April 18, 2021 – CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday April 18TH 2021, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate Christ on this glorious new day !

This past Friday night I finished writing my next sermon titled “Denials & Restoration”. As I wrote last Sunday in this space it’ll be about Simon Peter’s 3 denials on the night before Christ was crucified as told by John’s Gospel in Chapter 18 – as well as his restoration from those denials after Christ was resurrected and before He ascended to Heaven (John 21:15-23). I’ll also be summarizing John’s Gospel – starting with the last 2 verses (John 21:24-25), and then returning to the beginning with the first 18 verses of John 1. The start of John’s Gospel resembles the start of the Book of Genesis.

Now that I’ve got this sermon written I’ll await my opportunity to preach it to my church family. In the meantime I’ll begin writing my next sermon after that. I’m not sure if I want to jump right in to my next planned study series on Peter’s two letters, or if I want to write a special Old Testament sermon. I haven’t done one of those since last Summer when I wrote and preached about Malachi.

Yesterday – the 17TH of April – was and is a special day for me. On that day in 2007 I boldly walked-in to a small Christian bookstore in the downtown district of my city during my Lunch hour from work, and I picked-out and purchased my very first Bible with the assistance of the lady that was working there at the time. I remember that I was still learning about all of the various translations of the Bible. I had “NLT” handwritten on a small post-it stickie, as that’s what my Pastor used on Sunday mornings. I actually showed it to the lady at the store, and she directed me to the “NLT” section of the store. It was multiple shelves of “NLT” Bibles for all ages and in different sizes. Eventually I picked-out the one that looked the most appealing to me. It was the “New Believer’s Bible” – “First Steps For New Christians”. I took it home. I finally owned a traditional Bible near the start of my 9TH month of salvation.

From my very first Bible – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT):

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way – fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.

Want to get closer to God ? Read His Word. Start anywhere. Pick a page at random (if you’re not on a reading plan) and just start reading. Read slowly. Read comprehensively. Read to remember. Read to be able to learn from God. Read to be able to talk to Him.