A Sermon to Remember
Ex20:8, Rm5:6-11, 1Cor:11:23-28
Intro. I 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.
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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 some things we need to remember aren’t they? Especially our spouses name.
. Today is the Sunday before Memorial Day. Tomorrow is the day set aside for remembrance?
. The day we remember those who fought and died so that we can have the freedom to sit here this morning and worship the one true God.
. The roots of Memorial Day go all the way back to the civil war
. It started with the practice of placing flowers on military graves. In the beginning it was called decoration day.
. After WW1 it became the national holiday we know as Memorial Day. This day is dedicated to the fallen heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.
. How many here have lost loved ones in the service of our country.
. How many here have served in our military forces in protection of our way of life.
. We thank you today for either your or your loved ones sacrifices.
. As I was reading and studying for today’s sermon, God impressed upon me that not only is Memorial day a day to remember heroes but that this Sunday would be a great day for us to remember some of the things God has instructed us to remember in His Word.
. There are many things that God has told us to remember.
. One of my favorite things that God told us to remember is the rainbow.
. We remember the story of how God destroyed the inhabitants of the earth with a flood.
. He destroyed everyone except Noah and his family and two of each kind of animal.
. After the flood waters had receded God told Noah and his family that He would never again destroy the earth with water.
. God then said something unique. While we see the rainbow as a reminder of the flood and God’s promise, this rainbow is also a reminder to God that He made this promise.
. In genesis 14-16 God told Noah: When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds,15and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life.16When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the ieternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.
. God says that He will use the rainbow to remember His covenant with mankind.
. God is a god of remembrance.
. The bible is full of stories and commands for us to remember.
. This morning, we are going to look at three things that God wants us to remember in this season of remembrance.
. The first thing we need to remember is the Sabbath.
. In Exodus chapter 20, god gave us the Ten Commandments and also gave us a command to remember something.
. In Exodus 20:8 God said: Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
. Folks we are to remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.
. We are to set aside a day of rest from our work and play and everything else and dedicate that day to God.
. God established this day at creation.
. Six days are given to us to work and do the things necessary to sustain ourselves and on the seventh; we are to rest and worship God.
. Our culture today has forgotten what God said about the Sabbath. The day set aside for rest and worship.
. We get so busy and so many things are going on that this day that God set aside for us is pushed into the background and we celebrate the Sabbath when it is convenient.
. I went to the doctor on Thursday of this week just for a routine check up and as I was in with the nurse before the doctor came in we were chatting and the subject of church and religion came up. Go figure. Well she claimed to be a Christian and I asked her if she went to church anywhere and she said they did but that they had not been in over a month. Sensing that there might be a problem I inquired why that was. She said that her son wason a traveling ball team and that they played on Sunday therefore there was no way she could go to church.
. She and her husband have traded the day that is supposed to be Holy, the day for worship for the god of sport.
. God says remember what the Sabbath day is for.
. A young Jewish boy who grew up in Germany many years ago. This boy had a profound admiration for his father, who saw to it that the life of the family revolved around the religious practices of their faith. The father led them to the synagogue faithfully.
In his teen years, however, the boy’s family was forced to move to another town in Germany. This town had no synagogue, only a Lutheran church. The life of the community revolved around the Lutheran church; all the best people belonged to it.
Suddenly, the father announced to the family that they were going to abandon their Jewish traditions and join the Lutheran church. When the stunned family asked why, their father explained that it would be good for his business. The youngster was bewildered and confused. His deep disappointment soon gave way to anger and a kind of intense bitterness that plagued him through his life.
Later he left Germany and went to England to study. And while he was there, he began to write a book. In that book he introduced a whole new worldview and conceived a movement that was designed to change the world. He described religion as the "opiate for the masses." He committed the people who followed him to live their lives without God.
His name? Karl Marx, the founder of the communist movement. The history of the 20th Century was significantly perverted by Marx’s teachings... because his father forgot what the Sabbath was for.
. Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.
. Another thing we should remember is God’s Sacrifice.
. In Romans 5:6-11Paul wrote: When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.7Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.8But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.9And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.10For since our friendship with God was brestored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.11So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has cmade us friends of God.
. On this day of remembrance, we need to remember what God did for us.
. Remember that while “we were utterly helpless” as the scripture says. Christ died for us.
. He did what no one else could or would do.
. He died not for upright and righteous people, He died for sinners. He died for you and me.
. We need to remember His sacrifice.
. His name was Bud. He was a factory worker with more than a slight resemblance to Archie Bunker. Every single day he’d come home sweaty and dirty. He’d go in the back door, grab a beer, and plop himself down in front of the TV until his wife brought him supper.
One day as he was driving to work he happened across a Christian psychologist on the radio -- kind’ of a local version of James Dobson. And something the commentator said stuck in his mind -- that love and marriage are about sacrifice.
And it hit him – no, convicted him – that he’d been expecting his wife to sacrifice for him but he’d never really sacrificed for her. It was as though a relational light bulb came on and he knew that he had to do something about it.
So he decided that he was going to surprise her the next day. Before coming home he showered and shaved. He went to the florist and bought flowers and instead of going in through the back door he went to the front and rang the bell.
When she answered the door he held out the flowers and said -- "Honey, they’re for you! I love you."
She looked at him, her mouth dropped open. Tears filled her eyes.
And she said, "I’ve had a terrible day. Billy broke his leg and I had to take him to the hospital. No sooner had I got home than the phone rang. It was your mother and she’s coming to visit for two weeks. I tried to do the wash but the machine broke and there’s water all over the basement floor. And now, you come home drunk!
. While this man was willing to sacrifice his routine for a day, God sacrificed himself in the bodily form of Jesus Christ.
. On this day of remembrance, we need to remember the Sacrifice that was made for mankind.
. The sacrifice that was necessary for man to reestablish a right relationship with God.
. Not only should we remember the Sabbath and the Sacrifice but we should also remember the Savior on this day.
. In 1 Corinthians 11: 23-28 we see where Jesus Himself instructs us to Remember Him. Our Savior.
. The Apostle Paul says. For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread24and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.”25In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an eagreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.”26For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
27So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.28That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.29For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.
. This morning as we prepare to remember the savior through communion, I ask you to think about what Paul wrote here in verses 27 & 28.
. Taking this communion cup without being born again makes you guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of Christ.
. Examine yourselves this day.
. Before we continue with the communion I want to take a minute and allow you to examine yourself.
. Have you accepted the gift of salvation given to you by the blood of Jesus Christ? Through His death we are saved.
. Have you done that this morning? You can do that before we take communion. Examine yourself.
. Christian, examine yourself. Are you out of fellowship with God this morning?
. Paul write that we need to be in a right relationship with God before we partake.
. Today we Remember the Sabbath, we Remember the Sacrifice and we Remember the Savior on this weekend of remembrance.
. Communion service
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources:
The Holy Bible, NLT
Teachable Moments, Jeff Strite
Memorial Day- A Time to Remember, Melvin Newland
