Tag: Reverend

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday June 18TH 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.

Happy Father’s Day here in the U.S.A. and in much of the world today. We honor all of our Dads on this day !

I’m back in Homestead this morning, and I’ll be with my longtime church family for the next 2 Sundays in a row – a rarity for me nowadays. I’ll even be visiting my original (2007-2015) church family this upcoming Saturday for a celebration of life service for a friend of mine who passed on to Heaven to be reunited with her Creator. She was an early mentor of mine back in the day. If I recall correctly she arrived at our church after me, and she quickly established herself as a maternal pillar of the church. She was a true prayer warrior, and I got closer to God with her encouragement during our many Saturday mornings of prayer group together.

And now on #SundayScripture it’s the continuation of the transcription of my sermon on “Paul & Titus” that I preached to my church family on March 05TH 2023. Here’s Part 8:

[CONTINUATION OF SERMON]

So the Apostle Paul is explaining repentance and salvation to his good buddy and disciple Titus. Now of course Titus knows all about it already – because he’s repented, and he’s been saved, and he’s a mature believer and church leader. But Paul is writing Titus that they need to hear it again. Who’s they ?  They would be the believers that make-up the new churches on Crete.

But – when God our Savior revealed His kindness and love – He saved us – not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins – giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of His grace – He made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

Those 4 verses are still up there from Titus Chapter 3 Verses 4, 5, 6, and 7. Collectively – Paul refers to those 4 verses as a trustworthy saying. It’s essentially a saying that Paul uses a lot. It’s one of his go-to sayings. It’s a saying that you can always depend on Paul to say frequently. They are sayings that Paul reinforces over and over again – because he strongly believes in them, as they are straight from the Gospel.

Paul wants Titus to insist on reinforcing the trustworthy saying – and all of these teachings, so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good. These teachings are good and beneficial for everyone. (Titus 3:8)

Hearing about repentance and salvation over and over again is good and beneficial for everyone.

So you and I – we – were saved in order to do good.

By the way – who saved us ?  Was it the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit ?  Well – let’s try to figure this out together.

So God the Father – He saved us – by – His mercy. The Father is the – Initiator. He created everything. He created salvation.

So God the Son – He saved us – by – His actions. The Son is the – Accomplisher. He gave His life for us on that cross.

So God the Holy Spirit – He saved us – by – His applications. The Spirit is the – Applier. He applied salvation to our lives.

So the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit saved us. Creator, Christ, and Spirit. Initiator, Accomplisher, and Applier.

We were saved by the Godhead 3-in-1, and our salvation continues to this day. Most of us remember where we were and what we were doing at the exact moment that we were saved. Some of us remember the year, the month, the week, and even the date. My salvation started during the week of August 20TH 2006 – just before dawn – as I was driving eastward on SW 328TH Street – North Canal Drive – here in Homestead.

[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 June 11TH 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 week marks my 38TH Anniversary working for the USAF as an Airman and as a Civilian. It also marks my 28TH Anniversary of living in my current home in Homestead Florida. The end is near for both.

This morning I’m with my new church family in my new home of Sebring Florida. Incidentally my new church is Neighborhood Church. On my first Sunday morning there at the start of April – I met several former residents of Miami-Dade County in the front lobby. I felt like I belonged there !

And now on #SundayScripture it’s the continuation of the transcription of my sermon on “Paul & Titus” that I preached to my church family on March 05TH 2023. Here’s Part 7:

[CONTINUATION OF SERMON]

I like this diagram. It shows that The Father – is not The Son. And The Son – is not The Holy Spirit. And The Holy Spirit – is not The Father. But The Father – is God. And The Son – is God. And The Holy Spirit – is God.

So Paul is telling Titus that these are the things that must be taught to the believers of Crete. You know rulers and emperors and mythological gods – they were lifted-up and worshipped by many on Crete, and in Greece, and all around the region during that time – the first century. But only Christ was divine. And to this day – only the Father (Creator), the Son (Christ), and the Holy Spirit are God. There is no other !

