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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.
- Pray for my cousin and his family as they mourn the loss of his father-in-law this past week.
- Pray for my friend Jeff, his friend’s family, all of whom lost a dear friend to COVID-19 this past week.
- Pray for my sister and her boys and their dogs as they get ready to head to the East Coast in an epic move for all of them.
- Pray for a dear friend of mine still recovering from surgery done about ten days ago or so. It took too long to get to the point of surgery, and now the road ahead is for healing and the ability to live life to the fullest once more.
- Pray for my employer’s wife who has also been in a lot of pain lately after a fall just a while back.
- Pray for the family, friends and former shipmates of Durel Mammen, who served on the USS John F. Kennedy as part of VA-75 Squadron, he passed away last week.
- We are ever watchful in regard to the weather with tropical weather and with the high winds around many places. We are also wary of the wildfires, the erupting volcanoes, earthquakes and more that are occurring worldwide.
- We continue to pray for those who suffer or have suffered from the COVID-19 chaos. Let us pray that the ever decreasing numbers of those infected continues to do so and frees all of us from this wearing pandemic.
- 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.
Prayer: Father in heaven, this is our prayer for today. We pray for all those who suffer from terrible viruses and diseases worldwide. We pray for the babies and others in danger of losing their lives in war torn countries around this world. We pray for friends and family who have been sick or injured and are recovering slowly but surely. We pray for the families of those who have passed away in the past weeks. We pray for those who mourn devastating losses. We pray for those recovering from the damage and destruction wrought by wildfires, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and terrible tropical weather. We pray for our outreach ministries as they help those around the world recover through faith and peace and love. 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: Trading My Sorrows ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KsfwvpcQhY
Sermon: We continue to explore the third chapter of Peter’s first epistle today. We’ve learned quite a lot about the thoughts and experiences Peter managed as he preached the Word as Jesus taught him to do for so many years. Even today it proves to be a dangerous profession for some Christian ministers to bring the Holy Trinity to the people and prove the existence of unconditional love is far more than what can be seen and experienced. That danger is something we have to willingly face as Christians, because it proves that we are willing to suffer for our faith. Let’s begin here.
1 Peter 3:19 KJV – For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
We’ve seen the word thankworthy before, which means deserving gratitude. A lot of people do not understand what it means to endure deep and large amounts of grief, even in the midst of this pandemic that has taken over most of the news and other outlets, the hospitals and doctor offices as well.
Isaiah 42:7 KJV – To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
Grief is a tough process for any and all ages. Anger, justified anger, is also a tough process. People go through all of these types of emotions when things happen that should never have happened. Losing a child to an illness, or disease, or any accident that might occur in life. It is important to reflect on the good and evil that is seen and experienced in the world, no matter if we are reexamining the past or looking toward the future.
Many people feel that those who have died didn’t deserve the death they got, no matter how they died. It’s not an unusual occurrence. In fact, if more people recognized the grieving process and how it never has the same length or degree with every person on this earth. Some grieve losses for the remainder of their lives, and it is especially sharp if there were no reasons to those losses. There are those who are falsely imprisoned or persecuted and that’s also something that can blindside us. This is wisdom that Peter shares in this next verse.
1 Peter 3:20 KJV – For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
We have to watch our own behavior as much as we have to stop, take a deep breath, look around and think about everything that you want to do, need to do in life. It’s important for all of us to use patience in even the most frustrating moments, because doing so gives us time to transform that anger into understanding. Listen to your heart, take a moment and hear God’s voice, through our Savior and the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus managed here in this final moment of His life as a human being.
Luke 23:46 KJV – And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Of course, knowing ahead of time that something will happen to change every aspect of life as we know it can be a blessing and a curse. It will be justified through faith, through belief, through knowledge, understanding and application of all of these to manage the wisdom of God’s voice, God’s gift of Unconditional Love. This is something that is an absolute necessity for us to understand. It takes every ounce of faith, patience, peace, because it shares perseverance in our belief.
Isaiah 53:4 KJV – Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Premonition is something that is utilized quite frequently in this world. We’ve seen it in the predictions of many different people, the Oracle at Delphi, Nostradamus, and all the others pale in comparison to the Word of God Almighty, the Alpha and Omega, Abba Father, Most High. The amount of references to our Heavenly Father would be infinite and eternal in this world we live in. That’s what Peter shares in remembrance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 3:21 KJV – For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Peter was the foundation upon which the church of Christ was built, but it was quite the road for all of the Apostles. Here we refer to the Apostle Paul in Rome.
Romans 6:11 KJV – Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Dead to sin, alive through Christ, this is a constant method to remind ourselves of our path toward His true path. Though it may not be straight, and we might have times where we fall away, but that path can be followed. This, even with the precursors to that path as God had Isaiah share as one of the many Jewish prophets.
Isaiah 53:5-6 KJV – But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Imagine, every injury to this earth, to humankind, all of them, since the beginning of time, being repaired in the death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, promised thousands of years before He was born and laid in that tiny manger. Imagine what that must feel like. In many ways it is imagined as a seriously heavy weight to bear. It reminds me of a scene in a rather famous Christmas tome, A Christmas Carol, where the ghost of a rich man carried heavy, thick, wide, chains holding them away from glory. This may indeed reflect the thoughts Jesus shared on that very subject, leave your belongings behind and follow Him. You can’t take it with you, all the furniture, the clothes, toys, all of that will stay here because, in the end, we all hope to find that beautiful place known as eternal life through the great gates of heaven. Finding our path is the important thing. We see the words of King David and Ezekiel reflecting these similar thoughts.
Psalm 119:176 KJV – I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.
Ezekiel 34:23 KJV – And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
Jesus, through the four Gospels, shared a great deal that should be recognized by one and all as we travel the path where we are led to Him and allowing Him to lead the way to eternal life. This is why Jesus said these words in the gospel according to John the Beloved.
John 10:11 KJV – I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
John 10:16 KJV – And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Jesus says something intriguing here. You have to understand. Jews were told not to mingle with those not of the same faith. Jesus, however, defied this rule. He did so to prove that God has the capacity to love anyone, no matter where they came from, whether Jew or Gentile. All of us have a place in God’s Unconditional Love. We just have to learn what our place is in that state of Unconditional Love and how to prove it to ourselves and each other. Jesus had to prove to them that He was an innocent, who was led to slaughter, and who denied them the pleasure of that permanent thought of death. He defeated death with His last breath taken here on this earth. He did so without a single moment of misdeeds or misspoken words. There is so much that Peter saw, even as he feared for his eternal life due to the denials of knowledge that caused shame and doubt to swallow him for those hours before Jesus was dragged into court and tried, convicted, and prepared for crucifixion with a scourge and a beating most would not survive in those days. He did quite a lot to prove that there was no sin in Him. People did not want to believe that. Fear can do a lot to a person. Here we see what Peter shares, and the supports that Paul and the other Apostles had to connect with these thoughts.
1 Peter 3:22 KJV – Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
Ephesians 5:26 KJV – That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Finding a way to see the light at the end of any dark space, is something we all have to work toward. We can often be frustrated by our own efforts when we can’t stop, think, and then pursue the true path, it’s not something that is easy. This is what Philip shares.
Acts 8:37 KJV – And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Acts 16:33 KJV – And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
Paul shares his experience this way in Rome and Ephesus.
Romans 10:10 KJV – For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Ephesians 5:22 KJV – Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Paul’s son Titus shares his own experiences as he grew up learning from Jesus and from Paul and the other Apostles and Disciples. One thing that is very, very important in this world, is to seek wisdom by gathering knowledge and understanding through experience in anything that we pursue. Even wrong turns can end up leading us to the path once we absorb all that has happened, apply our knowledge and understanding and then find the path that wisdom brings us toward. Men, women, and children can do this, even if they have to start over again many times.
Titus 2:4-5 KJV – That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
Paul shares this one as well in the city of Ephesus. He shows that God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, are timeless, they are and will be the same far back in the beginning, through the past, in the here and now, and on into the future. That’s something we don’t know how to wrap our heads around in some ways. How can God not change? That’s easy. He doesn’t change because He is the Creator of Everything, the Creator of life itself. See what Paul has to share here.
Ephesians 1:21 KJV – Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
All of the Apostles were so well taught in the presence of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that it should be of no surprise to those who study the New Testament, how much we have to repeat what Jesus shared with His Apostles and Disciples, Family and Friends. We see this in our last verse as the Apostle Timothy shares.
1 Timothy 2:9-10 KJV – In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
Now, being humble is no easy thing. In fact, humility is a tough lesson we all have to learn. In every person’s life there have been times when we simply have forgotten how to be humble. It is not easy to have peace, humility, faith, because, the best way to have them is to give them away to those who surround us, friend or foe, family or stranger. That’s not always easy, and we’ve seen a lot of proof of that in our lifetimes, no matter how long or short that time period would 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: Put Your Hand in the Hand ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh4Y9lT75Kw
~ 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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