Starting in 1970 Thomas Monaghan had a vision
• And that was to grow his small pizza chain in MI into one of largest
• And in 1985, that pizza company “Domino’s” was the 2nd largest pizza company in America.
• When he was asked how he accomplished this
• Monaghan explained, “I programmed everything for growth.”
• Every day we develop people
• Because The key to growth is people.”
• It’s Not special cheese, / tasty crust, / fast delivery- It’s People!
Where do you think he came up with this idea that people were so important?
• I don’t know where he got his idea
• But I know where the importance of people first started.
• IT STARTED WITH OUR CREATOR
Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Ge 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God said, “Let us make man in our image.”
• God didn’t say, “Let us make the dog in our image,“
• “Let us make trees in our image.”
• God made mankind the most important thing in all of His creation!
God’s emphasis in scripture has always been on people!
• God wants all people to be saved !
• If He didn’t love people
• Then why did Christ die on the cross for the sins of people?
Tomorrow is Memorial Day
• So today I want to ask What does Memorial Day weekend mean to you?
• Extra time off from work? A three-day weekend? Eating? Grilling out? Fun time? The Indy 500?
• Or perhaps remembering others?
ILL.- At a commuter train station a policeman noticed a woman driver with her head bowed over the steering wheel in obvious discomfort. The police officer asked her, "Is there anything wrong?"
• Half crying and half laughing, she said, "For ten years I have been driving my husband to this station every morning to catch this train.
• THIS MORNING I FORGOT HIM!"
The worst forgetfulness of all is to forget people!
• One of the biggest lessons that we need to learn is that God didn’t put us here for us!
• God put us here for others!
• This Memorial Day weekend we need to be concerned about others for their good!
• IT’S ALWAYS GOOD TO THINK OF OTHERS, TO LOVE OTHERS, AND TO REMEMBER OTHERS!
In II Timothy 1:3-5 we see that Paul remembered his friend Timothy.
2Ti 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.
2Ti 1:4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.
2Ti 1:5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
V. 3 - “I constantly remember you...in my prayers.”
V. 4 - “Recalling your tears....”
V. 5 - “I have been reminded of your sincere faith...”
Paul remembered Timothy in several ways.
• He remembered him enough to pray for him.
• He remembered the pain in Timothy’s life.
• He remembers his tears.
• And remembered that he was a man of faith in the Lord.
• Timothy was important to Paul.
PROP.- This Memorial Day weekend we need to think about people.
God put us here to remember people!
1- Remember the deceased
2- remember the living
REMEMBER THE DECEASED
Rom. 1:8-9 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you.”
This Memorial Day weekend we should look back and remember people.
• We should remember the deceased:
• Deceased veterans, deceased family members and deceased friends.
• Originally, Memorial Day was created to remember the Civil War dead,
But over the years it has become a time to remember all deceased veterans and all our deceased loved ones.
• This is one reason why it has long been called “Decoration Day.”
• Many people still go to the graves of their loved ones and decorate them as a sign they haven’t forgotten them.
• HOW COMMENDABLE THAT IS!
ILL.- I have read that on an average day about 750 people will visit the USS Arizona in Hawaii
• But on Memorial Day weekend about 4,600 people will visit that memorial.
• On an average day 3,000 people will visit the Vietnam War Memorial
• But on Memorial Day weekend 7,600 people will visit it.
• People count.
We need to remember our deceased loved ones.
When we leave this world most of us would want our children and perhaps our grandchildren to remember us?
Job 14:14 “If a man dies, will he live again?”
• There are several answers to that question
• - Science says, “He may live again.”
• - Philosophy says, “He hopes to live again.”
• - Ethics says, “He ought to live again.”
• - Atheism says, “He will never live again.”
• - Jesus Christ says, “He shall live again.” John 11:25
Rev 14:13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
Brothers and sisters, take heart! Remember and rejoice! In Christ, we will live forever!
Or as someone else put it, “Death is not a period but a comma in the story of the Christian’s life.”
This Memorial Day we need to REMEMBER THE LIVING
• ILL.- Ron was a fifteen-year-old teenager, a tenth-grade student at Granger High School.
• It was game day, and he was the only sophomore suiting up with the varsity football team.
• Excitedly, he invited his mother to attend.
• It was her very first football game, and she promised to be there with several of her friends.
When the game finally ended, and she was waiting outside the locker room to drive Ron home.
• Ron asked"What did you think of the game, Mom?
• Did you see the three touchdown passes our team made and our tough defense, and the fumble on the kickoff return that we recovered?" he asked.
• His mother replied, "Ron, you were magnificent. You have such presence, and I was proud of the pride you took in the way you looked.
• You pulled up your knee socks eleven times during the game, and I could tell you were perspiring in all those bulky pads because you got eight drinks and splashed water on your face twice.
• I really like how you went out of your way to pat number 19, number 5 and number 90 on the back every time they came off the field."
• Ron said "Mom, how do you know all that? And how can you say I was magnificent? I didn’t even play in the game."
• His mother smiled and hugged him. "Ron, I don’t know anything about football. I didn’t come here to watch the game. I came here to watch you!"
The moral of this story is: PEOPLE COUNT MOST OF ALL!
• Football is fine. Football is fantastic for some people.
• But people are supreme!
• People are more important than football.
Phil 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Phil 2:4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
ILL.- There once was a lady who passed away
• She was a widow and had only one son, who was also deceased.
• She was a member of the church and was always thinking of others.
• She said one time, “I believe in giving flowers to the living.”
By that, she meant that she believed in remembering people while they were still living.
• She loved doing things for the living.
• She didn’t wait to send flowers in honor of the deceased.
• She did that, but she preferred to give flowers in various forms to the living.
• But those flowers were in the form of bicycles, refrigerators, cars and many other things
• People need to know that we care about them and love them while they are still living.
ILL.- John Wesley said:
Do all the good you can, By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can, In all the places you can,
At all the times you can, To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
Gal. 6:9-10 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
We need to Remember the living.
CONCLUSION
ILL.- Just before Memorial Day one year,
• The following item appeared on page one of the Tulsa Tribune:
• “The Tribune requests that persons who intend to mix liquor with gasoline this Memorial Day to kindly leave typed obituaries and photographs
• With the city editor before beginning the day’s observance.
• This courtesy will be greatly appreciated.”
Memorial Day is not about drinking and partying.
It is rightly about people.
Memorial Day is about remembering the dead
Memorial Day is about remembering the living
So I encourage you to take time and reflect
