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 far from home right now. There have been many problems for her 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 had a very rough year last 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, 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 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: Chariots of Fire Theme Song
Sermon: Good afternoon. God decided to wait until the last
second to bring a sermon for us. For whatever reason also He brought a very
interesting point of view into being. In this case it has to do with fire. For
that reason we began this sermon with the theme song from the movie Chariots of
Fire. The movie was first shared in 1981. It tells the true story of two
runners in the 1926 Olympics. Eric Lidell was one of those runners. He ran not
just to run, but for the glory of God. You’ll ask what this has to do with
fire. Well, you have to have the drive to work for God. That usually means, in
one way or another, the flame that is hope in your heart stays strong.
Remember, there is light at the end of every tunnel. Now there are several
Scriptural entries about fire, specifically protective fire, or fires of
salvation. Take this one here.
II Kings 2:9-13 KJV – And it
came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what
I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray
thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou
see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it
shall not be so.
And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that,
behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them
both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the
chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he
took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and
went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
In Elijah’s case it was the protection of God given
to His prophet to maintain the goodness within him. This after the warnings
Elijah had brought to the king of Moab. The reason being that God wished to
teach the king that He was, as He is, as He will always be. Thus three sets of
soldiers were swallowed up in the fire. With that, Elijah and his family were
now in danger. To save the family of Elijah a special voyage would ensue. Thus
his son Elisha went with him, and despite the wishes of Elijah to have him stay
away, followed beside him until the chariot of fire came down to take Elijah
away. The realization that God was saving the family, and their people, made
Elisha realize that taking up his father’s mantle would give many things,
including salvation. We can add this one here in the days of Daniel.
Daniel 3:12-26 KJV – There
are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of
Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded
thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set
up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury
commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men
before the king.
Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is
it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor
worship the golden image which I have set up?
Now if ye be ready that at what time ye
hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and
all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made;
well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a
burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my
hands?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered
and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in
this matter.
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able
to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of
thine hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king,
that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast
set up.
Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and
the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego:
therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven
times more than it was wont to be heated.
And he commanded the most mighty men that
were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into
the burning fiery furnace.
Then these men were bound in their coats,
their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the
midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Therefore because the king's commandment
was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those
men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was
astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did
not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said
unto the king, True, O king.
He answered and said, Lo, I see four men
loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of
the fourth is like the Son of God.
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth
of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
Despite their being thrown
into the fiery furnace they believed. There in the midst of the fire was the
Spirit of God. That protection shares in the fact that God is with us. Because
of that we should share His day, without work, but with fellowship and love. Here
is that quote Eric Liddell offered not just from the movie Chariots of Fire
(1981) but from the Olympic spirit he held in 1926.
Eric Liddell:
God made countries, God makes kings,
and the rules by which they govern. And those rules say that the Sabbath is
His. And I for one intend to keep it that way.
Now, you’ll ask what this has to do with fire,
Ezekiel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Well, think about it this way. Even
through the fire, their belief in God didn’t waver. This is one thing we must
learn. No matter what this world throws at us as its view of a ring of fire, we
can survive if we believe in God’s love. 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)
~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 © 2015
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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