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 that the good tidings
which have occurred for my family far away from me would continue for as long
as it can be.
- 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 my nearby family
members as we are going through some tough times here.
- Please pray for Elder Cal Jennings
as he is going through a whole lot health wise and emotionally as well. Please
pray that he will be able to find and follow inspiration still.
- 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 each of the blessings brought and for those yet to come. We pray that
You would remind us always what we should be looking forward to. We bring fervent
prayers for those who have been seriously ill. Help those who are working to
fight those serious illnesses the ability to find solutions. We pray for those
lost from this part of life and those who mourn. We pray for all those who are
victims of violence, that they might find solace, safe haven, and understanding.
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: Step Out In Faith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88vzs20HV38
Sermon: Good afternoon. Today’s inspiration came very near
midday this day while praying to find an answer to what the Spirit was trying
to tell me since Sunday. That answer came to me in these verses from Scripture.
The first pair of those verses would be here.
I
Thessalonians 1:3-4 KJV – Remember without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love,
and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our
Father;
Knowing brethren beloved, your election of God.
Knowing brethren beloved, your election of God.
I have known many who have
lost their faith. Their love for the fact that they are reaching out to Christ
Jesus. Their love of God. The patience for those I have known, and most likely
for those I do not know. Yes, even for myself, patience of hope is sometimes
difficult to obtain, and then also no easy thing to keep hold of. We are always
in the sight of God the Father. We are always given the hope in His gift of His
Son Jesus Christ. God has given us the path toward salvation. He gave it to us
in the sacrifice His Son accepted, even with the fact He felt His job as flesh
and blood, a man, was hardly complete. Yet, His work continues in the hearts of
those who believe. Have faith in your love of God, of Christ. That’s why the
gift of the Holy Spirit was brought down. It was to show His faith in us. That
gift was to prove His love for us. It was also to give each and every one of us
the hope that one day we’d see paradise as God had promised Abraham long ago.
This is where holding on to that faith comes in. That’s where courage comes in.
Here we see how that factors in.
I
Thessalonians 5:8-9 KJV – But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate
of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
It might not say courage. It might not seem like courage portrayed.
However, look at it this way. A breastplate, even metaphorically, would be
armor, protection. The protection of faith and love. The helmet brings us hope
for our salvation. Look at this! Heart, spirit and soul, with our minds, our
knowledge and wisdom, also connect to salvation. God brings each and every
portion, all we have to do is reach out and grab it. That’s where we’ll find
peace. 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: Faith Hope Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlQVQhgT2Ac
~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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