Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our Sunday sermon. I am Rev. Laura A. Neff. This ministry shares the Word of God, the Spirit of Christ Jesus. Our ministry was created with twelve people around this world back in 2008. Each of us shares God’s Word in ways He guides us to utilize. 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 & 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. Add to the prayers with a need for new housing as the family is in dire straits there at this point in time.
- 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.
- We have several who have asked for prayers for friends or family this past week, including now six who have had to go to the hospital, others who have been very sick or in far too much pain. For each of these anonymous friends, family members, or colleagues, please remember them in your prayers.
-My friends Mary and Faith have had friends and family who have been sick, hurt, or have passed away just this week.
- A friend Jessica’s family needs healing after justice was managed in her grandmother’s murder.
- My daughter’s brother-in-law just had surgery and is healing at home so pray for a swift recovery.
- I have a dear friend who is headed for surgery in three weeks and needs all the prayers she can get due to the amount of pain she is currently in.
- A coworker of my daughter’s lost their grandmother this past week.
- 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.
- We send out birthday wishes for my sister Cathy Goins. Her birthday is today.
Prayer: Father in heaven, this is our prayer for today. We continue to pray for the ones suffering as a result of shootings and unrest around this world. We pray for those citizens worldwide whose jobs are in a scary position. We pray also for family members of colleagues and friends that have been ill, injured, or have passed away. We pray for those traveling back and forth across this country and around this world. We pray for the medical scientists, and physicians who battle on the front lines of the COVID-19 virus and all the other terrible diseases in this world. We pray that those who have been ill will be returned to health. We pray for those lost to this world over this past week. 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: Here I Am Lord https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBg-yDhM2KY
Sermon: We continue to explore Peter’s first epistle today. In fact, we begin with the second chapter Peter shared how a person who listens and hears can grow in faith, in spirit, heart, mind, and soul.
1 Peter 2:1 KJV – Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
What are the seven troubles and why are we warned about them all the time? Vanity, envy, lust, enmity, wrath, shame, and doubt are their names. They are the parts of every human psyche, personality, that trip us up, keeping us from the true, fully devout and faithful path of our Savior, the path of eternal salvation. Peter, like his fellow Apostles and Disciples of our Savior Jesus Christ saw those around them proving the reason our Savior Jesus Christ was born, lived thirty-three years on this earth, survived betrayal, imprisonment, beatings, trial, conviction and crucifixion as a relatively young man at only thirty-three years old. When He proved God’s ultimate power and unconditional love in the resurrection, eyes were opened, hearts were accessible, and a mission for each and every apostle and disciple of the Savior. That path is very important, which is the reason we continue to explore what the Apostles and Disciples taught to all who would listen. Let’s see what was shared at Ephesus here.
Ephesians 4:22 KJV – That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Ephesians 4:31 KJV – Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Who, or What is the “old man” Paul and John speaks of? The “old man” would be “SIN”, original sin. The part of us that is earthly. Baptism gave us the chance to transform our entire life. Confirmation keeps us on that path. Accepting the Lord as our Savior and Salvation is only part of the battle. Staying on the path is hard, very hard, however, that difficulty level is something that allows us to grow spiritually, gain hope and faith and belief as our building blocks, our foundation, that was begun in the birth of a very special baby boy we know as Jesus Christ. The minor prophets and apostles of Christ share this connection with Peter’s writing.
Hebrews 12:1 KJV – Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Witnessing to and for each other is just as important as studying the Word. We all should bear witness to the miracles of God’s Unconditional Love. We all should share how the miracles of God affect us and sharing these experiences allows others to explore their faith and examine how willing they are to share with any and all who willingly listen. This is what Peter shares here.
1 Peter 2:2 KJV – As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
We should be hungry for the Word of God, spiritual hunger is far different from the human view of hunger, however it is just as important as putting food in our stomach to feed our spirits, our hearts, our minds, our very souls, with the Word of God.
John 16:22 KJV – And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
Peter’s fellowship with John the Beloved creeps into his thoughts and memories of the time when Jesus Christ walked upon this earth with the pair of them as two of His most trusted Apostles. The promise that Jesus would come again to see each and every person who believes unconditionally in His promised salvation for all who have faith and believe and prove that faith and belief to themselves and those who surround them.
Paul, Matthew, and even Daniel share similar thoughts and reactions to sharing their faith and belief in the Father. All of us should be willing to put these verses into play as part of our basic thoughts and actions each and every day. Pay attention to the gifts God has given each and every one of you. Whether you see those gifts with your eyes, hear them with your ears, feel them with your hands, your heart, or your spirit and soul. All of those senses should be included in our faith, our belief in God’s Unconditional Love, which is more than physical nourishment.
1 Corinthians 3:2 KJV – I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
Miracles occur every minute of every day somewhere on this earth, even when we are not direct witnesses. The fact that others are, and would willingly share this with those who have not seen it, shows exactly what Jesus shares here in the Gospel of Matthew with the leper.
Matthew 8:3 KJV – And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
What is leprosy? How can it vanish without a blemish remaining?
This is the definition of leprosy: a chronic, mildly infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, affecting the peripheral nervous system, skin, and nasal mucosa and variously characterized by ulcerations, tubercular nodules, and loss of sensation that sometimes leads to traumatic amputation of the anesthetized part.
In the Bible, this is not what a leper suffers from. The suffering is considered a punishment from God, an affliction that was often just cause to have people banished from a village or city. Lepers had to dress differently, wearing clothes to cover their beards so as to not spread the disease. This is another definition of lepers and leprosy: "the outward and visible sign of the innermost spiritual corruption; a meet emblem in its small beginnings, its gradual spread, its internal disfigurement, its dissolution little by little of the whole body, of that which corrupts, degrades, and defiles man's inner nature, and renders him unmeet to enter the presence of a pure and holy God"
Prayer is something that is vital for our hearts, our minds, and our spirits and souls as well. We should pray for all sorts of reasons, and all sorts of situations. Peter and Paul were huge advocates regarding the power of prayer. We can all but physically see Daniel’s view of prayer as well as the reasoning he had for his prayers, regardless of what, Nebuchadnezzar, the king would say.
Daniel 9:3 KJV – And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
This is yet another reason we go backwards and forwards when it comes to Scripture. The only way to learn everything we need to learn is to keep going back and forth, repeating and reflecting on Scripture is very important for our spiritual selves, our human hearts and minds as well.
1 Peter 2:3-4 KJV – If so be ye have tasted
that the Lord is gracious.
To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God, and precious,
Living stones, that’s what we testify to, how protected we are in the power of Scripture, foundation stones for each and every one of us in a spiritual house that grows with every read through of Scripture we might manage. David learned quite a bit even as he fell off the true path set before God and man. This is what is shared in these two verses.
Psalm 34:8 KJV – O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Psalm 118:22 KJV – The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
Each of us has that rejected cornerstone as part of us so long as we remember Jesus Christ is as much a part of us as our parents, grandparents, and all the rest of our ancestors. Jesus is the outright, up front and personal view of the kindness and unconditional love God has for each of us. This is what Titus shares.
Titus 3:4 KJV – But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
The twelve Apostles and their families did a whole lot in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Paul, Peter, Titus, Judah, John the Beloved, all of them worked very hard, even in the face of death and destruction. It is that urgency, that strength, we need to work toward. Every moment we spend learning what Scripture can do for us is another moment where Jesus shines through those walls that get built, those doors that get locked away from us. It is the reason Peter continues to teach in a second epistle here.
2 Peter 1:21 KJV – For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
We, as Christians, need to allow the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, shine through whenever we get together in church, or prayer groups, Sunday school, or around the supper table with family and friends. Share how God moves you, how the Savior speaks to you in your heart whether its due to study or listening to the ministers in the pulpits of churches all around the world. Our mission in life is to push our faith, allow it to grow, allow it to transform us into the believers we truly want to be, and also need to be. Now, that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer that 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: Come Holy Ghost https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RKl0EwRikE
~ 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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