Good
afternoon, welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries. My name is Rev. Laura A.
Neff, the Rainbow Minister. The choice for Rainbow has to do with the fact that
the rainbow symbolizes a promise made and one that can and will be kept. I
made, long ago, a promise to God that I would do all I could to keep that faith
within me. We are normally posted on Sundays for sermons and Wednesdays for
studies. You can find these posted in the following locations.
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 pray for a friend Susie
Bartholow as she is in hospice. She is in very grave condition with cancer.
Hospice care is in her home with her family. Keep them all in your thoughts and
prayers.
- Please
pray for a friend of ours, Lucy, whose liver is failing. She is going to be on
medication but may need a transplant. Pray that the first option works and she
returns to health.
- Pray for
a friend of my brother’s, who is in stable condition, but she still is not out
of the woods. She is far from home right now. It is our hope that she will
return and be here to complete her healing and more.
- Pray for
our members Theresa and Wayne who have had a very rough year. May some of their
trials and tribulations end in time for our celebration of the birth of Jesus.
- Pray for
those near and far who have been suffering in battles that do not have to be.
Pray that peace can be found amidst the fear and anger, frustration and more.
May hope blossom and bring that peace once more.
- Pray for
our friends and our enemies as we reach the middle of the Advent season. May
they all find that the gift of God’s Son, Jesus, holds the hope and faith
everyone seeks.
- Keep hope
alive in your prayers no matter the pain or strife we might suffer.
- May God
bless every one of us as we continue on.
Prayer: Father in heaven, we
thank You for this day and for these who are here to share it with us. We thank
you for the blessings brought and for those yet to come. We pray that You can
remind us always what we should be looking forward to. We bring prayers for
those who have been seriously ill. Help those who are working to fight serious
illnesses the ability to find solutions. We pray for those lost and those who
mourn. We pray for patience and courage for those we love and care about, and
ourselves as well. We pray for joy and happiness in the hearts of all as we
near the celebration of the birth of Jesus our Savior. We pray for peace to
reach out from the heart and be heard, felt, and understood. We pray that Your
grace and love would fill the hearts of the many in this world. We pray all
this in Your Holy Name through the Savior Jesus Christ, and the gift of the
Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.
Sermon: Good afternoon. Today we talk about the voyage to
Bethlehem. It is getting nearer and nearer to the birth of Jesus in the
celebration of Advent. Yes, we are going one step at a time, but then God has
always moved at His pace, not ours. Notice, he let Elizabeth and Zacharias know
about John. Then they learned about Mary expecting Jesus through the Holy
Spirit. Here today we see the birth of John, and then the voyage to Bethlehem
for Mary and Joseph.
Luke 1:63 KJV
– And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is
John. And they marveled all.
And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
See what it says? The gift
of speech was returned to Zacharias once he gave the name his son would have.
It was the name that the angel told him God wished for the child to have.
Zacharias at the time didn’t want to believe that Elizabeth would have a child.
She wasn’t all that young at the time of conception. He also didn’t want to
believe that such an unusual name would go to his son. Thus his ability to
speak had been taken from him. One never knows how much the gift of speech and
speaking is worth, no matter if it is in writing, in Sign Language, or in being
aloud.
It was the gift of God that
brought both John and Jesus to be. Notice too that they were both from the
family of David’s line. They both would preach the gospel of God and what
needed doing to reach the kingdom of heaven. It all began in a visit from an
angel, the angel Gabriel. Here we see the journey toward the birth of Jesus in
the voyage to Bethlehem.
Luke 2:1-5 KJV
– And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree
from Caesar Augustus, that all the world would be taxed.
And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.
And all went to be taxes, every one into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: (because he was of the house and lineage of David: )
To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.
And all went to be taxes, every one into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: (because he was of the house and lineage of David: )
To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
Joseph and Mary didn’t have a choice but to travel
even with her great with child. Think about it, traveling anywhere, especially
in those days, was not good for a woman expecting a baby. It didn’t matter the
distance. This is why she rode on a donkey in place of walking on foot. Yet
they had no choices in this thought and consideration due to the laws of the
land as dictated by Caesar Augustus.
The city of Bethlehem, David’s city. Both Mary and Joseph had a connection to David, just from different directions. However, it was always the man who had to go for this as women were, unless they had been widows, were always completely supported by their husbands in those days. It is no wonder she would give birth in the city of David.
This too had been foretold. A savior born as a descendant of David in the city of that same great king. It was a promise from God to David that salvation would be found in his lineage, his progeny. It’s amazing what God’s love can bring to a heart. That’s what He did with His messenger Gabriel for Elizabeth, Zacharias, Mary, and Joseph too. The time was getting closer and closer for that gift of God’s grace and spirit to bring the promise made so many generations before. It’s so amazing that the gift of God’s grace could be brought to David in David’s city, so far into the future. Now, that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer that Jesus brought us.
The city of Bethlehem, David’s city. Both Mary and Joseph had a connection to David, just from different directions. However, it was always the man who had to go for this as women were, unless they had been widows, were always completely supported by their husbands in those days. It is no wonder she would give birth in the city of David.
This too had been foretold. A savior born as a descendant of David in the city of that same great king. It was a promise from God to David that salvation would be found in his lineage, his progeny. It’s amazing what God’s love can bring to a heart. That’s what He did with His messenger Gabriel for Elizabeth, Zacharias, Mary, and Joseph too. The time was getting closer and closer for that gift of God’s grace and spirit to bring the promise made so many generations before. It’s so amazing that the gift of God’s grace could be brought to David in David’s city, so far into the future. Now, that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer that Jesus brought us.
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)
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: Oh Little Town of Bethlehem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19rL_8W3oRU
~Shalom~
Rev. Laura A. Neff ~ The Rainbow Minister
Covenant of Hope Ministries
Main Site:
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 © 2014
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.
This mission statement speaks of the rainbow in the darkness.
Every time I would have a seriously traumatic thing happen in my life I would
wake in the middle of the night. When I do I see a rainbow at the end of my
bed, or even through the window behind my head. I’ll see that rainbow in a dark
room even during the day. It will hover in the shadows and reassure me that God
is with me.
Thank you Rev. Laura. That was a wonderful sermon. Thank you also for including Lucy in the prayer request. I appreciate it very much. Where two or three are gathered, there is He also. ;)
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome, my dear friend. Thank you for the compliment. God has been so good, even with His last minute blast me out of my socks. Amen and so it shall be.
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