Covenant
of Hope Ministries Sunday Sermon originally posted_5_25_2014
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
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.
- Pray for my parents and youngest brother who would have
lost their dog Shadow just two days ago now. He was a faithful companion for
nearly sixteen years.
- Please pray for relief in the trials and tribulations for
Sister Theresa and myself as we have had a great many over the past year and
more.
- 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: Blessed
Are The Meek
Sermon:
Once
when I was a girl I was learning to sing a hymn for the Christmas, Advent,
season. I would always get the words mixed up. When I would sing it I would say
meek and mild as opposed to tender and mild, the lyrics from Silent Night. What
is the difference between tender and meek? In truth, there isn’t much of one. In
fact, there is even a prayer that combines the words tender, meek, and mild.
The prayer is titled Tender Jesus, Meek and Mild.
Tender Jesus, meek and mild,
Look on me, a little child;
Help me, if it is Thy will,
To recover from all ill. Amen.
In
a lot of ways many of us have needed this prayer. It shares with us what God
and Jesus were and are telling us that meekness isn’t weakness. It’s
willingness to see and understand. That is why Jesus said to come to Him as a
little child. Let’s see what the Scripture says about being meek starting here.
Psalm 147:6 KJV – The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.
Psalm 147:6 KJV – The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.
So, what does it mean to be meek? It means to be willingly humble. Yes, true humility must be accepted fully, in order to realize that God is here for us, no matter what. Jesus has been here, and still is, with God in the Spirit. All we have to do is look for that gift as the meek, the humble, the ones who are willing to understand. What is promised if we do so? Well, Jesus said so Himself as we remember here in the Gospel.
Matthew 5:5 KJV – Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
That
is some inheritance, you realize. To inherit the earth, but what does this mean?
Does it mean the earth as it is now, or the one that was meant to be? Well, in
fact it means the earth restored to what it should be. This is what the meek
shall inherit. Now, that is one huge gift for those of us who are willing to
listen, to hear, to understand, and to share that understanding with others.
Psalm 22:26 KJV – The meek shall eat and be
satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
Ah,
we shall eat and be satisfied. We shall praise the LORD as we seek Him. His
heart, as well as ours, would live forever as a result. That’s not just any promise,
that’s the ultimate promise, because it shares eternal life, the gift of God’s
eternal and boundless love. Yet, of course, we must first learn how to seek the
LORD as one of the meek. This is where we find us looking at this verse.
Zephaniah 2:3 KJV – Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgement; seek righteousness, seek meekness:It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.
Zephaniah 2:3 KJV – Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgement; seek righteousness, seek meekness:It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.
What
does it mean to be meek? Well, it means we’re protected by our own willingness
to hear and understand, to follow faith through love. That will protect us from
anything that might come to be. It is a true gift, as the gift of eternal and
unconditional love should be. 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: Meekness
and Majesty
~Shalom~
Covenant
of Hope Ministries
Our Main Video Feed: Covenant_of_Hope
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 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.
Is it possible to be meek and bold at the same time as in the following verse?
ReplyDeleteEphesians 6:19-20
King James Version (KJV)
19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Yes, because in our willingness to hold His love within we speak boldly in His name. Just because we are meek, doesn't mean we are weak and should do nothing. Speaking boldly in the name of the LORD is just as important as willingly listening and hearing to His Word would be.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I've always wondered about that one.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, my friend. For a long time I wondered the same. It was an inspiration, much like this morning's sermon, that had me looking further and much more closely at the definition of the word meek. I double checked my memory with that one this morning too.
Delete