Covenant Of Hope Ministries: The Everyday Grace of Gratitude Found in Hope Through Faith

Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our combined written and live 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.

You will find us in the following location: http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com

Rev. Laura’s other sites: Facebook & Blogspot & Twitter & Linkedin & USAlife & YouTube

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 having issues with pain and pain relief of late and other respiratory and circulatory issues.

- Pray for the war torn countries of Ukraine, Israel, and Kuwait at this time.

- Pray for the victims of kidnapping and murder by Hamas.

- Pray for the victims of the many shootings around this world this past week.

- 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 of varying degrees.

A whole family needs prayer and understanding in a rift that has caused so much mental and spiritual stress and confusion that it affects their daily lives.

There are a few who are having chronic ongoing health issues, and diseases including cancer for several of them.

One who is continually suffering from loneliness that keeps them from peace and patience.

One cousin is having a great many issues in their family include several diagnoses that are a lot to process for them.

Our uncle has been in the hospital in ICU and other places suffering from cancer and having issues with his lungs, breathing, and more. I haven’t had any updates as yet.

- 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 who have lost their lives in the pursuit of faith and hope.

- Pray for our sick and wounded that they may heal.

- Pray for the veterans of foreign and domestic wars around this world as the United States celebrated Veterans Day yesterday.

- Condolences go out to my niece Dawna and nephew-in-law Roger, as their family mourns the loss of his grandfather this week.

* Happy Birthday to one of our founding members, Wayne Bartosh.

* Happy Birthday to my sister Lisa, who celebrated her birthday on Veteran’s Day yesterday.

* Happy Birthday to my nephew Charles Angeloff Jr. whose birthday is today.

Prayer: Father in heaven, we are here to praise Your love and the gifts You have bestowed upon us. We are thankful for each day that we awaken to greet Your hope and more. We bring our fallen soldiers, our families, friends, colleagues, the soldiers in the fields of war, and all those who need prayer up to You right now. We bring all of those who are celebrating life up to you this day, our member Wayne Bartosh, my sister Lisa, and my nephew Charles Jr.. Bring faith, patience, and more to those who need it. We bring our sick and wounded up to You for healing and solace from Your glory and grace. We pray for all of this in Your Holy Name, 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 Romans 10 and proceeding through the first part of Romans 11. You’ll ask how and why I forgot to include the last verse from chapter 10, and I’ll shake my head. There was a whole lot of information shared last week and I did not want to overwhelm you. Add to that, these last two verses for chapter 10 hook right into the first verse of chapter 11. For this reason we are starting here.

Romans 10:20-21 KJV – But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

NIV – And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

For Paul, Isaiah is a very important figure in faith from the ancient writings of the historical and poetic books of the Bible. Isaiah represents what Israel became and proved to be to the many tribes and also to the surrounding kingdoms. We see this exemplified in the writings of Solomon, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, here.

Proverbs 1:24 KJV – Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

NIV – But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,

Isaiah 65:2 KJV – I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;

NIV – All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations—

Jeremiah 35:17 KJV – Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.

NIV – “Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.’”

Now, under most circumstances each chapter is almost self-contained. However, they also connect from one to the next. This is why the last two verses needed to be shared again with this sermon. Here is how Paul opens this next chapter.

Romans 11:1 KJV – I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

NIV – I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

Paul was a Jew. He was of ancient descent, a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin, son of Jacob, son of Isaac and Rebecca, grandson of Abraham and Sarah. Paul reflects on his history by recalling the prophets Samuel and Jeremiah, before referring to his contemporaries with the gospel writer Luke who recorded the words of our Savior to connect even more with God the Father in the way as Jesus taught.

1 Samuel 12:22 KJV –For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people.

NIV –For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.

Jeremiah 31:37 KJV – Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.

NIV – This is what the Lord says: “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 33:24 KJV – Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the Lord hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

NIV – “Have you not noticed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two kingdoms he chose’? So they despise my people and no longer regard them as a nation.

Luke 20:16 KJV – He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.

NIV – He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”

Now, we’ve also reflected upon these words our Lord and Savior spoke in several of the sermons related to Paul’s letter to Rome. Yes, it is important to continue to incorporate the Word as shared by Jesus Christ because He is the reason we are here. He is the reason we need to keep studying and sharing together in the Word. This especially as we get closer and closer to the end of days as prophesied many millennia ago. Paul adds with his references to his own letters to Corinth and Philippi.

2 Corinthians 11:22 KJV –Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.

NIV –Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I.

Philippians 3:5 KJV – Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

NIV – circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee;

In the days, weeks, months, and years that passed after the resurrection, the apostles had a lot of work to do to prevent a catastrophic loss of believers in Christ. This is just one of the reasons that Paul wrote so many letters. The other Apostles, and Gospel writers did the same, simply to keep the memory of Jesus alive and the teachings of Christ and the collective Judeo-Christian beliefs out there for those who believed by hearing as opposed to seeing. Here is what Paul shares next.

Romans 11:2 KJV – God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying,

NIV – God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel:

Remember, for centuries before the resurrection, the Jews would collect together in belief and then stray from those same beliefs often. There were things that they did that were fully against the true meanings of what God provided in relation to what they were to do for food, clothing, life, love, marriage, children, learning and teaching. For insight on this, Paul brings memories of the writings of King David, the prophet Jeremiah, the gospel writers Mark, Luke, and John the Beloved.

Psalm 94:14 KJV – For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

NIV – For the Lord will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance.

