https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVnxtdCIzp8
Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our combined written and live Sunday sermon, which is normally broadcast every Sunday. I am Rev. Laura A. Neff. Our ministry was built on the truth of God’s love, sharing the Word of God, the Spirit of Yeshu Ha-Notzri or in English Jesus Christ of Nazareth in a way that we believe embraces the ways Jesus taught us to manage. We bring His Word to the many as opposed to the few, in order to continue the legacy created by the ministry of Jesus Christ.
You will find us in the following location: http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
Rev. Laura’s other sites: Blogspot & Twitter & Linkedin & USAlife & YouTube & Twitch & TruthSocial & Instagram & Facebook
Wedding officiant page: Wedfolio & Wedding Chicks
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.
- We pray for two from my daughter’s school including TJ who is three years old and is facing his latest heart surgery, the third or fourth since he was born. He is my daughter’s employer’s grandson. The second one we pray for is Brenda, whose mother was taken off of life support last week. Brenda is a coworker of my daughter’s.
- We continue to pray for my friend Paul, a colleague I’ve known for twenty years, who is healing after his heart surgery and is now working to solve an infection in his brain.
- We continue to pray for my employer and his wife, Ed and Joy, who are quite ill at this time. Ed was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, and his wife Joy has been in the hospital with fluid in her lungs and other health issues. She was sent to rehabilitation around Wednesday of last week once again. She is on oxygen full time and 24-hour observation. Pray as they are being set up with full-time managed care. Pray also for their son Ed Jr. who has had a lot of back problems and is trying to hold off with surgery until retirement.
- We are still praying today for my dear friend JB who has finally been given limited ability to travel away from home five days per week for very short distances. Please keep JB in prayer for continued therapy, and continued doctor visits after her broken hip and upper leg. Please pray about the source of her extreme weight loss so that it can be solved. Please start praying again for her husband EB as well with his health and his muscles and movement as he has serious mobility issues. Add her sister-in-law who is suffering from cancer at this time.
- Evangelist Cal Jennings is doing better after the third degree burns to his fingertips. His fingers are finally starting to resemble fingers after the amputations. He is still healing very slowly and still has a while to go with the rehabilitation. Please pray for his healing and that his pain is treated like it should be treated, not as an afterthought.
- We continue to pray for my Mama who has had a lot of issues lately in her life since losing my father and my two younger sisters. Please keep her in prayer for her anxieties, fears, and general well-being.
- Pray for a friend of mine K.S. who has a lot going on in life right now and has been asking me tons of questions about those things going on. Pray that I might be able to answer those questions as time goes on.
- We continue to pray for a friend of ours, Alexis, who continues to need to improve her current situation and is seeking to sell things she owns to help her with this. If you want more information, send me a private message and I’ll pass on the information.
- We continue to pray for all sufferers and survivors of the various types of cancer, including several survivors of the disease, Evangelist Cal Jennings’ brother-in-law David Doyle, JB’s sister Debbie, Jerry, our friend Alexis, my Aunt Donna, my friend Kelly, and so many more.
- We pray for those who are in the midst of treacherous weather, and other dangerous conditions around this world.
- We pray for the various outreach ministries we have joined with, with their leaders, Pastor Jared Otieno, Pastor George Ototo, Pastor Stephen Okoth, Pastor Simon Peter Javaji, Pastor Amir Aneel, Sister Santhi Swaroopa, Pastor Duke Moenga, and others in Kissee, Nairobi, and other places in Kenya, Pakistan, and India.
- We pray also for our American outreach ministries, including Rev. Lisa Tyler on the other side of Georgia from where I am and Rabbi Karen L. Hertzog with her ministry, Way Maker Messianic Jewish and Christian Center – USA as well.
