Covenant of Hope Ministries Sermon_12_02_12
Good
afternoon, and welcome to this Sunday Sermon for Covenant of Hope Ministries. I
am Rev. Laura A. Neff, and the ministry knows me as the Rainbow Minister. You
can find us live Sundays at 12:30 PM ET US and These are our locations online
only:
Our Main Video Feed: Covenant_of_Hope
We have
email and Instant Messenger available Sunday 10AM to 2PM ET US via Yahoo IM and
any other time by request. I’m still working this out between the three of us
as to what will happen, our Elder, Cal Jennings. Sister Mary is still unable to
help unless in her own silent prayers for now, but God still hasn’t said as to
where that will lead. The IM is available if you ask first and identify the
reason as being part of the ministry. This IM is connected through Facebook as
well. I will be informing you further in regard to changes being made. These
changes were made due to health reasons. There will be live sermons, and the
sermon length will be shortened dramatically, but we are unsure as to when that
might be.
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 has grown as follows.
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 has grown as follows.
Continue your prayers for Sister Mary. She is in 24/7 care with
a staff that continuously keeps me informed. She has fallen twice this week,
pray that no injuries would be found, and that her efforts would bring her
toward finding a method at recovery. They do have her sitting up in a
chair/walker. That’s a great thing, and God is good!
Pray for our family. There are several things weighing us down,
and they don’t all include my health, or that of any member of the family.
Though, those don’t hurt.
Pray good things can occur as a result of the doctor’s
determinations for me, and as to the negotiations for other situations in our
family.
Pray for Elder Cal, as he has still been feeling pretty rotten.
May God provide him wellness, and bring that flicker of hope into a bright and
roaring flame.
Pray for friends Karen, Christie, Art, Heather, Chris and his
family, especially his father, Jackie and her father, Debby, Tom, Teresa, Hope,
Christie, Joe and his family as they lost his mother-in-law, Robert’s brother
and his brother’s fiancee suffering some serious chaos, and several others.
Phoebe Fair and her family need more prayers as she has gone in
for yet another round of chemotherapy in time for the holidays. Pray that she
might be home for Christmas, in place of the hospital. We add prayers for her
family in the mourning of her great grandfather Zig Ziglar, motivational author
and speaker, who passed away this week.
Pray for those who have been injured or killed his week, and for
those who brought harm upon others.
Pray for our outreach ministries, and all on their separate
prayer lists, no matter where in this world they would be.
Prayer: Father in heaven, we
thank You for this day and for these who are here to share it with us. We are
blessed that You have brought good things to our families and friends, and are
helping us seek better pathways for those trials and tribulations we have
worked to overcome. We pray that You watch over those who we care about,
friends, family, and more, and then help us to accept those we see as our
enemies, for their differences, and for their being human. We pray that those
with plenty can see those in need, and those in need realize they have more
than it appears. We pray all of these things in Your Holy Name through our
Savior Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amein and so it shall be.
Opening Song: Do You Hear What I
Hear
Sermon: This is the time of year when many
times we’ll see advertisements for things, shiny new toys of all shapes and
forms, clothes, and more. Yet, when we think about it, to us, which is the
better view? Sure, we believe we could never live without this, or that, or
something else. But, would we suffer like those in Scriptural times were we to
go without some of those same things? Let’s see where we should see riches, in
place of where those of earthly desires would.
Psalm 37:16 KJV – A little that a righteous man hath is
better than the riches of many wicked.
Now, no,
it’s not saying that those of us who want would be wicked. It is those who want
over and beyond that which they need, that’s where greed lives, which is part
of both envy and lust, with a few others thrown in. It is also where we get
ourselves into trouble.
Proverbs 15:16 KJV –Better is little with the fear of the LORD
than great treasure and the trouble therewith.
In
otherwords, better to live with just enough than to suffer troubles brought by
excess. If you’ve ever eaten too much after not eating for a while, you pay the
consequences in an upset stomach. This is similar to what is meant by the
reference here. It is better to be satisfied with enough to survive, than it is
to desire that which could hurt you later. The same sentiment in different
words is found with I Timothy 6:6 KJV – But godliness with contentment is great gain.
Now,
considering the time of year and how many exploitations we see, the next couple
of verses portray just what we see far too often in this world. Let’s see what
is shared in the next portion of Psalm 37:17-18 KJV
– For the arms of the wicked shall be
broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.
The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance
shall be for ever.
Now, no,
God doesn’t expect us to be perfect without Christ as part of us. He does,
however, want us to see the difference between what we are, and what we could
be. The challenge is this, to see every step as one that has possibilities, in
place of running away, turning our backs, or something else of that nature. We
have God on our sides for courage, for hope, and for faith, all of which are
grown from love. Sometimes that seems in far too short a supply, but, we just
have to remember the source to find a bountiful supply.
Isaiah 60:21 KJV – Thy people also shall be all
righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the
work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
Glory, we
often forget that it is for His glory we are working as we do. Whether it is
just to share our faith, our love, our hope, our strength, or whatever, it isn’t
for our glory, or at least it shouldn’t be. Personal gain shouldn’t rest on the
shoulders of others, it should be ours alone. And, what some see as gains,
others would see as insignificant. Think about it like this. When you work to
teach someone even the smallest thing, like tying their shoes, or eating on
their own, and they follow through, it is satisfying to see it, to know it, to
understand the accomplishment. The same can be said when we work hard to learn
something, do something, no matter how small the task might seem to others, and
achieve it, regardless of the length of time from start to finish. Time does
not matter, it’s what you do with your time that does. Life matters only with
what you achieve while in that life, physically, spiritually, mentally, as
until the end, none of us knows what will be next until He has His say.
Psalm 37:19-20 KJV – They shall not be ashamed in
the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall
be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
The
righteous man shall carry no shame, especially if walking in the footsteps of
righteousness, no matter what the rest would be doing around them. Satisfaction
can be found without all the kudos, the praises we should be aspiring for are
not earthly in nature. They are those praises from family, friends, and from
God, who is both family and friend, if we willingly listen. To remind us of
that we find something written by one tormented by the troubles and led astray
shared in Job 5:20 KJV – In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war
from the power of the sword.
What kind
of war? What kind of famine? In both cases, they could be seen as physical or
spiritual. Every day we see war in one form or another, it may not look like
it, but that’s what it would be. There are corporate wars, land wars, faith,
creed, or race wars, and so many more. There are wars with depression,
depravation, and too much of too many things. A friend of mine once said it
won’t be until we realize that a war can’t be a war if we learn to fight it
together in place of against one another. That togetherness should included
God, ourselves and whatever, or whoever it would be on the other side. This is
a sentiment, a consideration, that should be seen every day, not just at this
time of year. 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)
Covenant
of Hope Ministries
Our Main Video Feed: Covenant_of_Hope
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 © 2012 http://covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com/
Our mission for Covenant of Hope Ministries and
Poetic-Expressions is not to exploit fear, but to conquer it, and overcome all
that is created through fear together as the rainbow in the darkness.
No comments:
Post a Comment