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.
- Elder Cal Jennings and his family need prayers of
solace after the loss of his mother Sylvia Jennings this past week or so. May they
all be blessed and comforted by the Holy Spirit.
- Please pray for job opportunities or offers to help
bless Sister Theresa Bogard.
- Please pray for a dear friend and colleague who continues
to struggle with serious health problems. May the Holy Spirit surround her and
ease her pain and worry. Help me help this friend of mine with strength of
compassion and more.
- Please pray for continued strength for my brother as he continues to heal and get answers for his health.
- Please pray for continued strength for my brother as he continues to heal and get answers for his health.
- Please pray for another friend who is in a desperate
search for a new place to live that is affordable for her and her family after
the apartment she was in flooded and destroyed everything.
- 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,
tragedies, and disasters that have occurred just this past week around this
world.
- Pray for our sick and wounded that they may heal.
Prayer: Father in heaven, this
is our prayer today for seriously needed relief of those in nearby places
suffering from flooding and destruction, those suffering the aftereffects of
armed gunmen, bombings, and so forth, that their spirits be lifted and calmed. We
pray for those in mourning of close family members, including Elder Cal
Jennings and his family. We pray for those who have been suffering illness or
pain, that they will be given comfort and healing. We pray for blessings in the
midst of pain, sorrow, terror, and more, so that this year is a better one for
all around us. 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: Whispering Hope ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21Yj_0N1mHo
Sermon: Today I am focusing
on something that this world needs a whole lot of right now. That something is
HOPE. So many of us ask for even a single drop of hope in our lives, whether it
is from the death of a loved one, or a disaster of epic proportions. Hope is
something that comes from desperation, and trying to cope with it. That’s why,
when looking at Scripture, we find so much involving hope, over a hundred verses
focusing on hope. Many of those are in the Scroll of Psalms. King David did not
write all of the Psalms, he is its most prolific author with eighty of them
credited to him. Other writers include Moses, Heman the Ezrahite, Ethan the
Ezrahite, Solomon, Asaph, and the sons of Korah. Several of them do not come
with any credit. We are focusing on Psalms because there is so much sorrow and
despair in this world today. We need to focus on the greatness of God’s
unconditional love, not the sorrows, the pains, and perils of this earthly
world we live in.
Psalm 16:9 KJV – Therefore my heart is glad,
and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
Notice how this speaks of the heart, and the flesh, knowing
that God created us in His image, it says a lot to be able to hope with all
parts of our being. This next verse shares how early we should recognize hope
as being part of our daily lives.
Psalm 22:9 KJV – But thou art he that took me
out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
Did you realize that holding on to hope is something that
takes courage and strength in your own heart? It does, because without that ability
to hang on through mind, spirit, heart, and soul, hope gets lost and forgotten.
So remember that, as we are taught here.
Psalm 31:24 KJV – Be of good courage, and he
shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.
We have heard, many times in our lives, about how hope
and mercy are inextricably linked in so many ways. Here we see that hope has a
mission, not just in our lives, but in God’s existence within our lives. That’s
where this verse fits in.
Psalm 33:18 KJV – Behold, the eye of the Lord
is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
So many have asked me what the fear of the Lord is. In
the case of Scripture, it isn’t being scared of that part of Him. It is more
like reverence for the fact that our God is a Mighty, Almighty, all powerful
being. He wants us to recognize that there is that part of us that links us
directly to Him, through the breath of life, the existence of Christ, and the gift
of the Holy Spirit, the eternal comforter. That is where hope joins the conversation,
as shared in these three verses.
Psalm 33:22 KJV – Let thy mercy, O Lord, be
upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Psalm 38:15 KJV – For in thee, O Lord, do I
hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
When there are trials and tribulations in life, many of
us wonder where we should focus our thoughts. Finding solace when we are in
despair is assuring that hope continues to exist in our lives, no matter what
happens around us or even within us.
Psalm 39:7 KJV – And now, Lord, what wait I
for? my hope is in thee.
No matter what happens, we should continue to hold on to
hope. Our hope should be part of us that automatically shares itself with God,
the blessing that is the Holy Spirit, the gift Jesus Christ left for us to ensure
hope in this terrible world we live in filled with pain, sorrow, and more. This
next verse shows that even in the worst of times hope can still be held close.
Psalm 42:5 KJV – Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet
praise him for the help of his countenance.
Hope and love are linked in billions of ways. Without
hope, love gets lost. God never intends for us to lose hope, or forget what His
Unconditional Love can do. That’s what is shared in these last two verses today.
Psalm 71:5 KJV – For thou art my hope, O Lord
God: thou art my trust from my youth.
Psalm 71:14 KJV – But I will hope
continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.
Notice,
trust also comes into play with hope, and we should always hang on to that hope,
no matter what happens, and, in fact, even in the midst of sorrow and despair,
the hope that is God’s Unconditional Love continues to exist as part of us. 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: It Is Well With My Soul ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmvnE6erj6I
~ 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 © 2020 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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