Christ is coming back. But right now we have God within us. The Holy Spirit guides us to keep God’s covenant – to do good deeds. That’s faith and works.

You must teach these things and encourage the believers to do them. You have the authority to correct them when necessary, so don’t let anyone disregard what you say. (Titus 2:15)

Paul tells Titus to remind the believers of Christ that they should be obedient. They should always be ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone. They must avoid arguing. They should be gentle. They should show true humility to everyone. (Titus 3:1-2)

And Paul continues:

Once – we too – were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. (Titus 3:3)

But – when God our Savior revealed His kindness and love – He saved us – not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins – giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of His grace – He made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)

Well there you go again Chris – preaching about repentance and salvation. You sound like a broken record. You keep preaching about it like it’s something important – like it’s some type of monumental life-changing event !

That’s right. I’m going there again – because the Bible went there again. And – I’m a big fan of proclaiming and teaching – preaching – from God’s Good News. You know repentance and salvation is one of my specialties. It’s one of my areas of expertise. I can talk about it up here. I can talk about it down there. I can talk about it out there. I can talk about it for the rest of the day and into the night and into tomorrow, but I only have about 10 more minutes up here before we walk out of here and go to Lunch.

[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 June 04TH 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.

Tomorrow is my 56TH birthday, and I’ll be celebrating it today with my Homestead church family via music, food, and fellowship. When I first met my longtime church family I was a younger 47-year-old. Now I’m an older and almost-retired 56-year-old. Nowadays when I’m in Homestead – I’m merely visiting for a few days.

This morning I’ll be doing what I’ve been doing every month for almost 7 years now, and that is lead my church family in Communion. What’s special with this week’s edition of #SundayScripture is that it’s my Communion that was part of my sermon on “Paul & Titus” that I preached to my church family on March 05TH 2023. Here’s Part 6:

[CONTINUATION OF SERMON]

This is a good time to observe and rejoice and celebrate – our believer’s Communion. It’s an agreement that God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit is one God. It’s open for everyone who hears me – everyone who believes – that we live and die dependent on God’s grace. We cannot earn salvation. We cannot do a whole bunch of good things and work our way up to salvation. It is a gift from God that we received when we called on His holy name.

These elements on the table – I will bring them to you – where you are. As you receive them from me you may carefully remove the wrapping to reveal the bread and open the juice. We will accept these elements together as a church family.

[Distribute elements throughout the sanctuary.]

Let us take this bread, and know that it represents the sacred body of Christ that was given up for us on that cross. We take this bread in remembrance of Him.

Let us take this juice, and know that it represents the precious blood of Christ that was shed for us on that cross. We take this juice in honor of Him.

Lets us pray:

Thank You God for loving us, and giving Yourself for us. We love You Lord. We need You Lord. We are nothing without You Lord.

Thank You God for your gifts. Thank You for Your awesome presence in our lives – and Your intentional purpose for our lives. May all of Your beautiful blessings and marvelous miracles constantly strengthen our faith in You, increase our love towards others, and unify our hearts and our souls. We praise You Lord. We worship You Lord. And all God’s people say – AMEN.

You know our God’s gifts are abundant. His forgiveness, a personal relationship with Him, acceptance into God’s family as His child, the Holy Spirit within us, and eternal living (now and from this point forth) – these are all gifts from God for those who He has chosen and made His own by His grace.

He has chosen us, and we belong to Him. We must live in this evil world around us by proclaiming that we belong to God. Who do we belong to ?  We belong to God. I belong to God. Say that every day. Say that first thing in the morning when you wake-up. Say – “I belong to You God. For this is the day that You have made. I will rejoice. I will be glad in it. I will continue to praise and worship You – always and forever.”

We owe Him everything. We are thankful for His grace. We look forward to that glorious day when Christ returns for His church.

[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