Jeremiah 31:17 KJV – And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.

NIV – So there is hope for your descendants,” declares the Lord. “Your children will return to their own land.

Mark 12:26 KJV – And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

NIV – Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

Luke 4:1 KJV – And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

NIV – Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

John 4:1-3 KJV – When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.

NIV – Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

John 4:11 KJV – The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

NIV – “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?

Paul shows in these verses just how difficult it can be to teach people that are lacking the tools to truly understand. He points to John’s writing about the Samaritan woman at the well. Note how she doesn’t connect Jesus to God because she doesn’t know God like you and I would. It is for this reason that Jesus insisted that His Apostles and Disciples spread His Word far and wide, whether the audience held Jew or Gentile, to Him it doesn’t matter. This is true to this very day. In this next verse, Paul is rightly concerned, worried, even for his life. Every Apostle and disciple of Jesus had a price on their head for many, many years after the resurrection. We see this fear manifest in Paul’s next words.

Romans 11:3 KJV – Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.

NIV – “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”?

Remember, the angels, and Jesus Himself, instructed them and others that they should “fear not”. It is hard, sometimes incredibly so, not to be afraid, especially when we see the death and destruction found on the television, through the internet, and written in the articles about war and war crimes and more devastation worldwide. Fear helps bring the seven troubles to life. Paul draws some comparisons from the writings of the Jewish Kings, and the prophet Nehemiah.

1 Kings 19:10 KJV –And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

NIV –He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

1 Kings 19:14 KJV –And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

Nehemiah 9:26 KJV – Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

NIV – “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies.

What exactly is blasphemy? If you recall, Jesus reprimanded a great many for blaspheming the Lord our God. He did so when He swung a whip around the temple square with the moneychangers and all the other blaspheming done by the Priests, Pharisees, and Sadducees. Paul points out another moment in history where there were a great many blasphemers as shown here.

Romans 11:4 KJV – But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.

NIV – And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

Now, Baal was a pagan god, whose worshippers coerced many of the Jews. It took a great deal to make them realize their wrongs. That’s why we see these connections as Paul wrote.

Numbers 25:3 KJV – And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.

NIV – So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

Deuteronomy 4:3 KJV – Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you.

NIV – You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor,

Judges 2:13 KJV – And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.

NIV – because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

1 Kings 19:18 KJV –Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

NIV –Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

Isaiah 4:3 KJV – And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:

NIV – Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.

Notice how this set of references Paul makes would encompass nearly half of the Old Testament. It just proves that blasphemies can be buried deep and can hold on tight to us until we willingly eradicate those elements from our hearts, minds, spirits, and souls. It’s no simple task to “reprogram” our minds with all the influences we have surrounding us, like the media, gossip, rumors, and more. Paul wants everyone to recognize, realize, and know that Jesus is still here with us, through the Holy Spirit, the gift He promised would come to help His people through what was to come. God’s amazing gift of grace, the beautiful helper that Jesus promised. Here Paul references that gift.

Romans 11:5 KJV – Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

NIV – So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.

Paul has only three references for this, but they are significant. Listen carefully here.

2 Kings 19:4 KJV –It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.

NIV –It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”

Isaiah 4:3 KJV – And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:

NIV – Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.

Ephesians 1:5-6 KJV – Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

NIV – he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

The last two verses of Romans chapter 11 for today are together to complete the thought Paul was pointing toward.

Romans 11:6-7 KJV – And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

NIV – And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened,

Remember when we had that discussion about the difference between grace and works? Grace is a gift that Jesus provides for all who follow Him. Works are what good things people did just to make those “brownie points” in life. Remember Jesus’s human brother James shared this: For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:26 KJV) As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26 NIV)

Spirit, both Human and Holy, are equally important and work in tandem when we allow them to do so. We see reference to this with memories from King Solomon, the prophet Isaiah, Matthew’s memory of Jesus, Mark, and Luke.

Proverbs 1:28 KJV – Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

NIV – “Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me,

Isaiah 6:10 KJV – Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

NIV – Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Isaiah 44:18 KJV – They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

NIV – They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.

Matthew 13:14-15 KJV – And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

NIV – In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’

Mark 6:52 KJV – For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.

NIV – for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

Luke 6:13 KJV – And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;

NIV – When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:

Paul also draws reference from his letters to Corinth and Ephesus.

2 Corinthians 3:14 KJV –But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

NIV –But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.

Ephesians 4:18 KJV – Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

NIV – They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

Understanding the Word is finding where it connects with all parts of yourself, physically, mentally, spiritually, and soulfully. This doesn’t just relate to your faith and attending church or listening to sermons online. It draws from every part of your life, work, play, all views of family, friends, colleagues, and more. Every Word as written in Scripture connects to us in unique, and sometimes unusual, ways. Every time you experience the Word of God, something different is evoked from it. We each learn something new, no matter how many times we have read, recited, or heard the verses one by one. Everyone has the opportunity to walk in the faithful steps of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The ability to do this requires us to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. If you’re ready to do so, please leave me a message in the comments or drop me a private message and I will get in touch. 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: Olivia Newton John ~ Grace and Gratitude https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHMmREOFAsc

~ Shalom ~

Rev. Laura A. Neff

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Evangelist Calvin Jennings

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Covenant of Hope Ministries Main Site: 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.

Covenant Of Hope Ministries

MESSENGER

Sunday, November 12, 2023

The Everyday Grace of Gratitude Found in Hope Through Faith

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