Tag: Pastor

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 31ST 2026, 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.

Volume 9, Number 14, Edition 414
“Cain & Abel – Part 2”

Last week I began updating one of my old sermons on Cain & Abel that I preached to my church family in Homestead Florida in 2018. Here’s the next portion of that sermon – updated 8 years later:

So now that I’ve set the stage – let’s return to Adam & Eve – the first couple. They produced a baby boy. They named him Cain. The Bible says that Eve – upon giving birth to Cain – said, “With the LORD’s help – I have produced a man !” (Genesis 4:1b) In Hebrew “Cain” means “produce” or “acquire” or “bring forth”.

Cain was the oldest son to Adam & Eve. Abel was the second-born son. When Cain and Abel grew up Cain became a farmer, and Abel became a shepherd.

As the Bible says:
When it was time for the (Fall) harvest – Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD. (Genesis 4:3)

Doesn’t sound very significant there. Notice it says that he presented some of his crops. Not the largest crops. Not the most beautiful crops. Not the greenest crops. Not the ripest crops. Just – some of his crops. God got the leftovers. It was essentially a token gift. It was not the first and best, and that’s what God requires.

Abel also brought a gift – the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. (Genesis 4:4-5)

“Why are you so angry ?” – the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected ? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right – then watch out ! Sin is crouching at the door – eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” (Genesis 4:6-7)

So the first brothers – Cain and Abel – both loved God. They worshipped Him. As they grew up and became old enough to work – back then they were probably young teenagers – probably real close in age – maybe a year or two apart. (There are some who believe that Cain & Abel were twins – born minutes apart.)

Cain worked the fields – growing all kinds of crops. He was a proud farmer – maybe too proud. I think maybe he thought all of his crops were great crops – better than anything available at the time. Cain was the first farmer. It’s not like he could compare his crops with those of his neighbor across the street.

Cain quickly picked some of his self-proclaimed great crops, and he proudly brought forth them to God as a sacrifice. It was like he said, “Here you go God ! Look what I produced – all by myself – just for You ! These are for you LORD ! Aren’t they great ? ! Uh – did I get here before what’s his name ?”

God was not enthused. He was not impressed.

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) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 24TH 2026, 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.

Volume 9, Number 13, Edition 413
“Cain & Abel – Part 1”

It’s been a while since I transcribed one of my old sermons on here. But what I really want to do is to not do a word-for-word transcription (like I’ve done previously), but rather include significant portions of an old sermon – updated in real-time.

8 years ago I preached on Cain & Abel to my church family in Homestead Florida. It was actually my first Old Testament based sermon – and 19TH overall. My Pastor at the time loved preaching out of the Old Testament, and I was (and still am) a New Testament Preacher. He wanted me to broaden my preaching skills and check out the Old Testament more often. I accepted his challenge.

Here’s the first portion of that sermon – updated 8 years later:

We all know the story of Adam & Eve in the Garden Of Eden. It’s where sin was born. The first man – Adam – and the first woman – Eve – disobeyed the Creator. As a result – it brought sin, and suffering, and death into the creation.

That’s Satan’s first dirty deed – done dirt cheap. Satan – via a serpent – tempted Eve in the Garden. He convinced Eve that maybe – just maybe – she misunderstood what God had commanded. God said don’t eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or you’ll die. He said that to keep Adam and Eve from sinning. But Eve was manipulated by Satan. Satan said that she would be just like God – knowing everything – both good and evil – if she ate the fruit from the tree. It was so tempting. So she ate the fruit. And he ate the fruit. And the creation was changed forever.

See Satan twisted the truth back then, and he’s still doing it today. That’s what he does. He does it to try to bring us closer to him – and away from God. Satan called God a liar. Eve took Satan for his word. Eve fell into Satan’s trap. And we do that today – usually when we don’t even realize it.

When we don’t do what God tells us to do – when we don’t follow God’s lead – we’re falling into Satan’s dirty hands. Satan will guide us straight into the dark – where we came from. Satan will keep up his utter madness until the very end – until the last days. He won’t give up.

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) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 17TH 2026, 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.

Volume 9, Number 12, Edition 412
“Unwelcomed At Church ?”

I was recently asked if I’ve ever felt unwelcomed while visiting a church.

YES – I have – several times. One notable situation occurred about 12 years ago when I was looking to leave my first church in Homestead, and I was searching for my new church. I went to one that met in the conference room of a local area chain hotel. I walked in. I sat down. Nobody talked to me, but several looked at me as if I was not where I belonged. What was I doing there ? Was I up to no good ? I also didn’t really look like anyone else in the congregation, and quite frankly – the congregation didn’t really look like Homestead.

It’s been said in many different iterations that the church hour on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America.

There’s a difference between a church with a poor hospitality / welcoming ministry and a church where everyone looks similar – but not like yourself – and you feel uncomfortable from the moment you arrive. I try to be part of the solution by continuing a ministry that began 19 years ago at the front doors of my first church – welcoming my brothers and sisters to our Sunday morning gathering.

I’ve also been to many churches with poor hospitality at the doors, but then once you enter the sanctuary you feel like you’re instantly family.

I’m part of a church family now where I pray that everyone feels like they belong there – from the moment they arrive to the moment they depart.

I’ve heard it said that the church should look like Heaven on Earth. Heaven won’t look like one group of people, so the church shouldn’t either. The church should include different races from different cultures and different social classes. We have one God Almighty who wants us all in fellowship together. He is not calling us to different sides. He is calling us higher, for we are better together.

As the Bible says in Romans – Chapter 15 – Verses 5, 6, and 7:
May God – who gives this patience and encouragement – help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice – giving praise and glory to God – the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore – accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

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) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 10TH 2026, 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.

Volume 9, Number 11, Edition 411
“A Bad Sermon ?”

I was recently asked if I’ve ever preached a bad sermon. And that got me thinking as I was trying to answer the question – What is a bad sermon ?

When I was actively writing sermons – I would do so over the course of several days to several weeks and even several months. I had the luxury of extending them out as such since I was a fill-in Pastor. I would lead our Sunday morning church services about 8 to 10 times a year. Most of the time I knew a few weeks in advance that I would be leading and preaching.

In my mind – a bad sermon is one that is hastily prepared at the last minute on Saturday night. It’s a rush job. It’s written quickly. It’s unorganized. It’s unprepared. It sounds like it on Sunday morning. I was asked to preach the next morning on Saturday night a few times, but I was always ready with a small supply of already-written future sermons to preach. Once I got the word – I selected the “next-one-up”, and I finalized it and rehearsed it.

I also see a bad sermon as one with few or no verses of Scripture included. Those are usually topical sermons based on real-world events – particularly political events and viewpoints. Bad sermons can also focus on manmade religious rules rather than God’s Good News and His love, grace, and mercy. When God isn’t Glorified in a sermon – it’s a bad sermon. When money and success is the root of a sermon – it’s a bad sermon.

I have preached sermons in the past that after doing so I felt as if I didn’t connect with the church family. Sometimes I’m wrong about that based on the positive feedback received afterwards. I’ve also preached sermons in the past that after doing so I felt as if I hit a home run out of the park. First of all – where’s the humility in that ? Secondly – while I may have thought that everything sounded great – that’s not important. What did the church family think about it ? Frequently no feedback or even incomplete feedback is negative feedback:

– “Hey Pastor Chris good message.”
– “Thanks. What did you like about it the most ?”
– “Oh. Everything was good.”

Some Pastors concentrate too much on time limits. If you preach for only 20 minutes – then it’s not a complete sermon and you weren’t prepared. If you preach for 60 minutes – then you’re long-winded and nobody is paying attention anymore. I personally don’t believe that either statement is correct. I’ve heard great, encouraging, and inspirational 20-minute and 60-minute sermons. (I try to keep mine at 30 to 40 minutes; although, I have been accused of being long-winded a few times.)

Is my sermon relevant to the audience – the church family ? Will they get closer to God after hearing it ? Have I left them with actions to take post-sermon ? That’s what I pray for.

Preach the word of God. Be prepared – whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2 NLT)

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) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp