Covenant
of Hope Ministries Wednesday Sermon_2_18_2014
Good
afternoon, and welcome to this Midweek Study for Covenant of Hope Ministries. I
am Elder Cal Jennings. Find us posted on Sundays and studies on Wednesday. Our
locations are online only:
Our Main Video Feed: Covenant_of_Hope
We
have email (instant messenger if you need me) through Facebook every day. Look
for my name minus the title. These are now extremely variable. Our Elder Cal
Jennings is just as variable and can be found on several sites as noted by his
sermons. We’re still working this out between the two of us as to what will happen,
our minister Rev. Laura A. Neff and my self, Elder Cal Jennings. We will inform
you further regarding changes. These changes were made due to health reasons. The
sermon length has shortened dramatically. We are unsure as to when there might
be video presentations.
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’s family as they
continue to grieve her loss.
- Please keep Elder Cal Jennings in your prayers as his health
doesn’t know where it wants to be.
- Please pray for my friend Teresa’s sister who is in stage four
cancer. Keep Teresa and her daughter in prayer for many other things that have
been weighing down on their hearts, minds, and spirits.
- Please keep others known by any of us up in prayer for
whatever they might need.
- Please keep my friend Heather in prayer for patience and safe
haven.
- Please keep my whole family in prayer for the pain, suffering,
and chaos we are going through.
- Pray that the adversity and the pain we have seen around the
world would be relieved, and swept away. May we find common ground in many ways,
even if we start with just one step.
- 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.
- There are many in our ministry who are searching for more in
regard to our presence with my health, and with the health of others. We pray
that there would be health found once more, and that we have answers to all and
for all.
Sermon: Romans 8:38-39
King James Version (KJV)
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other
creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
I just went through a risky and painful procedure on my heart
to see if there was anything that could be done to help. Although it wasn't as
successful as some might think, it has somewhat improved my breathing and my
eyesight and hopefully will stop the frequent occurrences of passing out. Just
when I thought all was lost, God guided the hands of the doctor into making something
right even if he says that he only went in and looked to see what could be
done. He told me that he was going to try medications since the passageways
were too small to splint, yet, I'm breathing and seeing better. As close as
death seemed, God snatched me up from its clutches once again, proving that
nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I was ready to accept my fate, quit the ministry, and resign
myself to fading off to the other side. Evidently, God had other plans. Just as
Job was near death and was restored, so was I restored to God's service.
Hebrews 10:23-25
King James Version (KJV)
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our
faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the
more, as ye see the day approaching.
Sometimes, when we think we're at the end of our rope, when
all is lost, and all that's left is for the fat lady to sing, God writes a new
chapter for our lives. It's up to us to get up and do something with it. Well,
today I'm getting up and doing something with it in spite of the pain. My heart
is pumping well enough for me to see the screen even if barely, so I'm doing my
job and writing something that I hope will enlighten and inspire some of you.
We should all do what we can to promote the good news that
Jesus died for our sins and freed us from judgment if only we believe in Him.
God gave dominion over the earth to Jesus for his selfless sacrifice and in
turn freed us all. That's right. We're free of judgment from sin. Does that
mean we should run out and do everything sinful we want? No. We were bought
with a price and in return should do good to honor the one who paid that price.
1 Corinthians
6:12-20
King James Version (KJV)
12 All things are lawful unto me, but all
things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be
brought under the power of any.
13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for
meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for
fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the
members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the
members of an harlot? God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined
to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man
doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against
his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not
your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore
glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
God was warning against being an idolater of the lusts of the
flesh as a Christian. He compared it to joining with a harlot... a prostitute.
So how now is the law fulfilled?
Galatians 5:14
King James Version (KJV)
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word,
even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
We need to love our neighbors as ourselves. That means that we
need to love our neighbor regardless of race, religion, sexual preference,
nationality, or anything else that might appear to separate us. Regardless of
our differences, we are to love our neighbors and do to them as we would have
them do to us. You recognize that. It's the Golden Rule.
What other things should Christians be concerned with doing?
Galatians 5:22-26
King James Version (KJV)
We should be good, kind, loving, longsuffering, gentle,
faithful, meek, and temper ourselves. We are to avoid the lusts of the flesh,
not only sexual lust, but lust for power and money as well. Of course, we all
need enough on which to live, but beyond that, we should not be concerned other
than to help others and to fulfill our work for the Lord. We don't need
mansions, sports cars, limousines, golf courses, and bowling alleys to fulfill
God's work. Instead, that money should be concentrated on food banks, food
kitchens, shelter from the weather for the homeless, hospitals for healing the
poor free of charge, and the other good works that Christ and his Apostles did.
These days though, most of us are having trouble meeting our own needs for
survival.
All of the money had become concentrated in the hands of a
wealthy few, leaving little for the rest of us to survive on. This is one reason
the bible states the following:
1 Timothy 6:10
King James Version (KJV)
10 For the love of money is the root of all
evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
We hear many preachers these days telling people how Jesus
will make you rich. Yes, he will make us spiritually rich, but why would he
give us something that is the root of all evil? Would a Father give his son a
snake when he asked for bread?
Luke 11:11
King James Version (KJV)
11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you
that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a
fish give him a serpent?
No, the Father gives only good gifts. Gifts that enrich your
lives and your spirits, not your financial status. God is love and wants us to
live in peace with one another. He does not want us to do harm to others, but
help others when we can as we can. If everyone pitched in and did their share
to help others, the world would be a much better place for everyone, including
those doing the helping. There would be more joy, more love, more peace, more
kindness. The whole world would open its eyes and want to be a part of that
world. After all, how many want to go where they're always condemned and made
to feel they need to be punished. Don't be fooled. There are many that fall
into this category but that is not what Jesus offered us. He did, however, warn
us against doing some things.
Galatians 5:19-21
King James Version (KJV)
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest,
which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told
you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God.
Although they may be lawful for us, they are not expedient.
They are not good for us and they are not good for others or as examples to
others. They keep our light from shining through the darkness. They lend toward
causing strife between neighbors. They cause fights. They cause wars. They
cause envy. These things do not bring about the fruit of the Spirit but the
spirit of darkness which engulfs many. It is better for us to turn away from
these things and to concentrate on taking care of our bodies which are the
temple of the Holy Spirit. We shouldn't partake in things that destroy but
things that build up so that we may build up one another. Doesn't that sound
like the reasonable thing to do?
Love, Hope, Peace, and Christ be with you,
Cal Jennings
Love, Hope, Peace, & Christ Be With You,
Cal-el
http://www.spaceeagleproductions.org
http://www.pureheartvideo.net
http://spaceeagle.multiply.com
http://www.myspace.com/music_man1701
http://www.myspace.com/woodstock40th2008
Cal-el
http://www.spaceeagleproductions.org
http://www.pureheartvideo.net
http://spaceeagle.multiply.com
http://www.myspace.com/music_man1701
http://www.myspace.com/woodstock40th2008
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.
