Category: Church

It was another glorious Sunday with my Living Waters church family. Our Lead Pastor continued his message series on moving mountains out of the way. Today he told the story of Isaac. God promised Abraham a son, and Isaac was that son. God tested Abraham’s faith by telling him to sacrifice Isaac. He did as he was told. God intervened, and He provided a sacrificial ram in Isaac’s place.

“Take your son – your only son – yes – Isaac – whom you love so much – and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains – which I will show you.” (Genesis 22:2)

Our Pastor then showed us how Isaac was a type of Jesus !  #TypesAndShadows

Post-Sermon I led Communion with the story of Freedom – our nation’s freedom – and our own freedom in Christ.

But when the right time came – God sent His Son – born of a woman – subject to the law. God sent Him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that He could adopt us as His very own children. And because we are His children – God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts – prompting us to call out, “Abba – Father !” (Galatians 4:4-6)

All rights reserved (c) 2019 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Today our Lead Pastor preached on Faith with the following verses of Scripture – James 2:26, Hebrews 11:1 & 7-8, Romans 10:9, Proverbs 18:21, and Matthew 10:32.

The entirety of Hebrews 11 – all 40 verses – illustrate “Great Examples Of Faith”.

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. It gives us assurance about things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1 NLT)

In order to truly live for God you must have a living faith that is filled with works.

Back at home I’m still working on my next sermon titled “Josiah & Judah”. I’m just past the halfway mark with my manuscript for it. My sermons have been running just a little bit long recently. I need to cut them back slightly from over 45 minutes to closer to 35 minutes. I never in my wildest dreams ever thought that I would be considered a “long-winded Preacher of God”. I love that. It makes me smile and laugh anytime someone says that about me. I treat it as a high-compliment. I look at it this way. If I cut about 10 minutes off of each new sermon then I’ll have a brand new sermon by itself in about 4 months. Good Stuff. Good News.

That’s my Sunday, and that wraps-up this blog for the month of June 2019. This was actually the busiest / most-read month for this blog since I resurrected it 18 months ago. Thank You for checking it out, and for being a part of this online ministry. Let’s keep it going into July. That starts tomorrow. See you then !

All rights reserved (c) 2019 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Here’s an excerpt from my sermon today titled “Pray & Believe”:

… The Bible says “keep on praying.” That’s a short 3-word verse in First Thessalonians Chapter 5. That’s actually the New Living Translation First Edition. That verse was updated for the Second Edition from “keep on praying” to “never stop praying”. Now it doesn’t mean to pray with every single breath and every waking moment. It means don’t give up when troubles come your way. Pray.

I learned this verse early on as a baby Christian. It helped me a lot:

Don’t worry about anything. Instead – pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. (Philippians 4:6)

I’ve heard it said that worry is a conversation you have with yourself about things you can’t change. Prayer is a conversation you have with God about things He can change.

When I pray almost every sentence has the words “Thank You” in it. I thank God for the current situation. I thank the Lord for what He’s already done. I thank Him for what He’s going to do.

I like (Romans 12:12) – Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

You see when we rejoice in our confident hope – when we trust in Christ – we can be patient in times of trouble. Praying to God shows God that we truly trust in Him. Praying to God from the valleys confirms to Him that we believe that He is in control, and that He is right there with us – leading us out of the valley.

So who has this confident hope ?

The Bible says – We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something – (then) we don’t need to hope for it. (We don’t need to wait for it.) (Romans 8:24)
But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have – (then) we must wait patiently and confidently.) (Romans 8:25)
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example – we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. (Romans 8:26)
And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. (Romans 8:27) …

All rights reserved (c) 2019 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries