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.
- A friend of mine, Marci’s mother has suffered a
devastating stroke and is in critical condition as a result. Prayers for her
family, strength, hope, and comfort in Christ’s holy name.
- Pray for those who have lost their family members due
to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Pray for the doctors, nurses, researchers, and all the
others on the front lines of research and development to find a cure for the
worldwide pandemic.
- Please continue to pray for Elder Cal Jennings and his
health issues, which are numerous, and some of them complicated by the COVID-19
epidemic.
- Please pray for all of those whose employment has been
curtailed due to the continuing pandemic of COVID-19 Coronavirus worldwide.
- Please pray for a dear friend and colleague who has
learned they have a few very serious problems. Help me help this friend of mine
with strength of compassion and more.
- Please pray for those suffering COVID-19 Corona Virus,
Influenza, and all the other diseases being suffered around this world. May
they be cured, healed, and praise the LORD for the gifts of life and health.
- 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 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, this
is our prayer today for seriously needed relief of those in far-away places
suffering from illness or pain, that they will be given comfort and healing. We
pray for those on the front lines and caught unawares of the COVID-19
Coronavirus pandemic, along with the ones afflicted and recovering as well. 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: Hope of Deliverance ~ Paul
McCartney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ykyXydXCXY
Sermon: Today I want to
share with you what HOPE has to do with FAITH. You see, FAITH has many elements
included within it. It takes some people a long time to understand the impact
true, unhindered FAITH can have on them. This is but one reason for my focus
lately on the idea of HOPE. You see, HOPE is an integral part of our CHRISTIAN
FAITH. Without hope, our faith suffers a great deal. Paul realized it was a
need to share this as he was taught by Jesus. Even in the worst moment of the
life Jesus led, He always shared what hope there is in life itself. For this
reason we start here.
Romans
4:18 KJV – Who against hope believed in hope, that he might
become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall
thy seed be.
Paul is sharing that Abraham had an immense amount of
hope thanks to how much trust he held in God. Trust, Hope, Faith, they are all
parts of BELIEF and BELIEVING in the Heavenly Father, the Savior Jesus, and the
Holy Spirit as three in one, the HOLY TRINITY. Paul continued this theme here
in this next few verses.
Notice all the elements of belief? Tribulation, or hardship, works patience. Patience leads us to experience in that hardship. The experiences we all go through bring hope into focus. Hope removes shame, one of the seven deadliest aspects of life, all thanks to the UNCONDITIONAL LOVE that God provides us through Jesus and the eternal gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the beginning, and the end, the promise made by the Alpha and Omega, all the way back in the days of Adam and Eve.
Matthew
20:28 KJV – Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Jesus was born not to be taught by man, but to minister
to mankind in many ways, not just in His ministry, but in His proof that He
truly is, as we should know who He is, through the FAITH God wants us to share
in, the BELIEF that there is a better place for all who BELIEVE. The gift of
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE is accented with FAITH, HOPE, and much, much more. Giving
our faith a boost is something we should turn to Scripture to find and explore.
Let’s do so with two verses here where Jesus speaks.
Matthew
26:28 KJV – For this is my blood of
the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
John
14:6 KJV – Jesus saith unto him, I am
the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus
shared that the shedding of His blood would bring something new in our faith. Many
of us still wonder about this view of faith. Jesus wanted us to realize and
recognize that it takes a lot to continue our faith in the face of anything
this world might throw at us. In times like we are seeing these days with the
COVID-19 Coronavirus chaos, there are those whose faith gets shaken, especially
as so many are trying to hurry and find a solution to this chaos. Think about
this, Jesus knew that when He was crucified, dead, buried, and then resurrected
on the third day, it would end up that His truth, known by the Apostles and
Disciples throughout Jerusalem and Israel, needed to be carried beyond that
point, so that true Christian faith could survive.
Romans
12:12 KJV – Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation;
continuing instant in prayer;
Remember, Jesus preached the gift of hope, through faith,
and truth in God’s Holy Word. Jesus simply taught what people often forget
about, the unvarnished, unembellished, unhindered hope that God is with us
because of that rarely understood Unconditional Love that we should always
recognize is part of us. We wouldn’t be here without that gift from God. Here
we see James and his view of that.
James 1:4 KJV – But let
patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothing.
The gifts of hope and faith are
awesome. It isn’t easy to be patient in a world like this one is now, but
practicing, or working our faith gives us hope that our patience can grow, and
spread toward others in a good way. When it comes to Scripture, there are many
places where hope and faith and patience and love would share the same page, or
connect to many, many more. This is something that Paul shared here.
Romans
15:4 KJV – For whatsoever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the
scriptures might have hope.
Those of us who are truly faithful, understand the next
verse because it is used specifically to remind us that God’s Word is Spirit
given to each of those who share it in any form or formula, so long as it is
done with diligent righteousness. Careful, courteous, truthful, all are aspects
of righteousness. Share everything in this manner and we’ll learn so much more
than if we simply go through the motions of faith.
That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Our faith is built upon truth, righteous truth. God wants us to remember the parts of our lives that have taught us something. Scripture itself is a teaching tool, used to help those who are willing to hear and learn, and assists us in teaching exactly what God wants us to learn, that hope and faith, peace and prosperity, knowledge and wisdom, and all the other good things there are in this world, health and happiness included, are built upon a single premise. What would that be? Something we have learned together for many years at this point, FAITH found in UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. There are no impairments or road blocks to our faith so long as we remember that UNCONDITIONAL LOVE helps us grow our faith. That’s where these last two verses Paul shares here would bring us understanding.
Romans
15:13 KJV – Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and
peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy
Ghost.
The
God of HOPE fills us with what? JOY! PEACE IN BELIEVING! How? Through the POWER
of the HOLY GHOST. That gift of the HOLY GHOST was brought how? Through the
BLOOD OF CHRIST, shed for each of us who have faith and believe. Paul proves
that there is more to life than meat and drink, food and water, and existence.
Romans
14:17 KJV – For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but
righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Righteousness, Peace, Joy in the HOLY GHOST. Those are
true gifts of faith. That’s how we should work our faith. Just as we work our
bodies into shape, we should do the same for the mind and for our faith. How do
we do that? HAVE FAITH! BELIEVE! HOLD ONTO HOPE! 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: I Believe In The Man In The Sky
~ Elvis Presley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxC1XTxYfA4
~ 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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