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.
- Pray for all the fathers
in this world that they may be there to love and protect their sons and
daughters, appreciate their choices even if they are not the dreams that were
had by yourselves.
- Please continue praying
for a friend Susie Bartholow as she is, as far as I know, still in hospice. She
has been in very grave condition with cancer. She is home with her family while
in hospice care.
- 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 members
Theresa and Wayne that their trials and tribulations would cease. Theresa has
been going through a whole lot of housing situations for the last two years.
Her finances are suffering greatly as a result.
- 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.
Prayer:
Father in heaven, we thank You for this day and for those who are here to share
it with us. We thank You for blessings You bring to each of us. We are thankful
for our fathers as they are a gift You have brought us. 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 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: Teach Your
Children Well https://youtu.be/QTqXAZn9Ynk
Sermon:
Good
afternoon. Today we have a new inspiration brought by the Spirit of God. Now,
in the United States we celebrate Father’s Day. There are many ways to celebrate
our fathers. The true ways would be to honor not only our earthly father, but
our heavenly Father as well. You see, without our heavenly Father we wouldn’t
have fathers. There are some who do not appreciate fatherhood. However, there’s
always the potential for them to see what being a father can do. In my lifetime
I have seen many who share that view, the appreciation, the love, the care for
their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. You see, when you honor
your father, you honor those grandfathers, great grandfathers, and so forth
back in history. Here is what has been given to us today.
Ephesians
6:1-4 KJV – Children
obey your parents to the Lord: for this is right.
Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise.
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise.
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Notice this series of verses
share two sides of parenting. It shows that children should listen and hear
what their fathers are saying. The fathers need to realize whether they are
setting a good example for their children. They also need to see how their
treatment of each child affects that child and those around him or her. Here we
see yet another view of honoring, appreciating, our fathers.
Proverbs
23:22 KJV – Hearken
unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
In life age should never matter. You see, from the first day of our lives, and long after our fathers would leave this view of life, they will always be there in our hearts, our minds, and our memories. The bad parts of life will fade as time passes. The good memories, the happy ones that bring laughter, those are the ones that stick with us. That’s the way it should be. For some who are growing up without their biological fathers, they may be able to look up to a grandfather, an uncle, or at stepfather. In all views the gift of their knowledge and wisdom brings still more dimensions to our views of fatherhood and carry on until boys become men and then also become fathers themselves. Yes, fathers also influence their daughters. They share their love in so many ways. There is the treatment of the child’s mother, their siblings, our grandparents, and their grandparents as well. This regardless of their being alive on earth or solely in our hearts.
Exodus
20:12 KJV – Honour
thy father and thy mother: that the days may be long upon the land upon the
land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Ah, here’s yet another view
of fatherhood and how we should treat and remember our fathers. You see, life
is as long as God dictates, however, that lifeline can grow just by listening,
hearing, sharing, and gathering wisdom from that. The gifts brought in that
knowledge would pass down from generation to generation and bring amazing
things if we allow the good to shine brighter than the bad.
Deuteronomy
5:16 KJV – Honour
thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy
days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the
LORD thy God giveth thee.
Ah, here we see something
very familiar from Scripture. That would be the commandment – Honor your father
and your mother. It isn’t always easy to do such. When a father teaches a
child, that influence can cause a child to run. Take, for example, the parable
of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32 KJV) and you will see quite a lot as to how
a son doesn’t want to do just that, and then later realizes how important his
father would be. Yes, I just gave you some homework in regard to seeing just
how important a father can be to each of us.
Colossians
3:21 KJV – Fathers,
provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
Now, here’s an interesting
one. This one again can reflect the prodigal son. You’ll ask how. Well, in the
parable the son gets to the point of being completely destitute (Luke 17-20)
and realizes how wrong he had been. In the following verse he is home with his
father and professes that he’s been against all that was taught to him in his
lifetime. What does his father do? He celebrates the fact that his younger son
has returned to their home.
Here it comes. Now that the
younger brother is home, the older one gets angry at the fact he’s being
treated to a feast and more. This is where parenting, fatherhood, can prove
both interesting and incredible all at once. If you read the last two verses
(Luke 15:31-32) you find his father’s calming spirit shared in the view that
his love is one of gratitude, that everything that his father has would one day
belong to him. The view his father shares is that even though they were celebrating
there was a good reason to do so. Not only was his younger son home once more.
That same son’s little brother was the same. This is how we honor and respect
our fathers. We have to see through their eyes.
Genesis
18:19 KJV – For
I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and
they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD
may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Ah, here we go yet again. Abraham, the
father of nations. You see, that gift of fatherhood was given to him by the
Heavenly Father. This is something many forget. Fathers in all views are a
gift, as we are gifts to them. That is something God has done His best to
share, not only with our fathers, but with each and every one of us. 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)
Closing
Song: Through the Eyes
of My Father https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7SH9eP7Q_o
~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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