Tag: Bible

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 17TH 2026, 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.

Volume 9, Number 12, Edition 412
“Unwelcomed At Church ?”

I was recently asked if I’ve ever felt unwelcomed while visiting a church.

YES – I have – several times. One notable situation occurred about 12 years ago when I was looking to leave my first church in Homestead, and I was searching for my new church. I went to one that met in the conference room of a local area chain hotel. I walked in. I sat down. Nobody talked to me, but several looked at me as if I was not where I belonged. What was I doing there ? Was I up to no good ? I also didn’t really look like anyone else in the congregation, and quite frankly – the congregation didn’t really look like Homestead.

It’s been said in many different iterations that the church hour on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America.

There’s a difference between a church with a poor hospitality / welcoming ministry and a church where everyone looks similar – but not like yourself – and you feel uncomfortable from the moment you arrive. I try to be part of the solution by continuing a ministry that began 19 years ago at the front doors of my first church – welcoming my brothers and sisters to our Sunday morning gathering.

I’ve also been to many churches with poor hospitality at the doors, but then once you enter the sanctuary you feel like you’re instantly family.

I’m part of a church family now where I pray that everyone feels like they belong there – from the moment they arrive to the moment they depart.

I’ve heard it said that the church should look like Heaven on Earth. Heaven won’t look like one group of people, so the church shouldn’t either. The church should include different races from different cultures and different social classes. We have one God Almighty who wants us all in fellowship together. He is not calling us to different sides. He is calling us higher, for we are better together.

As the Bible says in Romans – Chapter 15 – Verses 5, 6, and 7:
May God – who gives this patience and encouragement – help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice – giving praise and glory to God – the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore – accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, a testimony, or just me writing about the events of the past week. Hopefully it encourages you and inspires you to seek the Lord – and get closer to Him with each new day.

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) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 10TH 2026, 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.

Volume 9, Number 11, Edition 411
“A Bad Sermon ?”

I was recently asked if I’ve ever preached a bad sermon. And that got me thinking as I was trying to answer the question – What is a bad sermon ?

When I was actively writing sermons – I would do so over the course of several days to several weeks and even several months. I had the luxury of extending them out as such since I was a fill-in Pastor. I would lead our Sunday morning church services about 8 to 10 times a year. Most of the time I knew a few weeks in advance that I would be leading and preaching.

In my mind – a bad sermon is one that is hastily prepared at the last minute on Saturday night. It’s a rush job. It’s written quickly. It’s unorganized. It’s unprepared. It sounds like it on Sunday morning. I was asked to preach the next morning on Saturday night a few times, but I was always ready with a small supply of already-written future sermons to preach. Once I got the word – I selected the “next-one-up”, and I finalized it and rehearsed it.

I also see a bad sermon as one with few or no verses of Scripture included. Those are usually topical sermons based on real-world events – particularly political events and viewpoints. Bad sermons can also focus on manmade religious rules rather than God’s Good News and His love, grace, and mercy. When God isn’t Glorified in a sermon – it’s a bad sermon. When money and success is the root of a sermon – it’s a bad sermon.

I have preached sermons in the past that after doing so I felt as if I didn’t connect with the church family. Sometimes I’m wrong about that based on the positive feedback received afterwards. I’ve also preached sermons in the past that after doing so I felt as if I hit a home run out of the park. First of all – where’s the humility in that ? Secondly – while I may have thought that everything sounded great – that’s not important. What did the church family think about it ? Frequently no feedback or even incomplete feedback is negative feedback:

– “Hey Pastor Chris good message.”
– “Thanks. What did you like about it the most ?”
– “Oh. Everything was good.”

Some Pastors concentrate too much on time limits. If you preach for only 20 minutes – then it’s not a complete sermon and you weren’t prepared. If you preach for 60 minutes – then you’re long-winded and nobody is paying attention anymore. I personally don’t believe that either statement is correct. I’ve heard great, encouraging, and inspirational 20-minute and 60-minute sermons. (I try to keep mine at 30 to 40 minutes; although, I have been accused of being long-winded a few times.)

Is my sermon relevant to the audience – the church family ? Will they get closer to God after hearing it ? Have I left them with actions to take post-sermon ? That’s what I pray for.

Preach the word of God. Be prepared – whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2 NLT)

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, a testimony, or just me writing about the events of the past week. Hopefully it encourages you and inspires you to seek the Lord – and get closer to Him with each new day.

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) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 03RD 2026, 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.

Volume 9, Number 10, Edition 410
“Dreams”

10 years ago in 2016 my dream from suburban South Florida was to live as a retiree somewhere between Florida State Roads 60 and 70 along the rural U.S. 27 corridor. I dreamed about it. I prayed to God about it. Longtime readers of my other weekly blog series #TravelThursday may know that I now live at almost exactly the halfway point – 27½ miles – between those two major coast-to-coast highways. Thank You Lord !

5 years ago during the aftermath of the COVID pandemic my dream was to live as a retiree somewhere in or near Lake Placid or Sebring. I dreamed about it. I prayed to God about it. I soon prayed to God about the exact neighborhood that I wanted to live. I bought there and moved there in February and March 2023 respectively. Thank You Lord !

If you gave me an hour to tell you all about my dreams that I’ve prayed to God about that He made true – I’d only be able to tell you about a tiny speck of them. I’ve prayed small dreams, and I’ve prayed big dreams. I don’t know why I’m so astonished when He makes yet another dream come true.

But sometimes my dreams (small or big) are not what is right for me, so God adjusts the outcome. If you had asked me 4 years ago what I’d be doing in 2026 – I would’ve told you that I’d be a Museum Docent at the Sebring Historical Society and a Lead Pastor. I actually thought that I’d be leading weekly church services on Sundays in the clubhouse of my own neighborhood !

But neither is reality in 2026. I was a Museum Docent during much of 2024, but with very limited numbers of visitors to host – I got bored and lost interest. I still want to be a Museum Docent, but somewhere else that’s much busier. And we don’t have church services on Sundays in the clubhouse of my neighborhood, but we do pray before meals.

Strangely – and I never prayed about this – but I’m on the Board Of Directors at both the Sebring Historical Society and Highlands Community Church (my home church). At the former I serve as the Social Media Director (which I love doing). At the latter I serve with 4 other guys (including our Lead Pastor) to help run the church. Meanwhile – my Evangelism ministry continues here on #SundayScripture. All of that is because of God.

God was clearly looking out for me, and even in my 20TH year of salvation – I must constantly remind myself that He knows the plans He has for me. The LORD says – “They are plans for good and not for disaster – to give you a future and a hope.”

Keep dreaming. Keep praying to God about your dreams. He’ll sort it all out in His time.

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, a testimony, or just me writing about the events of the past week. Hopefully it encourages you and inspires you to seek the Lord – and get closer to Him with each new day.

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) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday April 26TH 2026, 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.

Volume 9, Number 9, Edition 409
“Communion”

I’ve been leading Communion for the greater part of the past 16½ years – spanning 3 home churches since late-2009. I led well over 100 Communions at my first church, and 79 Communions at my second church. I led my 18TH Communion at my current home church a couple of Sundays ago. We do it monthly, and we did it monthly at my previous home church. We did it weekly (at multiple services) at my first home church, and I alternated with a few others who also led Communion.

I’ve received a few requests recently to include a Communion here on my blog, so here’s the full transcript from 2 Sundays ago:

Thank You for that beautiful music to our Lord. We all sounded good. Our singers. Our musicians. Our church body. All of us singing in unison to and for our Lord God Almighty. AMEN.

God loves when we sing to Him. He loves when we reach out to Him with our voices. He loves when we worship Him. He loves when we show our love to Him. He loves when we show our love to others.

Let’s continue to worship Him, as we observe and celebrate Communion. Let’s remember what He did for us on that cross – and the love that was poured out for us from that cross.

Let’s reflect on the cost of love – the body broken – the blood shed – so that we may be welcomed – and forgiven – and drawn near.

Let us never take Communion lightly. Let us always take Communion seriously – with humility, gratitude, and respect.

The Bible says in Romans (5:6,8):
When we were utterly helpless – Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

If you are not yet ready to take Communion – then that’s OK. But – we want you to leave your past – leave your sins – leave your burdens – here. Don’t take them with you. Abandon them here. Repent of them here. Seek God for redemption, healing, and restoration. Surrender your heart to Him. He Himself has said – “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

If you are ready to take Communion – then we will do that together.

We observe and celebrate a believer’s Communion here at Highlands Community Church. What does that mean ? It means that if you believe, and follow, and trust, and love our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ – then this Communion is for you.

When Jesus died for us on that cross – He poured His life out for us. He suffered for our sins – once – for all time. He never sinned, but He died for us sinners to bring us safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but He was raised to life in the Spirit. (1 Peter 3:18)

He poured the Holy Spirit out for us. And the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead – lives in each of us – who believe.

If you believe – then this Communion is for you.

Our Communion containers have an element on each end. The wafer is on one side, and the juice is on the other. We’ll take each one together as a church body.

Let’s remove the wafer from the container.

When it was evening – Jesus sat down at the table with the twelve disciples. As they were eating – Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples – saying – “Take this and eat it, for this is My body.” (Matthew 26:20,26)

Let us take this bread – in remembrance of Him.

Let’s open the juice on the container.

And He took a cup of wine, and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and said – “Each of you drink from it, for this is My blood – which confirms the covenant between God and His people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.” (Matthew 26:27-28)

Let us take this juice – in remembrance of Him.

Let us bow our heads. Let us pray:

Thank You God for Your ultimate sacrifice on the cross. Thank You for loving us, and giving Yourself for us. We love You Lord. We need You Lord. We are nothing without You Lord.

Thank You for Your awesome presence in our lives – and Your intentional purpose for our lives. May all of Your blessings and miracles constantly strengthen our faith in You, increase our love towards others, and unify our hearts and our souls. We honor You Lord. We praise You Lord. We worship You Lord. And my brothers and sisters we say – AMEN.

Pastor Tim – come bring us God’s Good News.

(And he did.)

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, a testimony, or just me writing about the events of the past week. Hopefully it encourages you and inspires you to seek the Lord – and get closer to Him with each new day.

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) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp