what brought me to these verses.
It is easy to place blame when something terrible happens, yet, it is not easy
to always see that the trials and tribulations we go through happen for a
reason. The reason is to make sure you believe in all the gifts of God’s grace,
faith, hope, and love. We start here with our first verse.
1 Thessalonians 2:10-13 KJV – Ye are
witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved
ourselves among you that believe:
As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children,
That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
Believing, for some, sounds
like it may either be too easy, or too hard. That depends on your perception of
belief. The truth of God’s Word, the gift of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as
it is written in Scripture, would include the gift of unconditional love. This
gift is filled with the essential components of that love, hope, faith, peace,
understanding, truth, knowledge, wisdom, and so much more. Knowing this, many ensure
that faith by singing praises, praying with all your heart, and sharing the
peace held within each of us as a result of this belief. As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children,
That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 KJV – For if we believe that Jesus died and
rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
Notice how this verse shares the strength of belief? It
shares that if we believe, while awake, while asleep, while alive, and even to
the point of death, Jesus and God are right there with us through the Holy Spirit.
2 Thessalonians 1:10 KJV – When
he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that
believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
This verse is one that sometimes can be confusing,
depending on how you comprehend it. The saints who glorify Jesus, even before they
were considered saints, share how important it is just to believe in the Word
of God, the glory of Jesus Christ’s ministry, and the benefits of having God
through Jesus and the Holy Spirit as they exist within each of us who believe.
When we testify our belief in God and the Holy Spirit with the Savior who
brought us to be closer to the Three-in-One, we assure our understanding of
that very gift. It’s not easy to continue to believe in the face of all the
chaos that exists, yet, it is essential to continue to build up that belief.
1 Timothy 1:16 KJV – Howbeit
for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth
all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him
to life everlasting.
Years ago, as a girl, understanding the ancient language
in which the King James Bible was written, I asked about the word
longsuffering. I asked why the Bible uses this particular word in place of patient
endurance, the definition of longsuffering. My teacher at the time shared that
it was to provide a different view of patience, and endurance, at the same
time. This next verse shows some of that.
1 Timothy 4:10 KJV – For
therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living
God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
No matter how hard life gets. No matter what chaos
happens around us. Faith is imperative to our spiritual, as well as physical
survival. Believing isn’t easy, when you don’t see the work of God’s love
around us. Sure, in some ways we can fall apart and find life filled with hopelessness.
It does happen, no matter who we are, or how strong our faith might be. That’s
when we have to remember the ultimate sacrifice given by Jesus so that those of
us who believe in Him will find that peace, eternal peace, even while alive on
this earth. That hope is shared here.
2 Timothy 2:13 KJV – If we
believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
It takes a lot, sometimes, to see the gifts God brings
us. When I walked into the hospital on November first and was allowed into the
neonatal unit to see my granddaughter, I saw not one, not two, but many more
breathing miracles, some even smaller than my granddaughter would be. It was
then that my faith was verified, validated, and the belief I have shared with
all who connect with me would be right there for all to see. I have shared in
prayers with several other grandparents I would know. God works in mysterious
and wonderful ways. Believe, have faith, and just believe. 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: I Believe For Every Drop of Rain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOXHvnSeoAo
~ 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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