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. He has been in and out of the hospital many
times this year. May the Lord continue to bring his spirits up and help heal
him.
- Please pray for my daughter, Deanna and son-in-law
Douglas, as we all wait to bring my granddaughter home from the hospital. Deanna
has been suffering with high blood pressure, and dizziness, due to the
continued affects of eclampsia. Maria Kaye is gaining weight, 8 grams so far,
and has gotten a bit stronger since her premature birth on November 1st.
- Please pray for relief in the trials and tribulations for Sister Theresa due to continued pain from a terrible hit and run accident late last year.
- Please pray for relief in the trials and tribulations for Sister Theresa due to continued pain from a terrible hit and run accident late last year.
- Please pray for my dear colleague and friend Janice as
she has fallen again and done more damage to her spine, including a new
fracture that can’t be fixed the way she needs it fixed at this time.
- Please pray for another friend, Karen, as she continues
to fight cancer.
- 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 northern California and
other places due to the severe forest fires that are plaguing the area.
- Pray for our sick and wounded that they may heal.
- Pray for our veterans here in America as the country
celebrates the sacrifices they made during their times of service.
Prayer: Father in heaven,
our prayer today is to have the Spirit bring healing, and strength to each of
our bodies, minds, spirits, and souls. We pray for enlightenment and
understanding 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 it might be found. May
our pain and sorrow be eased. 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: El
Shaddai ~ Amy Grant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qJMl95lb9k
Sermon: In days of old,
through stories that we’ve heard over our lifetimes, and most likely, for some
of us at least, the potential to see up front and in person the salvation that
belief can create for our hearts, minds, spirits, and souls. The thing is, we
often forget how powerful belief in God, in three persons, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. That’s where we start today, with this verse.
Hebrews 10:39 KJV – But we are not of them
who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the
soul.
What is Perdition? If you look in the dictionary, it is
defined as a state of final spiritual ruin, loss of the soul, and eternal
damnation. Nobody wants to literally bring this about, in truth, yet, so many
end up being in this predicament. God gave us a path to follow to be righteous
and keep that one up for every generation. Jesus showed us that path in His
teachings while He lived, walked, and preached the Word here on earth. The
challenge is to continue that teaching, preaching, walking, talking, up even
thousands of years later. Believing in Him is much more than talking the talk,
walking the walk, it’s strength from within that allows us to not just believe,
but also to prove that belief in the things we say and do while on this earth. This
is shared in our next verse.
Hebrews 11:6 KJV – But without faith it is
impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
This is one gigantic challenge for some people. Believing
without seeing God or Jesus in person is something that many human beings struggle
with while tragedies and tribulations occur on a minute-by-minute basis around
this world. The difference between believing in that better place, and
surviving this world filled with wickedness comes in one word. That word is
FAITH. Believing is the first, often most difficult, leap toward the gift of
eternal salvation. This verse shows it in matter-of-fact terms.
James 2:19 KJV – Thou believest that there is
one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Notice how many already believe in the salvation Jesus
brought us. The devils, yes, those nasty little buggers that torment us here on
earth, believe in God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, even as they fight to take
humanity away from that salvation which was promised all the way back from the
beginning of time, of human kind. Having
doubt is something we all go through in our lifetimes. That’s why we have a
physical, spiritual, tangible struggle with our belief in His truth in
salvation for everyone who is willing to fight against that doubt and share
that fact with each other.
1 Peter 1:21 KJV – Who by him do believe in
God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and
hope might be in God.
Resurrection, we have, perhaps, realized and recognized
this potential beyond just reading the words of the Apostles and Disciples of
Jesus thousands of years ago. There are many, many reasons to share the
strength of our belief with those around us. We see miracles every day if we
pay attention. The problem is, many of us forget what a miracle is, and how to
see them in everyday life.
1 Peter 2:7 KJV – Unto you therefore which
believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the
builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
We have heard many times in Scripture about the
cornerstone of belief. The foundation upon which our belief is built,
individually and collectively. Every view of belief is different, because every
human being is different, unique, and should be recognized as such. Our belief begins
in the realization that God created each of us to be ourselves, similar, but
not fully identical. Our only commandment is one that is repeated all through
Scripture, in many ways. That is this view here.
1 John 3:23 KJV – And this is his
commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and
love one another, as he gave us commandment.
The Apostle, John the Beloved, shared his personal
belief, the very real connection he had with Jesus and the reason for the
strength of John’s belief is obvious in the things which he suffered, and
survived through in his lifetime.
1 John 4:1 KJV – Beloved, believe not every
spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false
prophets are gone out into the world.
What does it mean to try the spirits? It means to
challenge their existence in each of our lives and how those lives are changed
by those same spirits, because some of them have proven themselves to be false
prophets, those who would steer us away from the truth that is God, the eternal
view of unconditional love that is Jesus Christ, and the gifts that come from
that unconditional love, including the gift of the Holy Spirit. That’s what
John the Beloved shares throughout his lifetime on earth and recorded here.
1 John 5:13 KJV – These things have I written
unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye
have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Eternal life, it is a fulfilling gift of the Spirit, one
that will bring us full circle and into the many mansions found in heaven, a
gift we should not underestimate. It is there, for all of us to experience. All
we have to do is believe with all of our hearts, our minds, our spirits, and
our souls. 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: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJbNiWUwsHI&list=OLAK5uy_mRiqELojxGv5EPIYijQc-pdu6fBlmY9Ys&index=12&t=0s
~ 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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