MESSENGER

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Find Courage When Wrestling With Fear

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
 Rev. Laura’s other sites: Facebook & Google+ & Blogspot & Twitter
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.

- Please pray for relief in the trials and tribulations for those in the ministry and our friends as we all have had a great many. Jesus may your grace surround us and give us solace.

- 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: Amazing Grace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG0vH4WYChQ 





Sermon:There are days we have to wonder what in the world we’re going to do. We feel lost, and afraid. We forget that to fear not will bring us solace, comfort, and strength in the face of all that pains us, torments us.

Deuteronomy 31:6 KJV - Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

It’s hard to remember this. We are afraid of many things. We fear so many things, when in truth, in life we should not fear because God is here. You’ve heard the song Angels Among Us. Well, who sends those angels? God does, of course. He did when Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit. He did when Jacob wrestled the angel. That is in Genesis. There is another verse in Ephesians that speaks of our wrestling.

Ephesians 6:12 KJV - For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wickedness can be all sorts of things, and we often wrestle with our thoughts, say biting our tongues, walking away, or even stopping a conversation in its tracks. It is not easy for us to keep our anger from taking over. The same can be said about leaving our faith behind. If we do that, we sink into that place where we can be swallowed up and away from truth. That’s why we have prayer, friends, and God’s angels who may bring us a message even though we might not see them, hear them, or feel them, God’s angels are there. He sent them because He loves us unconditionally. So, when you wrestle with your feelings, your biting your tongue when you want to lash out, or walking away to avoid the worst things, remember, God is with you. Think about it.


Now that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer that Jesus taught us saying:
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: Be Courageous https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_VaiBLo3hg 





~ 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. 


4 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. When He gives good advice, He gives His all. Thanks for coming by.

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  2. I tend to state my mind strongly when I'm angry. Sometimes I should just walk away from the computer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes I do too. It's hard not to state our minds on things. That bridling of the tongue as James called it, well, biting that bridle is one tough thing to do.

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