Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our live Sunday sermon. You will normally see us posted either in a combination of written and video or just written each and every Sunday. 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
Rev. Laura’s other sites: Facebook & Blogspot & Twitter
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 family as most of us travel to where our parents would be to ensure that quality of life is ensured for both of them after their collective battles with health issues, only some related to COVID-19. Thankful that they are home at long last, but know that the Holy Spirit needs to bless them with a short recovery as opposed to a long one.
- Pray for our own Elder Cal Jennings who has had a lot of issues with his equilibrium and his vision in the past week.
- Pray for a dear friend that her issues with migraines and pain be eased.
- Pray for another friend Dena who has been very sick, as her daughter has as well, lately and needs relief.
- Be thankful for each day we live as we do not know what tomorrow brings.
- Pray for all of our outreach ministries with Pastor Stephen Okoth, Pastor Robert Nganwa, Pastor Simon Peter Javaji, Rev. Lisa Tyler, and all the others who have joined us.
- 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.
- Pray that truth is revealed where falsehoods have been shared around this world.
Prayer: Father in heaven, this is our prayer for today. Many who have to travel, may they reach their destinations safely and well. May there be many of God’s blessings for each of us who have suffered devastation, destruction, or disillusionment in this past week. May Your grace fill our hearts and minds this week as we face whatever tomorrow shall bring. May our Outreach Ministries and their leaders be able to reach further by the grace of God. May the injured and sick be healed and made well. 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: Higher Ground ~ Stevie Wonder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wZ3ZG_Wams&list=PL614A115BF39E5936&index=258
Sermon: We are continuing our exploration into good and evil. Today we begin in the scroll of Isaiah. He is prescribing woe toward all who would call evildoings good and good as evil. He calls them the darkness, bitterness, in this world as he knew it. Let’s take a look.
Isaiah 5:20 KJV – Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Now, anyone who has seen a movie or read a book that has a plot line of good versus evil has felt this effect, seen it unfurl and then seen what happens as a result of discovering truth. Try as we may, it is not as easy to defeat evil with goodness as we would hope it could be. Learning how to discern evil when it resides in the middle of goodness takes a lot of practice and a lot of knowledge toward gaining wisdom. This is something Isaiah works to portray in words here.
Isaiah 7:15 KJV – Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
Some might have heard the psychology terminology of nature versus nurture. Is it our human nature that can help us see evil when it hides within the good of this world? Or is this a learned technique? Let’s see what Isaiah has to say here.
Isaiah 7:16 KJV – For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
It is one thing to recognize evil. It is another to tell it no how, no way, are you allowed in my life. This is something that is learned, and often must be taught over and over again. The reason is simple. Evil has billions upon billions of methods to hide in plain sight. Evil is the Where’s Waldo of Scripture. Now, most Americans know who Waldo is and the classic to seek him in his striped shirt and hat. Until you get accustomed to see him quickly, you can miss him in a crowd. The same can be said for wolves in sheep’s clothing. That’s why it takes learning to recognize these techniques. This is what Isaiah is sharing in the Scriptures as we continue with this verse.
Isaiah 41:23 KJV – Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
Recognizing good for what it is can be difficult in this world. The reason, so many have portrayed evil as good in too many directions over the two millennia and more that have occurred since Jesus was alive and walking amidst the Jews in Jerusalem. When we recognize our own actions as good or evil, then we are learning how to see it in people around us, on the television, in the movies, the news, and so forth. It takes work. It takes practice. This is something Isaiah and Jeremiah both learned and others before and after them did as well. We’ll see some of that here in this verse.
Jeremiah 4:22 KJV – For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Now, a definition of sottish – a drunken person. To be a drunk, not just occasionally, but all the time. People bury their troubles and trials and tribulations in a bottle of liquor or wine. Being sober, in all senses, is the way we should be while approaching life and living it. You cannot pursue righteousness fully with your mind, heart, spirit, and soul inhibited by alcohol or food, or anything earthly.
Jeremiah 10:5 KJV – They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
There are those who simply stand on the sidelines refusing to pursue good and yet also refusing to pursue evil as well. The ability to recognize this is not something we’re born with. It isn’t easy to recognize whether we ourselves might be in this group until and unless we are willing to learn exactly where we stand in this world, in our minds, our spirits, our souls and hearts. What is it we want to be? Where is it we want to go? These are existential questions that often crop up when we come to those crossroads, that proverbial fork in the road. Jeremiah shares what God sees and seeks in the people who believe in Him.
Jeremiah 13:10 KJV – This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
Try as He might, God can’t force us to follow His Word toward righteousness. The reason is, He gave us a mind of our own, a will of our own, that gives us the chance to choose our own personal paths. Whether those paths connect one to another, or not, is purely up to us individually. It matters not what we do as part of society, or as family, friends, or whatever else. Following the path of righteousness is something we have to learn to love, to believe in, to have faith within. Until we can reach that point, we will sit on those sidelines and simply watch the world go by. We see all kinds of people following God’s path as shared with us through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Yet there are things we cannot change in any way. Jeremiah shares that factor here.
Jeremiah 13:23 KJV – Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
Ah, the age old question. Can a leopard change his spots? Can a tiger change its stripes? It’s simple to understand what Jeremiah is sharing here. We are who we are, old or young, male or female, once we have gotten to a certain point in our lives, there are days where we just go through the motions. There are days when we might wonder why on earth we’re still living in this world. Every one of us comes to a point where we face a reckoning with our hearts, minds, spirits, and souls and what effects this world has upon us as a whole. It is that point that will define the rest of our lives on this earth amidst those who love us or hate us. Learning to be obedient to God’s Word is rough, because this world has so much that can affect us adversely, treat us wrongly, that we can’t truly turn away from that very easily. That’s what Jeremiah shares in these two verses as well.
Jeremiah 18:10-11 KJV – If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
God gives us many warnings in life. Society doesn’t always hear those warnings. Individually we can all be honest and say we don’t always hear the warnings. It’s easy to fall off the path Jesus blazed for us. There is a necessity for us to recognize at some point that we have indeed fallen away from the path of righteousness. Yet, even when we do we learn what the face of evil looks like and can learn to turn away from that side of life and do good, be good.
Jeremiah 18:20 KJV – Shall evil be recompensed for good? For they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
We often have to remember how to be truly good in a Scriptural sense, not just what our lives pursue, but whether we follow Scripture as we pursue our individual and collective lives. Preachers and teachers like I am have often worked tirelessly to the very end of life itself working to help people turn from evil and keep the seven troubles out of their lives. It doesn’t matter the methods we use as preachers and teachers, just as long as we point out evil can hide in amazingly obvious ways and can interfere in every pursuit of good we might have.
Jeremiah 21:10 KJV – For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
God has warned the inhabitants of this earth many, many times, in millions and millions of ways what will happen if we continue to neglect our paths of righteousness. When we continue falling away from that peace and patience, unconditional love and spiritual grace that God promised would be given freely for those who follow Him, and our Savior, through the eternal gift of the Holy Spirit, we’ll find when time stops eternally that we’ll be on the wrong side of heaven’s gates. So we must work our faith. God doesn’t want us to just act like Christians. He wants us to work like true Christians should, sharing His Unconditional Love the right way. 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)
NOTE: I will be traveling to the other side of the United States to gather with my family to rally behind our father and mother who have been seriously ill with COVID-19 and other health issues. I do not know if the next sermon will be live or not as a result. I hope to be home by late next Sunday.
Closing Song: Tis So Sweet to Trust In Jesus ~ Casting Crowns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DdgkvnsHjM
~ 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 © 2021 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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