Category: Scripture

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Sunday Scripture

Today we had another near full house with my Living Waters church body, as we came together corporately to praise, worship, and celebrate our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.

Our Lead Pastor Bob continued his message series titled “The Days Of Noah Have Come” – based mostly on Scripture from Genesis 6, 7, and 8. He continued his ongoing theme on types and shadows as well – a theme that our Worship Pastor Ben introduced to us in a sermon last June (which I continued in a few of my sermons since then).

I never heard of types and shadows before last June, and now I’ve been studying them almost nonstop since then.

The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
 (Genesis 8:3-4 NIV)

So Noah is a type of Jesus Christ. The ark is a type of church. The single door of the ark is a type of Jesus Christ (“I am the door.”). The 17TH day of the 7TH month (Nisan) is a type of a Glorious day !  (It’s also the day that Christ is risen.)

Yesterday (my day of rest) I spent much of the day in God’s Word sitting in front of my desktop computer finishing the manuscript of my next sermon that I hope to preach titled “Church & State”. It’s all about the importance of being a part of – and playing an active role in – a church body. I’ll share a portion of my sermon on my next “Sunday Scripture”.

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Bible Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

On this 1ST Sunday of the new year, the new decade, and the new season our Living Waters church body came together corporately to praise, worship, and celebrate our living Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. It was one of our biggest attended services in recent memory, and 2020 looks like a brighter year for the expansion of God’s Kingdom in Homestead Florida.

Our Lead Pastor Bob kicked-off a new message series today about Noah, the ark, the raven, the dove, and the olive tree. We are descendants of Noah, the ark represents the church, the raven represents death, destruction, and Satan, the dove represents life, love, and God, and the olive tree represents peace. Pastor Bob said that we’ll explore the story of Noah from mostly Genesis 7 and 8 over the next few weeks. I’m looking forward to it. I loved today’s clear and concise introductory message. It’s actually inspired a few future sermons of my own.

After another forty days – Noah opened the window he had made in the boat, and released a raven. The bird flew back and forth until the floodwaters on the earth had dried up. He also released a dove to see if the water had receded, and it could find dry ground. But the dove could find no place to land because the water still covered the ground. So it returned to the boat, and Noah held out his hand and drew the dove back inside. After waiting another seven days – Noah released the dove again. This time the dove returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. Then Noah knew that the floodwaters were almost gone. He waited another seven days and then released the dove again. This time it did not come back. (Genesis 8:6-12 NLT)

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Bible Christian Church Computers God Holidays Internet Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

On this 522ND and final Sunday of the 2010s I did what I’ve done for about 475 of those 522 Sundays, and that is to praise, worship, and celebrate our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ with my brothers and sisters of my church family.

I opened the service with God’s Word from First Thessalonians Chapter 5 (9 to 11):

For God decided to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ – not to pour out His anger on us. He died for us so that we can live with Him forever – whether we are dead or alive at the time of His return. So encourage each other and build each other up – just as you are already doing.

We had an unusually well-attended Sunday morning service for the final Sunday of the year – during the peak of holiday vacation time. In fact it was actually one of our biggest crowds of the year !

Today I led with my 30TH sermon over the past 3 years and 3 months. It was a groundbreaking sermon for me personally, and one that I was most nervous about. It’s the first time I went unscripted. I essentially had no idea what I was going to say until I actually said it. I used Internet memes to tell the story of how great our God is.

Earlier this year I began saving, collecting, and organizing Internet memes – mostly from Facebook. I then came up with the idea of preaching an entire sermon based solely on memes. Then I decided that it was a silly idea – perhaps even corny. Then I kept thinking about it, and praying about the best way to have a few dozen memes tell the story that I wanted to tell without the usual full manuscript that I write, edit, rewrite, enhance, finalize, rehearse, and print for each of my typical sermons.

I preached “Ways & Memes” today. It lasted a little over 45 minutes, and I think that it went fairly well considering I was out of my comfort zone at the pulpit. It can be rather risky giving me a wireless mic and 45 minutes to preach without a script, but I managed to do so without saying anything controversial.

Here’s 1 of the 30 memes that told the story of God’s Way:

Jesus Is

My next sermon is already half-written, and it’s titled “Church & State”. I hope to preach it to my church family in January or February. Meanwhile the saving, collecting, and organizing of Internet memes continues on. I’ll start compiling a new batch for “Ways & Memes 2” later in 2020.

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

Categories
Bible Christian God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

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I recently picked-up this meme somewhere on social media. I actually plan to preach a sermon sometime in early-2020 that’s completely comprised of memes collected online. That’s one that didn’t make the cut – mostly because I collected it after I had written the message. If all goes well with “Ways & Memes” then maybe there will be a sequel.

So for most of us we’ve endured events in our past that deeply hurt us – and still hurt us today many years later. It seems that we remember the bad times more clearly and vividly than the good times – even though we try hardest to forget the bad times.

My 52½ years on this earth is peppered with hurting moments. It’s because of these past moments – individually and collectively alike – that the future is scary. I’ve lived and worked in the same city for the past 32 years; yet, I probably won’t be living and working here in just 5 years. I’ll be retired and living in a new small town, or so I think I will 5 years beforehand. How will everything work out for me ?

“For I know the plans I have for you” – says the LORD. “They are plans for good, and not for disaster – to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT)

Just leave it all to God. He is in control – at all times – for all times. Look to Christ for guidance and direction. He will lead you in the right direction. He will never fail you. He is the Hope. He is the Way.

As we inch closer to a new year – a new decade – a new creation – remember that our God loves all things anew. We must talk to Him with each new day. We must listen to Him each and every day.

“In those days when you pray – I will listen. If you look for Me wholeheartedly – you will find Me. I will be found by you” – says the LORD. (Jeremiah 29:12-14a NLT)

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