Sunday December 21, 2014
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.
- Pray for those who travel this week as we celebrate the Christmas gift of Jesus' birth.
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 thank you for the gifts of inspiration through the Spirit. May each inspiration fill the heart and bring hope and faith to others. 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 those who
are traveling home this weekend that they may have a safe journey. We pray for
patience and courage for those we love and care about, and ourselves as well.
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.
Opening Song: What Child Is This
Sermon: Good afternoon. Today we are having an extremely simple sermon. It has a single verse and a poem inspired by God this morning as I was just waking. When He speaks to my heart and soul my spirit puts it in words. May His gift bring you an understanding of His ultimate love.
Luke 2:7 KJV – And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Mary and Joseph could go no further as Jesus was hurrying to be born. In so many ways we must reflect on the greatest gift, the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ as promised by God so many years before. In today's world there are many who forget the promises He made. They also tend to forget the things Jesus did while He walked the earth. At this time as we celebrate His birth, let us remember that a little humility goes a long way. Those who give, no matter what they have, or have not, share some amazing stories. Here would be one long poem God brought me this morning long before dawn.
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: The Gift of Life
~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.
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