Tag: Message

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday September 01ST 2024, 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.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog – you’ll know that I never discuss politics here. This is a political-free space online. I don’t discuss politics anywhere online. In fact – I rarely discuss politics offline. As a Minister – I don’t discuss it, and I don’t preach about it. I don’t believe that the pulpit or the altar is an appropriate place to talk about politics.

I’ve served and worked with a few Pastors / Ministers who have on occasion used the pulpit for political messages – both subtle and obvious. I’ve felt a bit uncomfortable during these occurrences.

There are some Christians who believe that Pastors should absolutely tell their congregation how to vote, who to vote for, and why – usually supporting their reasoning with a lot of personal opinions and manmade rules – not Biblical Scripture. I would not belong to such a church, and thankfully none of my 4 churches over the past 17½ years have been anything close to that. I will only be part of a Bible-believing and teaching church body – not a left or right church – not a liberal or conservative church. I don’t want to know the political beliefs of my brothers and sisters. I want to know that they are getting closer to God with each new step and each new day. On Sunday mornings I will continue to preach on repentance and salvation. May I only speak on God’s Truth.

Here’s what the Bible says about politicians – from Romans 13:1-7:

Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities ? Do what is right, and they will honor you. The authorities are God’s servants – sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong – of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants – sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. So you must submit to them – not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.

Pay your taxes, too – for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them. Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, 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) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday August 25TH 2024, 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.

During my last few years of living and working in Homestead Florida – I vowed to not be the person that I was for all of those years once I move away and enter the retirement chapter of my life. I was an anti-social loner in Homestead. I basically went to work, and then I came home exhausted after a long day. I rarely associated with coworkers, friends, or neighbors. I actually didn’t know a single one of my neighbors, and I lived in a gated neighborhood of 640 condos.

I didn’t want to be that person in Sebring Florida, so I prayed a lot about it. 17 months after moving away – I’m thankfully not that person. I’m more socially active today than I could have ever imagined back at my previous place. I know many of my neighbors, and I hang out with them each week – particularly every Monday night at BINGO as well as at various breakfast, lunch, and dinner events during the year (all food-related). You know – food and fellowship go hand-in-hand with each other. Can you have food without fellowship ? Of course. How about fellowship without food ? Definitely. But food and fellowship – it’s a match made in Heaven.

And then there are my museum friends – at 3 different museums in Sebring and Avon Park. I actually spend more time with my museum friends than I do with my neighbor friends. Again – food is generally involved. And not only that, but I get to welcome and meet and guide and share information with locals and tourists – visitors alike – at one of my museums every Tuesday. It’s like my workday in retirement. I actually dress-up a bit on Tuesdays – much like I did on Tuesdays when I was working (before retirement).

But wait there’s more. I can’t leave out my new church family. Next week marks exactly one year with my Highlands Community Church family. I love my brothers and sisters in Christ. About 20 of us meet every Friday night for Bible Study hosted by our Senior Pastor. It’s a great time for fellowship (without the food). And then there’s what we call Men’s Ministry – which should really be called Men’s Fellowship (with food – usually home-cooked). I just recently immersed myself into this every other Tuesday night event. And finally – we praise and worship our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ corporately every Sunday morning. More fellowship.

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another – especially now that the day of His return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT)

You know – I should write a sermon on fellowship. Actually – I don’t really need to write one. I can just preach all about it from the heart (and experience). I can preach on how God gradually transformed me and used fellowship to change my life. I can preach on the importance of fellowship on this day-to-day journey with Christ. It’s not just a Sunday morning thing. It’s not just a church thing. It’s life sharing. It’s life changing.

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, 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) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday August 18TH 2024, 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.

Last #SundayScripture I finished posting the full transcription of my Jude message series consisting of two sermons – “Jude & Judgment” (Verses 1-11), and “Jude & Jury” (Verses 12-25). I preached them to my Homestead Florida church family on November 26TH 2023 and December 03RD 2023 respectively. Links are provided for Parts 1 to 8 of “Jude & Judgment” (Sermon 56) and Parts 1 to 9 of “Jude & Jury” (Sermon 57) over on my SERMONS page.

It was in May of 2023 that I first announced in here that I had begun writing my sermon on Jude. It eventually became two sermons, and I was blessed to preach those sermons on back-to-back Sundays after Thanksgiving. (It was actually the first 2 of 4 consecutive Sundays that I preached at my longtime home church in Homestead Florida.)

I enjoyed studying Jude, and then I prayed on how to effectively preach on Jude. I wrote, enhanced, and rehearsed the sermons, and then I preached them. And then I got to preach them again in here over the past 4 months.

As a bivocational Assistant Pastor of a small church from 2016 to 2024 I was blessed to preach from the pulpit 60 times over the past 8 years. So I had plenty of time to prepare my sermons. Some took a few weeks, and some took several months. All were guided and directed by God and based on His Truth. I preached them when I was called upon to do so. Many were preached with my Lead Pastor physically there, and some were preached while filling-in for him during his absence.

I continue to write sermons that I hope to preach at my longtime home-away-from-home church. My 61ST sermon (“Music & Lyrics”) is done (for now), and I’m currently working on # 62 based on King Solomon.

Here in Sebring – I have a new home church – Highlands Community Church. I’ve been part of the church body for almost a year now. Much like my first year at my former church 9 years ago – I’m in a season of rest from Pastoral ministries. I’m loving our Sunday morning services. I’m enjoying formal Bible Study with my Pastor and 20 brothers and sisters every Friday night. Just recently I’ve immersed myself into “Men’s Ministry” every other Tuesday night at the church where about a dozen brothers (Pastor included) break bread (eat food), and we engage in current-event-type conversations that wouldn’t normally be discussed as part of our Sunday morning services.

After 4 months of presenting 2 sermons in here – I plan to spend the next 4 months (probably the rest of the year) just writing about my ministry and how I feel about certain things related to ministry and the church. I’ll also write about some of the Scripture that we’re learning on Friday nights and Sunday mornings at my church. It’s a new season here on #SundayScripture, and I’m looking forward to where God leads me.

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, 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) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday August 11TH 2024, 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.

I’m in Homestead Florida this morning at the end of my 28TH trip here since buying my retirement home up north in Sebring Florida almost 18 months ago. I’ll be back home in Sebring tonight.

Since the start of April – I’ve been presenting the full transcription of my recent Jude message series consisting of two sermons – “Jude & Judgment” (Verses 1-11), and “Jude & Jury” (Verses 12-25). I preached them to my Homestead Florida church family on November 26TH 2023 and December 03RD 2023 respectively. Links are provided for Parts 1 to 8 of “Jude & Judgment” over on my SERMONS page. (It’s Sermon 56.)

This is Part 9 of 9 of “Jude & Jury”, and this is how I generally close our church services after I preach the sermon. I sometimes mention the Tithes & Offerings plate. I always pray for our church family and our loved ones. Following a few personal notes – I bring the Benediction, and it’s the same exact Benediction that I bring to you at the end of each #SundayScripture.

[CONCLUDE SERMON]

Thank You for your Tithes & Offerings up here in this plate. I don’t get any of this. I actually add to it every week. This goes to pay the bills, and to keep this church operating every day – from A.C. to electric to water to insurance. And it also goes to support ministries.

We lift up our brothers and sisters who are not here with us physically on this day. That includes our Pastor and his family. We pray for their happiness, and their health, and their safety, and their security. We thank God for His hedge of protection surrounding them and us. We pray for members of our church family every day. We pray for our loved ones who do not yet know our God. We pray intentionally. We pray specifically. We pray expecting God to bring forth miracles – big miracles – because that’s what He does.

After Lunch I’m heading back home to Sebring – 182 miles from here. I’ll see you next Sunday at 11. I’ll be here preaching again, and my sermon is titled “Pray & Believe”. 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.

Go forth. Go in peace. Go with God’s love in your heart.

[END OF SERMON]

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, 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) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp