Tag: Minister

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday August 10TH 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.

I’m loving Friday Night Bible Study at my church where we’re reading and discussing various stories of redemption in the Bible under the “This Is MY Story” banner. A couple of Friday nights ago we read and discussed Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus from Acts 9. This series is encouraging us to share our story about how “I once was …”, and then “I met Jesus …”, and “Now I …”.

I love a good testimony. I love to share my own testimony to all who care to listen to it.

Last month here on #SundayScripture I began transcribing my original sermon that I preached to my church family in Homestead Florida on Sunday October 16TH 2022. The title of the sermon is “Blessings & Benedictions”, and it’s my 50TH sermon as identified on my SERMONS page.

Here’s Part 6:

And at the end of every good sermon about God – is a “Blessing & Benediction” – straight from God.

From the last verse (6:18) of Galatians:

Dear brothers and sisters – may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Paul’s Benediction is similar to his Greeting at the start of his letter. He wanted God’s grace to be with this church family. The Galatians needed that in order to get closer to God rather than turning away from Him. We need that too, and we have it. We have God’s grace. And here’s the Good News: God’s grace – it’s available for everyone out there.

That’s a great blessing to take out there into the world. Just substitute “brothers and sisters” for someone’s name. Make it personal for him or her. As an example: Dear Betty – may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

After Paul wrote to the Galatians he wrote to the church in Thessalonica. You know Thessalonica is a big modern city today. It’s the second-largest city in Greece with over one-million residents in its metro area. It’s an old port city on the Aegean Sea that was founded in 315 B.C. When Paul visited the city – it was already about 365 years old. That’s when he established the church there. His missionary friends – Timothy and Silas – they helped to build it up.

In his first letter to the Thessalonians – Paul encourages the new Christians with exhortations and teachings. What’s an exhortation ? It’s an urgent command.

Just before his Benediction Paul gives his final exhortations, and they are:

• Honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. (5:12)
• Show them great respect and wholehearted love. (5:13)
• Live peacefully with each other. (5:13)
• Warn those who are lazy. (5:14)
• Encourage those who are timid. (5:14)
• Take tender care of those who are weak. (5:14)
• Be patient with everyone. (5:14)
• See that no one pays back evil for evil. (5:15)
• Always try to do good to each other and to all people. (5:15)
• Always be joyful. (5:16)
• Never stop praying. (5:17)
• Be thankful in all circumstances. (5:18)
• Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. (5:19)
• Do not scoff at prophecies. (5:20)
• Test everything that is said. (5:21)
• Hold on to what is good. (5:21)
• Stay away from every kind of evil. (5:22)

You know I don’t really have to add anything at all to those exhortations – those urgent commands. They are all very self-explanatory – just the way they are. Paul was very specific and intentional in what he wrote to the new church. And they are all still very relevant today – in the 21ST Century church. Can you imagine what the church – and this world – would be like if everyone did all of those things ?

(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 August 03RD 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.

I’m looking forward to returning to my home church this morning after being away last Sunday. I’ll be leading #CommunionSunday from 1 John 5:1-6. Later this week it’s Mens’ Fellowship on Tuesday night and Friday Night Bible Study. I love my church family !

Last month here on #SundayScripture I began transcribing my original sermon that I preached to my church family in Homestead Florida on Sunday October 16TH 2022. The title of the sermon is “Blessings & Benedictions”, and it’s my 50TH sermon as identified on my SERMONS page.

Here’s Part 5:

You know the Apostle Paul – he wrote Romans. He wrote almost half of the New Testament. He wrote 13 out of the 27 books of the New Testament. He wrote most of them during the final years of his life and ministry – just before he was martyred in Rome. Now his 13 books of the New Testament are all consecutive in the modern Bible – starting with Romans (right after Acts) and concluding with Philemon. The next book after Philemon is Hebrews – which some Bible scholars consider to be Paul’s 14TH book of the Bible. But many Bible scholars believe that Hebrews was actually not written by Paul, but by an unknown author who wrote in the style of Paul. (More on that later.)

A couple of books of the Bible – the Apostle Paul wrote early on in his ministry. His letter to the Galatians was his first letter – some 14 years after his conversion on the road to Damascus. So what did Paul do for 14 years after he was converted into a Christ believer and follower. Well he did a lot of preaching in the region. He testified about Christ in Arabia and back in Damascus – and also in Syria and Cilicia. That’s where Tarsus is – Paul’s hometown.

Now in Galatians – Paul introduces himself as an apostle – not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ Himself and by God the Father – who raised Jesus from the dead. (1:1)

After that Paul greeted the Galatian church by writing – “This is the day that our LORD has made ! Let us re …” (No – he didn’t write that.)

This is what he wrote:

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Jesus gave His life for our sins – just as God our Father planned – in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. All glory to God forever and ever ! Amen. (1:3-5)

It’s like a 3-part greeting at the start of his first letter. He wishes the new church God’s grace and peace. That’s greetings and shalom. He’s welcoming both Jewish and Gentile Christians. In the middle part of his greeting Paul gives a preview of what he will be writing about next in his letter – and that’s God’s Good News. And then finally he concludes his greeting by giving God all the glory – all glory to God forever and ever. It is His work alone that we are rescued and saved.

So Paul did a lot of preaching after he was rescued and saved, and then he did a lot of letter-writing to the various churches in the region. And his letters to the Romans, and the Corinthians, and the Galatians, and the Ephesians, and the Philippians, and the Colossians, and the Thessalonians, and the others – they played out like written sermons.

(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 July 27TH 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.

Exactly 40 years ago today was a Saturday. I know that because the previous day was my flight’s 30TH and final weekday of USAF Basic Military Training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio Texas. Most of us made it all the way through the 6½ weeks of life-changing experiences. Normally on the 31ST day you left Lackland AFB and headed for technical training at another base – or your first permanent duty station. But since it was a Saturday we had to stay in-place until the following Monday. I headed northward to Chanute AFB near Rantoul Illinois on that Monday.

That was a full 21 years before salvation in Christ started for me.

A few weeks ago here on #SundayScripture I began transcribing my original sermon that I preached to my church family in Homestead Florida on Sunday October 16TH 2022. The title of the sermon is “Blessings & Benedictions”, and it’s my 50TH sermon as identified on my SERMONS page.

Here’s Part 4:

I like Romans 15:13. I use this verse a lot (probably more than any other), and it’s the NIV – the New International Version. You know this one:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So what’s that mean Chris ? Well – I’m so glad you asked:

Our God. He’s the God of hope. He’s the source of hope. He created hope. What’s hope ? It’s faith in God’s promises. I believe in who He says He is. I believe in all that He has done for me, and all that He is doing for me now, and all that He will do for me from this point forward – forever – eternally. I believe. I trust You Lord !

During Praise & Worship I played the video for “Fear Is A Liar”. The enemy is a liar. The devil is a liar. Satan is a liar. The opposite of fear – hope. God is hope. And so with God’s hope – you shall be filled completely with joy and peace. That’s God’s joy. That’s God’s peace. Without God’s hope – there is no joy and peace. But once you’ve got that joy and peace in your heart – you will overflow with abundant hope – by and through – the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s God in your heart.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

That’s a great blessing to take out there into the world – where hope is lacking – where joy is needed – and where peace is rare.

(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 July 20TH 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.

I’m getting close to the end of writing my 67TH sermon (and 4TH in a series) from First Timothy titled “Elders & Deacons”. I think it took me longer to write this one than it did the previous 3. I definitely need to pray on it further to come up with a worthy conclusion. I’m also looking ahead to 1 Timothy 4 which will be the subject of my next sermon after that.

A couple of weeks ago here on #SundayScripture I began transcribing my original sermon that I preached to my church family in Homestead Florida on Sunday October 16TH 2022. The title of the sermon is “Blessings & Benedictions”, and it’s my 50TH sermon as identified on my SERMONS page.

Here’s Part 3:

The start of Romans Chapter 12 explains this further:

And so – dear brothers and sisters – I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you – which is good and pleasing and perfect.

You know I look at Paul’s letter to the Romans as the Owner’s Manual of being a Christian. It’ll teach you everything that you need to know to follow our God for the rest of your time here in this world. Romans is 16 chapters, 433 verses, and a little over 7,100 words. Sounds like a lot, but you can read it from start to finish in about a half-hour. It would make for a very worthwhile half-hour.

And so – back to that Benediction:

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart – be acceptable in thy sight – O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

A lot of preachers pray that right before they preach their sermon. It’s a prayer for the Pastor at the pulpit. But it’s also a prayer to take out there – into the world. It makes for a great Benediction.

7½ years ago I arrived here, and I joined this church family. Eventually I was given the opportunity to lead Communion, and minister, and preach full sermons. In my studies and preparations – I realized that there were many verses of Scripture that can be used as Benedictions at the end of the service. And to this day I’m still finding these gems of God’s Good News – blessings that can be taken out there – blessings for you to help change the world – one person at a time.

(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