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.
Main Site: http://covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com/
Rev. Laura's Other Sites: Facebook & Twitter & Google+ & Blogspot
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 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.
- 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 each of the blessings You bring to all of us. We
pray that You might 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: I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CBtA1A-cR8&index=117&list=PL614A115BF39E5936
Sermon:
Good afternoon. Today inspiration comes from the after effects of what has been
going on in this world. What would this be? Hate. We have seen hate in many
forms, age, gender, religion, political views, and everything else. Everyone
has their separate beliefs. Just because those beliefs don’t match our own
wouldn’t mean that we can’t love each other still. So, now it’s time to get
advice that doesn’t come from a column in the newspaper. It comes straight from
the words of Jesus. Scripture says love one another. It doesn’t say love him or
her if she’s just like you in thoughts, actions, or whatever. There are all
sorts of instances that we find, within the New Testament shares in regard to
loving one another. The most often read, quoted, and so forth comes from Jesus’
own mouth. Let’s look here.
John
13:34-35 KJV – A new
commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another.
Here it is again, emphasized in the words of Jesus to love one another. Let's take a look in a different chapter in the Gospel of John. Here is one of my favorite segments in all of Scripture.
John
15:12-17 KJV – This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have
loved you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends.
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what the lord
doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my
Father I have made known unto you.
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye
shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give to you.
Jesus says many, many times here that love brings us out and away from feeling subservient. It can indeed make us friends one to another. All we have to remember is that love is brought from within, and shared with those around us. It doesn't matter, as was said before, who you believe, what you believe in, and so on. Let's see how His love is shared further in Scripture.
Romans
12:10 KJV – Be
kindly affections one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one
another;
Romans
13:8 KJV – Owe no man any
thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the
law.
It's not about things, money, or whatever else. It's all about love. This is our biggest debt toward each other. With love even if we don't like the things each other. With love, even if we don't like the things each of those around us would do, love should still be there. Why is that? It's quite simple. Jesus once said while hanging on the cross. "Father forgive; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34 KJV)There are many times we actually don’t have any idea what
we’re doing to each other. Pain and sorrow may be felt, in many different ways,
but it isn’t always seen. You’ve heard the phrase, what you see is what you
get. In the case of love, you have to look beyond the hugs, the kisses, the
smiles and laughter. You have to see that love in the heart, the spirit, and the
soul of one another. There is that portion in each and every person. It just
isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it is, quite literally, under wraps, hidden
from view. There are no explanations as to why love is often hidden under the
proverbial bushes. It just is in too many ways. This view of Scripture, to love
one another, is one which God in His infinite wisdom, has shown me must be
shared over the next few weeks. There are too many reasons Jesus and His love
brings these verses to me to write here. Some of those have been seen in recent
events. Others have spread over an entire lifetime, and that doesn’t have an
age group or limit in the description. So, love one another, as He loves us. It
doesn’t say love this person because he or she is just like you. It doesn’t say
hate this person because they aren’t like you. He says ‘love one another, as I have loved you’.
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: Jesus Loves the
Little Children
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CBtA1A-cR8&index=117&list=PL614A115BF39E5936
~Shalom~Rev. Laura A. Neff ~ The Rainbow Minister
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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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