Covenant
of Hope Ministries Sunday Sermon_5_4_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 us
posted on Sundays and studies on Wednesday. Our locations are online only:
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 Elder Cal Jennings in your prayers as he is very
sick spending most of his weeks extremely weak and in bed. He is praying to continue his work for the Lord. Please pray with him so that the Lord may bless us with Cal's wisdom, even for a little while.
- Please pray for my friend Theresa’s sister who is in stage
four cancer. Now it has been learned that two of her sisters are suffering from
cancer or other issues related to it. One of those sisters has been given
antibiotics for an infection and is coming home. Pray that she continues to get
stronger.
- Please keep our member Wayne Bartosh in prayer for his trials
and tribulations that he may receive mercy and hope in Jesus.
- Please keep an elderly couple in your prayers still, they are
in their eighties, and the woman just had surgery. She came out of it well, and
is healing. May the Lord bless them and keep the two together, even if just for
a little while here on this earth.
- 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. My physical being continues as it has been.
Those who have seen pictures have said so. We have been given an avenue, pray
that the avenue opens to a larger path toward all the relief we need as a
family.
- Pray also for guidance in relation to one member of the
family, that our frustrations be soothed in His grace.
- 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.
- Pray that I may be able to get in touch with all of our
membership, even with the shortest of notes, just to say hello and I’m thinking
about each of you.
- 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.
- Please keep a friend, Debby, in your prayers for a swift
recovery after major cancer surgery.
- Continue your prayers for Phoebe Fair’s family as they
continue to grieve her loss.
- 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.
Prayer:
Father in heaven, we thank You for this day and for these who
are here to share it with us. We praise You for the gifts of flowers for faith,
love, and happiness. We praise You for bringing us hope in our days of trouble.
We pray for our families, friends, and even those we do not know, that they
find peace, joy, and happiness in Your Holy Name, through Jesus Christ our
Savior, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.
Sermon:
This
week we are looking at flowers in Scripture. The Lord has decided we need to
quite literally get out and smell the flowers. He doesn’t necessarily mean go
to your back yard and find one. He means to find them in your heart, your mind,
your spirit, and let it bloom to fill your soul with love, hope, faith, and so
many more blessings. Now, add to that, He led me to the different flowers in
Scripture. Those include the lily, the rose, and the jacinth or hyacinth. Now,
I’ve seen and shared all of these with those who love me as I love them. I’ve
even given them to people I barely know. It’s amazing what a single blossom can
do for a heart, a spirit. Let’s start here to share what it is to have lilies
in Scripture.
I Kings 6:18 KJV – And the cedar of the house
within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar, there was no
stone seen.
Notice
here we only see the word flowers in this version of Scripture. In other
versions of the Scriptures we see nearly identical viewpoints. This is where we
see unity, not just between Christians on different levels, but within the
Scripture translations themselves. Each of the writers, translators, etc., all
saw, and see, the very same thing, even with minor changes. God did something
with just a few words. He helped us smell the flowers, the beautiful lily, and
see it in a different point of view. Let’s see what other views are brought to
us in I Kings 7:19 KJV – And the chapiters that were on top of the pillars were of
lily work in the porch, four cubits.
Now,
cubits would be how the Hebrews measured everything. The lilies used four
cubits worth of space. In our measurements it would be seventeen to twenty-one
inches or forty-three to fifty-three centimeters. It’s not a whole lot of
space, but enough to bring beauty there. Now, we’ll look at another verse here
in I Kings 7:22 KJV – And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the
work of the pillars finished.
Now,
here’s a question. Are the lilies carvings, or are they the blossoms? Perhaps
they are both. This is my thought, that there would be lilies of both styles.
Why do I see this, or why has He shown me this? The lilies of the earth blossom
from a seed, live for a while, and die. The carvings of lilies last forever.
Perhaps it is a view of living on earth and living in the paradise of eternal
life. Let’s take a look at our next view. This time we are looking at Hosea 14:5 KJV – I
will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily and cast forth his
roots unto Lebanon.
God
wants us to see that our faith brings hope in the growth found in the beauty of
the lily. The flowers, because they grow, and grow, take root, and prove their
strength, every year. Now, the gift of strength in the times when we need it
most would be a blessing that blossoms in our hearts like the lily in the
valley. Here we see the only view of both the rose and the lily together. Let’s
take a look at this viewpoint of God through Solomon. Song
of Solomon 2:1-2 KJV – (Rose and Lily) I am
the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys.
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
Who
are the daughters? The rose and the lily represent love. Sharon is a place in
or around Israel. The words I am the rose of Sharon, in other versions would be
“the bride” or “she”. How interesting to see this, I am the bride, she who is
the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys. Even among the thorns that are
the pains and sorrows of life, her love is among the daughters, How awesome
that is.
Isaiah 35:1 KJV – The wilderness and the
solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and
blossom as the rose.
Love,
even in the wilderness, the confusion of life, as well as the points where we
are alone, that is where we will still see the blossom of the rose. Why is
that? The wilderness, the solitary place, and the desert will gain the gift of
the rose. That is the gift of hope. It is a piece of love that grows as love
should, and would do. Let us look further into the views of the rose. Here we
see Jesus speaking of the lilies and roses.
Matthew 6:28-29 KJV – And why take ye thought for
raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,
neither do they spin.
And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these.
We
worry about where we’re going to get things, everything, anything. When we do,
Jesus reminds us the gift of love is more important. We have enough, and that
is as it should be. The fact that we do have enough would, as we often fail to
see, is something that others don’t have. It is when we see where we have more
than enough that we bring the gifts left over to those who have none. It is the
gift of the rose, the shared beauty of life. You see, you can’t have a broader
view of love, faith, or peace, until you share them.
Revelation 21:20 KJV – The fifth sardonyx; the sixth
sardius; the seventh chrysolyte; the eighth beryl; the ninth a topaz; the tenth
a crysoprasus; the eleventh a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
Sardonyx
is a stone also known as a type of chalcedony. It is a white, milky toned stone
often used in cameos. Sardius is thought to be a precious stone, a ruby.
Chrysolyte, according to the dictionary, is only a golden or green stone. It is
not given a definitive view as to type of stone beyond that. Beryl is a mineral
that can be many different colors, most often green but can include red, white,
and golden. They can be opaque or transparent. Emeralds and aquamarine are the
latter. Another stone, a gemstone, topaz, and then chrysoprasus, which is a
greenish-golden toned precious stone. We come to the jacinth, also known as the
hyacinth, which can be seen in various ways. The flower shaped like a bouquet,
a reddish-orange zircon, or thought to be either amethyst or sapphire. The last
would be the amethyst which automatically makes me believe that God meant for
the jacinth to be nearer the sapphire. What is it about the flowers in
Scripture? Their beauty proves that God’s love is more than what we see. There
is a reason they blossom, grow, and then die only to return again. Our hope,
our faith and love and more can bloom, grow, die, and then come right back to
us when we realize it was there to begin with. 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: Lily
of the Valley ~ Rose of Sharon
~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.
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