How to Make a Memorial
Joshua 3:7-13
This is the first memorial made by the Israelite's about what God had done
1.You’ve got to Please God vs 8 He has to be obeyed
A preacher named Bill had been asked to speak at another church in
another county and to his horror, he was running late. So he began
speeding. If fact he was He was driving about 20 miles over the speed
limit, when suddenly he remembered he had a Christian bumper sticker
on his car. Bill’s conscience started giving him fits, saying, "What do
these people think about you when you whip past them doing 20 miles
over the speed limit?" So he faced this moral dilemma, and knew what
he had to do. He pulled off the road, ripped off bumper sticker, jumped
back in and kept speeding. By the way, you may have noticed I don’t
have a Christian bumper sticker on my car!
They’ve just spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. learning
to Obey God.
Joshua 1:6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt
thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their
fathers to give them.1 7 Only be thou strong and very courageous,
that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses
my servant commanded thee: turn not from it [to] the right hand or
[to] the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
Deut 28: 15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the
voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments
and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses
shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16 Cursed [shalt] thou be
in the city, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the field. 17 Cursed [shall
be] thy basket and thy store. 18 Cursed [shall be] the fruit of thy
body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the
flocks of thy sheep. 19 Cursed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest
in, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out. 20 The LORD
shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou
settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until
thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings,
whereby thou hast forsaken me.5 21 The LORD shall make the
pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off
the land, whither thou goest to possess it. 22 The LORD shall smite
thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation
and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting,
and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
2. You’ve got to Pursue God vs 11 He has to be first
Two hunters were out hunting and come upon what appeared at first as an abandoned farm. The barn was sagging, the house was in disrepair, and there were junk cars and car parts lying around. The only thing that made it a working farm were a few chickens pecking away and a goat wandering As they entered the yard they came across an old well.
One asked the other "Wonder how deep it is."
The other said, "We'll have to drop something down and listen for the splash." They look around for something to drop down the well, but the only thing close by was an old transmission. They both hauled it over to the well and dropped it in. They counted and waited a long time for the splash. It was deep, deep one all right.
They turned to leave and saw the goat was charging at them, head down, horns headed straight for them. At the last moment they jumped aside, and the goat went right past them and straight over the side and down the well. They looked at each other in amazement.
As they started to leave, the owner of the farm came up.
They chatted for a moment and got permission to hunt on his land. The farmer asked, "Have you seen my goat?"
They said, "Your goat almost killed us charging at us.
You should have had that goat tied up."
The farmer, "I thought I had him tied up to an old transmission."
What would have happened if some of the Jews wold have ran ahead
and ran out into the Jordan river, they would have gotten wet
Matt 6: 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or,
What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For
after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father
knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first
the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things
shall be added unto you.
Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are
above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set
your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3. You’ve got to Praise God ch 4: 6 & 7 He has to be honored
This isn’t a memorial to Joshua, or Moses, or the priests, and it’s
because they couldn’t do what God did.
God did it, and God alone deserves to be praised for it
Acts 12:21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat
upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. 22 And the people
gave a shout, [saying, It is] the voice of a god, and not of a man.
23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he
gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up
the ghost.
Ps 103: 1 [A Psalm] of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all
that is within me, [bless] his holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my
soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3 Who forgiveth all thine
iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 4 Who redeemeth thy life
from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and
tender mercies
One Sunday morning the pastor noticed little Alex was staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. The plaque was covered with names, and small American flags were mounted on either side of it. The seven year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the boy, and said quietly, "Good morning Alex." "Good morning pastor," replied the young man, still focused on the plaque. "Pastor McGhee, what is this?" Alex asked. "Well, son, it’s a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service." Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque. Little Alex’s voice was barely audible when he asked, "Which service, the 9:00 or the 11:00?"
Alice Cooper said “Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that’s a tough call. That’s rebellion.” That’s an especially interesting perspective coming from a man who works with a guillotine every night.
At the height of his worldwide fame, Cooper drank a bottle of whiskey a day. But the bottle almost destroyed his marriage to Sheryl, his wife of twenty-five years. He started heading off to church with her and felt as if God was speaking to him every Sunday. Even at the pinnacle of his ghoulish career (which he believed was no more provocative than a horror movie musical) he still believed in God. The son and grandson of preachers, Cooper’s faith was crippled by the weight of fame and the toxicity of alcoholism.
He experienced every pleasure that money could buy but found it did not satisfy. “I was the prodigal son. I left the house, achieved fame and fortune, and found out that that was not what I wanted,” he tells HM magazine. “Now I read the Bible every day, I pray every day. That’s really what I’m about.” He continues: “I was one thing at one time, and I’m something new. I’m a new creature now. Don’t judge Alice by what he used to be. Praise God for what I am now.”
