Tag: Salvation

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 02ND 2021, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us get closer to Christ our Savior than we were yesterday.

Last Sunday I wrote about having “writer’s block”. Soon after praying for God’s wisdom – I wrote a new sermon on two good Kings of Judah from the Old Testament. It’ll be my next sermon to preach to my church family in a few weeks.

This morning I’m preaching my sermon on Simon Peter’s denials and restoration. It’ll also serve as a wrap-up of John’s Gospel. My half-year program of reading, studying, writing, and preaching from John’s Gospel officially comes to a close with this sermon.

This will be my 40TH sermon to my church family over the past 4½ years. Today I’ll be preaching via a manner somewhat differently than I have previously. I’m a little nervous about it. Hopefully everything works out well with this modernized method. If so then it’s my way forward for future sermons (and communions).

Lately our Pastor has been delivering some amazing and powerful sermons on how great our God is. They’ve been longer-than-normal sermons too – with lots of slides via PowerPoint. I’m talking over 100 “quick-flipping” slides !

My sermon today will be of normal length – about 30 to 35 minutes – accompanied with about a dozen slides via PowerPoint.

Here’s what one of those slides will show:

Suddenly – Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows – you will deny three times that you even know Me.” And he went away – weeping bitterly. (Matthew 26:75)

Once the rooster crowed – Peter realized what had happened. When Jesus told Peter that he will deny Him 3 times that night – before the rooster crows – Peter was astonished that Jesus would say such a terrible thing. “Why would you say something like that ?” And then it happened. And Peter realized that Jesus was really in control. And Peter left the courtyard. He went away – weeping bitterly.

I then compare Peter’s denials of Jesus with Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.

I’m looking forward to sharing with my church family what God has placed on my heart with this message.

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) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday April 25TH 2021, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us praise and worship Christ our Savior on this day – and every day !

You know sometimes I have “writer’s block”, and I don’t know what to write about. I have to take a break in my sermon-writing when that occurs. I know that it’s temporary, and eventually the thoughts will be pouring in to my mind so fast that my fingers won’t be able to keep-up on the computer keyboard to get it all in writing. I treasure God’s wisdom. I pray for it daily.

The good thing about being a blogger is that when the thoughts aren’t there to write I can always look back at the past for inspiration. This blog celebrates its 14TH anniversary at the end of next month, and it mirrors my fantastic journey along the way.

Here’s what I wrote here on my blog exactly 13 years ago this weekend:

God commanded that the baby born to Mary be named ‘Jesus’ which means ‘God saves His people from their sins.’ Jesus is a global Savior who is sufficient for all people, all races, and all nations. Christianity is exclusive in that there is only one God. It is inclusive in that Jesus is the Savior who invites all people everywhere to be saved by Him. If Scripture is true then we must be absolutely clear on this most important spiritual issue – that there is only one way to God.

AMEN. I wrote that in response to my Pastor’s sermon that Sunday titled “What Makes Jesus Superior To Other Saviors”. I was still in my first year of salvation. I was lit-up for Christ back then as a baby Christian.

One of my favorite quotes from the late great Billy Graham up in Heaven is – “Christ belongs to all people ! He belongs to the whole world !”

I truly believe that. He’s available to all people, all races, and all nations. He’s available right now. You don’t have to wait for Him. He’s within reach right now. You are not too far away from him. No matter what you’ve said. No matter what you’ve done. He’s right there where you are. Are you ready to believe in Him ? Are you ready to follow Him for the rest of your life ? Are you ready to be born again ?

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)

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday April 18TH 2021, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate Christ on this glorious new day !

This past Friday night I finished writing my next sermon titled “Denials & Restoration”. As I wrote last Sunday in this space it’ll be about Simon Peter’s 3 denials on the night before Christ was crucified as told by John’s Gospel in Chapter 18 – as well as his restoration from those denials after Christ was resurrected and before He ascended to Heaven (John 21:15-23). I’ll also be summarizing John’s Gospel – starting with the last 2 verses (John 21:24-25), and then returning to the beginning with the first 18 verses of John 1. The start of John’s Gospel resembles the start of the Book of Genesis.

Now that I’ve got this sermon written I’ll await my opportunity to preach it to my church family. In the meantime I’ll begin writing my next sermon after that. I’m not sure if I want to jump right in to my next planned study series on Peter’s two letters, or if I want to write a special Old Testament sermon. I haven’t done one of those since last Summer when I wrote and preached about Malachi.

Yesterday – the 17TH of April – was and is a special day for me. On that day in 2007 I boldly walked-in to a small Christian bookstore in the downtown district of my city during my Lunch hour from work, and I picked-out and purchased my very first Bible with the assistance of the lady that was working there at the time. I remember that I was still learning about all of the various translations of the Bible. I had “NLT” handwritten on a small post-it stickie, as that’s what my Pastor used on Sunday mornings. I actually showed it to the lady at the store, and she directed me to the “NLT” section of the store. It was multiple shelves of “NLT” Bibles for all ages and in different sizes. Eventually I picked-out the one that looked the most appealing to me. It was the “New Believer’s Bible” – “First Steps For New Christians”. I took it home. I finally owned a traditional Bible near the start of my 9TH month of salvation.

From my very first Bible – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT):

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way – fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.

Want to get closer to God ? Read His Word. Start anywhere. Pick a page at random (if you’re not on a reading plan) and just start reading. Read slowly. Read comprehensively. Read to remember. Read to be able to learn from God. Read to be able to talk to Him.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries