Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our combined written and live Sunday sermon, which is normally broadcast every Sunday. I am Rev. Laura A. Neff. Our ministry was built on the truth of God’s love, sharing the Word of God, the Spirit of Jesus Christ 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: Blogspot & Twitter & Linkedin & USAlife & YouTube & Twitch & TruthSocial & Instagram & Facebook
Wedding officiant page: Wedfolio & WeddingChicks
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.
- Rabbi Karen L. Hertzog has asked that we pray for her mother’s health. She also asks for prayers for her brother’s attitude and also for Rabbi Karen’s stress levels.
- We continue our prayers for Evangelist Cal Jennings, that his health becomes steadier than it has been for far too long. We pray that his medical needs are fully met, and he has all that he requires for comfort and peace.
- We continue our prayers for JB and EB as they navigate through the maze of medical limbo that they’ve endured for far too long at this point.
- We continue to pray for a friend of ours, Erica, who is in desperate need to improve her current situation and has set up a site for donations to help her with this. If you want more information, send me a private message and I’ll pass on the information.
- We continue with our prayers for my niece Autumn, who has been suffering seizures due to a head injury from a car crash.
- We continue to pray for my Mama who has had a lot of anxiety issues lately. She has had good news, thankfully, which has helped her out and helped calm the family down as well.
- We continue to pray for all sufferers and survivors of the various types of cancer, including several survivors of the disease, JB’s sister Debbie, our friend Erica, my Aunt Donna, and my friend Kelly.
- We pray for those who are in the path of dangerous weather, and other dangerous conditions, including volcanic eruptions and the numerous earthquakes, worldwide.
- We pray for the various outreach ministries we have joined with, with their leaders, Pastor Stephen Okoth, Pastor Simon Peter Javaji, Pastor Amir Aneel, Sister Santhi Swaroopa, Pastor Duke Moenga, Pastor Wakas Gill and others in Kissee, Nairobi, and other places in Kenya, Pakistan, and India.
- We pray also for our American outreach ministries, including Rev. Lisa Tyler on the other side of Georgia from where I am and Rabbi Karen L. Hertzog with her ministry, Way Maker Messianic Jewish and Christian Center – USA as well.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we have a great many friends and family on our prayer list this week. We are so thankful for the good news of people surviving dangers in natural situations and not so natural. We are so grateful for the gifts You have given each of us. We bring a great many up to You in prayer, for their illnesses, cancers, injuries, and so much more. We bring those who are in mourning, as there are so many these days, that they find comfort in Your arms. We pray all this in Your Holy Name through our Savior Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.
Opening Song: This Little Light Of Mine ~ Rev. Laura
Sermon: Today we are continuing Chapter 4 in 1st Corinthians. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a Christian in this world today? Based on statistics worldwide, the number of Christians has grown from 559,346,000 in 1900 to 2,645,317,000 in 2025. The total population was measured at 1,619,625,000 in 1900 and today it is 8,191,988,000. This means that the number of Christians has grown by 2.085 BILLION people in 1,025 years. Population growth in that same time period was 1.060 BILLION. This means that for every generation there have been at least TWICE as many who have converted to one form of Christianity or another in that same time frame.
Is it any surprise that there are so many others who are doing everything they can do to destroy Christianity? Pick a view of any religion and you’ll see that, to this very day, Christians have to fight to stay alive wherever they might be, and it doesn’t matter north, south, east, or west, though the western world is more densely populated by Christians than anywhere else. Paul has a lot to say to the people of Corinth in this regard. You see, like many Christians in that part of the world today, Paul and the rest of the Apostles were the first to literally be hunted like bears or lions, as though they were a wild creature someone sought as a trophy for their wall or museum.
Paul is warning the people at Corinth and it’s wise to listen to this warning even today. So, with that, let’s begin here.
1 Corinthians 4:8 KJV –Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.
NIV –Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you!
Paul is warning them not to be lazy in their efforts to spread the Word of Jesus Christ and Salvation. It was important enough to God to have Jesus come to earth and become a living sacrifice for us to have eternal life. Laziness is a challenge around this world, no matter the age group, culture, skin color, environment we live in. There are varieties of laziness. This includes using minds, bodies, hearts, spirits, and souls too. Yes, they are all connected in the equation as Paul described in this verse. He has several points of reference from all over the Old Testament Scriptures.
Isaiah 47:8-9 KJV – Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
NIV – “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’ Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells.
Jeremiah 22:21 KJV – I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
NIV – I warned you when you felt secure, but you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your way from your youth; you have not obeyed me.
Ezekiel 28:2 KJV – Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
NIV – “Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘In the pride of your heart you say, “I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.” But you are a mere mortal and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god.
Hosea 12:8 KJV – And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
NIV – Ephraim boasts, “I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin.”
Amos 6:1-6 KJV – Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
NIV – Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come! Go to Kalneh and look at it; go from there to great Hamath, and then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are they better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours? You put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror. You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
Paul adds the Word of Jesus here in the gospels of Matthew and Luke along with the younger human brother of Jesus known as James the Just and John the Beloved’s Revelation.
Matthew 5:6 KJV – Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
NIV – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Luke 6:24-25 KJV – But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
NIV
– “But woe to you who are rich, for you have
already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed
now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
James 4:9-10 KJV – Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
NIV – Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Revelation 3:1-2 KJV – And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
NIV – “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.
Revelation 3:17 KJV – Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
NIV – You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
Paul and the rest of the Twelve Apostles had terrible fates and had to keep moving as much as humanly possible. They, each and every one, suffered prison, beatings, beheadings, boiling in oil, exile, and crucifixion. Yet, they gladly went through it all, for the glory of Jesus. It was their mission, a Great Commission they were given long, long ago even then. This is how Paul describes it to the church there in Corinth.
1 Corinthians 4:9 KJV –For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.
NIV –For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.
Paul’s first point of reference is, as we typically see, the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 53:3 KJV – He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
NIV – He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Paul adds four viewpoints of the Word as shared by our Savior Jesus Christ.
Matthew 5:11-12 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. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
NIV – “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 10:22 KJV – And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
NIV – You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
John 15:18-21 KJV – If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
NIV – “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.
Acts 9:16 KJV – For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
NIV – I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Paul adds more from the writings of Luke in the Acts of the Apostles and then includes one reference to the Hebrew prophets.
Act 14:22 KJV – Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
NIV – strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
Hebrews 10:33 KJV – Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
NIV – Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.
Now, one word I have never liked in Scripture is the word “fool”, because it is a derogatory word, especially in the days of Paul and the Apostles. It’s the last thing we want to be compared to next to a sluggard, or a lazy bum. This is what Paul shares with the church at Corinth next.
1 Corinthians 4:10 KJV –We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.
NIV –We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!
Again, Paul turns to the writings of Luke in the Acts of the Apostles and also fellow Apostle Peter here.
Acts 5:41 KJV – And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
NIV – The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
Acts 17:18 KJV – Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
NIV –A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
1 Peter 4:14 KJV –If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
NIV –If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
Paul wants to remind the people in the church at Corinth that we are all human, even though he was an Apostle of Jesus and had seen the miracles performed with his own eyes, he too was just flesh and blood like they were. This is how he stated it.
1 Corinthians 4:11 KJV –Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;
NIV –To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
All of us have a place we call home, here on earth. However, this is temporary. That’s what Paul wants us to remember. When Jesus returns this whole world will be transformed permanently. The Original Sin and all that has been bred because of that moment will be wiped out and never seen again. Then we will know we are home at last, in God’s house, not our human ones. This is how Jesus points toward that day.
Matthew 8:20 KJV – And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
NIV – Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
Matthew 10:10 KJV – Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
NIV – no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.
Paul adds to this with the writings of Luke in the Acts of the Apostles and the Hebrew prophets as well.
Acts 18:3 KJV – And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.
NIV – and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.
Acts 20:34 KJV – Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
NIV – You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.
Hebrews 11:36-38 KJV – And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
NIV – Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
Paul points out that it is hard work being a true Christian. It really is, even to this day. Sure, there are a lot of us in this world today, but that doesn’t make it easy to be a true Christian. There are all kinds of bad influences out there in the world around us. Paul points toward this fact here.
1 Corinthians 4:12-13 KJV –And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
NIV – We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.
Paul references the expulsion from the Garden of Eden the tragedy of Job, and the words of King David, King Solomon, and the laments of the prophet Jeremiah as well.
Genesis 3:19 KJV – In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
NIV – By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Job 30:9-10 KJV – And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
NIV – “And now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them. They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
Psalm 44:13-14 KJV – Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
NIV – You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us.
Psalm 69:9-12 KJV – For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them. They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
NIV – for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn; when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me. Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.
Proverbs 14:23 KJV – In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.
NIV – All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Lamentations 3:45 KJV – Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.
NIV – You have made us scum and refuse among the nations.
Paul only includes this one passage from the gospel of Matthew with Jesus speaking.
Matthew 5:44-45 KJV – But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
NIV – But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
It is tough, really tough, to love our enemies and to pray for those persecuting us. Yet, this is what Jesus wants us to do. We can learn how to love our enemies and to pray for those who bring harm or anything else to our doorstep. No, it isn’t easy, but this world ensures that nothing is going to be easy. Our last verse today from this first letter to Corinth is a bit of encouragement from Paul to the church and all who are reading his letter.
1 Corinthians 4:14 KJV –I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.
NIV –I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children.
Paul splits his references in half, three from the Old Testament and three more from the New Testament. He starts with the wisdom of King Solomon.
Proverbs 3:11-12 KJV – My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
NIV – My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.
Proverbs 4:1 KJV – Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
NIV – Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
Proverbs 13:4 KJV – The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
NIV – A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.
Paul completes his references with the Hebrew prophets, and his fellow Apostles, Peter and John the Beloved.
Hebrews 12:5-6 KJV – And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
NIV –And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
1 Peter 5:1 KJV –The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
NIV –To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed:
1 John 2:1 KJV –My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
NIV –My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
We have someone standing up for us when it comes down to it. His name is Jesus Christ. That’s an important thing to remember. Jesus Christ, who comes from the great Jehovah God our Heavenly Father has been our Advocate through the Holy Spirit since the very beginning. He proved it in the ultimate sacrifice He made. It is through the life death, and eternal legacy of Jesus Christ that we are here today. Now, let’s show each other how faith and belief in God go hand in hand, and all of us have 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 Lord and Savior. If you are willing to do so, please leave me a note in the comments and I’ll be in touch. 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: Jesus Loves the Little Children ~ Rev. Laura
~ 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 © 2025 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.
