Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our Sunday sermon. You will normally see us posted every Sunday and once in a while a Scripture verse or photo for you to share. 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
Rev. Laura’s other sites: Facebook & Blogspot & Twitter
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 continue to pray for Elder Cal Jennings and his health issues, which are numerous. He has been having issues with his blood pressure, increasing pain, sometimes blurry vision, vertigo, and memory lapses. Add to the prayers with a need for new housing as the family is in dire straits there at this point in time.
- Please pray for health, faith, and hope boosters to help bless Sister Theresa Bogard as she continues in her recovery from her ulcer and this week after a swollen and painful knee that barely lets her walk some days.
- We are ever watchful in regard to the weather, the unrest, and the virus and response to that virus. Let us pray for calm skies and seas, calm voices and spirits, and also healthy outcomes for those who are affected.
- We pray that the school year is filled with progress for our children who are attending and for the teachers and staff that must adapt to what is considered the “new normal” around this world.
- Pray for five of my family members as they go through some dramatic changes in some cases. They asked not to be mentioned by name, but God knows who they are.
- Be thankful for each day we live as we do not know what tomorrow brings.
- Pray for our outreach ministries with Pastor Stephen Okoth, Pastor Robert Nganwa, Pastor Simon Peter Javaji, Rev. Lisa Tyler, and all the others who have joined us.
- 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.
- Pray that truth is revealed where falsehoods have been shared around this world.
Prayer: Father in heaven, this is our prayer for today. We bring up those sick and injured in the past week. We pray for those suffering from health issues with issues finding solutions. We pray for answers to mysteries for health issues and money issues with several members and family members. We pray for our poor and desolate, our brothers and sisters who have been brought devastation due to the terrors around this world and all of the natural disasters, storms, and so forth this past month. We pray for those in our outreach ministries that their reach gains momentum and their needs are met. 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: Mary Mary ~ Shackles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7eZD3TKn_M&list=PL614A115BF39E5936&index=238
Sermon: We are starting our journey through Chapter four in Ephesians. If you haven’t already noticed, there is a lot to this six chapter epistle written by the Apostle Paul. He refers backwards and forwards to other Scripture to help us see how God and Jesus and the Word is always consistent, never changing, always revealing something new for each of us as we work through the Word. We’ll start here.
Ephesians 4:1 KJV – I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
Notice how Scripture references prison and being prisoners? Also, we see a lot about slaves and slavery too. The problem is that people do not realize these aren’t meant to be degrading or any of that. Being a prisoner for Christ and for the Word of God is a good thing. The reason for that would be in the fact that the Scriptures are exactly what we need more than anything else in this world, in our individual and collective lives. The yoke Jesus spoke about is not meant to be a burden in any form or fashion. So many do not understand.
Colossians 1:10 KJV – That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Finding our path to God in this lifetime has us going around working to share how much we love the Lord with those we might meet in life no matter where we are or what we might be doing. Truthfully, it’s not a path TO GOD. It’s a path WITH GOD. Staying on it is not easy, as just about every prophet, ruler, apostle, and follower has shared just how easy it is to fall away from the path. That’s when we need to remember God and Jesus the most and keep that unconditional love in our hearts and minds.
Isaiah 28:16 KJV – Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Where is Zion? What is Zion? Scripture shares that Zion is the City of God. The foundation of God’s city is a tried, precious, stone. What is the foundation? We call Him Jesus. Jesus and unconditional love are the foundation the body of Christ belongs within. It is where the Spirit of the Lord breathes and where we should all strive to enter.
Ephesians 4:2 KJV – With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
People often take the words here in this verse wrong. Lowliness is to remind us to be humble. Meekness isn’t weakness, it’s patience. Longsuffering, show strength in your patience, forbearing is basically holding back from doing or saying things you’ll regret later.
Matthew 11:29 KJV – Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked about the work yoke and what it means in Scripture. Jesus is speaking in this verse and what He wants us to do is remember there is responsibility as followers of God and Christ. That is what a yoke is. It’s a responsibility, not something to prevent us from doing things, or to yank us in one direction or another. We all have responsibility to share what it means to be children of God, followers of Christ. The end, hoped for, result is eternal life, eternal peace. This is what Paul shares here.
Ephesians 4:3 KJV – Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. What is this bond? Unity is the connection for Christians with the Spirit. We are united in the strength of God’s Holy Spirit, in the love of Jesus Christ. We need to think about how much it takes to create unity, and how much it takes to maintain peace, not just within ourselves, but around us too. It takes work, practice, and the willingness to join together in the endeavor. As Christians, even this far in the future, we are still learning how to keep unity in the Spirit and peace body, spirit, mind, and soul. Paul shares this thought in two other verses while teaching in Corinth.
1 Corinthians 3:17 KJV – If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
2 Corinthians 6:16 KJV – And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
We have to remember, body, mind, spirit, soul, physical, mental, conscious, and unconscious, all at once, would be included in the “Body of Christ” and all is known to God. We are His temple, more than a single body, and what we do to our bodies and with our bodies affects our relationship with God and Jesus.
Ephesians 4:4 KJV – There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
When we were children, we were taught a little rhyme regarding folding our hands for prayer. This is the church. Our hands folded with our index fingers up straight as the steeple. When we opened our hands up our fingers represented people in the church. Jesus wants us to remember, no matter the distance that is between us physically in this world, all of us are together in His body, His spirit, His love. Peter shares the concept in this next pair of verses.
1 Peter 2:4-5 KJV – To whom coming, as unto a
living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
The Apostles of Christ recognized and felt blessed in the fact that they were able to share the truth of God’s family with others. We all have just one thing to remember. That’s shared in this next verse.
Ephesians 4:5 KJV – One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God! There is but One! Our faith should be in Him Alone! We are, all of us, baptized in God’s love and Christ’s family for as long as this world will exist. We all have a responsibility as a child of God, as a brother and sister for Christ. That’s shared here in this next verse as Paul shares his faith with those residents in Colossi.
Colossians 1:25 KJV – Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
When we realize what role God wants us to take in life, it’s an epiphany, an inspiration. Sometimes we wait many years before we find that role. Sometimes it’s as easy as opening our eyes. There is One reason to be joyful in Christ. That’s the gift of unconditional love that drives us to find the good in the midst of the bad. Above all, there is One God, the Father to every one of us and every thing on this earth.
Ephesians 4:6-7 KJV – One God and Father of
all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of
Christ.
Peace be with you. We’ve heard so many say that simple sentence whether for us or for someone else in this world. Peace be with you. Jesus, if you recall, was the first to share this simple sentence from the Gospel of John the Beloved. Peace be with you. Then Jesus added to that gift, one of His own. My peace I give you. Now we have double the strength, double the impact, of a gift that has to be given away in order for it to be effective. This is an epic lesson to learn. Finding our own peace is managed for as long as we remember to share it with others around us, family, friends, colleagues, and even perfect strangers. Peace is something that has no language barrier, no cultural barrier, none of that. The gift of peace is something that encompasses everyone and everything, everywhere, forever, and always. Which leads us to our last verse for the day.
Romans 12:3 KJV – For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
We are equals. Material things do not matter to God, to Jesus. It is the difference between being worldly and being holy. Worldliness isn’t part of God’s paradise. When we are in His house, we are shut away from all those distractions in this world. Those things will one day fall away and be no more. Until then we have to remember to keep Jesus in our heart, our thoughts, our words, and our actions. 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: Waymaker~Sinach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4XWfwLHeLM
~ 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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