A time of Remembrance
JOSHUA 4:1-9,19-24
INTRO-
MEMORIAL DAY IS A FEDERAL HOLIDAY, IT IS ALWAYS NOW THE LAST MONDAY IN MAY. IT USE TO BE CALLED DECORATION DAY BECAUSE YOU WOULD GO TO THE GRAVE AND DECORATE THE SITE OF A FALLEN SOLDIER.
IT WAS ORIGINALLY STARTED TO HONOR THE MEN WHO DIED IN THE CIVIL WAR .
TRADITION SAYS THAT AN ELDERLY WOMAN WENT TO DECORATE THE GRAVES OF HER TWO SONS IN 1863, AND THEN AFTER SHE WENT TO THE GRAVES OF TWO UNION SOLDIERS. SHE CLAIMED THAT SOMEWHERE THEIR MOTHER WAS GRIEVING FOR THEM AND THAT THE DAY SHOULD BE REMEMBERED FOR ALL WHO LOST THEIR LIVES.
FOR YOU RACE FANS, THIS WEEKEND IS CAPPED BY THE INDY 500
FOR MOST , IT IS THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER AND THE PICNIC, GETTING TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS, AND LOTS OF FOOD.
MEMORIAL DAY IS A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE- WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT WHAT THE LORD SAYS ABOUT REMEMBERING AND WHAT WE NEED TO DO “LESS WE FORGET”
DEUTERONOMY 6:12- “BEWARE LEST YOU FORGET THE LORD WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, FROM THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE. YOU SHOULD FEAR THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM, AND SHALL TAKE OATHS IN HIS NAME. YOU SHALL NOT GO AFTER OTHER GODS, THE GODS OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE AROUND YOU. (FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS A JEALOUS GOD AMONG YOU) LEST THE ANGER OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IS AROUSED AGAINST YOU AND DESTROY YOU FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.
THE LORD WANTS US TO REMEMBER WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR Us
WE HAVE SHORT MEMORIES I HAVE TO MAKE NOTES AND THAT IS NO GUARANTEE I WOULD NOT FORGET.
JOSHUA 4:1-9, 19-24
THERE WAS TO BE A MEMORIAL—SOMETHING TO CAUSE THEM TO REMEMBER
WE PANIC IN A CRISIS AND WE FORGET IN THE GOOD TIMES
WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL, WHAT STARTS OUT AS A GOOD CAUSE, CAN BE TURNED INTO “JUST ANOTHER DAY”. A DAY OFF WHERE WE LOSE THE MEANING .
THEY WERE TO REMEMBER THE LORD WHO BROUGHT THEM OUT OF BONDAGE, AND THAT HE BROUGHT THEM ACROSS THE RED SEA ON DRY LAND, AND CONQUERED THE ENEMY WHO WAS HOT ON THE TRIAL TO DESTROY THEM.
HERE THEY WERE, COUNTLESS 1000’S, AND JOSHUA WAS TO PICK 12 MEN, ONE FROM EACH TRIBE AND BUILD A PLACE OF REMEMBRANCE.
WE HAVE OUR JAR OF STONES, IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD, WE COULD NOT HOUSE ALL THE STONES OF ALL THE TIMES THAT THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US.
THEY SAY YOU ONLY REMEMBER 5% OF WHAT YOU HEAR, THAT’S WHY I GET EXCITED AND DRILL IT HOME ....I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER MORE THAN 5%.
LAST WEEK QUITE A FEW PEOPLE CAME UP FRONT TO BE FILLED AND TO KNOW THE LORD BETTER.
HOW DO YOU FEEL THIS WEEK?....IF YOU DO NOT MAKE SOME NOTES, PURPOSE TO GIVE GOD MORE OF YOUR TIME, IT WILL EVENTUALLY WILL BE LOST.
A MEMORIAL IS SET UP TO REMEMBER
ILLUSTRATION-
QUESTION- HOW MANY HAVE PLAYED SCRABBLE?
WEBSTER DEFINES SCRABBLE AS “TO SCRATCH OR CLAW FRANTICALLY, TO STRUGGLE BY SCRATCHING OR SCRAPING”
WE GO SCRATCHING THROUGH LIFE, TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF THE SCATTERED TILES THAT MAKE UP OUR LIFE. OUR LABOR SAVING TECHNOLOGY MAKES IT WORSE, BECAUSE NOW WE ARE EVEN BUSIER, BUT FASTER
IT LEAVES PEOPLE WITH LESS TIME TO RELAX, REST, REFLECT, AND REPLENISH IN OUR LIVES.
SO EACH LEADER DRAGS A STONE ON HIS SHOULDERS AND TOGETHER THEY ERECT A MEMORIAL THAT WILL STAND FOR ALL TO SEE
WHAT BENEFIT CAN WE SEE FOR OUR LIVES FOR DOING THIS.
WRITE THIS DOWN
I. IT IS A TIME TO REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE
A REFLECTION- V7- “AND THESE STONES SHALL BE A MEMORIAL TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL FOREVER”
A REMINDER OF YOUR OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
A TIME WE CAN “TELL THE STORY”...KEEPING A CLEAR MEMORY OF WHAT HAPPEN (JOURNALING CAN HELP YOU DO THIS ALSO)
THERE ARE SOME SPECIAL TIMES IN OUR LIVES, MEMORIES THAT ARE SO SPECIAL AND YOU NEVER WANT TO FORGET
THERE ARE SPECIAL PEOPLE GOD HAS USED TO ENHANCE OUR LIVES AND WE THANK GOD FOR THOSE PEOPLE
MEMORIAL STONES ARE A PART OF SHARING OUR FAITH WITH OUR CHILDREN.
V6- “ THAT THIS MAY BE A SIGN AMONG YOU WHEN YOUR CHILDREN ASK IN TIME TO COME SAYING, “WHAT DO THESE STONES MEAN TO YOU”
OUR COUNTRY HAS DRIFTED FROM OUR FOUNDATION
1962- PRAYER IN SCHOOL IS DECLARED ILLEGAL
1963- BIBLE READING IN SCHOOL TAKEN OUT
1980- ILLEGAL TO POST OR TALK ABOUT THE 10 COMMANDMENTS
SO MANY TIMES THE LORD TELLS US NOT TO LET THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE PAGAN DICTATE OUR VALUES.
“LEST YOU FORGET THE LORD WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, FROM THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE)
THESE STONES WERE TO BE A SIGN TO A LOST AND DYING WORLD.
V24-THAT ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH MAY KNOW THAT THE HAND OF THE LORD, THAT IT IS MIGHTY, THAT YOU FEAR THE LORD YOUR GOD FOREVER”
GOD EXPECTS US TO LET A DYING WORLD KNOW THAT HE IS THE ONLY LIVING GOD, THAT IN THEIR TIME OF TROUBLE, HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN HELP THEM AND SAVE THEM.
WRITE IT DOWN
II. IT WAS A TIME OF RENEWING PERSONAL COMMITMENT
V8- “AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DID SO, JUST AS JOSHUA COMMANDED”
DON’T LET THE DEVIL STEAL YOUR JOY WHAT THE LORD HAS GIVEN YOU, DON’T BE SO QUICK TO GIVE UP IN YOUR TIMES OF TROUBLE
THE TIME OF PERSONAL COMMITMENT IS WHERE YOU ARE THANKFUL AND EXPRESS BACK TO GOD YOUR COMMITMENT TO SERVING HIM FOR THE LONG HAUL.
OUR COMMITMENT TIME IS THE QUIET TIME WE DETERMINE THAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES WILL NOT GET IN FRONT OF US RENEWING AND REMEMBERING WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE IN THE PAST.
EACH TIME YOU REFLECT BACK, IT IS A PIVOTAL POINT IN OUR LIVES BECAUSE IF WE ARE REMEMBERING WHAT HE HAS DONE, WE DO NOT STRUGGLE AS BAD TO SEE WHAT HE COULD DO FOR WHAT IS AHEAD OF US.
V16-“COMMAND THE PRIEST WHO BEAR THE ARK OF THE TESTIMONY TO COME UP FROM THE JORDAN”
PERSONAL TESTIMONY GIVES US STRENGTH THROUGH HARD TIMES, THEY STEP OUT IN THE RIVER, THEY WERE OBEDIENT, AND WHEN THE ARK HAD REACHED DRY GROUND THEN THE WATER FLOWED BACK AND THEY SAW THE HAND OF GOD WORKING-
LISTENING TO PERSONAL TESTIMONIES HELPS BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO KNOW GOD IS STILL WORKING IN THEIR DARK MOMENT, THEY CAN HEAR THE TESTIMONY OF GOD’S GOODNESS AND IT CAN IF THEY LET IT, BE A TIME OF RENEWING AND COMMITMENT.
WRITE IT DOWN
III. IT IS A TIME OF ROLLING AWAY PAST DEFEATS
IT WAS EXACTLY 40 YEARS TO THE DAY SINCE ISRAEL MARCHED OUT OF EGYPT.
YOU MAY THINK THIS IS A COINCIDENCE, BUT I BELIEVE IT WAS PLANNED BY GOD TO LET THEM KNOW THAT HE IS STILL IN CONTROL AND WE CAN PUT OUR TRUST IN HIM.
WHEN THEY WENT FROM THE BANK TO THE OTHER SIDE, IT WAS A NEW BEGINNING.
THEY HAD TO LEAVE THE SHORE TO FIND OUT WHAT THE LORD HAD AHEAD FOR THEM.
IF WE WOULD ONLY REALIZE WHO WE ARE IN JESUS CHRIST
WE’D HAVE A NEW SENSE OF PURPOSE
A TIME WHERE WE CAN STEP OUT IN THE UNKNOWN TO TAKE NEW TERRITORY FOR CHRIST
THEY PLACE THEIR FEET IN THE SURGING RIVER, KNOWING THAT THEIR GOD WAS GOING TO BRING THEM TO SAFETY.
GILGAD WHERE THEY CAMPED BEFORE CROSSING MEANS “THE REPROACH HAS BEEN ROLLED AWAY”
40 YEARS OF DEFEAT WAS NOW GOING TO BE BEHIND THEM AND THEY WERE PRESSING FORWARD TO WHAT GOD WANTED FOR THEM.
LIKEWISE TODAY, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO LOOK BACK AND SEE MONUMENTAL OCCASIONS WHICH STAND OUT AS TIMES IN WHICH GOD CHANGED OUR DIRECTION AND GAVE US NEW HOPE AND A SENSE OF PURPOSE.
CHRISTIANITY IS ONLY ONE GENERATION FROM EXTINCTION
PROVERBS 22:6- “TRAIN UP YOUR CHILD IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO, AND WHEN HE IS OLD, HE WILL NOT DEPART FROM IT.”
ONE OF THE MAIN FUNCTIONS AS BELIEVERS IS TO BE A WITNESS TO THE LOST AND DYING.
MATT 5:14- YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
OUR SOCIETY IS TRYING TO REMOVE OUR MEMORIALS OF CHRISTIANITY
QUESTION- WHAT DO YOU SAY?
IS THIS A TIME OF REMEMBRANCE AND ARE YOU GOING TO BE DETERMINED TO MOVE FORWARD.
ARE YOU WILLING TO STEP IN THE SURGING RIVER TO SEE THE HAND OF THE LORD WORK IN YOUR LIFE
ARE YOU GOING TO LET PAST DEFEATS BEHIND YOU AND CROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE WITH A FRESH AND NEW BEGINNING
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