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.
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 and his housing situation. May the solution that has presented itself be a beneficial one in many ways.
- Please continue praying for Evangelist Cal Jennings’ sister who has had a benign meningioma removed and has been undergoing rehabilitation. The family is overjoyed to learn that the tumor was benign.
- Please keep praying for my father-in-law Raymond Neff, who is still recovering from his severe chemical burns, but is thankfully home. He is improving some, but there are still issues with his health as a result of the burns.
- 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.
Several who are having money issues.
One who is suffering from loneliness that keeps them from peace and patience.
One cousin who is having a great many issues in their family, including two suffering cancer, other family issues especially difficult include several diagnoses that are a lot to process for them.
- Please pray for a sibling who has again injured his back badly enough to require more surgery.
- Pray for those who are in the path of storms that have been developing in the Atlantic.
- Pray for the families of the deceased members in the submarine exploring the ruins of the Titanic earlier this week.
- 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.
- Pray for comfort and solace to be shared with those who have said farewell to a loved one this week, known or unknown.
- 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.
* Wishing a happy birthday for my eldest son Royce, whose birthday was Friday.
* Wishing my eldest son Royce and his wife Victoria a happy 5th anniversary.
Prayer: Father in heaven, our prayer today on this blessed and beautiful Sunday is to have the Holy Spirit bring each of us the many gifts of spiritual strength, joy and peace to our hearts, faith to our minds, and healing to our bodies, and souls this week and always. We pray for family and friends who have health and other issues that are causing pain, sorrow, fear, and more around this world. We pray for those who have suffered unjustly for things they could not control. We pray for those who have lost faith and live in devastating fear and sorrow. We pray for the homeless and the jobless in this world. We pray for the hungry and the malnourished. We pray for the poor, weak, and sorrowful people in this world. We pray in thanksgiving for all the great gifts that You have given us, even if we don’t always realize they are there. We pray in hope and patience for those things that are worrying us in our hearts and minds. 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: In Christ Alone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn9-UNer6MQ
Sermon: Today we are completing the last verses of chapter 5 in the scroll of Romans. As we’ve noticed, Paul is straight to the point in his letters, and he is very specific about behaviors we all should be watchful about.
Romans 5:18 KJV – Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
NIV – Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.
So, what is the offense that Paul is speaking of? How far back in the history of the world was this offense managed? The answer is Adam and Eve, at the beginning of time. He points out that we have to realize and recognize that, without the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross at Calvary wiped all of that away. However, there’s a catch. We have to admit to our faults. We have to own them. That can be a difficult thing on occasion. Ego is a big, huge, sometimes ugly wall in our way. It’s why mankind has gone through the situations that Isaiah speaks of here.
Isaiah 53:10-12 KJV – Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
NIV – Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah and all the other prophets before the birth of Jesus referred to the miracle of God sending His only begotten Son to be born of the Virgin Mary. Here we see that prophecy preparing to be made manifest.
Matthew 1:21 KJV – And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
NIV – She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
So, we see how the miracle of Christ Jesus began, and here we add to that what John the Beloved shared about this very special moment and what it meant then, as well as now. John throws three interesting points for us to pay attention to.
John 1:7 KJV – The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
NIV – He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.
Christians do what is termed as “witnessing” with one another, sometimes every day of the week. We share time together learning about God and how He wants us to see Him. We share time together reflecting on how Jesus Christ’s life, His very existence, impacts life as we know it, even nearly two millennia since His death and resurrection. This is another view from John the Beloved’s gospel.
John 5:26 KJV – For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
NIV – For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
John 12:32 KJV – And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
NIV – And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Paul points out something in his letter here about disobedience. A quick illustration is one my eldest son’s mother-in-law shared during his birthday party on Friday. I have shared this illustration for you to follow along.
It is also similar to other diagrams I have used in regard to how Jesus Christ is an everlasting living bridge to remove us from the requirement of death, because He died for us all. He bore the ultimate, most excruciating death of billions of people on this earth who were not even alive yet at the time. His eternal sacrifice wiped away this view of humanity’s demise.
Romans 5:19 KJV – For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
NIV – For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Obedience is a word so many people have an issue with because it means they answer to someone. Well, it’s true. We all answer to someone. When we’re children, we answer to our parents and other adults in our lives. When we’re adults, or near adults, we answer to our bosses, leaders, and so forth. First and foremost, we should answer to God. Here we see this with Daniel and Paul adds to that with Paul’s second letter to Corinth and his letter to the church at Philippi.
Daniel 9:24 KJV – Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
NIV – “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV –For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
NIV –God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Philippians 2:8 KJV – And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
NIV – And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Notice what Paul says in the previous verse here to the church at Philippi. He humbled himself, became obedient to death, and then overcame death to eternal life. Those steps are exactly the same steps we each need to be willing to take as Christians. This is what Paul shares in his next verse to the church at Rome.
Romans 5:20 KJV – And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
NIV – And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Face the enemy of life. What is that enemy? Death! Face death with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and Eternal Life is your next destination. Satan brought temptation to this earth. Adam and Eve fell for that temptation, and the existence of death and destruction became part of this earth. Jesus came to rebuild the true path toward redemption in His life, death, and resurrection. Here are ways we can reflect on the greatest sacrifice ever made.
Psalm 25:11 KJV – For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
NIV – For the sake of your name, LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
As humans, we often have issues forgiving each other. Some even have issues forgiving themselves. It’s something that gets pointed out all over through Scripture. Here is a reference from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
John 15:22 KJV – If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
NIV – If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
Paul adds three other references from Corinth, Galatia, and Macedonia.
2 Corinthians 3:7 KJV –But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
NIV –Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was,
Galatians 3:19 KJV – Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
NIV – Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.
1 Timothy 1:14 KJV –And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
NIV –The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
The final verse in Romans Chapter Five the Apostle Paul reflects on how the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus and the righteousness of His sacrifice allows us the ability to step onto His path and pursue it to the fullest, defeating death in the process as we pursue His righteousness.
Romans 5:21 KJV – That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
NIV – so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The first reference is Jesus speaking in the gospel of Matthew. He is speaking regarding the ultimate punishment which is eternal death. He also pinpoints exactly what it takes to reach the ultimate reward of eternal life.
Matthew 25:46 KJV – And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
NIV – “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Where Jesus spoke in the gospel of Matthew, the passage referenced with John the Beloved’s gospel portrays the importance of what Jesus was doing here on this earth two thousand years ago. We see it through both John the Beloved’s voice and that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
John 1:14-17 KJV – And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
NIV – The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 15:22 KJV – If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
NIV – If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
Paul’s letter to Titus adds more along with the writings of the Hebrew prophets.
Titus 2:11 KJV – For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
NIV – For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.
Hebrews 4:16 KJV – Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
NIV – Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Faith is to belief as righteousness is to salvation. It’s a simple demonstration of how we can pursue the ultimate gift of eternal life. If you would like to accept Jesus Christ in your life as your Lord and Savior, we welcome you. 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: Nearer My God to Thee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWz4feHp0ko
~ 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
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