Tag: Message

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday February 12TH 2023, 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.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday all across the U.S.A. – an unofficial national holiday. Actually – there are some lawmakers who would like to get rid of Columbus Day in October, and replace it with Super Bowl Monday – a new Federal holiday. That would give us 2 Federal holidays on consecutive Mondays in February in most years. (The exception being when Presidents’ Day falls on Monday February 15TH – the same day as the day after the Super Bowl.)

As soon as I return home from church service and fellowship today – I’ll turn on my TV to FOX (airing the Super Bowl), and I won’t touch the dial (remote) again until I turn it off after the big game.

I now continue presenting my New Year’s Day sermon in its original written form. It’s based on the Matthew West song of late-2019 / early-2020 – “The God Who Stays”. Here’s Part 5 (the conclusion):

‘Cause you’re the God who stays
You’re the God who stays
You’re the One who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away

You’re the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done
Can separate my heart
From the God who stays

You’re the God who stays
You’re the One who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away

You’re the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done
Can separate my heart
From the God who stays

BEHIND THE SERMON – So that part up there in dark green – I actually sang that to my church family a cappella. Up until that point in my sermon – I merely read the lyrics of Matthew West’s song. You know I used to sing more often while preaching. I kind of got away from doing that over the past few years (since COVID). I’m going to try to get back to singing small portions of my sermons in the future. Our God loves to hear us sing to Him. Every voice is beautiful to Him.

Right after I sang – I explained to my church family how it would’ve been great to actually watch Matthew West’s official music video for his song “The God Who Stays”. But what worked fine in my PowerPoint Presentation at home did not work at all in that same PowerPoint Presentation on the church’s laptop. (It was a video compression issue.) So our Praise & Worship Pastor (who was sitting in our sound room) did some quick work, found the music video on YouTube, and he played it for us.

What a beautiful song that is. What a powerful song that is. Matthew West is not singing to us. He’s singing to the God who stays.

You know when that song played on the radio every few hours every day during the COVID lockdowns – I thought to myself – that song – that song plays out like a sermon. I could write a sermon based on that powerful song – that hymn to our God. And so I did – almost 3 years later.

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) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday February 05TH 2023, 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 normally Communion Sunday at my home church, as it’s the first Sunday of a brand-new month. But not this Sunday. We’ll observe and celebrate Communion next Sunday after the sermon.

This Sunday I’m on the road – 3 hours away – over in Southwest Florida. Last night I had a floor seat in the middle of the Hertz Arena at the TobyMac & Friends “Hits Deep Tour” show in Estero. I’ll write all about that concert tomorrow on #Top10Monday.

This morning I’m attending a church service at Cambier Park in downtown Naples Florida. Celebration Beach Church has been hosting Sunday morning church services outside in the city park for many years now, and I’ve been attending their services occasionally over the past 13 years. If I lived in Naples it would be my home church, but since I’m a tourist in Naples it’s my vacation church.

I now continue presenting my New Year’s Day sermon in its original written form. It’s based on the Matthew West song of late-2019 / early-2020 – “The God Who Stays”. Here’s Part 4:

‘Cause somehow You don’t see me like I do
Somehow You’re still here
You’re the God who stays
You’re the God who stays
You’re the One who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away

You’re the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done
Can separate my heart
From the God who stays

Paul to the Romans (8:38-39):

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed – nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

My shame can’t separate
My guilt can’t separate
My past can’t separate
I’m Yours forever

My sin can’t separate
My scars can’t separate
My failures can’t separate
I’m Yours forever

No enemy can separate
No power of hell can take away
Your love for me will never change
I’m Yours forever

You know your best testimony of how great our God is – is the story of you. Only you can testify to the world out there your story – your story of redemption through Jesus Christ – our Lord + Savior. Tell them – the person that you used to be. Tell them – the person that you are now. Tell them – how you got to be where you are now. Tell them – how He lifted you out of the pit of despair – out of the mud and the mire. Tell them – that you are nothing without God – and His grace and mercy for you. Tell them – that He is the God for everyone in the entire world who accepts Him as his or her personal Lord + Savior.

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) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday January 29TH 2023, 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 upcoming #TravelThursday I’ll be blogging about my fun day along the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. I took a nearly 5-hour shore excursion (land tour) of the region surrounding Puerto Plata – the country’s 3RD-largest city. Overlooking Puerto Plata from nearly 800 meters / 2,600 feet above sea level esta Loma Isabel de Torres. And atop the mountain esta El Cristo Redentor (Christ The Redeemer). It was installed in 1970. What a beautiful sight it is !

I now continue presenting my New Year’s Day sermon in its original written form. It’s based on the Matthew West song of late-2019 / early-2020 – “The God Who Stays”. Here’s Part 3:

Oh – but somehow You don’t see me like I do
Somehow You’re still here
You’re the God who stays
You’re the God who stays
You’re the One who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away

You’re the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done
Can separate my heart
From the God who stays

That’s my God. That’s your God. That’s our God. He doesn’t see us like we see us. We are not God. He is God. He is the Father. He is the Son. He is the Holy Spirit. He is here. He is not going anywhere. He is the God who stays. The Holy Spirit is within each and every one of us who believes, and follows, and trusts, and loves our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ.

I used to hide
Every time I thought I let You down
I always thought I had to earn my way
But I’m learning – You don’t work that way

You know we can’t hide from our God. He sees it all. He hears it all. He knows what we are thinking. If you do something that’s not Godly, and you instantly realize what you’ve done, and you regret it, and you feel bad about it, and you’re sincerely sorry for it – then let me tell you something about that. That’s the power of the Holy Spirit convicting you, and that’s a gift from our God.

Here’s a prayer that you can say. (I pulled this from the Internet a few nights ago.):

Help me Lord to see conviction as a gift – a gift of grace and mercy. Please continue to stir in my heart the places that I’ve fallen complacent, and lead me as I turn from them. Help me to live out the Truth from Galatians 5:25 – that if I say I live by the Spirit – then let me stay in step with the Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

That’s a good prayer right there. Let me know after the service if you want me to text that prayer to you, and I’ll do that. Today is a great day to start a new prayer regimen. Find time every day in this new year to pray to our God. He wants to hear from you more often in 2023 than in 2022.

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) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday January 22ND 2023, 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 morning begins my 17TH year of being part of a church family. Yesterday morning was actually the 16TH anniversary of the first time that I ever walked into a church (occupying our local movie theatre) to attend a Sunday morning church service. That was about 15 minutes before 10 AM on Sunday January 21ST 2007. That was a bold move on my part. It was a God-led move. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know how it would go. I was nervous. I was a bit scared. My life had changed forever just 5 months prior when I was rescued and saved by my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. I was now taking that next big step forward to get closer to God and invite other likeminded people onto my fantastic journey.

I decided during those first 15 minutes that the church family that I chose was the right church family for me going forth. They were my church family for the next 8 years.

Ever since that first Sunday morning 16 years ago I haven’t missed many Sunday morning services. This morning I look forward to the start of Year 17.

I now continue presenting my New Year’s Day sermon in its original written form. It’s based on the Matthew West song of late-2019 / early-2020 – “The God Who Stays”. Here’s Part 2:

But – we had – and we have – and we will always have – the God who stays.

As the lyrics of the song start:

If I were You – I would’ve given up on me by now
I would’ve labeled me a lost cause
‘Cause I feel just like a lost cause

You see our God – our God – He accepts everyone. He rejects no one. He gives up on no one. None of His creations are lost causes.

You know there’s a lot of people out there – people we know and people we don’t know – colleagues and acquaintances – friends and coworkers – even family members – who truly believe and are convinced that they are a lost cause – as far as being accepted by our God – as far as eternity with Him. But Chris you don’t understand what I’ve done. I’ve done horrible things. I’ve hurt and destroyed people. I’ve committed crimes against humanity. Your God doesn’t want me. Your God can’t use me. Your God hates me !

You know whose job it is to try to convince them otherwise ?  It’s our job. That’s right – you and me. We’re God’s priests. All of us. We’re God’s preachers. All of us. It’s our job to show those people out there a better way. It’s a great way – to show them the love of God.

If I were you – I would’ve turned around and walked away
I would’ve labeled me beyond repair
‘Cause I feel like I’m beyond repair

You know who turns around and walks away ?  The people out there. Hey even Christians turn around and walk away at times. We are flawed – just like them. But not our God. Our God walks to us. He never walks from us. Even before we were rescued and saved – our God was walking to us. Our problem was that – we kept walking away from Him – over and over again. And then He rescued and saved us when we couldn’t go any further. And we repented. We turned around. We turned from sin, and we walked to Him.

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) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp