Good Morning
This morning I want to speak to you regarding some very important matters.
Throughout the past few days, I have had opportunity to meet with some of you and learn about you. We are all here to have fun and do just that.
To see where our heritage came from… Who we belong to… who we are…
What is our significance?
It has been interesting to learn of our family, even here the things I learned just yesterday on the walking tour, in our own backyards here in Baltimore. Things that one family learned about the other Chenoweth family, but only in rumor…Things that became clear, at that very moment.
On Thursday night, Jon Egge touched…touched on a staggering wealth of information regarding our lineage. The wealth of information, some 10,000 printed pages worth. A place where one can research…
It has been a pleasure to meet with you…
It’s interesting. My dad and mom are very much interested in bringing the Chenoweth Family, Home to Baltimore, but its more than that…there’s a message that This Chenoweth Family desires the rest of the family to know.
And I believe my father actually laid the foundation for this message. You see, it was just recently that we were going through some of his belongings, when we happened across his penned writing that apparently occurred at a previous reunion.
I am going to read those words to you. They come from the 78th Psalm, and it reads like this…
Psalm 78
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O my people, listen to my teaching.
Open your ears to what I am saying,
2 for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—
3 stories we have heard and know,
stories our ancestors handed down to us.
4 We will not hide these truths from our children but will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD. We will tell of his power and the mighty miracles he did.
5 For he issued his decree to Jacob;
he gave his law to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to teach them to their children,
6 so the next generation might know them--
even the children not yet born--
that they in turn might teach their children.
7 So each generation can set its hope anew on God,
remembering his glorious miracles
and obeying his commands.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors--
stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful,
refusing to give their hearts to God.
You see, this week, we have been going over the things in our history that bring us together.
And we all are searching for a common thread, a common bond that takes us back to the…beginning…
On Thursday, we went to Fort McHenry, and had the Honor of Changing the Colors of our Nations flag. And while we were there, we heard the stories of Francis Scott Key, as he penned the words of our Star Spangled Banner…
Stories, that make us who we are. Stories that show us where we came from.
Then some of us went on to the Flag house, where we saw where the first flag was stitched for the Fort.
It was there, that I recall Bill Chinworths words when he spoke of how much we as Americans take for granted, our flag. He was referring to those who lived and died before us, who fought the fights, the battles, that we might live under a flag of freedom. And it stirred him that Americans disgrace our flag, and do not respect our nations anthem. Bill said passionately “Tell that to the men who waded with guns over head, through waist deep icy cold waters of the Delaware River”
He’s right you know. We take it for granted. These are things who make us who we are…
The other evening, we listened as the DNA trails were described. That the DNA is a puzzle of life. In our DNA is the makeup of our very being, with connection of where we came from.
The bible says that we are mysteriously and wonderfully made. This was no accident. This was no big boom. This was no cosmic thing. There was a design and purpose. It would be foolish to refute that.
I can trace my heritage all the way back…The bible says…in the beginning…there was ADAM and EVE. We are all related. God created Adam and Eve for the purpose of communicating with Him.
Psalm 78
• my people, listen to my teaching. Open your ears to what I am saying,
• for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—
• stories we have heard and know, stories our ancestors handed down to us.
• We will not hide these truths from our children but will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD. We will tell of his power and the mighty miracles he did.
• For he issued his decree to Jacob; he gave his law to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children,
• so the next generation might know them-- even the children not yet born-- that they in turn might teach their children.
• So each generation can set its hope anew on God, remembering his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.
• Then they will not be like their ancestors--stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.
Telling the treasured stories of our past with each other.
When I read those words, I thought, How appropriate…
But I wanted to understand what the passage meant, and so I looked up the decree given to Israel, and it says this…
Deuteronomy 6
• You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
• Commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today.
• Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.
• Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead.
• Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
I saw in the news the other night, a story about how the Israelis say that this war going on, is the beginning of the end. And Christians say this is the beginning of the 2nd coming of Christ. The bible talks about wars and rumors of wars. It talks about a reprobate mind, and marrying. Right now, the bible, reads like the daily newspaper.
It all is pointing to one thing. It is pointing to God, to Judgment Day, To the time when we will be held accountable for our actions.
We have the 10 commandments, and God says if we break just one, we have sinned. The bible goes on to say that the wages of sin is death, and that we all are guilty and deserve death. But God loves us so much that he made a way out. Just like the soldiers who fought the battles that our land would be free…God sent one in our place, that we might be free from our sin. And John 3:16 says that whoever believes in Jesus the Son, will be free, and have eternal life.
We are to turn from our sin, ask God to forgive us. And live for him.
God wants us to ‘COME HOME’. It says that if we accept his free gift, we become his children.
It goes more than where we come from, It is where are we going…
We will one day die, and our lives will end up in Jon Egges website, with a birthdate, a dash, and a date of death.
While we live here, on this earth, we have a purpose, to live the dash.
I leave you with these things to think about…
• What is your purpose in this life? Is your purpose earthly, or does it extend to an eternal purpose?
• Have you given your heart to Christ?
• If you head home today or tomorrow, and God Forbid, your plane crashes…are you prepared? If not, won’t you do it right now, this moment, today, and …come home, to GOD?
• And if you are prepared, are you telling your story, to your family, and friends?
