Stones of remembrance
Joshua 4:1-5, 10-24
Introduction-
This sermon prepared from my previous sermons and gleamed from fellow ministers on SermonCentral.
This morning we are celebrating Memorial Day.
We honor all the men and women who have served and died for our freedom in this country.
We have honored the lives of two people that are a part of our church family. Joseph Devaney and Marcus Thompson.
Each one of these things has a common denominator- A time of remembrance. A time to stop the busy activity of life and acknowledge and take a look at life itself.
Illustration
A guy praying… “Dear Lord, so far today, I’ve done right. I haven’t lost my temper, haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or over-indulgent. I’m really glad about that, but in a few minutes, I’m going to get out of bed and then I’m probably going to need a lot more help.”
When was the last time you just stopped, really stopped and took time to remember what God has done for you? Remember and act like God is in control?
Picnics and family gatherings are great and we can do that this weekend, but if we do not stop and remember and reflect, we have just made this another day off.
Stones recorded in the Bible have always been referred to as a marker of what God is doing.
Jesus rolling the stone away so that the people could see that He had been resurrected.
Jesus, telling us that if we don’t praise the Lord that even the rocks would cry out.
Samuel used stones as a memorial for God’s goodness.
Our text this morning, Joshua used stones from the Jordan River to build a memorial and as a public testimony acknowledging what God had done and is doing for Israel and us today.
Joshua 4:1-5, 10-24 Read from Bible
You see, you have to take this text in the right context. Israel wandered in the wilderness 40 years when they did things in their own way and without God. Joshua was anointed by God to lead God’s people to a better and more fulfilled life.
Joshua chapter 3 Joshua told the people
“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”
“Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.”
There comes a time to listen and there comes a time to move. God was telling his people to do both and not let time pass in between so that He can accomplish all that He wants to happen.
Then be thankful, then reflect and remember what he has done.
Do you notice something that is very important here. Joshua was asked to get 12 men, one from each of the tribes of Israel. It meant that all were to be involved in the move of God. Not one leader from any tribe would be excluded or would get a free pass from being a part of the move.
All 12 tribes had been in the wilderness together and God wanted all 12 tribes together to come to Canaan at the same time.
There were two sets of stone memorials. That was not by accident and this was to be a remembrance at both levels.
One was set up in the middle of the Jordan River where the priest stood with the Ark of the Covenant.
The other one was set up at Gilgal- showing where they had been and where they are now.
A memorial made so that they would remember that God had been with them and brought them through the impossible times. The banks of the river were at flood stage, but when they crossed the Lord had allowed them to cross safely and on dry land.
It was to be an encouragement to them and a marker to remember.
There are a lot of things that would be considered a memorial by today’s standard. Not all would have spiritual value but they are memorials.
Statues
Plaques
Trophy’s
Ribbons
Pictures
Keepsakes
Graves
Some even tattoo
So how do we do that this morning?
How do we make a memorial meaningful and beneficial in our lives?
How do you make sure that your memorial does not exalt you?
Very quickly, 4 ways;
By not forgetting
By being intentional
By making a difference
By sharing the experience
I. By not forgetting
Deuteronomy 6…”Beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bandage.”
All the things that God did for Israel, you would think that they would not forget. They did, in fact, soon after God did something for them they forgot about God and reverted back to their old way of thinking and way of life.
We need memorials. Because we have short memories. ON CERTAIN THINGS!
I can remember the farthest ball I ever hit. I can remember where I was, the thrill of the moment, the impact that it made on me and the team that I played for. It was 42 years ago in a high school state tournament.
Short memory- most of the time I cannot remember what I had for breakfast.
I need to write everything down or I will forget.
You remember the things that are important to you and in your mind you categorize by importance. That baseball moment I will never forget.
I also never forget the day I truly accepted the Lord to be Lord of my Life.
I remember the day that I married my wife, each one of my kids and grandkids were born. They get put in special files that cannot be erased or misplaced.
II. By being Intentional
Putting a string on your finger may be cute, but it is not a guarantee that you will remember. Like memorization, it comes by bringing it up into your mind until it becomes second nature.
The day that I truly found Christ, the day that I settled who was first in my life. The day that everything else had to measure against what I did with Christ and not Christ fitting into everything else.
Intentional- Definition- Done in a way that is planned or intended. Another word would be deliberate.
Intentional does not happen by accident.
Intentional means that you have an awareness of an end to be achieved.
Intentional is a readiness and willingness to achieve an end result.
In the life of Rosedale, we are seeing God do some amazing things and trusting Him to do many more things in the days to come.
We will be intentionally letting you see and know about these things very soon.
We want to become intentional about how we reach this community for Christ. That everything we do keeps us on course and on focus with that intentional action.
III. By making a difference
Any monument set up to glorify man will fall or rust or break. Trophy’s, plaques, ribbons help us remember our accomplishments, but we must understand that without God’s help we could not do those things.
Those stones placed in the middle of the Jordan river was for Israel to remember that it was God’s strength and power that brought them out of Egypt and His power that held back the waters so that they could not only cross but cross on dry land.
I want you to remember that this land years ago where this church sits was barren with nothing on it, now 29 years later there is a dept free church that we want to make an impact in this community with. It was God who put it here and He has met our needs all these years to get us here.
The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
Ralph waldo Emerson
Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work.”
― William Arthur Ward
IV. By sharing your story (Lastly)
The monument of stones was put there to be a remembrance to the parents, they were to remember to share their story of God’s goodness to their kids.
Christianity is only one generation away from being extinct. That is because each generation is to pass down to the next the good news of Christ. We are to remember and then share.
We do not have to be preacher, we need to be a story teller .Jesus shared his parables as stories, we are to share our faith the same way.
God took them from wondering 40 years to the promised land and took them across a flooding Jordan river on dry land, Just like he did when they crossed the Red Sea. Remember a tell someone about it.
We have a chance to make a difference by telling what God has done in our lives. e don’t all have Red Sea experiences, but that is okay, tell what He has done for you. Some of you have amazing testimonies that need to be shared.
Close,
This morning we want to remember
Those that served
Our loved ones that have fought the good fight and are now home with the Lord.
We want to remember and live for the one that died for us, the one that has never left us alone, even in those tough times we felt we were alone.
prayer
