Covenant
of Hope Ministries Sunday Sermon_3_16_2014
Good
afternoon, and welcome to this Sunday Sermon for Covenant of Hope Ministries. I
am Rev. Laura A. Neff. The ministry knows me as the Rainbow Minister. Find our
sermons 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. 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 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.
- Please keep a friend, Debby, in your prayers for a swift
recovery after major cancer surgery.
- Please hold several friends of a contact, Mary, on Facebook,
in your prayers and thoughts for their health and solace.
- 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.
- Let us keep those who have suffered from the weather in
prayer, as they continue to weather the storms, the cold, and the dangers that
can be found within them.
- 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.
Prayer:
Father in heaven, we thank You for this day and for these who
are here to share it with us. We bring those we love up to You in prayer for
their trials and tribulations that they may find peace. We bring the sick and
the mourning up in prayer and give thanks to You that they shall be healed.
Hold up those who have had devastating news around this world with all the
terrors and horrors that would be. We ask all of 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: Happy
Sermon:
I
was asked many years ago if I knew what happiness meant to me. I’ve been asked,
over the years, why others can’t find happiness or don’t know how to be happy?
Well, after hearing the song you just heard as our opening song, I have to say
the Lord chose that particular emotion to speak about for this sermon. So, let
us start in the earliest view of happiness. Here it is in Deuteronomy 33:29 KJV – Happy
art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the
shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies
shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.
He,
of course, speaks of the gift that is Israel. The home of the Jews after exile,
slavery, and more. They were delivered from both. Happy is exactly what should
have been felt then. When anyone is freed from slavery, doesn’t matter the
type, it is something we should all be happy about. When our burdens are made
lighter, that is yet another reason to be happy. Yet, there are many other
reasons to be happy and share happiness. Job 5:17
KJV – Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth:
therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.
When
we’re wrong, often we realize it too late, but, that’s what apologies are for.
Sure, you can’t take it back. But, you can change the way it is remembered. You
can listen to your heart, AND your head. You never know how much it means to
hear an apology until someone says they are sorry, no matter the reason for it.
Let’s see more in regard to being happy here in Proverbs
3:13 KJV – Happy is the man that findeth
wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
Wisdom,
understanding, they come with experience. Once you’ve experienced the good
things, and yes, even the bad, seeking the best part of the experience is
finding happiness, no matter what would be included in that event in our lives.
Now, let’s look at another view of happiness. This has to do with loving our
neighbors. We often forget that this world can be a cruel and ugly place, but
just being nice can change our little part of it. That’s where this verse comes
in. Proverbs 14:21 KJV – He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth: but he that hath
mercy on the poor, happy is he.
What
does it mean, having mercy on the poor. The word poor can be seen in many
viewpoints, poor as in finances, illness, and spirit. That’s why we have the
thoughts of give to the poor, feeling poorly, and sad spirit, and yes, poor
spirit, which could often be seen as a thought of guilt or selfishness. Those
of us who have mercy for any of these types of people, are able to find
happiness, no matter our circumstances. No, it’s not easy. We’ll always hear
the words ‘why can’t we get a break, a light at the end of the tunnel’ or other
thoughts. Let’s see other views of happiness.
Proverbs 16:20 KJV – He that handleth a matter
wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.
Ah,
there’s the idea of wisdom and trust. Those who think and do wisely will
realize the trust they have in God can assist in being happy. Sometimes though,
we forget to look at things that way. Fear not we often hear. Don’t fear the
world outside, because you can change it. Fear only that which you don’t want
to change, because it can hurt more than you might realize. Here’s a verse that
speaks of something similar. Proverbs 28:14 KJV – Happy is the man that feareth always: but he that
hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
When
we become selfish, shrink into ourselves, our hearts get bitter, hard. When we
feel betrayed, forgotten, and more, we’ll often forget what being happy is.
Laughing is something that belies humor in one form or another. Laughter is an
outward view of happiness, if we don’t use it in a hardened way, an ugly view
of laughter.
Jeremiah 12:1 KJV – Righteous art thou, O LORD,
when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgements: Wherefore
doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very
treacherously?
Then
there are times like these, when we want to know how the bad guys always seem
to get the best things. I can’t think of the number of times where I’ve heard
‘why can’t I get that lucky’ or others similar. Luck has nothing to do with His
love. Love is eternal, unconditional, and there are those who will roll their
eyes, but happiness is there, all you have to do is believe it, and it’s there.
Malachi 3:15 KJV – And now we call the proud
happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are
even delivered.
Here
again we see the angst that seeing others benefit no matter what, and then
there the rest would be toiling away wondering why they are working so hard
while the others laugh and look ‘fat and happy’ as the saying would be. That’s
where Jesus comes in as shared in John 13:17 KJV – If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
Knowing
the good, the true, and righteous ways to be, and then doing or working within
them might seem difficult. To some it might look like standing on a highwire,
at a forty-five degree angle, and walking backwards with a blindfold. For
others there are ways happiness is found. We consider the solace of friends and
understanding family members to be one of those methods for finding happiness.
Even if we sit there and complain, at least someone is willing to listen, and,
if we’re blessed, will hear, and offer solace in one way or another. That’s where
faith comes in. Here we see something along those lines. Romans 14:22 KJV – Hast
thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not
himself in the thing which he alloweth.
Don’t
beat yourself up if you couldn’t do more for someone. The same can be said when
you didn’t get things done right the first time. Remember, there’s always a
second chance. We just have to see it. Yes, that’s when we learn to ‘count our
blessings’ and we see some of that here in James
5:11 KJV – Behold, we count them happy which
endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the
Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
Endurance,
there’s a road full of potholes, cracks, bumps, and more. Yet, here we go, find
the patience of Job. That’s no easy achievement, to first find, and second keep
the patience Job had for so long. Tender mercy is found in many ways. You can
see it, hear it, feel it, and more. There are those who bring it, share it,
have it, or give mercy, willingly. That’s the fun part about happiness. You
give it away and you’re even happier as a result. There are those who have
suffered just to figure out what happiness is. We see that here in I Peter 3:14 KJV – But
and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of
their terror, neither be troubled.
Be
not afraid or troubled because even if you do suffer for being good, happiness
is there to be had. We see this in another view here in I Peter 4:14 KJV – If ye be
reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of
God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he
is glorified.
People
often want to condemn us for believing in Jesus, in God. There are those
entities that would prevent us from expressing our love for God and Jesus. The
fact that there are those who do not see happiness in Christianity as much as
in any other faith or religion is a tragic ideal. Happiness shared, even with
those who do not believe, is happiness held in our hearts, as Jesus with the
Gentiles, the lepers, and even the Pharisees. Jesus loves us, everyone. 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)
Closing
Song: Oh
Happy Day
~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
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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