Tag: Minister

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday August 27TH 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 the 3RD of 3 consecutive days of celebration and fellowship at my longtime home church in Homestead Florida. This past Friday and Saturday evenings we celebrated the life of a brother who recently passed on to be with his Creator forever. He led a complex yet simple life of over 61 years, but he ultimately confessed in Christ here on Earth. He did that several years ago at the altar of our church. It changed his life forever, and that is why he is with his Creator today.

“Everyone who acknowledges Me publicly here on earth – I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven. But everyone who denies Me here on earth – I will also deny before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33 NLT)

We did a 2-night / 2-service “celebration-of-life”. It was actually my 2ND celebration-of-life over the past 2 months. (The first one was at my original home church from 2007 to 2015.)

It’s been just a few years that I’ve known of the “celebration-of-life” concept. It is what it says it is. It’s a celebration of one’s life shortly after they have passed on. The funeral service or the cremation of the physical remains have already been taken care of, and this is the time for the family and friends to gather together and look back at his or her life.

I know that our brother was looking down from Heaven hearing us as we spoke of him.

And now here on #SundayScripture it’s the continuation of the refresh, renew, and reboot of my sermon on “Pray & Believe” – originally preached on Sunday June 16TH 2019. Here’s Part 5:

[CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK]

“I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others. As a result – this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world – from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah.” (Luke 11:49b-11:51a)

One of my favorite sermons to preach on about 5 years ago was the story of Cain & Abel. It was the story of firsts. The first man – Adam. The first woman – Eve. They were the first couple. Together they acted on the first sin in the Garden Of Eden. They created the first brothers – Cain & Abel – who became the first teenagers. Cain was the first farmer. He brought forth the first blood offering to the LORD, but it was not the best blood offering. Cain threw the first temper tantrum. He carried out the first act of violence. It was the first murder scene in the creation. Cain went wandering. He eventually met a woman. They had a son. Cain founded the first city. It was the first manmade civilization. Enoch was the name of his first son and the city. (To be continued. That was both a recap – and a preview.)

Footnote: You know I never did what that preview alluded to. I think back then (when I originally preached this sermon in 2019) I was planning on a follow-up or sequel sermon about Enoch – the man and the city named for him. I still want to do that. I need to put it back on my sermon drawing board. Back to the sermon now:

That’s the story of firsts. Cain’s murder of Abel in the fields was the first murder of the Old Testament. The stoning of Zechariah in the courtyard of the LORD’s temple in Second Chronicles was the last murder of the Old Testament.

“No Chris. You’re wrong ! 2ND Chronicles is right in the middle of the Old Testament. It’s not at the end !”

That’s correct, but the Old Testament that you and I know today is different from the Hebrew Bible. See – today’s Old Testament is 39 books placed into 4 categories or groups, and then chronologically ordered within each group. It’s based on the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

The Hebrew Bible contains 24 books placed into 3 categories – the Instruction (or Torah), the Prophets, and the Writings. Chronicles (1ST & 2ND combined) was the final Book of the Writings, and hence – the final Book of the Hebrew Bible.

And that’s a “rabbit trail”. (I just wanted to explain God’s words from Luke when He said “from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah”.)

[TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK]

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 August 20TH 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 the day that our LORD has made for me – the 20TH of August. This is the day – 17 years ago – that our LORD rescued and saved me from the darkness – a darkness that I didn’t even know that I was in. He saved me on that day in 2006, and I didn’t even know it until I realized what he had done for me days and weeks later once I began hearing, reading, and understanding His Good News. August 20TH is the most important date of the calendar year – and of my life. This is my #SalvationDay.

I absolutely love the start of the 40TH Psalm:

I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair – out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing – a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what He has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.

I’ve said it often over the past 17 years – online and offline – in writing and out loud. I would not be here today – and you would not know me today – and this blog would not exist today – if it weren’t for what my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ did for me on that cross and on that day – and on that day 17 years ago today when He asked me to follow Him, and I did.

For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal living word of God. (1 Peter 1:23 NLT)

This is the 269TH edition of #SundayScripture here on my blog. I previously testified my fantastic journey in Christ on Myspace, Twitter, Facebook, and the real world out there. I’m going to keep on doing that online and offline. I invite you to stay with me as I move closer to God with each new day that He has made. I pray that you move closer to God as well.

