Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our Christmas Eve 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 his new venture continues to work in his favor.
- Please pray that a burst of God’s Holy Spirit’s inspiration would bring blessings for our member Brother Wayne Bartosh. He has shared a few things with me that I am studying as of yesterday.
- 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 a friend of a friend whose daughter Everleigh is back in the hospital with too many cancer cells due to Leukemia.
- Pray that another friend gets good news in the next few weeks regarding their healing process is going well.
- Pray for my employer’s wife who has been doing physical therapy and is feeling better lately. Pray that she receives the pain relief that she needs and returns to a brighter side of life once more.
- Pray for those who have lost loved ones, family, and friends, throughout this pandemic as they celebrate Christmas with fewer guests at their dining room tables and around their Christmas trees.
- 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 are forever blessed by the reason for this season, Christmas, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Salvation of All. We pray for all those who cannot be home for Christmas this year. We pray for those who are suffering illness, diseases, homelessness, poverty, and more this Christmas. We pray that people have warm places to stay, food to eat, friends to share with, family to enjoy. We pray for peace on earth, faith, hope, and joy as we celebrate the glorious birth of Your Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. We pray that our days become brighter as we come closer to Your glory and that Your patience helps our hearts and spirits in the harder times we may have in the future. 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: Home Free ~ Oh Holy Night https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO6OZIY-lYw&list=PLAV7hQToHN7SJMTk2_Q8vFJTJfZRBTPow&index=47
Sermon: We are studying the Gospel of Luke’s view of the time leading up to the Christmas Story. The actual story of Christmas in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 2 will be brought to you live on Sunday.
Luke 1:33-38 KJV – Then
said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her
old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
For with God nothing shall be impossible.
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy
word. And the angel departed from her.
Immaculate Conception, as a concept in general, is just as difficult for us to understand and even fathom this many years after the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. It is no wonder that Mary reacts in this fashion. First, she was young. Second, she was betrothed and not married. Third, what on earth was she going to say to Joseph, her parents, her family and friends, when all was said and done? These are all natural fears for her to have. That, added to the shock that her much older cousin was soon to bring a child into the world as well, was enough to have any young woman ready to run away and hide from the world.
Let’s look at some of the companion verses to hear from different viewpoints what this miraculous birth would bring to mind.
Matthew 1:20 KJV – But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 3:17 KJV – And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Matthew 14:33 KJV – Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
The Gospel of Matthew shows just a little bit about what was worrying Mary and even Joseph at the time when Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Even he knew that the situation could very well ruin both of their reputations. That’s why the angel came to speak with Joseph to show him that this was no misdeed, there was no wrongdoing on Mary’s part. This was destined to occur and dictated by the Lord God Himself. And if you were wondering if anything could shock God or not be possible in God’s Omnipotence. This pair of verses is a reminder in that regard.
Genesis 18:14 KJV – Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
Jeremiah 32:17 KJV – Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
It is important for us to reflect on the entire life of Jesus, even in His conception. Christmas reminds us how miracles great and small are seen in ways we may never realize. The same goes for John the Baptist, child of Elizabeth and Zacharias. Both of them had, and continue to have, a seriously important role to play in Christianity, faith, and the gifts of peace and love. We see here how Mary chose to prepare for the birth of Jesus.
Luke 1:39-42 KJV – And
Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a
city of Juda;
And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe
leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
Mary was greeted with open arms into her cousin Elisabeth’s home. She was greeted as any woman expecting a child should hope to be greeted. With this greeting she relaxed at least a little. This is something she truly needed, peace, comfort, love, and no fear. Something the angel Gabriel assured her people would manage. She, like Elisabeth, would be revered among women. Joseph, like Zacharias, would be was promised by the angel Gabriel that the end result would be an awesome gift from God.
Luke 1:43-48 KJV – And
whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe
leaped in my womb for joy.
And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those
things which were told her from the Lord.
And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from
henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
John the Baptist and Jesus Christ the Savior of all were recognized by their mothers as the miracles they would have been and still would be. The pair would deliver sinners from that into glory, cleansing the sins away, and ensuring those who believe would reach the halls of glory waiting for that final day. Here we see the precious inklings of the miracles these two babes would be, long before the day of their conception or birth.
Psalm 34:2-3 KJV – My soul
shall make her boast in the Lord:
the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
O magnify the Lord with me, and
let us exalt his name together.
Psalm 35:9 KJV – And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation.
Habakkuk 3:18 KJV – Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Let’s return to the Gospel of Luke and share these three verses that bring even more to the table in the view of miraculous births, like the Immaculate Conception of Christ our Savior.
Luke 1:49-51 KJV – For he
that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the
imagination of their hearts.
Fear, we see that quite a lot in Scripture. The word fear denotes, to humanity at least, something to avoid. However, there is a reverence, which is the type of fear the angel Gabriel is portraying. Fear is something we all experience. However, remember, Gabriel tells Mary, Joseph, Elisabeth, and Zacharias NOT to fear. At those times, going through what the four were going through, even today would be fear inducing for some. Here we see what Gabriel was alluding to, in the history of Scripture, in the words of David, King of the Jews, Noah, the one who renewed this earth by saving the animals and his family, Abraham, the father of nations, and Isaac, the child that helped share peace and prosperity.
Psalm 71:19 KJV – Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!
Psalm 126:2-3 KJV – Then
was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they
among the heathen, The Lord hath
done great things for them.
The Lord hath done great things
for us; whereof we are glad.
Genesis 17:7 KJV – And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Exodus 20:6 KJV – And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Exodus 34:6-7 KJV – And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Psalm 98:1 KJV – O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
Psalm 118:15 KJV – The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.
Isaiah 40:10 KJV – Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
Always think about the music we share at Christmas time. That music exalts God, sends blessings of peace and prosperity to all hearts that fill this earth with their separate beats. Prayers created in song that fill our hearts, minds, spirits and souls, proving that faith lives, breathes, and spreads toward every person, every creature, everything great and small.
Luke 1:52-56 KJV – He hath
put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty
away.
He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.
Remember, we are the bringers of love and faith and hope, that is what God is sharing here. We are far more than what we think we are in the universe. Believe, have faith, build hope, share peace, learn to listen, hear, and experience God’s Unconditional Love in as many ways as possible. Christmas can often help us see that. The challenge is to keep those feelings of Christmas throughout the 365 days of the year. It is this type of faith, hope, awe, love, patience, peace, comfort, and more throughout life. Let’s work on our righteousness as the gospel writer Matthew, Isaiah, David, and Moses share here.
Matthew 5:6 KJV – Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Isaiah 41:8 KJV – But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
Psalm 98:3 KJV – He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Genesis 17:19 KJV – And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Psalm 132:11 KJV – The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.
Genesis 17:7 KJV – And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
So much can be learned through a single scroll of Scripture. The Gospels bring us a unique view into the life of Jesus, from conception to resurrection. All of those who are Christian, practicing or otherwise, feel an awesome sense of peace and hope each Christmas. Learning how to carry that through the hard times in the years we live is the challenge toward keeping Christmas and Easter in our hearts forever. Spread the joy over the entire year, and those moments at Christmas will be even dearer. Here we find Elisabeth preparing to deliver her son at long last.
Luke 1:57-64 KJV – Now
Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth
a son.
And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy
upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child;
and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this
name.
And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they
marvelled all.
And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and
praised God.
Here is the important moment for Zacharias and Elisabeth. This is the moment where God’s instruction burst forth from them, even as the elders were attempting to give John a name to match his earthly father and mother. Can you imagine the expressions on the faces of those there when first Elisabeth named her son John and then Zacharias was again able to speak and confirmed their son’s name to be John? This, considering, he had been mute for months by this time. Faith and belief can often take a while to take hold in any of the faithful to God and Jesus. Back in those days it sometimes took a wake-up call. Well, this was the moment of that wake-up call for those family members of Elisabeth and Zacharias as well as the elders of the church. This series of verses from the Gospel of Luke portray this quite well.
Luke 1:65-69 KJV – And
fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised
abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.
And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner
of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.
And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied,
saying,
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant
David;
Prophesy, that’s something we hear a whole lot about in Scripture. Without it, we would hardly have recognized any of the good things brought to humanity over the thousands of years in existence. Prosperity within our faith is very important. Making our faith show in how we interact with others around us, or even think of ourselves, would be as important as breathing. We see some of that here in these verses.
Genesis 39:2 KJV – And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
Acts 11:21 KJV – And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.
Joel 2:28 KJV – And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
1 Kings 1:48 KJV – And also thus said the king, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it.
2 Samuel 22:3 KJV – The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
How important is faith? It is the foundation upon which knowledge, wisdom, and all the rest would be built upon. Knowing God and sharing that knowledge, living that knowledge, would provide us with wisdom in our hearts, our minds, our spirits, and souls. This is very important to manage. In doing so we bring our hearts to be more and more like God wishes us to be. God’s promises are real, and they have been kept. This is what the births of John and Jesus within mere weeks of each other would be all about. Faith, hope, all build within the use of patience, perseverance, joy, hope, love, persistence, penitence, and prayer.
Luke 1:70-75 KJV – As he
spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate
us;
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy
covenant;
The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our
enemies might serve him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
Promises of the magnitude managed between God, Joseph, Mary, Elisabeth and Zacharias are so great we might not fully understand them through words written in Scripture. We all have things to learn from Scripture. We all have to learn the methods to build upon patience, peace, persistence, perseverance, and all the rest. Promises are something God is very good at keeping. We see that here in these verses.
Leviticus 26:42 KJV – Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.
Genesis 12:3 KJV – And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Hebrews 9:14 KJV – How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Jeremiah 32:39 KJV – And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
2 Thessalonians 2:13 KJV – But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
We give thanks and should give thanks, more ways than in prayer, which is one method we often will recognize. That’s what those supporting verses share. All of which points back to the miracle of John the Baptist and Jesus’s birth. This next five verses share what role John would have in his future.
Luke 1:76-80 KJV – And
thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go
before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath
visited us,
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide
our feet into the way of peace.
And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the
day of his shewing unto Israel.
It is quite interesting how John the Baptist lived outside the borders of Israel through his life. This was to build up his endurance, his strength. In doing so, he would be ready to do the ministry that God wished him to pursue. That’s an important facet for any prophet, any minister, whether in Scripture, or here on earth in the past, present, and on into the future. Faith is taking Scripture and pursuing it through your life, building upon belief, creating a path toward salvation as individual as it is collective. Here we see the prophecy and the fulfillment of that prophecy.
Jeremiah 31:34 KJV – And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Isaiah 9:2 KJV – The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Matthew 4:16 KJV – The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Matthew 3:1 KJV – In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Have faith, build your hope, share the peace that comes of that. It’s something God wants us to see. It’s the reason for the season of hope, the birth of Jesus Christ. 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: Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem ~ Nat King Cole https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHKORmpW4Cg
~ 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment