Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our sermon or
midweek study. You will normally see us posted on Sunday and Wednesday. I am
Rev. Laura A. Neff. Our ministry was built on the truth of God’s love. It
doesn’t conform to society’s wishes. This ministry shares the Word of God, the
Spirit of Christ Jesus. Those who know me well will recognize that there are
definitive differences in the creation of every sermon from this point forward.
It is God’s will that has brought this to be. We wish only that God’s truth
will be shared within His words as brought to us by the Spirit as it fills my
heart, mind, and soul to be shared with my hands, but with His words alone.
You will find us in the following location: http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
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 grows or changes every week. This is our current list.
- Please pray for Elder Cal Jennings who has been
suffering greatly with his health. May the Lord bring his spirits up and help
heal him.
- Pray for my parents and youngest brother who have just
had a serious wind storm take the roof of their home clear off about two weeks
ago.
- Please pray for relief in the trials and tribulations for Sister Theresa and myself as we have had a great many over the past year and more.
- Please pray for Sister Theresa's family. Her sister passed away earlier this week due to cancer.
- Be thankful for each day we live as we do not know what
tomorrow brings.
- Pray for our nations that the voice of God be heard through the Spirit.
- Pray for our friends and families that their tomorrows bring blessings and pray our own be the same.
- Pray for our nations that the voice of God be heard through the Spirit.
- Pray for our friends and families that their tomorrows bring blessings and pray our own be the same.
- Pray for those suffering as a result of the terrors
that have occurred just this past week around this world.
- Pray for those in North Carolina who have lost their
homes due to the severe flooding after their recent hurricane.
- Pray for those in California who are losing their homes
due to the wildfires there.
- Pray for those survivors and those lost in the earthquakes,
typhoons, and tsunamis this past month.
- Pray for our sick and wounded that they may heal.
Prayer: Father in heaven, our prayer today is to have the
Spirit bring clarity to each of our decisions. We pray for enlightenment and
understanding while studying Your Word. We thank You for these gifts and the
many more You have brought us. May our fears be drawn out of us. Help us to see
the many gifts Your love brings and the unknown locations it might be found. May
our pain and sorrow be eased. May peace be brought from our hearts and shared
with others. May Your gifts of love shine through us toward others. We pray for
the poor, the sick, the sorrowful, the wounded, and the frightened. We pray for
the soldiers, the Samaritans, the children, and the rest. We pray in
thanksgiving for every gift brought us. We pray that every tomorrow would bring
good things. For each of these we pray in Your Holy Name, through our Savior
Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.
Opening Song: One True God – Steven Curtis Chapman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN9anMOoS4Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN9anMOoS4Q
Sermon: Today’s sermon was influenced by a discussion my
sons were having regarding Jesus with a whip herding out the money changers
from the temple. They were asking me, “Mom, did that really happen?” Well, I
told them, “Yes, and the Pharisees and others did not like it one bit.” So, let’s
look at how the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John portray this incident
that proves a point. We will get into what that point is after the verses from
those gospels.
Matthew
21:12-13 (KJV) – And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them
that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the
moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Jesus wasn’t having it at all when He saw how the
moneychangers were cheating the ones who entered the temple. It was strictly against
God’s Word. Jesus pointed it out to them, by cracking a literal whip made out
of palm leaves. There are times we see and hear some sermons and methods in
today’s churches that are quite a lot like the one our Lord Jesus walked into
and cracked His whip over. Let’s see how the other Gospels share this incident.
Mark
11:15-18 (KJV) – And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple,
and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew
the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.
And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.
Doing this made many enemies for Jesus and His Apostles
and Disciples. True believers do as Jesus would do, not as the pocketbooks of
others would say should be done. Let’s share what Luke and John had to say
about their recollections regarding this same day in Scripture.
Luke
19:45-46 (KJV) – And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that
sold therein, and them that bought;
4Saying
unto them, “It is written, ‘My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made
it a den of thieves.’”
Luke puts this one straight forward, no extra
embellishment. He says it like it should be, short, sweet, and directly to the
point. Let’s see how John the Beloved shared this memory.
John
2:13-17 (KJV) – And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem.
And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
And said unto them that sold doves, “Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.”
And his disciples remembered that it was written, ‘The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.’
And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
And said unto them that sold doves, “Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.”
And his disciples remembered that it was written, ‘The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.’
Obviously, Jesus was not having it. He was giving them a
physical reminder of the Word of God and how it should be seen, read,
interpreted, and put into action. What these money changers were doing was
perverting the true Word of God by corrupting God’s House and the practices
within it. We see a lot of this today, and most times we ignore it. Like my
sons and their discussion, sometimes there needs to be more than words to
portray God’s truth. There are times when it takes some form of action to prove
His point. Now that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer that
Jesus taught us saying:
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: Our God is an Awesome God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP9BjKnDaFk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP9BjKnDaFk
~ Shalom ~
Rev. Laura A. Neff
Elder Calvin Jennings
Covenant of Hope Ministries Main Site: http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
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 http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
Our mission for Covenant of Hope Ministries is not to
exploit fear, but to conquer it, and overcome all that is created through fear
together as the bringers of the light of Jesus found in the midst of darkness.
