Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our Sunday sermon. You will normally see us posted in written and live form on Sunday. I am Rev. Laura A. Neff. Our ministry was built on the truth of God’s love and sharing the Word of God, the Spirit of Christ Jesus in a way that we believe embraces the ways Jesus taught us to manage. We bring His Word to the many as opposed to the few, in order to continue the legacy created by the ministry of Jesus Christ. It is God’s will that has brought this to be. 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.
Today I am relaxing after 2 16-hour drives due to my youngest son's wedding yesterday. We made it home at 9:00 AM Eastern Standard Time. Enjoy the last verses of this first chapter of 2 Thessalonians.
You will find us in the following location: http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
Rev. Laura’s other sites: Facebook & Blogspot & Twitter & Linkedin
Wedding officiant page: Wedfolio
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 pray for Evangelist Cal Jennings who has been suffering greatly with his health. May the Lord bring his spirits up and help heal him.
- Please pray for Evangelist Cal Jennings’ sister who has a malignant meningioma.
- Please keep several friends and other family members in prayer for their trials and tribulations. They have each requested to remain anonymous for the time being.
One who has been diagnosed with some painful health issues.
One who is rehabilitating after a very painful bladder biopsy this week.
Four who have lost a loved one in the past week.
One who has returned home for more rehabilitation after a stroke.
One who has been working with cardiac rehabilitation after a heart attack a month or so ago.
Another pair who have had serious issues with pain levels in recent weeks and months. May their pain ease sooner rather than later.
- Pray for the economy around this world as inflation and supply chains suffer from extremely high prices for fuel and overly high demand.
- Pray for those who have suffered from violent events, that they heal and do not have scarred psyches and that those who have lost their loved ones to violence find peace in the face of fear.
- Be thankful for each day we live as we do not know what
tomorrow brings.
- 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 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.
* My youngest son Lukas Neff and his brand new bride Rebecca are celebrating matrimony after their wedding yesterday afternoon. We send them congratulations and hopes and prayers for a long, happy life forever after.
Prayer: Father in heaven, our prayer today is to have the Spirit bring healing to each of our bodies, minds, spirits, and souls. We pray for enlightenment in the wonders that You bring each of us and understanding while studying Your Word. We thank You for the many awe inspiring gifts and the many more You have brought us. We praise Your guidance for our young children, including Lukas and Rebecca who are just starting out as married couples. May our fears be drawn out of us. Help us to see the many gifts Your love brings and the unknown locations it might be found. May our pain and sorrow be eased. May peace be brought from our hearts and shared with others. May Your gifts of love shine through us toward others. We pray for the homeless, the survivors of the latest hurricanes and tropical storms. We pray for the poor, the sick, the sorrowful, the wounded, and the frightened. We pray for the soldiers, the Samaritans, the children, and the rest. We pray in thanksgiving for every gift brought us. We pray that every tomorrow would bring good things. 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: Praying for You ~ The Katinas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBrmdfnqH_E
Sermon: This week we are finishing the study of the first chapter in 2 Thessalonians. There are only two verses remaining in the chapter, but they are thought provoking enough to create a short sermon out of. Paul and his eloquence while writing his letters to the church at Thessalonica conveys just what is needed for a church that is rife with confusion, failure, and those coping with the removal of bad seeds within the church. It is a great comfort to know that people are praying for you. This is the comfort Paul shares with that very new church still hunting for the true path toward Christ. Let’s start with the second to last verse in Paul’s first chapter of the second letter to Thessalonica.
2 Thessalonians 1:11 KJV –Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
NIV –With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.
Paul never failed in his ability to share how we should walk in the path of Jesus. His eloquence and vast knowledge of the Jewish laws, and international laws as well, made his experience an incredible force for the good of God’s Word and the message of hope through Jesus Christ. We see this eloquence in his letter to the Romans.
Romans 1:9 KJV – For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
NIV – God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you
Romans 11:29 KJV – For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
NIV – for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
Romans 15:14 KJV – And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
NIV – I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.
In fact, Paul’s letters to all the churches shared this eloquence. We see it again in his letter to the church at Ephesus and Colossae.
Ephesians 1:16 KJV – Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
NIV – I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
Ephesians 3:14-21 KJV – For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
NIV – For this reason I kneel before the Father,
15from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
18may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Colossians 1:9 KJV – For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
NIV – For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,
Colossians 1:12 KJV – Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
NIV – and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
John the Beloved is also referenced in this being thankful for their obedience to the Word of God and seen through the Savior Jesus Christ.
Revelation 3:4 KJV – Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
NIV – Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.
Paul closes out the first chapter of 2 Thessalonians with these words.
2 Thessalonians 1:12 KJV –That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
NIV –We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The power of positive and effective prayer is far greater than many will think it could be. Even Jesus prayed, aloud or in silence and both in a group as well as alone. Prayer is meant to bring peace, comfort, sing praises and more. We see that power in these verses from the Scroll of Isaiah.
Isaiah 24:15 KJV – Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
NIV – Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD; exalt the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea.
Isaiah 66:5 KJV – Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
NIV – Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at his word: “Your own people who hate you, and exclude you because of my name, have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy!’ Yet they will be put to shame.
Prayer is as much talking with God as it is listening to Him. Prayer is just one part of our journey on the walk with God and Christ. The additions include meditation, careful thought, and recognition in our hearts, minds, and spirits as well as our souls. The prophet Malachi has this to share.
Malachi 1:11 KJV – For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
NIV – My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty.
Jesus points out just how important we are to God, and to Him as well in this verse from the gospel of John the Beloved.
John 17:10 KJV – And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
NIV – All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.
Jesus points out that the faithful, the true believers, gain so much from God through Him that we couldn’t count high enough to realize the amounts of any gifts, spiritual, physical, mental, and so on. Faith is something that gets built up and worn down quite often in the life of every person. We’ve heard the words “focus on the positive”. It’s not easy to do this in a world filled with more than a million negatives in our lives every year. Yet, the words “Everything is possible for one who believes.” from the gospel of Mark 9:23 and again Jesus says in Mark 14:36 – “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Jesus taught us to pray, even with us in the snare of trials and tribulations. Those prayers are answered. This is realized and recognized in the fact that, though Jesus suffered and died for us, He rose again to take eternal death and destruction away from us to the moment of final Judgment. Paul points out how powerful God’s will would be in this next verses to the church at Philippi and Colossae.
Philippians 2:9 KJV – Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
NIV – Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
Colossians 3:17 KJV – And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
NIV – And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Paul also references another apostle, this one Peter, upon whom Jesus said the foundation of the church would be built. Notice how Peter too points out that trials and tribulations are temporary, and they can help us build our faith to defeat that which wears us down in life.
1 Peter 1:3 KJV –Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
NIV –Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:7 KJV –That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
NIV –These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
There is so much for us to learn from the writing of the Apostles, the
Prophets, and the Kings in God’s faith. Let’s learn them, verse by verse,
chapter by chapter, until His Word is written in our hearts the way God
intended. Now that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer that
Jesus taught us saying:
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: You Raise Me Up ~ Josh Groban https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJxrX42WcjQ
~ Shalom ~
Rev. Laura A. Neff
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Evangelist 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 © 2022 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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