* Reminder, Daylight Savings Time ends next Sunday, November 1, 2026. That means we fall back an hour here in the USA for most of the country.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, there are so many in our hearts and thoughts and so much going on in life that needs prayer. We pray for little TJ as he undergoes another surgery for his heart. We pray for Brenda as she mourns her mother’s death. We pray for my friend Paul with his healing heart and brain infection. We continue to pray for Ed and Joy with their health issues, especially after a bad scare earlier this week with Ed, and their son Ed Jr. for his back issues, EB and JB and their many health issues. We continue to pray for EB and JB’s sister-in-law who has cancer as well. We pray for those who are in the path of the various chaotic weather patterns. We pray for the many who are injured and ill in our ministry, our friends, including Evangelist Cal, our family, and more. We pray for my Mama who has some anxiety going on right now with being alone for half the week, so we pray for her confidence and her patience. We pray for K.S. and what is going on in their life. We pray for the homeless and the helpless around this world. We pray for the many victims of violence, prejudice, and terrorism in this world. We pray for those still under the thumb of slavery and oppression. We pray for the unjustly persecuted and prosecuted. We pray for our friends and family who have been fighting cancer. We pray for those who survived cancer, including Kelly, Alexis, David, and Debbie and many more, that they continue to remain well. We pray for the nations at war. We pray for those celebrating birthdays this past week and in the week to come. We pray for all this in Your Holy Name through our Savior Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.
Opening Song: Rock of Ages
Sermon: Today we continue the fifteenth chapter of 1st Corinthians. Paul shows how unique every element in the universe would be in this chapter, from stars in the sky, to planets, to moons, to the sun, to the earth itself. Add to that he points that even every element on earth has unique qualities, from humanity to the earth under our feet to the sky over our heads. This is how Paul portrays the phenomenon of creation for the church at Corinth.
1 Corinthians 15:41 KJV –There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
NIV –The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
Paul references six Old Testament points for this and they are interesting views to recognize and realize.
Genesis 1:16 KJV – And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
NIV – God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
Job 38:7 KJV – When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
NIV – while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
Psalm 19:4-6 KJV – Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
NIV
– Yet
their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of
the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a
champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to
the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.
Isaiah 30:26 KJV – Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
NIV – The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
Daniel 12:3 KJV – And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
NIV – Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
Amos 5:8 KJV – Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name:
NIV – He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land—the Lord is his name.
Paul shares two gospel viewpoints including one with the Word from our Savior Jesus Christ.
Matthew 13:43 KJV – Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
NIV – Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Matthew 17:2 KJV – And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
NIV – There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
Paul wants us to understand what it means to be resurrected from death to everlasting life or everlasting death. It’s not negotiable upon the day of judgment. If we have chosen our Savior, continuously, then we have salvation. If we have rejected our Savior, then we are condemned. It is as simple as that. Here is how Paul portrays it to the church at Corinth.
1 Corinthians 15:42 KJV –So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
NIV –So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;
Paul shares only one Old Testament point of view from the prophetic scroll of Daniel here.
Daniel 12:2 KJV – And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
NIV – Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
Paul adds four New Testament references including two with our Savior speaking in Luke and John the Beloved’s gospels.
Luke 20:35-36 KJV – But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world,
and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
36 Neither can they die any more:
for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the
children of the resurrection.
NIV – But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.
John 5:28-29 KJV – Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all
that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that
have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil,
unto the resurrection of damnation.
NIV – “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.
Paul adds two more references from the writings of Luke in the Acts of the Apostles and also from the first letter Peter wrote.
Acts 24:14-15 KJV – But
this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship
I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and
in the prophets:
15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow,
that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
NIV –However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, 15 and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
1 Peter 1:23-24 KJV –Being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and
abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the
flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
NIV – For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
Paul continues to explain the resurrection and what it means to us. We are made whole, the kind of whole that is beyond being just human. We are made complete, incorruptible, glorified, powerful in His name, His image, and His unconditional love.
1 Corinthians 15:43 KJV –It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
NIV –it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
Paul utilizes one Old Testament reference from his go-to prophet here.
Isaiah 53:3 KJV – He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
NIV – He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Paul adds the Word from our Savior in the gospels of Matthew and Mark in these two references and adds one from the Hebrew prophets.
Matthew 26:41 KJV – Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
NIV – Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Mark 12:24-25 KJV – And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? 25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
NIV – And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the
scriptures, neither the power of God?
25 For when they shall rise from
the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels
which are in heaven.
Hebrews 12:2 KJV – Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
NIV – fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Something that Paul clarifies here is what is spiritual and what is natural. There is a difference. Both are created by God. Both exist as part of each and every one of us. And both are necessary for survival on earth right now until the day of Resurrection arrives and we are transformed permanently into a completely new form.
1 Corinthians 15:44 KJV –It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
NIV –it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
Here are three Old Testament references from the Torah and the Poetic Scrolls.
Genesis 3:19 KJV – In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
NIV – By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Ecclesiastes 3:20 KJV – All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
NIV – All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.
Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 KJV – Or
ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be
broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the
spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
NIV – Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, 7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Paul includes two Gospel verses from Luke and John the beloved in the words of our Savior Yeshu Ha-Notzri Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Luke 24:39 KJV – Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
NIV – Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
John 12:24 KJV – Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
NIV – Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
Now Paul has an interesting point within his letter to Corinth because it portrays the transformation of man from a living soul to a quickened spirit, or life-giving spirit. Quicken means to revive or restore life to. In the King James Version, you will find the word quickening or quicken, whereas in the New International and other versions you will see life-giving.
1 Corinthians 15:45 KJV –And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
NIV –So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
Here are two Old Testament references from the Torah and Poetic Scrolls.
Genesis 1:26-27 KJV – And
God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
created he him; male and female created he them.
NIV
– Then God said, “Let
us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the
fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild
animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God
he created them; male and female he created them.
Job 33:4 KJV – The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
NIV – The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Paul adds two Gospel verses from John the Beloved in the Word of our Savior and also the writing of the Hebrew prophets.
John 5:21 KJV – For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
NIV – For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
John 6:63 KJV – It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
NIV – The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.
Hebrews 2:14-17 KJV – Forasmuch
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise
took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the
power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he
took on him the seed of Abraham.
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto
his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
NIV – Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
Our final verse today gives the order in which God created everything. First the body was created, then the spirit was breathed into the body with the breath of life that He gave Adam and Eve, and thus to each and every one of us. This is what Paul portrays here.
1 Corinthians 15:46 KJV –Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
NIV –The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
Paul includes one reference to the Word of our Savior Yeshu Ha-Notzri Jesus Christ of Nazareth and then adds to that with the writings of the Hebrew prophets, and Jude, the younger human brother of Yeshu Ha-Notzri, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
John 3:6 KJV – That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
NIV – Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
Hebrews 9:11 KJV – But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
NIV – But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation.
Hebrews 9:23-24 KJV – It
was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be
purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices
than these.
24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with
hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear
in the presence of God for us:
NIV – It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.
Jude 1:19 KJV – These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
NIV – These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
We have a lot to learn about the different parts of humankind. The spiritual and the mortal, the physical and the metaphysical. We have so much to understand regarding what God intended, and one of those includes the fact that Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Yeshu Ha-Noztri, died for our sins and was raised from the dead to judge the living and the dead at the right hand of the Father in heaven. There is so much to learn from Scripture, in the beautiful gift that is our Savior. That is what Paul brings forward through his letter to Corinth here. One of the best ways that we can bring more faith and belief together with others is by showing each other how faith and belief in God go hand in hand, and all of us have the opportunity to walk in the faithful steps of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The ability to do this requires us to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If you are willing to do so, please leave me a note in the comments and I’ll be in touch. Now, that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer that Jesus taught us.
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)
Closing Song: Blessed Assurance
~ Shalom ~
Rev. Laura A. Neff
Blogspot & Twitter & Linkedin & Twitch & USAlife
Evangelist 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 © 2026 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.
