Category: Church

Take A Picture

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date February 27, 2020

(Good song by Filter from early-2000.)

Well Happy Thursday February 27TH 2020 my friends. It’s the final Thursday of February, and it’s the start of another blogging weekend for me. But this weekend will be curtailed. In lieu of the usual 4 new blog posts I’m only publishing 2 – this one right here -and tomorrow’s RETRO. After that I’m going on hiatus for a little over a week to hang out with church pastors, preachers, planters, ministers, leaders, and disciples up the road in Orlando. I’ll also be singing and dancing in the middle of the Hertz Arena in Estero Florida with MercyMe and Jeremy Camp performing their greatest hits. That’s how I “Spring Break” at nearly 53 !

So here’s where that Title above (“Take A Picture”) is significant. Last weekend (Friday in fact) I posted original material on Facebook for the first time in 13 months. It was actually quite benign (or so I thought). I swapped out my profile picture. That’s it. I replaced a picture from 2018 with a picture from 2012. It’s a picture of me up on stage with my former church family with a wireless mic hosting a Sunday morning service. I didn’t think anything of it really when I posted it. Some friends recently asked me to change the picture, so I did. In the next few days it garnered 35 likes and loves and 15 comments. It’s one of my most reacted-to Facebook posts ever (since I created my account in 2013).

Incidentally – other than the occasional profile picture and cover photo swap – I don’t post much on Facebook anymore. I still have friends (lots of them) who are only on Facebook, so I keep in touch with them on there and sometimes post a comment on something that they have posted. But this is where I really live on social media – right here on my own blog.

And so – here’s that profile picture that went viral on my Facebook account for a few days. Enjoy, and I’ll be back tomorrow for my Winter Season Finale.

LPC 20120205

Bible Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date February 23, 2020

5 weeks ago I announced here on Sunday Scripture that I had recently completed writing a future sermon titled “Church & State”, and that I had begun writing my next sermon titled “Malachi & Messages”. That’s still a tentative title, but as I wrap-up the writing of it I think (so far) it makes sense to leave that as the title. I’m into Page 8 of “Malachi & Messages”, so I’m essentially at the 30-minute mark of what will likely be a 40-minute sermon. (I don’t use some fancy sermon-writing software. I simply use Microsoft Word, and each page generally represents 4 minutes of preaching.)

“Malachi & Messages” covers Malachi’s first 2 of 6 messages on God’s love for Israel (1:2-5) and the calling-out of corrupt priests and their worthless sacrifices (1:6-2:9). Once I complete this one I’ll immediately begin working on my follow-up sermon of Malachi’s 3RD message on faithfulness.

This could end-up being a 4-part message series later this year. There’s a lot of great material within those 6 messages, 4 chapters, and 55 verses.

Here’s an excerpt from “Malachi & Messages”:

… You know that out of the 55 verses in the Book of Malachi – that 47 of them are spoken by God ? 47 out of 55 verses. Over 85% of Malachi – is our God speaking. You wanna learn more about our God and gain wisdom from Him ? Read Malachi, but don’t read the book in 6 minutes. Read it slowly. Read it – one verse at a time.

Chapter 1 Verse 1 sets the tone for the next 54 verses, and it’s 1 of the 8 verses in which God is not speaking:

This is the message that the LORD gave to Israel through the prophet Malachi. (1:1)

So it’s the prophet Malachi – giving a message – to the homeland. It’s the LORD speaking through Malachi, and it’s actually a series of messages – a series of 6 messages on topics such as God’s love for Israel, faithfulness, repentance, and the impending Judgment Day.

Oh ! – and Malachi – means “My messenger” in Hebrew. Malachi was God’s Messenger – just as you and I – we – are God’s Messengers.

What does a messenger do – according the Bible ? A messenger – carries and sends and spreads a message. A messenger evangelizes. What do you do when you evangelize ? You spread and preach the Gospel. What’s “preach” ? How about “proclaim” and “teach” – “preach”. I am going to teach you what I believe to be true, and I will proclaim it to be the Truth. What’s the Gospel ? The Gospel is the Good News of God. So a messenger – you and I – we – preach God’s Good News – His Message – to the masses. We are God’s messengers. He chose us to do that.

Malachi was God’s messenger. He was a writer, and he wrote letters, and messages, and sermons to the people. He was a Proclaimer. He was a Teacher. He was a Preacher …

Tags Malachi

Bible Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date February 16, 2020

Greetings my friends. I’m back for another 3 blog posts today, tomorrow, and Tuesday. It’s a 5-blog post weekend for this U.S. holiday weekend – Presidents’ Day Weekend here stateside.

In just a couple of weeks I’ll be praising, worshiping, and celebrating our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ with 5,000+ fellow pastors, preachers, ministers, and disciples of Christ up in Orlando at Exponential. We’ll come together in unison to be encouraged, trained, and equipped to make a Kingdom impact. I was part of Exponential 2008 less than 2 years after the start of my salvation, and it changed my fantastic journey forever. I haven’t been back since, so this upcoming conference has been 12 years in the making !

Today at Living Waters (my local church body) we came together for a morning of worship. Our Lead Pastor continued his “Noah” message series, and he reminded us that faith (unmerited favor) comes from grace. Without God’s grace – there is no faith. God gave us the gift of grace, and we are saved by grace, but He does not want us to keep that grace to ourselves. He wants us to extend that grace to others.

Ephesians 2-8-9

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 NLT)

Extend God’s grace to others. Pray for others. Share the God you know with others. It could change their lives forever.

There may be someone you know who is waiting for you to introduce them to your Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. What are you waiting on ? Go forth !

Bible Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date February 9, 2020

Luke 17-20-21

The Kingdom of God is already among you. It is in your grasp. Jesus Christ was revealing the Kingdom of God through His ministry – through His words – through His actions. The Kingdom of God is within us – for those who believe in Creator, Christ, and Spirit as One.