June 11, 2023 – CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday June 11TH 2023, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate this great new day of believing, following, trusting, loving, and being more like our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. Let us love our neighbor as ourself.

This week marks my 38TH Anniversary working for the USAF as an Airman and as a Civilian. It also marks my 28TH Anniversary of living in my current home in Homestead Florida. The end is near for both.

This morning I’m with my new church family in my new home of Sebring Florida. Incidentally my new church is Neighborhood Church. On my first Sunday morning there at the start of April – I met several former residents of Miami-Dade County in the front lobby. I felt like I belonged there !

And now on #SundayScripture it’s the continuation of the transcription of my sermon on “Paul & Titus” that I preached to my church family on March 05TH 2023. Here’s Part 7:

[CONTINUATION OF SERMON]

I like this diagram. It shows that The Father – is not The Son. And The Son – is not The Holy Spirit. And The Holy Spirit – is not The Father. But The Father – is God. And The Son – is God. And The Holy Spirit – is God.

So Paul is telling Titus that these are the things that must be taught to the believers of Crete. You know rulers and emperors and mythological gods – they were lifted-up and worshipped by many on Crete, and in Greece, and all around the region during that time – the first century. But only Christ was divine. And to this day – only the Father (Creator), the Son (Christ), and the Holy Spirit are God. There is no other !

Christ is coming back. But right now we have God within us. The Holy Spirit guides us to keep God’s covenant – to do good deeds. That’s faith and works.

You must teach these things and encourage the believers to do them. You have the authority to correct them when necessary, so don’t let anyone disregard what you say. (Titus 2:15)

Paul tells Titus to remind the believers of Christ that they should be obedient. They should always be ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone. They must avoid arguing. They should be gentle. They should show true humility to everyone. (Titus 3:1-2)

And Paul continues:

Once – we too – were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. (Titus 3:3)

But – when God our Savior revealed His kindness and love – He saved us – not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins – giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of His grace – He made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)

Well there you go again Chris – preaching about repentance and salvation. You sound like a broken record. You keep preaching about it like it’s something important – like it’s some type of monumental life-changing event !

That’s right. I’m going there again – because the Bible went there again. And – I’m a big fan of proclaiming and teaching – preaching – from God’s Good News. You know repentance and salvation is one of my specialties. It’s one of my areas of expertise. I can talk about it up here. I can talk about it down there. I can talk about it out there. I can talk about it for the rest of the day and into the night and into tomorrow, but I only have about 10 more minutes up here before we walk out of here and go to Lunch.

[TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK]

If you wish to learn more about the God I know then stay tuned to #SundayScripture. The best is yet to come !

Thank you for reading my blog for this day, and may:

The LORD bless you, and keep you.
The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.