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. At this time, he is in the hospital once
more. May the Lord bring his spirits up and help heal him.
- Pray for my grandmother, who is at this moment in the
hospital with a broken vertebra in her back set for surgery tomorrow morning.
She is 101 years old.
- Please pray for relief in the trials and tribulations for Sister Theresa due to pain from a terrible hit and run accident late last year.
- Please pray for relief in the trials and tribulations for Sister Theresa due to pain from a terrible hit and run accident late last year.
- 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 suffering in the Midwest due to the
severe flooding after their recent storms.
- Pray for our sick and wounded that they may heal.
Prayer: Father
in heaven, our prayer today is to have the Spirit bring healing to each of our bodies,
minds, spirits, and souls. 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: Believe - Shawn Mendes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZMYO_iT-r0
Sermon:
We
have been studying the ideal of belief and believing in God through the Word of
Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. To know that the Spirit is with
us, no matter what, is a powerful gift of God’s unconditional love through the
sacrifice Jesus Christ made on that cross two millennia and more ago now. Every
day we should remember, reflect, and share how the gift of believing in God and
Jesus through the Holy Spirit moves us, and builds us up. John the Beloved
shares much regarding his experience as an Apostle of Jesus. He wrote his
portion of Biblical Scripture much later than Matthew, Mark, or Luke would have
done. Let’s start here.
John
1:6-7 KJV – There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to
bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
John wants to share with us the fact that he was there,
up front and in person, with the man that changed many with the true view of
God’s grace. Jesus brought the Holy Spirit to light and shared that we should
believe the truth as more than what we can see with our eyes, but see with our
hearts, minds, and spirits as well.
John
1:12 KJV – But as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name:
It is a powerful gift to be given the
right to be sons and daughters of God directly through Jesus. It is even more
powerful than being the descendants of Adam and Eve, which all of us are in one
way or another. Through Jesus, and our belief in Him, we transform ourselves
into purer vessels of God’s love, filled with His truth through the gifts Jesus
Christ brought us with His life, ministry, and mission. Believing has to be
complete, and Jesus reminded His apostles over and over again.
John
3:12 KJV – If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how
shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
Remember the prayer that Jesus taught. It says things are
done here as they are in heaven. If something is created through natural means
here, it is the same in heaven. If humanity or nature itself destroys something
here, it is also destroyed in heaven. Jesus predicted all of this, including
the day when many would simply stop believing in God and Jesus altogether.
John
4:21 KJV – Jesus saith
unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye
shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Now see it through the eyes of His apostles. John shares
what he realized during those days, even far into his life. In this case, Jesus
was teaching the Samaritans, and they all were amazed at what they learned.
Jesus is, as He was, the ultimate teacher regarding unconditional love. He did
not condemn anyone for being sick or failing to understand. He simply taught
them and allows, even now, each of us to take our time to understand what
belief is as a whole.
John
4:42 KJV – And said unto
the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him
ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
Miracles and other signs that God is
with us are only a part of God’s glory. John is sharing how Jesus felt about
this. He scolded people about the “seeing is believing” thought. Believe and
you shall see, that’s God’s way, and the way Jesus taught. The Holy Spirit is
there right in front of you, even if you can’t see it, hear it, or feel it.
Know, the Holy Spirit is there, regardless.
John
4:48 KJV – Then said
Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye
will not believe.
Again, Jesus scolds the Apostles. He does so, sharing
this.
John
5:38 KJV – And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath
sent, him ye believe not.
Jesus continues to portray belief versus unbelief through
a lot of the gospel. John himself shares that He wants us to believe fully in
what Jesus taught, said, or did through the short thirty-three years Jesus was
on this earth to live, teach, and preach the truth of God’s Word, because Jesus
is the Word made manifest.
John
5:44-47 KJV – How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek
not the honour that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will
accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom
ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he
wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my
words?
Jesus was adamant that the Word existed on this earth
long, long, before He was born as man and lived amongst them. Understanding
what that meant, even then, was no simple thing. It still isn’t all that simple
now. Believing is more than seeing, hearing, even feeling or experiencing.
Believing takes all of that and more. This is why we have to study, learning
how belief works for each of us individually. The reason is simple. Every
person is different. They come to the realization of God’s grace and
unconditional love in completely different ways. The belief that Christ died
for us is something that is as personal as it is universal. 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: Personal Jesus – Johnny Cash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpYW3qng78E
~ 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.
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