Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our sermon or midweek study. You will normally see us posted on Sunday. 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 pain, vision, and memory. 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 financial and physical calm and peace for Sister Theresa Bogard who is going through a lot right now.
- 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.
- Continue to pray for five of my family members as they go through some dramatic changes in some cases. Also pray for my parents who are navigating memory issues and the desire to see their grandchildren and great grandchildren and are unable to do so.
- Be thankful for each day we live as we do not know what tomorrow brings.
- Pray for all of 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.
Birthday news! My niece Autumn had her birthday yesterday. My son’s brother-in-law Aaron Van Gorp had a birthday yesterday as well.
Prayer: Father in heaven, this is our prayer for today. We bring our sick and wounded up in prayer, including Elder Cal Jennings. 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 week. 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: Thy Word ~ Amy Grant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6LC8cu03Ig
Sermon: We are about two-thirds of the way through Chapter 4 in Ephesians with today’s sermon. One thing I have heard many, many times in this world we live in “I’m just tired, sick and tired of being sick and tired”. I’ve heard it from men and women of all ages and generations. God has heard it so much it’s a broken record. That’s why we have Scripture and the ability to put what the Word shares into our very unique daily lives.
Ephesians 4:23 KJV – And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Each and every moment we spend reflecting on our lives and then sharing it with God in prayer and meditation is important for our spirits and our minds together. It is the reason we go to church, whether we are meeting in the same physical place or a virtual place. Each moment we spend together in God’s presence with Jesus our Savior, is singularly unique because it is the one place where we can feel the Holy Spirit surrounding us and within us at the same time. This is why Jesus warns us to not be overly worldly as Paul shares in this verse.
Romans 12:2 KJV – And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
It’s sometimes very difficult not to be distracted by the craziness and stupidity we see around this world. Yet, in order to listen to God and Jesus through the Spirit, we must find that quiet, by shutting out those noises. We can transform ourselves as we grow more in Christlikeness. This is what Paul is teaching us through his time with the citizens of Ephesus.
Ephesians 4:24 KJV – And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Every person has the ability to become one with Christ, removing the old and encouraging the view of that new person within you to become more important in the very pursuit of righteousness in faith, in love, and in life itself in an everlasting view, an eternal view, as opposed to a temporary one. This is how Jesus wants us to see this new self.
Luke 21:34 KJV – And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
It’s easy to be swayed from the path Jesus blazed for us. It is so easy that we should easily recognize the methods that are being implemented to deter us from that special path. We see it every day in suppression of the ability to worship in the way we are most often wanting and needing to manage. There are alternatives and Jesus gave those alternatives to us. Build His church in our hearts and minds and spirits and souls. Build it singularly and share it collectively. It is one thing to be faithful. It’s another to share that faith with others in any and every possible way.
Galatians 6:15 KJV – For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Just circumcision, or purification in the removal of all that is worldly and wrong, isn’t enough for us. We have to leave that part behind us and start living in the love of Christ always.
John 17:17 KJV – Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
The Word of God is supreme truth. It goes beyond any and all laws mankind would create. It is the Word that often catches people unawares. This because there is nothing profane or illegal, illicit, or anything in regard to Scripture. We’ve seen people blame the Bible for slavery, and yet, in the very words of Jesus there is the necessity to release everyone from all forms of slavery. Speak the truth, live in the truth. These are things we all should remember. That’s what Paul shares here.
Ephesians 4:25 KJV –Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Lying, we’ve all experienced it, or done it. Even if you just hide your thoughts, you can be lying without realizing it. It’s not easy to stop a habit we might not even realize we’re doing in the first place. We’ve all heard the phrase, “if you can’t think of something nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. That’s something that is spoken of throughout Scripture. Here we see this in the Old Testament.
Zechariah 8:16 KJV – These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
I’m certain you’ve heard the phrase, “we’re all in this together”. Well, as citizens of earth, it’s the truth. We are all in this together, as we have seen this with viruses, diseases, natural disasters, tragedies. In one way or another, every human being on this planet can be affected by every single one of these potential aggravations. We see it in the burning of forests and land in the US and Australia over the past few years, the poverty, the lack of clean water, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, cyclones, tropical storms, and hurricanes. We see it in record amounts of flooding and avalanches or icebergs breaking off worldwide. We are all part of God’s alpha and omega, our beginning and our end depend on how we believe and what we believe and how we share that belief with each other. We are one! Together in Christ, we are one! That’s what Paul reminds the citizens of Rome.
Romans 12:5 KJV – So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Paul shares something I have heard about since I was a very little girl. Even if we have a right and a reason to be angry over something or at someone, we shouldn’t hold that anger inside us for too long. We shouldn’t lay down angry, for it will disturb or disrupt our sleep, which is as vital for life and survival as water, food, and oxygen. See this truth in Paul’s words to the citizens of Ephesus.
Ephesians 4:26 KJV – Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
It’s not easy to keep our anger from hurting ourselves and those around us. Being angry longer than a day is too long for our hearts, our minds, our spirits and souls. When I was little, and I would get angry or frustrated I remember my great grandmother saying, “close your eyes for just a moment”, then she would add, “take a deep breath and let it out slowly”. Those are two phrases I continue to pay heed to. Yet, I also add a simple thought to that. “Bring me peace of heart, mind, spirit and soul, sweet Jesus.” It works every time I’ve had issues with my temperament, nowadays. Yet, it took me a long time to think about it and align my thoughts with her thoughts all those years ago. We should be careful as this verse shares.
Ecclesiastes 7:9 KJV – Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
You have heard me speak of being fools and foolish. It’s no easy thing to stay in the path Jesus blazed for us all those years ago. It isn’t meant to be. However, the more we pursue that path, and let all anger and fear, pain, sorrow, and all the angst that is part of this world fall to the wayside, the sooner we will see Christ Jesus once more. 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 ~ Leeland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJCV_2H9xD0
~ 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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