Covenant of Hope
Ministries Sunday Sermon_4_24_2013
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 posted on Sundays. These are our locations online only:
Our Main Video Feed: Covenant_of_Hope
We have
email and Instant Messenger through Facebook available most Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
and Sundays 10AM to 2PM ET US. We’re still working this out between the two of
us as to what will happen, our Elder, Cal Jennings and I. 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.
Note: For those who celebrate, Happy St.
Patrick’s Day.
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 from last week. This is our current prayer list for this week.
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 from last week. This is our current prayer list for this week.
Continue your prayers for Little Phoebe Fair as she is now all
the way out of chemotherapy. This week will be amazing for her! Pray that she
comes through and her cancer stays into remission. Give her family faith and
hope.
Pray for our family. Praise the LORD more than half of those
have been solved. There are family members who continue to need prayer. Claim
that God knows and will be there. Praise God, one of the single largest problems
we have had is now done with. Pray that a solution will be found for a serious
test I must have, claim that Jesus can give us answers for that. The cost is
simply out of reach at the moment.
Pray for Elder Cal, as he has still been feeling pretty rotten. He was admitted to the hospital through the
emergency room on Thursday last week. He had open heart surgery on Friday last
week and now is fighting pneumonia. He is no longer on the breathing machine or
the heart machine, praise the LORD. They have placed a tube in his lung to
remove the mess caused by the pneumonia. There are currently seven IV’s in him.
At this time there has been an added problem with an enlarged spleen. Pray that
it will not require still more surgery. He hasn’t eaten in seven days at this
point. Pray that his spiritual nourishment be increased. He also has had some
technical issues, but does have his Iphone so he can receive messages. He also
has had some other technical issues with his normal computer. May God provide
him wellness, a method toward better communication, and bring that flicker of
hope into a bright and roaring flame.
Pray for friends Karen, Christie, her son Calvin, Art, Heather,
Chris and his family, Jackie and her father, Debby, Tom, Teresa, Hope, during
the start of the year for their issues of many forms.
Pray for Fran who is suffering a lot of pain and other issues.
Pray for Karen’s grandaughter Cyndal.
Pray for Marie’s Aunt Connie.
Pray for my friend Grace as she has had pretty bad migraines.
Pray also that her stepson would make the right decisions. They are having a
hard time, may we have praise from the LORD.
Pray that the Lord will find a way for my family to reach the
ability to solutions that are necessary for health, shelter, and more.
Pray for those who celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, that they remain
safe throughout the celebration.
Pray for our outreach ministries, and all on their separate
prayer lists, no matter where in this world they would be.
Pray for all the members of Covenant of Hope and all those who
they reach out to. May each of the members find grace and peace in His love.
Pray for our leaders, local, state, federal and around the
world. That they make good decisions for the many.
May the LORD allow us to claim His truth and His healing hands. May
we listen and hear and understand what those things we listen to and hear as
well.
Prayer: Father in heaven, we
thank You for this day and for these who are here to share it with us. We are
blessed in the fact we know You have already heard our prayers, and are
answering them. We praise You for the gifts given to each of us, no matter what
they might be. We bring you many who are in need of prayer, friends, family,
colleagues, acquaintances and so many more. We pray that You will ease their
pains, their sorrows, and their fears. We pray that You will share the joy and
laughter, love and hope with all of them, and show our enemies what that could
be. We ask 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: Be Blessed
Sermon: When we are feeling as though nothing can help our souls feel better, feel happy, comforted, it isn’t easy for us. In the case of David, he wants to find a way to get out of the depression he is suffering. He is trusting in God to help him regain that faith, that hope, the love that can remove the sorrow and suffering he has experienced. We see this in Psalm 42:6 KJV – O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill of Mizar. There is a word change from ‘the hill Mizar’ to ‘the little hill Mizar’. How interesting that David wants to remember how God was in the land of Jordan, the Hermonites, and the hill of Mizar. He wants to do so because those were better times. They bring hope, which is something he needs at this point in time. You will see just how he feels in this verse here. Psalm 42:7 KJV – Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Imagine being covered in water, but not like you’re swimming. Some of us feel fear, in fact many would do so. This is what David feels like. He feels as though everything is swept away in the waves and billows, the waterspouts too. This is what fear can do. When you fear in the opposite direction from God, it brings all types of pain. Learning to understand this is not an easy thing. Yet, it can be understood by seeing it with different points of view like this one in Ezekiel 7:26 KJV – Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. What is mischief? This is bringing harm, injury done by someone. Rumors, we know what they are. It’s gossip, stories that get exagerated. This isn’t a good thing. It is why the law will perish from priests and the counsel of the ancients. It’s definitely not a good thing. But, there is hope. That hope exists in lovingkindness, being affectionate, sharing or expressing love. What kind of love? It is unconditional love. That is what is being shared here in Psalm 42:8 KJV – Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
A
blessing, a true blessing that is what this gives, shares, and brings answers
to prayer. How amazing that is. God gives answers to our prayers. It is
something to treasure, to appreciate, and to share with others, with praise,
faith, and hope. You see this again here in an older view from Deuteronomy 28:8 KJV – The
LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that
thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the
LORD thy God giveth thee.
Isn’t it
nice to realize God can give us so much, as long as we listen, and hear. You
see, you can’t have one without the other. A blessing must be both seen and
heard, shared and brought. It is a true gift and praise should be offered for
it. It should be just that. Our last set of verses shares something many of us
suffer, we forget what God can give, do, and prove. That is what David is
suffering at this point through Psalm 42:9-11 KJV –
I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou
forgotten me? why go I in mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while
they say daily unto me, Where is they God?
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted
within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, God: for I shall yet
praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
There is
a word change in verse ten that changes ‘sword in my bones’ to ‘killing’. Think
about it, the pain of not understanding, not being able to fight back because
of unbelief, allowing the troubles and the dangers within us and surrounding us
pulls us down. It causes suffering. Hope, that is what we must see. Hope, you
see, is a gift, an amazing gift from unconditional love. When we sing praise
through hope, amazing things can happen. 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
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.
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