There is salvation in no one else ! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12 NLT)

I’ll continue the refresh, renew, and reboot of my sermon on “Pray & Believe” next – #SundayScripture.

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 August 13TH 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.

I’m with my longtime Homestead church family for the 3RD Sunday in a row. That hasn’t happened since I closed on my new home in Sebring in March. Next Sunday I’ll be with my new Sebring church family, and – as long as it’s not canceled again – I plan to attend the welcome lunch for new church attendees where leadership and others meet and greet us, and we formally introduce ourselves to them. (That should be very interesting.)

And now here on #SundayScripture it’s the continuation of the refresh, renew, and reboot of my sermon on “Pray & Believe” – originally preached on Sunday June 16TH 2019. Here’s Part 4:

[CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK]

So who has this confident hope ?

The Bible says – We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something – we don’t need to hope for it. [We don’t need to wait for it.] But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have – we must wait patiently and confidently.) And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example – we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. (Romans 8:24-8:27)

The Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings. I like that. That’s kind of like that hemming and hawing and stuttering and stalling when we pray. Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense what comes out of our mouths. Sometimes the words become gibberish – gobbledygook. That’s the Holy Spirit within our hearts. He’s intervening for us before God. He’s pleading for us – His holy people. And the Father knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Father knows what’s on our hearts.

Don’t you just love that ? You see – we may not make sense sometimes to each other or even to ourselves when we pray, but we make perfect sense to our Father through the Holy Spirit.

Prayer is powerful. It’s the most powerful thing that we can do. It’s the most important thing that we can do. Sometimes – it’s the only thing that we can do – pray – and believe.

The start of Acts Chapter 12 tells us the story of King Herod Agrippa. He was the grandson of Herod The Great – King Of Judea. He too was the King Of Judea about 45 years after his grandfather – or about 10 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was King for just a short period of time – about 3 years. He was very popular with the Jewish people. He persecuted some of the believers of the church in Jerusalem. Jesus had predicted persecution for His followers. God said:

“I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others. As a result – this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world – from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah.” (Luke 11:49b-11:51a)

[TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK]

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 August 06TH 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.

I observe and celebrate a bunch of personal life-changing anniversaries during the month of August. But definitely – the most life-changing event of them all – occurred around the 20TH of August of 2006 when my salvation in Jesus Christ began. If it weren’t for that miracle from Heaven – I wouldn’t be here today, and you wouldn’t be reading this blog today. I probably wouldn’t be alive today. That’s right. For 17 years I’ve believed and followed a living and loving God who guides and directs me with each new day.

This morning I’m leading my church family in Communion. It was 7 years ago this weekend that I did so for the very first time for my current church family. For this morning’s Communion I’ll be explaining to my brothers and sisters why we observe and celebrate Communion at the start of every month.

And now here on #SundayScripture it’s the continuation of the refresh, renew, and reboot of my sermon on “Pray & Believe” – originally preached on Sunday June 16TH 2019. Here’s Part 3:

[CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK]

You know when I was a young’un on this journey I thought of praying as being very intimidating. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to say it. But then when I was asked to pray, and I improvised, and I did it, and I kept on doing it – it became less intimidating.

You know which # 1 best-selling “how-to” book I used to teach me how to pray ? The Bible. God’s Word teaches us how to pray.

The Bible says “keep on praying.” That’s a short 3-word verse in First Thessalonians Chapter 5. That’s actually the New Living Translation First Edition. That verse was updated for the Second Edition from “keep on praying” to “never stop praying”. Now it doesn’t mean to pray with every single breath and every waking moment. It means don’t give up when troubles come your way. Pray.

I learned this verse early on as a baby Christian. It helped me a lot:

Don’t worry about anything. Instead – pray about (what’s that next word ?) everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. (Philippians 4:6)

I’ve heard it said that worry is a conversation you have with yourself about things you can’t change. But prayer is a conversation you have with God about things He can change.

When I pray – almost every sentence has the words “Thank You” in it. I thank God for the current situation. I thank the Lord for what He’s already done. I thank Him for what He’s going to do.

I like Romans 12:12 – Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and (do what ?) keep on praying.

You see when we rejoice in our confident hope – when we trust in Christ – we can be patient in times of trouble. Praying to God shows God that we truly trust in Him. Praying to God from the valleys confirms to Him that we believe that He is in control, and that He is right there with us – leading us out of the valley.

[TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK]

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