Category: Bible

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 28TH 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.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day here in the U.S.A. I’ll present my annual post honoring the day and our heroes.

“My Top 10 Hits” slides to Tuesday this weekend. All of my blog posts are published at 0300 U.S. East Coast time (0700 UTC).

A couple of weekends ago I began work on my next sermon – “Jude & Judgement”. It’s based on Jude’s letter to the Christians. The very next morning – my Pastor at my longtime home church – out of the blue a few moments before the start of the service – asked me to read Jude 1:3 (NLT) once he reached that part of his sermon and called on me to do so. I could not believe his request. How did he know that I’ve started writing a sermon on Jude ? How did he know that I just read the entirety of Jude (25 verses) back in the fellowship hall just before that moment ? How did he know that I’d been praying about the direction of my developing sermon on Jude ? Well – he didn’t know any of that. He and I were both reading, writing, and studying about Jude at the exact same time.

That’s why I love my Pastor of the past 8+ years. He and I are frequently on the same page with scripture and sermons. As long as he continues to preach – I’ll be watching from afar on Facebook. And every so often – I’ll be watching him in action in person.

A month ago here on #SundayScripture I began transcribing my sermon on “Paul & Titus” that I preached to my church family (filling-in for my Pastor) on March 05TH 2023. Here’s Part 5:

[CONTINUATION OF SERMON]

You know the Apostle Paul – he gave advice and instructions to Titus on how to lead the church on Crete, but Paul constantly reminded Titus for who he is – he is one who is saved by Christ – both of them. Paul trusted Titus to continue the good work that had started with the creation of the new church on the island.

Paul reassured Titus:

For the grace of God has been revealed – bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God – while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior – Jesus Christ – will be revealed. He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people – totally committed to doing good deeds. (Titus 2:11-14)

That first sentence there – “for the grace of God has been revealed – bringing salvation to all people.” I love that. Because of that – I stand before you here today. And you and I know each other today. If it weren’t for God’s grace and His salvation for me – I wouldn’t be here today !

It reminds me of another one of Paul’s letters – to the Ephesians – when he wrote:

God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this. It is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

[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.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 21ST 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 morning is the 30TH anniversary of the debut of my first product online – MANx CAT BBS. It was a dial-up bulletin board system located in my home in Melbourne Florida where readers (friends and fans) used their respective computer to dial-in to my computer via my home telephone number and modem. Once connected – they participated in various message boards on different topics, and they chatted with me in real-time (if I was on my computer at the time).

That bulletin board was a fun experience that lasted a little over 4 years, and a hit music web site was spun-off from it in 1995. This blog was a spin-off of that web site in 2007 when it debuted on MySpace.

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been on social media for exactly 30 years – from age 26 to 56. I still enjoy hosting a media that readers (friends and fans worldwide) look forward to reading on a regular basis. I appreciate you !

As I used to say and write back in the day as a #SysOp – let’s get back on-topic here. A few weeks ago here on #SundayScripture I began transcribing my sermon on “Paul & Titus” that I preached to my church family on March 05TH 2023. Here’s Part 4:

[CONTINUATION OF SERMON]

Paul – and Titus – were carrying out the instructions of Christ – in Galilee – on the mountain – when He told His disciples – (Matthew 28:18-20)

“I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore – go and make disciples of all the nations – baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this:  I am with you always – even to the end of the age.”

That’s the Great Commission. You know every one of us are disciples of Christ. I’ve told this story many times, and it’s worth repeating over and over again. Back during my first full year of salvation – in 2007 – a special guest Pastor – who would eventually become our Executive Pastor for a short period of time – he called me out – by name – during the middle of his sermon. It came out of nowhere. He said – “Christopher Day – you are a disciple.” I nodded “no I’m not” from my movie theatre seat. (We did church in a movie theatre back then – the former Flagship Cinemas on Campbell Drive.) He saw me, and then he proceeded to proclaim why I’m a disciple. It gave me the chills. It gave me goosebumps. I was stunned. But – I believed. I believed that this wretch that was saved – I once was lost – but now I’m found – was blind – but now I see – that I am a disciple of my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. It was the most powerful sermon of my 8 years with my previous church family – just down the road from here. I will remember that sermon forever.

So discipleship is all about learning to become more like Christ. A disciple of Christ is one who repents of sin, and trusts in Jesus, and obeys His teachings. So if that’s you – and I think it is for everyone in here – then you are a disciple of Christ.

The Great Commission applies to all of us who believe and follow Christ. We are commanded to go and tell the world about the God we know. That’s proclaiming the Gospel. That’s teaching the Gospel. Proclaiming and teaching. That’s preaching. We’re all preachers in our own unique ways. You see some disciples lead churches, and all disciples are the church. You and I – we are the church. We are disciples of Christ. We are preachers. We are priests. We are a royal priesthood.

[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.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp