Tag: Gaudete

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday December 21ST 2025, 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 is the 4TH Sunday of Advent of 2025. On this Sunday we receive and rejoice in God’s eternal love as we eagerly await the new Kingdom of God on earth.

1 John 4:16-17 NLT:
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God – our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

8 weeks ago I began transcribing my sermon titled “Apostle & Elder”. I preached it to my second church family on Sunday October 18TH 2020.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8

Here’s Part 9:

You know we hear a lot about systematic racism in our country today. That’s become a trending phrase on social media and a talking point over the TV airwaves. But if you want to see systematic evil – look no further than the world out there. The worldview is that of systematic evil. It is opposed to Creator, Christ, and Spirit as One. It is against God’s believers and followers and His Kingdom here on Earth. It is anti-church. It is anti-Christ. It is under the influence of Satan.

The next time I’m blessed with the opportunity to preach a full sermon up here I’ll be preaching on “Satan & Hell”, and that’s actually the name of the sermon. I wrote it this past April and into May – during the peak of the pandemic – when everything was shut-down around us. It was actually supposed to be today’s sermon (next in line), but I wanted today’s sermon to be more uplifting, and more of a continuation of Pastor Bob’s current message series. Last Sunday Pastor preached on “Walking With God”, and the previous Sunday he preached on “Dwelling In The Presence Of God”.

My sermon today could’ve been titled “Living In The Truth Of God”. John The Elder reminds us to live in truth and love. We are commanded to love one another. We must remain in the teaching that God’s Word has taught us. We must know a deceiver – a false teacher – when we hear one. Always verify with God’s Truth.

[TO BE CONTINUED – NEXT WEEK]

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) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday December 14TH 2025, 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 is the 3RD Sunday of Advent of 2025. This is Gaudete (pronounced GOW-day-tay) Sunday. This is the day when we light the pink candle on the Advent wreath. Gaudete means “rejoice”. This day reminds us of the joy that is to come. We recall the hope we have because of the coming of our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ – our King of Kings.

As the Bible says in Paul’s Letter to the Philippian church:

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice ! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember – the Lord is coming soon. (4:4-5)

(And those 2 verses come right before these 2 memory verses. You know them.)

Don’t worry about anything. Instead – pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace – which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (4:6-7)

So Happy Gaudete Sunday. It’s Rejoice Sunday ! Rejoice today ! Rejoice every day ! Everyone say “rejoice” ! You are not guaranteed the next day, so if you wake up tomorrow – REJOICE !

This is the day that our LORD has made. Let us – do what ? – rejoice. Let us be glad in it.

7 weeks ago I began transcribing my sermon titled “Apostle & Elder”. I preached it to my second church family on Sunday October 18TH 2020.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7

Here’s Part 8:

Most bible-believing churches today are open churches. They allow anyone to walk-in and be a part of the celebration within. You can walk-in off the streets, have a seat anywhere, and sing along to the songs, and listen to the sermon. No questions asked. Free admission.

We’re an open church. Anyone and everyone is invited here. And we should show hospitality to anyone and everyone who enters through those front doors – whether we invited them, or we don’t yet know them. We should show them that they are indeed welcome here – to praise – to worship – to pray – to listen – to take-in God’s Word.

That new person that walks in here – we could be saving their life. We could be resurrecting their fantastic journey. That’s what happened to me in March of 2015 when I first walked through those front doors. I only knew Marge. I didn’t know anyone else here. I was looking for another church body in Homestead to celebrate Christ with – to rejuvenate my walk with Christ. I found it.

During that valley – on my journey – in 2015 – when I was burnt out – when I decided that I could do no more, or go no further in my leadership roles – I could’ve left my previous church body, and kept on walking – right back into the world – right back to where I was some 9 years earlier.

I could’ve done that, but that really wasn’t an option for me. The Spirit within me spoke to me. God’s Truth spoke to me. John’s first letter to the church spoke to me:

But you belong to God – my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people – because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God – they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception. (1 John 4:4-6)

[TO BE CONTINUED – NEXT WEEK]

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) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp