Successfully Teaching the Word Takes More Than Words

Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our week of Thanksgiving sermon. You will normally see us posted on Sunday and sometimes on 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.

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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.

- Pray for my granddaughter Maria. She is getting stronger and bigger every day. At this time, she is nearly 3 pounds, and 3 weeks of age. She is eating, and breathing on her own, an amazing view of the gift of God’s grace and love.

- Please pray for Elder Cal Jennings who has been suffering greatly with his health. His pain levels have been astronomical, and the doctors do not understand that taking certain medications away would not be helpful at this point in time. May the Lord bring his spirits up and help heal him.

- 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 those traveling home for the holiday to share with family for Thanksgiving. May their travels be safe, secure, and easily managed.

- Pray for those suffering as a result of the terrors that have occurred just this past week around this world.

- Pray for our sick and wounded that they may heal.

Prayer: Father in heaven, our prayer today is for the gift of the Holy Spirit to surround each of us with Your healing touch. We pray for peace within each of us and for the ability to share that peace, creating the perfect view of everyone and everything here on this earth. We pray for the many who are sick in or out of the hospital. We pray for those who are in pain, that their pains be eased. We pray for those who have lost loved ones this week. We pray for forgiveness in our ignorance and pray for enlightenment as we study Your Eternal Word. We pray for peace around this world. We pray for justice and for empathy in the terrible things that have happened this past week. 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: Give Thanks ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk_7wUR2Wdg&list=PL614A115BF39E5936&index=133

 

Sermon: We here in the United States, would be preparing for Thanksgiving. It is a time to remember the trials and tribulations of coming to a new country, and working hard to transform this country into a home, not a vacation, not easy, but worth every moment, no matter the trials and tribulations of life. While we pause to celebrate family and friendship, we should also look at Scripture in a way that proves there is a reason to give thanks, not just one day out of the year, but every single day. Today’s sermon is based on chapter 15 in 1 Corinthians. I will take the next few weeks to break down all the verses for better comprehension. We will start with the first verse of this chapter. 

1 Corinthians 15:1 KJV – Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

The Apostle Paul was ensuring that everyone he taught knew, without doubt, that his Teacher, Jesus, was speaking through him, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. He wanted to provide proof that the words spoken were more than a memory of a man who died for the many so that we might live. It is something so very important when we preach even today, that we provide insight in the Word of God and understanding it, as we learn more and more about ourselves, and how the Scriptures fill our lives and guide us through the, sometimes dangerous, things that may happen in life. This verse clarifies what the Apostle Paul is sharing. 

Galatians 1:11 KJV – But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

Here again, further clarification that the Word being preached about would come from Jesus and His teachings of God’s Unconditional Love. It bears repeating, truly faithful people following Christ work better with encouragement toward the greatest good, the greatest gift, the Father’s Unconditional Love, and a method to achieve that within our individual and collective paths in life.

1 Corinthians 11:24 KJV – And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Communion, a ritual that was designed to remind us of the trials and tribulations of Jesus as He prepared Himself, and His Apostles and disciples, for what would come to be. He taught us, in word and action, what it means to remember the incredibly painful sacrifice managed on Calvary that day when He was crucified, suffering all the sins of every human being, living, dead, and yet to be. That’s a lot, frankly, almost too much, for a single person to bear. Yet, Jesus did so, willingly, just to save us for a future as yet to be. 

1 Corinthians 1:4 KJV – I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

Paul was sharing what it means to preach the Gospel. It means we pray in thanksgiving not just for ourselves, but for everyone we know, and even strangers we might have yet to meet. When we learn the great and amazing gifts God has for each of us, it sometimes can take a while to fully comprehend those gifts. God’s grace, as shared with us through Jesus, would lead us to where the level of peace is far beyond inner or surrounding peace, to where it becomes eternal. That’s the gift Jesus gave us through the Holy Spirit. 

1 Corinthians 1:8 KJV – Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You will notice that we are literally touching base with nearly half of Paul’s message in Corinth, and yet it is only the first few verses of this particular chapter. It’s amazing how much can be taught by these passages in just a short view of a sermon. Jesus sees the good in all of us, as easily as the bad. If we work hard enough to avoid that part of us that would get us into trouble, we would see that beautiful goal far more easily. Our sins are forgiven, even when we do not realize we are sinning. That’s a magnanimous gift, one that proves unconditional love without a single doubt. This next verse exemplifies this gracious gift from our Savior. 

1 Peter 5:12 KJV – By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.

Hebrews 3:6 KJV – But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

These two verses show how the faith and love Jesus taught His Apostles and disciples was easily, readily, handed down even long after the Resurrection. The Apostles traveled to many cities, countries, to share the truth of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Sharing the truest view of Scripture as it should be read, heard, experienced, and practiced. 

1 Corinthians 15:2 KJV – By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

Here we are beginning to look at the second verse chosen in Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians. Paul again is emphasizing that Jesus taught him what it means to view salvation through following the path Jesus gave us to follow. It sounds easy to some. In fact, it is probably one of the hardest voyages you will ever undertake, because no one person can do this alone. It is far easier to travel together. Jesus wanted, still wants, humanity to realize that we are never alone when we pursue His teachings, and pass them on to the next generations. 

Galatians 3:4 KJV – Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

There were in the days of Paul and the rest of the Apostles, plenty of doubters. It is one of the most difficult portions of the human psyche, the ability to push through doubt to understanding and wisdom when it comes to Scripture and its validity, it’s proven factual portions even today, because so many may still be taking their first small steps toward knowledge, understanding, and wisdom in the learning they pursue, just with the words Jesus wants us to hear. Paul continues to teach in this third verse to the Corinthians. 

1 Corinthians 15:3 KJV – For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

The amazing knowledge of what Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, brought to each of us, no matter how far into the future, is something so extraordinary that we will most likely never learn every nuance and detail of what Scripture is supposed to be for us, beyond words on paper, beyond the teachers and preachers and what they bring to us, all the way to the point where it takes just the realization that all this teaching is found within us if we choose to see it, share it, and live it eternally. Yet, there are times when we fall into this trap as shared in the Old Testament. 

Psalm 22:1 KJV – My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

Humanity is forgetful. We hear what we want to hear. See what we want to see. It is never the way we should hear and see this world around us, not a hundred percent of it anyway. That has to do with our ability to choose, a gift many know to be free will. It is the ability to see beyond what free will means to us. Yet, in just about every Scroll of Scripture you will hear the same thing. Here we see a similar view. 

Isaiah 53:1 KJV – Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

Here again is another example of a prophet of God trying to share the good news that is with everyone thanks to God’s grace. If we look carefully, we will see the glorious existence of God’s Unconditional Love in every direction around us, within us, and so much more. This is where Paul shares how the truth of Jesus Christ, as the way, the truth, and the light, for all mankind. This is also why we have to see where humanity stumbled, and sometimes continues to stumble in their pursuit of the ultimate treasure, everlasting life.

Luke 24:26 KJV – Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

Jesus suffered greatly. He didn’t just suffer on the cross at Calvary. He suffered scorn and disbelief by quite a few Jews who preferred to live in ignorance of what the real aim and truth of God’s mission for humanity would be. In the very beginning of His existence, not just His life, many Jews didn’t want to believe. Some were very afraid of the thought that Jesus was there to alter the path for the great destination of God’s many mansions. The reason they were afraid? The many had stopped listening to God, stopped hearing God’s voice in their conscience. That’s just one of many, many reasons Jesus was brought down to us through divine means. 

Luke 24:46 KJV – And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

Yes, it was indeed proclaimed that a boy born by immaculate conception, as God’s seed, would change everything in the world, even while suffering scorn, sneers, jeers, and so much more. As Christians, followers of Christ’s path, we too suffer in many ways, but we do so because we know the end result is going to be something so amazing we couldn’t put it in words. 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)

Closing Song: Thank You ~ Ray Bolz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFrdJ2V3r7Y&list=PL614A115BF39E5936&index=17&t=0s

~ Shalom ~

Rev. Laura A. Neff

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Elder Calvin Jennings

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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 © 2019 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.