Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our Sunday sermon. I am Rev. Laura A. Neff. Our ministry was built on the truth of God’s love and shares the Word of God, the Spirit of Christ Jesus.
You will find us in the following location: http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
Rev. Laura’s other sites where the ministry is shared: Facebook & Blogspot & Twitter & LinkedIn
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. He is still recovering from pneumonia after intravenous antibiotics. Pray that Cal recovers completely from this.
- We are ever watchful in regard to the weather with tropical weather and with the high winds around many places. We continue to pray for those who suffer or have suffered from the COVID-19 chaos. Let us pray for calm skies and seas, calm voices and spirits, and also healthy outcomes for those who are affected.
- 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 who are jobless, homeless, no matter what might have ended up causing either of those. Pray that providence would find them and ease the suffering.
- 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.
To all our fathers in this world, and those who are dearly departed, we wish all a happy and blessed Father’s Day.
A Happy Birthday wish to my son Royce, whose birthday is later this week.
Prayer: Father in heaven, this is our prayer for today. We pray for the ones suffering as a result of shootings and unrest around this world. We pray that truth can be seen where too many lies have filled life as we know it. We pray for the ability to work in society and gain confidence as a result. We pray for our children and grandchildren, that this world will be a better place than it was for our ancestors. 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: Faithful Love ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5qGWnkjEFs
Sermon: We have been working through the Scroll of 1 Peter. There is quite a lot to go through. Today we begin where we left off and that would be here.
1 Peter 1:4 KJV – To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
As Christians it is important to remember that we are preparing for what comes after this life we live, not just existing day to day. In order to do that in the same path Jesus created for us, we have to remember that the Word was created for just that purpose. Everyone who has ever reached rock bottom in this world has had that moment where they say, “Now what do I do?” This has been a scenario in the lives of billions and billions of people at least once in their lives. Jesus is the great Mediator for humanity. If it were not for the prophecy that gave hope to the Jews and the Gentiles all those millennia ago, there would be nothing but death and destruction and hopelessness. This is what the Hebrews have to share.
Hebrews 9:15 KJV – And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Notice how this is sharing “He is the mediator of the new testament”. We, as Christians, are that “New Testament”, beyond the twenty-seven scrolls of writing from the Apostles and Disciples of Christ. This is also beyond the forty-six scrolls of the Old Testament that predicted the rise of our Savior Jesus Christ, even in His death and resurrection.
John 17:7-9 KJV – Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast
given me are of thee.
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have
received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have
believed that thou didst send me.
I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
me; for they are thine.
Here our Savior Jesus Christ shows us just how important it is to understand what we are reading, praying over, and using in our daily lives. Peter, in his words, references this moment as one that is quite important for us to understand even today. Recognizing that Christ is our Savior, living still through the Holy Spirit is as important as it is to wake up and thank God we did just that. We see this emphasized in Paul’s words to the citizens of Colossae near Laodicea, Asia Minor.
Colossians 1:5 KJV – For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
Notice how much each of the Apostles rely upon each other, no matter how scattered they might be? This is proven in all the Scrolls of Scripture we have studied thus far together. Now we see what Peter shares next.
1 Peter 1:5 KJV – Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Kept by the power of God. How are we kept within that power? Faith in the belief of full salvation, which will not be seen until the end of time as it is known here on earth. Peter and John the Beloved saw a great deal of the disarray and fear that filled this world after the Resurrection of our Savior. They shared this in their writings as this next set of verses relaying John the Beloved’s reflections on Jesus’s Word and how these lessons should be taught.
1 John 3:14-18 KJV – We
know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He
that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath
eternal life abiding in him.
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth
up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and
in truth.
Notice how the seven troubles have cropped up in John the Beloved’s words here? You remember those seven pests, vanity, envy, lust, enmity, wrath, shame, and doubt. All of those were seen quite often in the decades and centuries after the resurrection. They continue to be seen, on occasion in shocking amounts, even to this very day. The only way to avoid these seven irritations to faith and hope and unconditional love is to replace them in our hearts with those very blessings of faith, hope, peace and love. Here we see Judah sharing the same thoughts, and Paul in his writings to the citizens of Ephesus.
Jude 24 KJV – Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Ephesians 2:8 KJV – For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Think about it. Jesus was in their lives for a relatively short time in the grand scheme of things. Jesus began ministering to the people at quite a young age, but wasn’t seriously paid heed to until He reached the age of thirty. Most of the Apostles and Disciples followed Him because His approach to ministry was completely out of the ordinary that they had each grown up with. The ministry of our Savior here on this earth was a very short three years. Jesus teaches us how to avoid temptation. Peter shares this lesson here.
1 Peter 1:6 KJV – Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
Don’t be afraid of temptation. In order to overcome temptation, we must have no fear of that same temptation. This is what John the Beloved, Peter, Paul, Simon, Joshua, James, and all the others worked to bring to the forefront of the lives of the early Christians. We see that here in this verse from John the Beloved.
John 1:13 KJV – Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
In the writing of the Hebrews as shared by Paul, we see this same thought process. It’s important to understand what Paul is saying.
Hebrews 12:7 KJV – If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
There is an amount of discipline required to be a true Christian and to teach others to become Christ-like. It’s not easy to be anywhere close to as pure a spirit as Jesus was. Temptation is everywhere on this earth. We all have to spend time learning and be willing to apply what we learn to our own lives. It takes practice. That’s one reason you will hear the word practice with careers, like medicine, law, and all sorts of others occupations. Practice is required to learn, and to apply that learning constructively. As practicing Christians, it means taking a verse, or a series of verses, and keeping them in mind all day each day, writing them on our hearts, sealing them in our minds as more than learning, as living and sharing that learning and developing wisdom. That’s what you see in this next verse.
Hebrews 12:11 KJV – Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Of course, we cannot forget James, often known as James the Just, whose name most likely, in ancient Hebrew, would be Jacob. He would be one of the brothers of Jesus and, though his epistle is nearly as short as his brother Judah’s would be, it packs a punch when it comes to understanding how we should portray our Christian faith.
James 1:18 KJV – Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
All of the Apostles, Disciples, and Siblings of Jesus wanted us to understand, even two millennia in the future, what it means to be a true follower of our Savior Jesus Christ. They warn us even today that it takes practice, and a willingness to keep practicing, to find where we belong in this world and that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer Jesus taught us.
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: Don Poythress and Ricky Skaggs ~The Faithful Love of Jesus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESeSCIW9CqI
~ 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 © 2021 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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