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 that this new venture he has been working with would pay off and ensure a comfortable life for him and his family.
- 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.
- Pray for my and Elder Cal’s friend Dena who is recovering from her own round of surgery, so that her recovery will be short and beneficial.
- Pray for my mother who has had a few financial setbacks due to a mess created by a leak that is finally drying up at long last.
- Pray that another friend gets better news in time for Christmas regarding their healing processes.
- Pray for several friends of my friend Mary who have been hospitalized for several different reasons over the past few weeks.
- Pray for my employer’s wife who has gotten a bit better and for my employer, as they expect their family to gather together for the first time in a while for the holidays later this week.
- Pray for all the other families that will gather for Thanksgiving, that they are able to do so safely even in the midst of this 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 bring up prayers for those who suffer diseases and illnesses that can be dangerous for them and those around them. We pray for those who suffer cancers of all types. We continue to pray for the ones suffering as a result of shootings and unrest around this world. We pray for the survivors and those lost during earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, floods, and droughts around this world in so many places. We pray that truth can be seen where too many lies have filled life as we know it. We pray for those whose jobs are in a scary position. We pray also for family members of colleagues and friends. We pray for those traveling back and forth across this country, in preparation for the US Holiday Thanksgiving. We pray for the other travelers around this world so they remain healthy. 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. 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: Million Miracles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Viiw6tGimHo
Sermon: We continue to explore Peter’s first epistle today, continuing with the fifth chapter. Just two more weeks in Peter’s first epistle and we’ll focus on the birth of a Savior for all who believe through half of the month-long period on the Christian calendar known as Advent. Let’s start here, right where we left off last Sunday.
1 Peter 5:7 KJV – Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
It is important to understand what casting care on Him means. Prayer, which we have all heard about, is more than just words on paper, words you repeat on a regular basis. Prayer is something that is far deeper than this. When we pray we should center that prayer on benefiting others as much as it benefits us. Center the prayer on the bounties we have, whether it is a warm house to live in, decent clothes to wear, food on the table, whatever. Be thankful, always, for these things that we have. Be willing to hand things that are heavy on our mind, our hearts, and letting go to let God do the work. It saves time not having to sit and worry about any and every little thing that could go wrong or has already gone wrong. That’s the reason the Twelve Apostles, Jesus, and all the prophets show us how to pray, when and where to pray, and what we should focus our prayers on. We see this in the writings of David here.
Psalm 55:22 KJV – Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Now we also see it in the words of the younger brother of Jesus.
James 1:2 KJV – My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Temptation, oh that pesky word. There is so much temptation, in so many forms, we often could have issue in what is truly a temptation, versus what can seem harmless. There are far too many things viewed as harmless that are actually the worst forms of temptation. This is why Peter shares this next verse.
1 Peter 5:8 KJV – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Sobriety, something that is often focused upon during holidays of every type, is something that people don’t always connect with anything beyond alcohol or drugs. In times like the holidays and other celebrations, there is the potential to overdo in every possible way, drinking too much alcohol, eating way too much sugar, and other junk in our diets. It’s no simple task to recognize what is bad and why it is bad for us. This is why people have to be meticulous and willing to learn the best ways to take care of themselves and their families and why prayer and faith and love can be the impetus to manage it. These two supporting verses share a view of things we often take for granted in this world, that should not be given liberty to exist. John the Beloved and Timothy share the reason we should rejoice in our pain and suffering, because something far better waits for us all.
Revelation 12:12 KJV – Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
2 Timothy 2:12 KJV – If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
Pain, suffering, is a human thing, an earthly thing. It’s not going to be a permanent state because Jesus promised that there would be a day where the world would be made new. It’s hard for us to understand that there is something far better to come. This world will be reborn. All the bad stuff will be swallowed up by fire and brimstone. At some point, a new heaven and a new earth shall manifest. We all have the opportunity to be there on that day. This is what Peter shares in this next verse.
1 Peter 5:9 KJV – Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
So much is yet to be understood from Scripture. How and why were these men and women put through all that they went through? How and why do we suffer still? Everything and everyone has a purpose under heaven. We learned that in Ecclesiastes from the Old Testament and, from a much more modern song that rests in those very words. There are those who say there are codes and such in Scripture, that the codes are hidden from view, much like the true pronunciation and spelling of the Creator, the Savior, and the Holy Spirit would be. Yet, still we are taught that resisting temptation, resisting the “devil” Satan, is more important than anything you do in life. James, younger brother of Jesus the Savior, shares this.
James 4:7 KJV – Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
From here we jump back into the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus shared these words of wisdom.
Matthew 5:11 KJV – Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Building faith takes work and dedication. Sharing faith takes courage and skill. Proving faith takes sacrifice and a willingness to face anything that comes to pass. None of those is easy to consider, yet, if twelve men, their families, and friends can pursue these very things after the loss of the head of the church, Jesus Christ the Savior of All, no matter what could happen, then it is very possible for us to manage in a far different set of circumstances from theirs. Nearly every single Apostle was martyred simply for sharing their belief in God Almighty, Jesus Christ the Savior, and the Holy Spirit as a Trinity of Truth that should be pursued. John the Beloved survived being boiled in oil after six decades of life. He spent two decades exiled on Patmos where he wrote Revelation. Yet, through everything that they suffered, they still worked for God through the Savior’s Hope in them and in the everlasting gift of the Holy Spirit. We see this in the words of Peter here.
1 Peter 5:10 KJV – But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
Scripture shares so much when it comes to life as it was. Yet, even in this world today, Scripture has relevance. Everything that has occurred through Scripture’s story, would at some point in time, happened. We know this through archeological discoveries, the ability to decipher ancient writings, hieroglyphics and all that still is shrouded in some form of mystery. Even in the rehabilitation done at the oldest churches, cathedrals and more. Finding the tombs of the most important figures regarding the Christian church is just a single element of proving Scripture’s continued relevance in this world today. That’s why there are interlocking verses for each and every line of Scripture. We see several here. Listen carefully to how they connect to the words Peter shares.
2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV – For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
Hebrews 13:21 KJV – Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 KJV – But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
Zechariah 10:6 KJV – And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God, and will hear them.
Zechariah 10:12 KJV – And I will strengthen them in the Lord; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord.
Psalm 138:7-8 KJV – Though I walk in the
midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand
against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for
ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
It takes work, lots of work, to build our faith and maintain it in a world filled with temptations of all forms. In a world filled with easily as much evil and danger for Christianity and the sharing of our faith with others as it did in the first centuries after the resurrection. As we prepare for Christmas in the next four weeks, let’s remember that everything we do to prepare ourselves and future generations for the return of our Savior needs to focus not on material wealth or anything that is here in and on earth. Faith is something far more important. Focus on your hearts, your minds, your thoughts, your words, as you go through life and share your faith with those around you, no matter who they might be, friend, or stranger. Be like Christ, where no one was a foe, a stranger, all were welcome to listen and hear His words even to the very moment where He drew His final breath and gave up the ghost. 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: The Gift of Life ~ Trace Balin, Bonnie Keen, Kathy Malone and Cheryl Rogers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvdQDYSQ4cU&list=PLAV7hQToHN7SJMTk2_Q8vFJTJfZRBTPow&index=45
~ 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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