Tag: Sermon

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday October 04TH 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 32, Edition 432
“Benediction”

For the better part of 15 years at my first two churches in Homestead (Florida) I closed out our Sunday morning services with a few words about the Pastor’s message / sermon, some closing comments of my own, and then the Benediction where I recited specific intentional verses of Scripture.

Most churches – no matter their respective denomination – or no denomination – close their services with a Benediction. At some churches (like my first one) the Pastor or Preacher or other church leader will have everyone stand up and recite it with him or her. At other churches (like my second one) we didn’t do that. I’m not really a big fan of having everyone stand up and recite or repeat something over and over again. I’d rather you hear the Benediction rather than say it. You tend to absorb or take-in speech (or words) more so when you are listening rather than talking. You know – 2 ears – 1 mouth – twice as much listening than speaking.

My old-school Webster’s Dictionary from many years ago defines “benediction” as follows: “a blessing”; “an invocation of divine blessing – usually at the end of a church service”.

The term “benediction” can also be used in a secular (or non-Christian) manner to represent “something that promotes goodness or well-being”; “an expression of good wishes”.

I like to think of the Benediction as a short prayer for God’s blessings upon His people. (That’s us – His believers and followers.) When I delivered the Benediction at the end of the service – I gave or passed on to my church family God’s blessings from Scripture – from His Good News.

I didn’t look at the Benediction as closing out a church service. Yes – it was at the end of the service, but service for Christ – serving God and others – continued out there – on the other side of the doors and the walls of the physical church building.

We are the church. And we bring the church into the church building. So since we bring the church, and we are the church – we take it outside of the church building to share. So the Benediction is a blessing from God to share with our neighbor. When I led the Benediction – I sent my brothers and sisters out into the world – to share God’s blessings.

Every edition of #SundayScripture (and #MusicMonday) ends with a Benediction. My Boilerplate below contains the Benediction in the second paragraph.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday September 13TH 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 29, Edition 429
“20 Years Of Salvation – Part 5”

Let’s continue my story:

You know – for many of our neighbors out there – they love God, but they don’t care too much for His followers – because of past encounters – because of past experiences – sometimes from inside the church.

It’s up to us – those of us who know God and are close to Him – to share what we know about Him to others – when asked – when opportunities present themselves. And if someone comes up to us, and wants to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord + Savior, and they want to know how to do so – then we must be ready to explain it. We must always be ready to lead our neighbor to Jesus Christ.

Here’s one thing you can do for your neighbor at any place – at any time. Have him or her say this out loud:

“Oh God. I’m a sinner. I’m sorry for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask that You forgive me for my sins. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins, and that you rose again so that I may live. I receive You Jesus as my Lord and as my Savior. From this moment on I want to believe in You. I want to follow You. I want to trust You. I want to serve You in the fellowship of Your church. I want to love You more than any one and more than any thing in this world. In Your loving name I pray this to You Lord Jesus. AMEN.”

That’s the salvation prayer – or the sinners’ prayer. That’s my version of it. I encourage you to write that down or take a picture of it and keep it handy – so that you can share it with someone when you need to. Anyone can say it – at any time. You can reaffirm your faith in Christ by saying it. Just make sure that when you say it – you mean it – in your heart.

If you share it with a family member, or a friend, or a coworker, or a neighbor – then be there for him or her. Be a witness for him or her. Know that you may have led him or her to our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. It’s another life saved. It’s another miracle from our God. And our God – He must always get all of the Glory.

And that’s my salvation story. Thank You for reading it over these past 5 weeks. I hope that you’ll find the time to talk to our God often – up on the hilltops and down in the valleys – when the going is great – and when it’s not so great. Know that our God is always with you in everything you do and everywhere you go. Talk to Him, and thank Him for everything that He has done for you. For the best is yet to come.

This may be the end of a 5-week arc here on #SundayScripture, but it’s certainly not the end of my salvation story. It continues on eternally.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp