Covenant of Hope
Ministries Sunday Sermon_7_28_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:
We have
email (instant messenger if you need me) through Facebook available every day, and
these are now extremely variable. 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.
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 Phoebe Fair, the last thing they
wanted to see has appeared. Her cancer has returned in the same location. There
is nothing that can be done to stop this at this point in time. They have a
prognosis of two to eight weeks. Keep her parents and family in your prayers,
and little Phoebe as well.
- Pray for our member Sonya Poll who has had her twin daughters.
Their names are Addisin Hope and Emmalynn Faith. They are in the NICU for
another week. These sweet little girls are sure fighters, Praise the LORD, may
they continue to fight and flourish. Pray also that the faith and hope held by
their parents be there to help the little ones along.
- Pray for baby Corbin who is struggling to survive. He has lived one hundred days so far, let us
pray he continues to beat the odds.
- Pray for the victims of the boat wreck in New York this week,
that their families receive their solace, and that truth be found in regard to
their losses.
- Pray for the victims of the shooting in a Florida apartment
complex, and their families.
- Pray for the victims and survivors of the bus wreck in Indiana.
- Pray that there are more answers in regard to my health
situation.
- Remember those who have been lost either violently or
peacefully this week.
- Keep the ministry in your thoughts, each member, no matter
their location, their circumstances, because a group of friends, a ministry,
should support one another.
Prayer: Father in heaven, we
thank You for this day and for these who are here to share it with us. We have
much to be thankful for. The great gifts and the understanding even in the
tragedies this world has brought. We pray that you hear the voices of the sick,
the mourning, as we bring them up to You, knowing You can hear, do hear, and
will share what You have to bring. Faith, Hope, and Love, all are gifts You
bring. It would be those which we need in our hearts, and you have shown us
that those are within us, all we must do is ask. We pray for friends, family,
colleagues, whether ill, well, or mourning. May Your grace and love fill their
hearts, minds, spirits, and souls. We ask this in Your Holy Name, Amen and so
it shall be.
Opening Song: Healing Hand Of God
Sermon: Now, we were speaking of the fact
that fear had taken hold, causing pain. Fear can do that. Who was this
happening to? It was the kings. They were terrified. Because of this fear, this
is what happened.
Psalm 48:7 KJV – Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
We find a
second view in the scroll of Ezekiel. It’s not just the kings according to
this. It would be all of those who look
and listen to these kings. Again, we see them broken in the great waters of the
sea.
Ezekiel 27:26 KJV – Thy rowers have brought thee into great
waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
Listen,
hear, and see, this is what we have often wondered about. It is not just using
our eyes, it is seeing and understanding what we are listening to, and hearing.
That is what we see here in this next verse.
Psalm 48:8 KJV – As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the
LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it forever. Selah.
We see it
after we hear it. Where do we do so? In the city of the LORD of hosts, the city
of our God. Remember it shares that twice at the end, and then says STOP AND
THINK ABOUT IT, or Selah. We tend to forget that part, stop, listen, hear, and
think about what you stopped to listen to and hear.
Alright,
so what are we seeing? We’re seeing humanity flowing toward the city of the
LORD, the mountain where safe haven can be found. Notice how it says flow, or
flowing. You’ve seen a river as it flows, a mass of people trying to get in or
out of someplace, somewhere. This is what will be seen. It will be a whole mass
of people entering the city of the LORD in the last days. We see more views of
that shared here in.
Isaiah 2:2 KJV – And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the
mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains,
and shall be exalted above the hills; and all the nations shall flow into it.
Again we
see this view repeated, and celebrated, as both would share. Well, think about
it, at that point in time, wouldn’t you want to be somewhere you’d never feel
pain, never fear another human being, never feel sorrow, or anger, and all the
rest. That’s the best thought in the world, so, like the other verses, Micah
says the same.
Micah 4:1 KJV – But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the
mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto
it.
Well,
many of us are wanting this view. We want it, but often have a hard time
understanding what it takes to listen, hear, and see. What does it take? 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)
~Shalom~
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
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.
