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 add some extra prayers for Elder Cal Jennings who has
been suffering greatly with his health. He has let me know that he is very, very ill with Bronchitis bordering on Pneumonia at this point in time. His pain is constant and little to
nothing helps. May the Lord bring his spirits up and help heal him and ease his
pain.
- Please pray for job opportunities or offers to help
bless Sister Theresa Bogard.
- Please pray for a dear friend and colleague who has
just learned they might have very serious problems. She has had so many issues
that this week the doctor has insisted on special tests to determine what is
going on. Help me help this friend of mine with the strength of compassion 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 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, this
is our prayer today for seriously needed relief of those in far-away places
suffering from forest and brush fires in Australia, those suffering the
aftereffects of armed gunmen, bombings, and so forth, that their spirits be
lifted and calmed. We pray for those who suffered through the earthquakes in
Puerto Rico last week as well. We pray for those who have been suffering
illness or pain, that they will be given comfort and healing. We pray for
blessings in the midst of pain, sorrow, terror, and more, so that this year is
a better one for all around us. 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: Put Your Hand in the Hand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY-2XHqKGuw
Sermon: Today we are looking
into a series of verses Elder Cal Jennings posted on Facebook the other day.
These five verses made me think beyond my normal meditation with the Word this
week. It wouldn’t be the first time I had been absorbed by something the Holy
Spirit inspired. I know all too well, when the Spirit tells me to stop just a
minute, then I have no choice but to do so. The future is something many have
worried about. We see and hear this phenomenon in every genre, every method of
expression, and yet, Scripture tells us not to worry about the future. We will
start here.
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
It
is the quietest of warnings, with the largest amount of impact. You see this
not just in the Gospel of Matthew, but in nearly all of the Gospels. I will
bring similar warning from Jesus through the Gospel of John. This one is a
familiar one to nearly all who have known how God and the Holy Spirit have filled
me with inspiration.
John
15:1-13 KJV – I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that
beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
The point in both of these views of our Savior teaching
what should be as opposed to what we often see in this world is simple. Listen
to the Spirit that dwells within you, and surrounds you as well. Listen to God
and understand, His teachings are important for each and every person who
wishes to learn the true impact of listening to Him no matter how many
temptations exist.
Pay attention to these two verses from Matthew and John.
Matthew 7:19 KJV – Every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
John 15:6 KJV – If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and
is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are
burned.
Believing
is only the beginning. Sharing your belief, living with that belief in
everything you do, would be just as important as believing. There are a lot of
things people do that would actually be the opposite of what they should be,
even if they are devout Christians and sharing in that thought with the others
around them. I have, over the past decade and more, seen both, total devotion to
Him in words, thoughts, and actions, and some of those haphazard methods where
sometimes it looks like the exact opposite is happening. It is the false
teachers that work to chip away at the armor of God’s love in people around
this world. No one is immune to the evil things that there would be all around
us. Some spend too much time doing one thing and perfecting that, rather than
truly exploring what faith and love of God can do. We have been studying 1
Corinthians 15, which shows us how the Apostle Paul shared exactly what
Jesus was speaking about, in a completely different view, from an Apostle who
has had no choice but to become a teacher in His stead. All the Apostles did
just that. Peter, John, and all the rest did their very best to keep the true
believers, old and new, engaged in the thought that every believer is part of
that vineyard, part of that Tree of Life our Lord and Savior would truly be.
1 Corinthians 15:52-52 KJV – In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:52-52 KJV – In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Note how Paul is sharing the exact same message. Being
part of God through Christ takes work. It takes a great deal of practice,
thought, and a reminder to pay attention to what we think, say, and do in this
life here where everything can be corrupted by evil in every possible form. We
have to think beyond the flesh of humanity, beyond the desires of this earth. Doing
so is the only way to ensure that we stay on that path by which Christ taught
us to walk, to live, to share, and to delight in the journey. 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: Open the Eyes of My Heart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHZ9iuo1kRs
~ 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 © 2020 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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