Sermons

Summary: There are special days & times in the Bible designed to help us remember specific events. I want to call your attention to 3 of them & see how God uses them to jog our memories.

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MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER

RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK

(Revised: 2012)

A. What do you think of when you think of Memorial Day - the beginning of summer vacation, barbecues in the back yard, family get-togethers?

In most churches Memorial Day is ignored because it is not one of the holy days on the church calendar. But I believe that it would be good for us to consider what Memorial Day really represents, for its very name calls us to remember.

The ability to remember is a wonderful gift God has given us. In a flash we can be a child again, skipping rocks across a pond, or walking in a meadow. Through memory we can fall in love, get married, & enjoy our children all over again. All this is possible through the blessing of memory.

Some of our memories are happy as we recall wonderful experiences. But some are sad, & we may weep as we remember them.

Memories are also very practical. If we couldn’t remember that a red light means “stop” we’d be in trouble. If you weren’t able to remember what day it is, or your anniversary or wife’s birthday – you’d be in big trouble. So memories are practical.

B. The problem, though, is that sometimes memory fails us. Sometimes we forget.

ILL. Maybe you have heard about a guy named John who had a serious memory problem. One day John ran into a friend he had not seen in a long time. He greeted him & said, “Bill, do you remember what a bad memory I had?”

Bill answered, “Yes, I certainly do.” “Well, it’s not bad any more. I went to a seminar that taught us how to remember things. It was great, & now I have a wonderful memory.”

Bill answered, “That’s great! What was the name of the seminar?” “Well,” John said, “wait a minute, my wife went with me. I’ll ask her.” He turned & saw his wife nearby.

Then he turned back to Bill & said, “What’s the name of that flower with a long stem & thorns & a red bloom?” “Do you mean a rose?” Bill answered. “Yeah, thanks,” John said. “Hey, Rose, what’s the name of that seminar we attended?”

There are events that we should never forget. And Memorial Day commemorates some of them.

This special day started near the end of the Civil War. And within a few years the practice of placing flowers on military graves had spread throughout both the north & south & was being called by almost everyone, “Decoration Day.”

Then, after WW1 it became a national holiday dedicated to remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms that we enjoy.

And it is also a day upon which we remember our loved ones who have gone on before.

C. But people tend to be forgetful, & we seem to need helps to jog our memories. In the Bible we find that God has given us many such reminders.

After God destroyed the earth in a flood, He told Noah, “I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:11)

Then God stated, “I have set my rainbow in the clouds, & it will be the sign of the covenant between me & the earth.” (Genesis 9:13) So every time we see a rainbow, it serves as a reminder of God’s promise.

Another memorial was erected when Joshua led the people of Israel across the Jordan River. Remember, the water stopped flowing just as the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant stepped into the water at the river’s edge. Then they stood in the middle of the river until the people had crossed safely into the Promised Land.

While they were crossing, Joshua told 12 men, one from each of the 12 tribes, to go into the middle of the riverbed & select 12 large stones. They brought those stones up onto the riverbank & made a monument out of them there.

In Joshua 4:6-7 Joshua tells them, “In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.

“When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

PROP. There are special days & times in the Bible designed to help us remember specific events. I want to call your attention to 3 of them this morning. You know the stories behind each one, but listen again & see how God uses them to jog our memories & help us remember important things.

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Alcides Correa

commented on Aug 28, 2009

God is good, the fact that God wants his people to remember the things he has done for us, speaks about how we always need to meditate and keep God in our lives at all time not only that but that we must always giving our best. Powerful Word. Amen to that.

Ephrem Hagos

commented on May 25, 2012

The day of Christ''s death on the cross is the greatest ever bearing his self-revelation as God''s life-giving Spirit thus making a full circle to the tree of life in Paradise and man''s spiritual rebirth of the Spirit , a.k.a., eternal life or immortality!

Michael James Monaghan

commented on May 26, 2012

yea I really liked this sermon and especially the application and incident at the end. So it is with a bit of regret I have to protest about some of what is said , 1. That the ''Lord''s Day in Revelation means 1st day of the week or Sunday . I do not think so . John was transported in the Spirit to observe things to happen on the Day of the Lord . Then on Jerimiah 31. You seem to have deliberatley left out that the New Covenant was to be made with ''the House of Israel and the House of Judah . The Covenants belong to Israel. T

Dearl Hardy

commented on May 23, 2014

I don't usually do this but I just had to address this comment. I just love when someone comes on here and reads a great sermon like this and then chooses to argue theology and interpretation of scripture in a message that is being offered to those that choose to read it.If you dont agree with it don't use it, very simple. But if you are going to correct someone at least be right and not wrong like Michael here. Pray and study before calling someone out Michael please read genesis 9. I am almost positive God is making a covenant with Noah and ALL of his descendants (that would include us) and all of the animals etc. So maybe take a breath and read through a couple of times before correcting one of the very best gifted Pastors on this site as far as writing sermons

Dearl Hardy

commented on May 23, 2014

Gen 9:12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for ALL generations to come:

Michael James Monaghan

commented on May 25, 2014

That's o.k Dearl . I agree God did make a Covenant with Noah and all mankind not to destroy the earth with flood again . But somehow I was talking about the New Covenant which was made with Israel . Jer 31. Heb 8 etc. But thank you for your interest and input after a couple of years too . :) .

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