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. May the Lord bring his spirits up and help heal him.
- Pray for my parents and youngest brother who would have
lost their dog Shadow just two days ago now. He was a faithful companion for
nearly sixteen years.
- Please pray for relief in the trials and tribulations for
Sister Theresa and myself as we have had a great many over the past year 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 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, our prayer today is
to have the Spirit bring clarity to each of our decisions. We thank You for
that gift 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 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: I Saw the Light https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtolv9kM1qk
Sermon: We have been wondering about fighting our days of feeling doom and
gloom, and God is very good at showing us just how to do so. When I first read
this verse here, I wondered what in the world it meant. In fact, I actually
went looking to see what it meant. You’ll understand as I share this verse.
Psalm 36:8 KJV – They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
Psalm 36:8 KJV – They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
“Fatness” in Scripture, means
the richness or “goodness” of God. So, the house they speak of has richness and
goodness of God within it. What a wonderful thought for home to feel as though
you have everything and the whole of it would be welcoming to all who enter. That
leads us up to the next verse, in a lot of ways, because it is all about
renewal as we have studied before here.
Revelations 22:1 KJV – And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Revelations 22:1 KJV – And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Many of us fail to understand
what it is to realize the beauty, the amazing, the awesomeness of the world
around us. Imagine what it would be like without the concrete, asphalt, steel
and glass. Imagine what it would be like without floods and fires, earthquakes,
heat waves, frozen tundra, just life, in all directions, everywhere we look,
and you’ll realize, you’ve just dreamt of heaven. Then we get to realize there
is a source for all this. He is God, and He shares this with us here.
Psalm 36:9 KJV – For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
Psalm 36:9 KJV – For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
The fountain of life, some
thought it a myth, some wish to find it here on earth. Yet, many have tried,
and failed, at doing just that. The reason would be easily found. God is that
fountain of life. His fountain of life is full of light, which is unconditional
love. These are the things we must remember, we must understand, or we will
never realize how important His word truly is.
Isaiah 12:3 KJV
– Therefore with
joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
We should be glad. We
absolutely should dance around that well, because every time we raise that
bucket, it is filled with the gift of salvation, and all we have to do is drink
from that bucket which drew water from the well. In a scene at a well amidst
the Gentiles, Jesus rested once, and was there with a woman drawing water from
it. Do you remember this scene here?
John 4:10, 14
KJV – Jesus
answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the
gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest
have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
The waters of life, the gift
of life. If you remember in biology class, human beings are ninety percent
water. Think about it, the entire amount of our body’s water, upon the glory of
God, would be transformed to “living water”. Now, that’s an amazing thought,
isn’t it? It’s one shared here.
Revelation 21:6 KJV – And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Revelation 21:6 KJV – And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
In this world we live in, we
don’t think about how much it means just to have good water to drink. In this
great world, water is a precious resource. It is the source of life, and it is
the way toward relief of many forms. All Jesus wants to show us is the fact
that we need to first see the potential that there is light to lead us out of
the darkness. He shares this here.
Acts 26:18 KJV – To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Acts 26:18 KJV – To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Faith, as Jesus once said,
can be seen as small as a tiny mustard seed, which, trust me, is a very tiny
seed. But, if you plant that mustard seed, tend to it, care for it, that seed
will grow into an enormous tree, with still more mustard seeds that fall from
it, soon creating a forest. This is what faith can be. This is what life can
be, if it would be possible to manage. Joy can be found within that, if we look
for it. Now, where do we look? Well, take a look at what is shared next.
Ephesians 5:8 KJV - For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.
Ephesians 5:8 KJV - For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.
Every one of us has had
darkness in our lives. Each of us have had, or have seen days when we wondered
if there were a way out, or not. Yet, there have been little sparkles of light
to share, to bring, to prove that there is a way. That gift is a gift of God,
and it is proven in friends, in family, and in the power of love. God, the
deliverer, the bringer of life, the Alpha and the Omega.
Colossians 1:13 KJV – Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Colossians 1:13 KJV – Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Notice, even today, families
consider their children as dear, and in many cases, hopefully, show it in as
many ways as it is possible. That’s the way it should be. God let us live for a
reason. He saved our lives, far, far back in the past for a single reason. That
reason is found here.
I Peter 2:9 KJV – But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
I Peter 2:9 KJV – But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
We’re different, Christians, true Christians, even those who haven’t decided, we’re different. If we weren’t different, we’d be like those robots you read about or saw in the movie I Robot. We aren’t robots, we are who we are, a perfect creation of God. Yes, I said a PERFECT creation of God. Now, that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer Jesus taught us saying:
After this manner therefore pray ye: 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 KJV)
Closing Song: What A Day That Will Be
~ 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 © 2015 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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