Tag: Reverend

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Internet Ministry Movies Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday October 08TH 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 in Sebring Florida this morning for the first time on a Sunday (all day) since 3 weeks ago, and I’ll be praising and worshipping my Lord God Almighty alongside my Highlands Community Church family for the 3RD time. We’re also having a potluck luncheon after service, so I’m looking forward to food and fellowship with my new brothers and sisters of this fantastic journey.

I’m still settling into my new home (after nearly 7 months). I’ll be doing that well into 2024. (It’s a marathon – not a sprint.) Over the past few days – I’ve been reviewing and sorting church bulletins (what we handed out as you entered the sanctuary) from my first church from 2007 to 2015. (I saved all of them.) Seeing and remembering those old Sunday morning memories from 10 to 15 years ago brings a smile to my face – especially the ones with a photo of me and my brothers and sisters at the time. I thought I would be with that church family forever, but forever only lasted for 8 years. God had other plans for me after 8 years, and He led me to new open doors and new unlimited horizons.

A couple of days ago I saw “The Blind” at the movie theatre. What a fantastic faith-based movie. You know I’ve never seen a single 1 of the 131 episodes of “Duck Dynasty”, so I know little to nothing about the show. And the same with Phil and Kay Robertson. This is a biographical movie about Phil and Kay and their family, so everything I know about them now – I learned from the movie. It’s rated PG-13 due to heavy smoking and drinking and domestic violence – depicting Phil’s life as he was spiraling out-of-control. He eventually hit rock bottom, and this movie depicts that event with the devil intensely.

He was soon rescued out of the pit of despair – out of the mud and the mire when he accepted Jesus Christ as His Lord + Savior, and he got baptized in the water. I shed tears of joy at that moment, as I was recalling the start of my own salvation some 17 years ago. I also saw the devil before I was rescued. The final 30 minutes of the movie showed him as a born-again Christian getting closer to God with each new day.

There’s an excellent review of this movie here.

Stay tuned at the end of the movie, as Phil Robertson (today) delivers a short message on God’s salvation.

My testimony is featured here each week 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) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Internet Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday October 01ST 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.

WordPress (this social media platform) recently congratulated me for 16 years on here. I created my account during the last few days of September of 2007 when I was looking for an alternative to MySpace. A couple of weeks later I began promoting my future blog on here with a series of teasers. By the end of November my blog was active on here. I’ve been on WordPress longer than any other social media platform, but that comes with an asterisk. I was largely inactive on here for about 7 years from the end of 2010 through the end of 2017. (That’s when I was exploring the former Twitter – and eventually Facebook.)

This blog will continue on indefinitely into the future, and #SundayScripture will remain the centerpiece of it. This is actually the 275TH edition. I’m looking forward to sharing with you what God has done for me on this fantastic journey as I ease into full-retirement over the next 5 months.

And now here on #SundayScripture it’s the conclusion of the refresh, renew, and reboot of my sermon on “Pray & Believe” – originally preached on Sunday June 16TH 2019. Here’s Part 10:

[CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK]

Pray for your neighbors. If you know what their specific needs are – then ask God to fulfill them. Be intentional when you pray. If you don’t know what their specific needs are – then pray for them anyway. Be genuine when you pray.

(At this point in my original sermon I identified my family in Ohio and Texas at the time – followed by my church family – by name – and I stated what I was praying for each of them. When I preach this sermon again – I’ll update the names and the prayers.)

I pray for each and every one of you. You know – I don’t know your specific needs unless you’ve shared them with me. I’ve often said that if you want someone to pray for you – then tell them what they should pray for. God surely knows your needs. Pray to Him about them. Expect miracles. Never be discouraged. Be patient. God sends His miracles in His time – when we least expect them.

I don’t know your specific needs, but that will never stop me from praying to God for you and with you. I will always pray for my brothers and sisters – my friends and coworkers – my neighbors and even strangers – as the Holy Spirit calls on me to do so. That’s the living God at work within us.

And family – pray for me too. Pray for my continued forward momentum on this fantastic journey that God created and customized uniquely for me.

As our Worship Pastor Ben comes up here to the stage – I’ll close my message with this Scripture from Ephesians 6 – Verses 18 and 19. It’s Paul telling the church to:

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. And pray for me too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.

And that’s my message for you on this day. Let’s continue our worship. Let’s sing to our Lord.

[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

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Home Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday September 24TH 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 back in Homestead for the first of 2 Sundays in a row at my longtime home church of the past 8½ years. I’m looking forward to service and fellowship with my closest brothers and sisters of my church family and this fantastic journey.

Back home in Sebring I’ve been working on my next sermon on “Jude & Judgment” (based on Jude’s letter near the end of the New Testament). I hope to preach it to my Homestead church family at the end of November.

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 9:

[CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK]

There was an excellent movie in the theatres in early-2019. It did pretty good at the box office too. It made over 40 million dollars here in North America. That’s a lot of people seeing a faith-based movie at the theatres. It was called “Breakthrough”. It’s available at many stores – on DVD and Blu-Ray – and you can also stream it. It’s about a suburban mom who loved Christ and her family. She was a prayer warrior. She prayed often. She prayed intentionally.

Her 14-year-old son was playing with two friends on a frozen lake in mid-January during a milder-than-normal winter day. The kids were warned to get off the unsafe ice, but like typical teenagers – they brushed aside those warnings. They all fell through the ice. Two recovered safely back to the surface. One did not. He was underwater for 15 minutes before he was eventually rescued by a first-responder who refused to give up. Was the first responder led by an angel ?

After 15 minutes underwater the kid was lifeless. He was rushed to the hospital in a coma.

The movie was based on the real-life events that occurred in January of 2015 just outside of St. Louis Missouri. It made national headlines. The mom got an entire small town to pray for her son. Guess what she got ? She got miracles ! God hears our prayers. God responds with miracles.

It was a great movie. I shed tears several times, and I nearly wept out loud once or twice. And that’s OK to do – even for a guy in his 50s. I was also overwhelmed with joy. Watch this movie on DVD or online or on TV if you get the chance. Hollywood doesn’t make too many movies like this.

But that’s the power of prayer. Think about this. Who do you pray for ? Who do you pray for ? If all of your prayers today were answered by God tomorrow – then how many people – other than yourself – would experience life-changing miracles ? How ‘bout this. Would any of those people be complete strangers ?

But Pastor Chris – why would I pray for complete strangers ? I want God to answer the prayers for my loved ones – my family and my friends.

Yeah – same here. But God commanded us to love your neighbor as yourself, and everyone is your neighbor. If you see or hear another person – no matter where you are – then he or she is your neighbor. Love them. Pray for them.

[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

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Home Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday September 17TH 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.

6 months ago I moved in to my dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream part of Florida – 185 miles away from my Homestead homes of the past 36 years. 7 months ago I bought my new home. I thank God every single day for providing for me and bringing me here to my current place. With each new day that He has made – I rejoice. Every morning I press the remote control that raises the motorized blinds out in my lanai, and it reveals the landscape behind my home. I thank God for His glorious creation. I thank Him for blessing this beautiful neighborhood and all of its residents.

It’s “Back To Church” day at my new church here in Sebring. That’s a lot of fun and food after our 10:30 AM service. I’m looking forward to hanging out with my new church family in fellowship with one another.

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 8:

[CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK]

Peter didn’t stay very long. God sent him on a mission – to continue to evangelize and spread the Good News throughout the lands. God’s Message continued on despite opposition and persecution. God’s Message continues on 2,000 years later. Today – you and I – we have been sent on a mission – to be disciples – to go and tell – to evangelize and spread the Good News throughout the lands. That’s everywhere we go.

Peter lived for another 20 years after that. Meanwhile King Herod’s demise came very quickly – like a week or two later. It was a wonderful day. He had on his royal robes. He was on his royal throne. He was living large and in charge. He gave a speech to his loyal followers. He received a great ovation. His subjects referred to him as a God. And then – as the Bible says:

Instantly an angel of the Lord struck (King) Herod with a sickness – because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died. (Acts 12:23)

And that ended the short 3-year reign of King Herod Agrippa of Judea.

I like the Book of Acts. A lot of great stories there. A lot of great stories involving angels of the Lord. Angels accomplishing the work of the Lord. Angels spreading the Good News of the Lord. Angels performing miracles of the Lord. Angels protecting the people of the Lord. Angels protecting us.

Angels are spiritual. Angels are heavenly. But we must never worship angels. Angels are inferior to Christ. Angels are servants of God. The Son is far greater than the angels. God said to Jesus, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.” He didn’t say that to any angel. God said, “Let all of God’s angels worship Him.” (meaning His Son).

[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