Lest We Forget

Lest We Forget

Hebrews 12:1-2

Good morning. I want to welcome everyone here today. It is a wonderful day when we all can return to the church were we grew up in and see old friends and family that we may not have seen in a long time. Memorial Day is a tool that we can use to help us remember our past and look forward to our future. We set up our meal and walk around talking to people remembering about our youth and the older generation that has passed on. We think about parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who have gone on before us. And this is good to remember those faithful who have shown us the paths to walk.

But the truth is that today we are gathered in this house of worship to remember Jesus Christ and what He did for us. On His table in front of this pulpit it is written do this in rememberance of Me. IT is engraved that all may see. But preacher that is just talking about the Lord’s supper. No it is not. Every time we come through the doors of the church we see these letters and they are to remind us that we are to worship and serve Him always. Everything that is done here at this church is to be done in rememberance of Him and everything that we do at home and work should be done in remembrance of what Jesus has done for us. He did not have to do any thing but He died on the cross so that we may have the opportunity for salvation.

Don’t Cross that Line

There is a time, we know not when,

A place, we know not where;

Which marks the destiny of men

To glory or despair.

There is a line, by us unseen,

Which crosses every path,

Which marks the boundary between

God’s mercy and his wrath.

To pass that limit is to die,

To die as if by stealth;

It does not dim the beaming eye,

Nor pale the glow of health.

The conscience may be still at ease,

The spirit light and gay;

And that which pleases still may please,

And care be thrust away.

But on that forehead God hath set

Indelibly a mark;

Unseen by man, for man as yet,

Is blind and in the dark.

He feels perchance that all is well

And every fear is calmed;

He lives, he dies, he walks in hell,

Not only doomed, but damned!

O, where is that mysterious line

That may by men be crossed,

Beyond which God himself hath sworn,

That he who goes is lost?

An answer from the skies repeats,

“Ye who from God depart,”

Today, O hear His voice,

Today repent and harden not your heart.

- Joseph Addison Alexander

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

What is the race that is being talked about her. It is the endurance race that we are involved in everyday of our lives. Every moment that we breathe we are in this race. We will never complete this race as long as we live. Just as a runner has to train before He can run in a marathon so must we train to build up our spiritual endurance as well as our physical endurance. How do we do this? Chapter 11 of Hebrews tells us.

Chapter 11 of Hebrews is a roll call of biblical heroes and giants. But I want you to see where their endurance came from their faith in God. Even though they could not see Jesus Christ they believed that one day He would come and do what God said He would do. The Bible says that faith is the reality of what is hoped for. In other words our faith is the outward sign of our salvation through Jesus Christ. This faith is what causes us to want to serve God. It is the proof of that which is not see. This is what many who rest in the graveyards across the nation discovered in their lives and that is what we are to remember today. When we come to Christ as sign does not appear over our heads stating that we have been saved. No what does happen is that our faith is our sign and our faith changes the way we walk in life.