Tag: Minister

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday February 04TH 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.

January seemed like it went on forever. You’ve probably seen the memes online like “It’s been January for the past 3 months !”, or “It’s January 74TH !”

January was quite the eventful month for me, and it was a good month for me. I know that February is going to be a great month. It’s going to end on a life-changing note – my retirement after 39 years with the USAF.

This past Friday night I returned back to my home church here in Sebring Florida for weekly Bible Study with our Pastor Tim and our small group of about a dozen. We got started with 1 Peter. It’s a favorite book of mine, as I preached a 5-sermon message series from 1 Peter from September 2021 to September 2022. (3 of those 5 sermons can be read here on #SundayScripture. Head over to my SERMONS page for Sermons 42, 44, and 48.)

It sounds like we’re going to study both 1 Peter and 2 Peter over the next season, so I’m looking forward to that. This past Friday night we covered 1 Peter 1:1-4, and we spent a lot of time on just the first 2 verses. It’s good to study 1 Peter from a different perspective. I love it.

Peter – an apostle of Jesus Christ – to those who reside as strangers – scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia – who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father – by the sanctifying work of the Spirit – to obey Jesus Christ, and be sprinkled with His blood – May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
(1 Peter 1:1-2 NASB)

We’re also starting a new message series this morning. Our Pastor joked about starting two new message series simultaneously this weekend. But he’s taking it in stride, and God is leading him in His Way.

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 January 28TH 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.

Today I’ll be missing church service for a rare Sunday morning. I’ll be staying at home preparing for a medical procedure tomorrow afternoon. The Good News is that my church (here in Sebring Florida) records and broadcasts LIVE all of our services, so I can watch it at home.

Before COVID some churches were already livestreaming their services, but during COVID that strategy expanded exponentially. It’s a great way to get the Gospel out to the masses in any way and at any time. But watching a church service online is definitely not a substitute for attending a church service LIVE and in-person. I don’t believe that you can grow as a mature Christian unless you are in fellowship with other mature Christians. I believe that it’s crucial to be a physical part of a church family – not just on Sunday mornings – but on other days of the week as well – with small groups, and bible studies, and other activities – in and out of the church building. We must remember that the church is not the building. The church is the living and breathing body of Christ.

Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. (Romans 12:4-5 NLT)

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 January 21ST 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.

This is a very special day for me. It was on this precise date – the 21ST of January – in 2007 (also a Sunday) – that God gave me the courage to attend a Sunday morning church service for the first time in my life as a baby Christian just 5 months into salvation. This is just the 2ND time since 2007 that this date has occurred on a Sunday. (It also occurred in 2018.)

I’ve been part of a church family ever since that glorious Sunday morning exactly 17 years ago. I was with my first church family for a little over 8 years, and I’ve been with my 2ND church family for almost 9 years now. This morning I’m driving to Homestead to be with my longtime church family since 2015. I’m looking forward to singing Praise & Worship songs to God, and learning more about Him from my Pastor and his sermon. I’m also looking forward to fellowship before and after the church service – including a nice big Lunch at a local steakhouse (probably Longhorn).

This past Friday night I was with my 2ND church family here in my new hometown of Sebring Florida (4TH church family overall since 2007). I attended Bible Study again. A small group of us meet at the church building once a week for a word-by-word reading and study of the Bible with our Pastor. We did Genesis 48 and 49. Next Friday night (which I’ll miss) our group will read and study Genesis 50 (the final chapter), and a portion of Exodus 1 (which is like a continuation of Genesis).

Just before his death – Jacob blesses his 12 sons in Genesis 49 in the following order – Reuben (1), Simeon (2), Levi (3), Judah (4), Zebulun (10), Issachar (9), Dan (5), Gad (7), Asher (8), Naphtali (6), Joseph (11), and Benjamin (12). (I listed their order of birth in parenthesis.)

These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said as he told his sons good-bye. He blessed each one with an appropriate message. (Genesis 49:28 NLT)

I think eventually I want to study each of Jacob’s 12 sons in depth, and maybe write some sermons on them – perhaps 2 sons at a time – and how their respective tribes fared. (Levi and Joseph would not become Patriarchs of tribes.)

I briefly introduced the 12 tribes of Israel near the end of a December 2018 sermon that I preached to my church family. I just checked it out for perhaps the first time in 5 years, and it provides a good foundation for a series of future sermons.

Pretty soon in my retirement life I’ll have much more time on my hands for personal Bible studying and sermon writing. I’ve begun writing my sermon on “Sebring & Weigle” – two of our founders here in my new hometown. I spent an unexpected 3 hours last week in our museum – the former house of Charles Frederick Weigle – in fellowship with one of our docents on duty at the time. I mentally gathered more material for my sermon – just being in the presence of such great history around 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