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 continue to pray for Elder Cal Jennings and his health issues, which are numerous.
- Please pray for job opportunities or offers to help bless Sister Theresa Bogard.
- Please pray for a dear friend and colleague, help me help this friend of mine with strength of compassion and more.
- Please pray for those lost to COVID-19 Coronavirus and their families as they mourn.
- Please pray for those suffering COVID-19 Coronavirus, Influenza, and all the other diseases being suffered around this world. May they be cured, healed, and praise the LORD for the gifts of life and health.
- 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 our sick and wounded that they may heal.
Prayer: Father in heaven, this is our prayer today. We remember and reflect on those who have lost their fight with COVID-19 Coronavirus. We pray for our first responders, those on the front lines of this health battle. We pray for those who have no choice but to work in the midst of worldwide quarantine. We pray for friends and families affected by the shutdowns of entire governments, commerce, and more. Help our researchers find a solution that can be utilized to prevent future chaos with Coronavirus. We pray for safety and security in this world amidst this terrible virus. 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: Beckah Shae ~ Faith, Hope & Love ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRebriS-p-s
Sermon: We have been speaking of hope in this world full of chaos. Scripture wants us to continue seeking hope. God wants us to do the same. Hope is more than a word, an emotion, a feeling. Hope, like faith and belief, is just one part of the whole when it comes to Christianity. We see that here.
2 Corinthians 1:7 KJV – And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
Christianity, like many religions of this world, has its darker levels. The beginnings of Christianity were tough times, due to the mindset of the highest political and ruling powers in the world at that time. Today we still see this animosity between Christians and other faiths. Yet, if we remember, Jesus warned the Disciples and Apostles that this would come to pass, and would not end until the Second Coming promised with His resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:17 KJV – And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Paul was one of those who learned to hold on to his faith and hope no matter what chaos ensued. He suffered imprisonment and more during his lifetime. When he wrote the letters to the Romans and Corinthians, he wanted people to realize that although there is suffering in this world, Jesus will take all the sins and pains away for us, so long as we have faith and believe in His teaching, His promises, throughout His lifetime and ministry.
2 Corinthians 10:15 KJV – Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,
Enlarged could be read as magnified according to the various translations of the original script. Faith is increased by belief, by the gift of hope in that belief. That is an important aspect of our learning of Christ’s teachings and God’s Holy Word. It is something that, if you pay close enough attention, you will find easily memorized by our hearts, our minds, our spirits, and souls. Remember, God wants us to write His Word on and in our hearts, holding it as dearly as life itself, because Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Light of our salvation. That is what Peter, Paul, John the Beloved, and all the others worked hard to continue teaching while they lived. That is shown here in these verses.
Galatians 5:5 KJV – For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Ephesians 1:18 KJV – The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
1 Peter 2:5 KJV – Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
When we exercise our faith, remembering and sharing our experiences, we grow our faith and any other person our sharing affects. Sometimes the affects are so slight, we might miss them entirely. Yet, that mustard seed of faith and belief, carries within it a world filled with hope and unconditional love, eternal peace. This isn’t meant just for Jews, but also for Gentiles, everyone else on this earth at the time. Nowadays there are many titles, names, designations for Gentiles in this world. When Paul and John the Beloved were with the Ephesians in Ephesus wanted to remind them that there is a whole lot of meaning in becoming one with Christ.
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Peace, even in today’s world, is something we often cannot see due to all the chaos and calamity surrounding us. In our world today, disease, death, fear, are our enemies. When God continually reminds us that He is still part of our lives, and yet we continue to fear what is going on, we’re not seeing as God sees things. God’s tiny mustard seed can flourish into an amazing view. Just that little ounce of belief, of faith, can help spread hope through this world no matter what is going on with the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic that is surrounding us. That peace, that faith, that hope, exists, and it’s shared here in these verses as it is in many passages of Scripture.
Ephesians 4:3-7 KJV – Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
The grace of God is something amazing to experience. Yet, as we live day by day learning more about the Savior and Salvation, the Father and Creation, the Spirit and our Hope in the gifts of Unconditional Love, Salvation, and Eternal Life will be our guiding light. Remember, even in the darkest times, there is that small flicker of light in the distance. That is our hope, an element of our faith and a measure of our peace. 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: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Q5CX2_Qrc
~ 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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