https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pszbZIgGYFc
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 Yeshu Ha-Notzri or in English Jesus Christ of Nazareth 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 & Wedding Chicks
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.
- We pray today for my friend Faith’s mother, who has been admitted to the hospital with Pulmonary Cirrhosis and needs prayer desperately.
- We pray today for my high school friend’s husband Mickey Scott who underwent a biopsy on Friday.
- We continue to pray for my friend Paul, a colleague I’ve known for twenty years, who is healing after his heart surgery and is now working to solve an infection in his brain.
- We continue to pray for my employer and his wife, Ed and Joy, who are quite ill at this time. Ed was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, and his wife Joy has been in the hospital with fluid in her lungs and other health issues. She is on oxygen full time and 24-hour observation. Pray while they are in managed care that their care is precise and helpful for both of them.
- Pray also for their son Ed Jr. and his wife Joyce who really need prayer support in the family issues that are going on with his parents Ed Sr. and Joy. Pray as they navigate the managed care and the work on the home that their parents once lived in along with his brother Chris.
- We are still praying today for my dear friend JB who has been given limited ability to travel away from home now five days per week for very short distances. Please keep JB in prayer for continued therapy, and continued doctor visits after her broken hip and upper leg. Please pray about the source of her extreme weight loss so that it can be solved. Please continue praying for her husband EB as well with his health and his muscles and movement as he has serious mobility issues. Add her sister-in-law who is suffering from cancer at this time.
- Evangelist Cal Jennings is doing better after the third degree burns to his fingertips. He has been having a lot of little issues lately, please pray that they are resolved. Please pray for his healing and that his pain is treated like it should be treated, not as an afterthought.
- We continue to pray for my Mama who has had a lot of issues lately in her life since losing my father and my two younger sisters. Please keep her in prayer for her anxieties, fears, and general well-being.
- Pray for a friend of mine K.S. who has a lot going on in life right now and has been asking me tons of questions about those things going on. Pray that I might be able to continue to answer those questions as time goes on.
- We continue to pray for a friend of ours, Alexis, who continues to need to improve her current situation and is seeking to sell things she owns to help her with this. If you want more information, send me a private message and I’ll pass on the information.
- We continue to pray for all sufferers and survivors of the various types of cancer, including several survivors of the disease, Evangelist Cal Jennings’ brother-in-law David Doyle, JB’s sister Debbie, Jerry, our friend Alexis, my Aunt Donna, my friend Kelly, and so many more.
- We pray for those who are in the midst of treacherous weather, and other dangerous conditions around this world.
- We pray for the various outreach ministries we have joined with, with their leaders, Pastor Jared Otieno, Pastor George Ototo, Pastor Stephen Okoth, Pastor Simon Peter Javaji, Pastor Amir Aneel, Sister Santhi Swaroopa, Pastor Duke Moenga, 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.
- We pray for the family, friends, and fans of Richard Sterban, bass singer of the Oakridge Boys who passed away yesterday at 83.
- We pray for the veterans of any and all wars, of service in any form, that they are treated with respect, with understanding, and with faith, hope, and love.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, there are so many in our hearts and thoughts and so much going on in life that needs prayer. We pray for Faith’s mother with her pulmonary cirrhosis, and for Mickey with his biopsy results. We pray for my friend Paul with his healing heart and brain infection. We continue to pray for Ed and Joy with their health issues, especially with the difficult decisions that need to be managed after being placed in managed care. We pray for Ed Jr., his wife Joyce, and his brother Chris for the difficult decisions they are currently facing at this time concerning their parents. We continue praying for EB and JB and their many health issues. We continue to pray for EB and JB’s sister-in-law who has cancer as well. We pray for those who are in the path of the various chaotic weather patterns. We pray for the many who are injured and ill in our ministry, our friends, including Evangelist Cal, our family, and more. We pray for my Mama who has some anxiety going on right now for her confidence and her patience, and her disappointments. We pray for K.S. and what is going on in their life. We pray for the homeless and the helpless around this world. We pray for the many victims of violence, prejudice, and terrorism in this world. We pray for those still under the thumb of slavery and oppression. We pray for the unjustly persecuted and prosecuted. We pray for our friends and family who have been fighting cancer. We pray for those who survived cancer, including Kelly, Alexis, David, and Debbie and many more, that they continue to remain well. We pray for the nations at war. We pray for the ones celebrating birthdays this past week and this week to come. We pray for 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: Onward Christian Soldiers
Sermon: This will be a shorter sermon than most for several reasons. One of those being I have been in serious prayer for many people as noted by our prayer list this week and those who have asked not to be included on that same prayer list. Today we will be celebrating veterans of all military and police venues. Soldiers in this world, past and present, who have served in some capacity. Searching through Scripture, there are many versions of the view of soldiers. We find them throughout the Old and New Testaments. This sermon will be shorter than most mainly because of the theme within it. I will be taking the verses in Scroll order. With that, we will begin with Torah.
Deuteronomy 20:8 KJV – And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart.
NIV – Then the officers shall add, “Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 KJV – Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
NIV – Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Now, what is interesting about these first verses is how they portray the rapport between soldiers and ordinary people. It also portrays the strength of will soldiers have in comparison to ordinary people. Not every person on this earth is equipped to be a soldier. Nobody says we all need to be unless we are soldiers of Christ, which we will get into later. But, as the second verse portrays, we don’t need to be a soldier to prove strength and courage either. God is with us regardless of our strength, shown or unshown. Next, we will cover the Prophetic Scrolls of the Old Testament. He repeats this in the next verse.
Joshua 1:9 KJV – Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
NIV – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Then Scripture shares this prophetic pair of verses from Isaiah and Joel in regard to soldiers. Now, in these two it speaks of fear. There is the good type of fear and the bad type. Yes, there are types of fear. The good type of fear has to do with reverence. When God says fear not, he’s talking about the opposite. We can be fearful, but showing fear and feeling fear are different. Fear can often be more truthful than any other feeling we have. Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the acknowledgement that it exists without allowing it to overcome us. This is what Isaiah and Joel are sharing.
Isaiah 41:10 KJV – Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
NIV – So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Joel 2:7 KJV – They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
NIV – They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course.
Now we will cover more of the ideals of soldiers through the New Testament beginning with the gospels of Matthew and John the Beloved with my favorite parable there. In both of these verses our Savior Jesus Christ of Nazareth is speaking.
Matthew 8:9 KJV – For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
NIV – For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
John 15:13 KJV – Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
NIV – Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
As you well know by now, the Vine and Branches parable in John 15 is my favorite of all the parables. It proves where we are connected, not just to each other, but to our Savior Yeshu Ha Notzri, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, but to God Himself, as well as each other. We are His soldiers so long as we remember His friendship, His love, His faith, and His belief in each and every one of us. We continue our exploration on the work of soldiers with these words from the Acts of the Apostles.
Acts 10:7 KJV – And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually;
NIV –When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants.
Notice how devotion enters the conversation regarding soldiers here. Most in the military are there either out of obligation or devotion, and sometimes both. I’ve known several that fit each category over the years I have lived, including family, friends, and colleagues as well. Our next verses come from the letters Paul wrote to Corinth, Timothy, and Philemon, all of which we have covered in older sermons, just not in this context. Now we are seen as soldiers of Christ in that we suffer in doing the work that He has sent us to do. It’s not easy work. There is nothing routine about it. Most of the Lord’s work is spontaneous and often relies on prayer, focus, faith, and belief. Much like a soldier’s work would.
1 Corinthians 9:7 KJV –Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
NIV – Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk?
2 Timothy 2:3-4 KJV –Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
NIV – Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.
Philemon 1:2 KJV – And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house:
NIV – also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home:
In the cases of these from Paul, all of them speak of Christians as a group of soldiers for Christ. That’s why we have songs like the one sung at the beginning of the sermon. One of the best ways that we can bring more faith and belief together with others is by showing 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: Just As I Am
~ Shalom ~
Rev. Laura A. Neff
Blogspot & Twitter & Linkedin & Twitch & USAlife
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 © 2026 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.
