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 eache of 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 who suffer
pain, that their pain be relieved. We pray for those lost and those who mourn. We
pray for all those who are victims of violence. 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 the little miracles every day will show us Your love in new and unique
ways. 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: And Can
It Be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDKW9fuSulU&list=PL614A115BF39E5936&index=33
Sermon: Good
afternoon. Today’s inspiration came one or two days ago in the form of a pair
of verses. That pair of verses would have been mentioned by a new friend
introduced to me by our Elder Cal Jennings, who contributed to that pair of
verses. With that we are going to show those two along with the ones between.
Not just because they are very much significant in our learning to love and
understand Christ, but in the fact that we need to see it, hear it, and know
it, for reasons even we might not be aware of. The verses are here.
John 3:13-18 KJV – And no man hath ascended up
to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in
heaven.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Truthfully there are eight cross references
that could be considered here. However, those are not to be gotten into today
as these are the verses the Spirit tells me must be shared. Here we find Jesus
speaking to the Apostles and to one Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Nicodemus was one
Pharisee who realized just who Jesus would be. He asks him a question and Jesus
answers. These few verses are part of that lesson taught. They are the ones
shared most often.
Yet they are not all shared in the same view
depending on which version of Scripture would be used. This is yet another
reason to bring these verses to light this day. The only way to know the truth
is to recognize that some things get narrowed down too much, so the details
that many don’t see as important get glossed over, lost in translation.
When we do that, do we not also get lost
within those translations? Every view of Scripture is different, seen through a
separate point of view. Translated in a different era. Yet there are a select
few that keep every last verse exactly as it was written in ancient times.
Three of them to be exact. One of those three happens to be the King James, of
which I am nearly constant in its use. This is yet another reason for us to
teach in every view because man sees things differently as life gets further
and further from the days Jesus walked this earth with a man’s feet. He still
walks the earth, but not without the help of those who hold Him in their
hearts. You see, if we hold Him in our hearts, we share the truth as He shared
it right here in John chapter 3. These few verses are only a small portion of
that lesson Jesus taught. Yet, today He is still teaching that very same
lesson. Why is that? The answer is simple. There is always a new generation
waiting to learn. This is why we have teachers, as the great Teacher would wish
us to be. So remember, each time you think about Jesus and what His love has
brought, it all started making sense when many came and simply asked the
questions to bring understanding, leading to wisdom in His word and 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)
Closing Song: God So
Loved https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIvf238Vh3c
~Shalom~
Rev.
Laura A. Neff ~ The Rainbow Minister
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
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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