Sermon Central
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Today We Remember- Memorial Day 2106
Contributed by Randy Edwards on May 31, 2016 (message contributor)
Summary: memorial day 2016
Memorial Day 2016
“Today we remember”
Pledge of Allegiance
National Anthem
Honor those families that have lost a loved one in active duty
Honor all those who are active and retired military
Show video
-----Pause-------
It is my honor this morning to come together with my friends
My family
My brothers and sisters in Christ
To worship my God
Yahweh
Jehovah
The God of our ancestors
The God of Abraham
The God of Isaac
The God of Jacob
The Lord of the universe
Our creator
It is an extreme privilege that we live in a place in the world where we are free to do that
To join together and worship
To come together and raise our voices in praise
There are many places in this evil world where not only do the citizens of those places not have the right or privilege to do that
But they are often not only persecuted
But
Many times they give their lives in the pursuit of Christianity
And
The spread of the gospel
Once again we need to thank God that this is not how we are called to live
In this great county we live in we have been given the right to worship as we please
Live where we please
Do what we please
Many have fought and died
Protecting our freedom
The very freedom that this country was founded on
And the very freedom that set us apart from other nations
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
In the context of this verse Jesus is explaining to his disciples that he must give his life for all of us
That he must fulfill his purpose
And that purpose was to pay the price of the sins of the world
And to deliver all who would believe from the penalty of their sin
He is also teaching his disciples that
They too
Must be willing to give their very lives
For their brothers and sisters and for Him
We know
Each of the disciples did give their life for the gospel
Most were martyred
Only The Apostle John lived a long life
But even he spent the last years of his life imprisoned for the cause of Christ
They like Jesus gave their lives for their brothers and sisters in Christ
They gave their lives for the freedom the gospel brings
Today we come to pay honor and tribute to our soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice
And to give honor the those disciples and heroes of our faith who paid the ultimate price
To give honor to all of those who have died in defense of freedom
And
To our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Who – is the true picture of freedom
So my question this morning is how do we do that?
How do we, do that?
Can we ever say thank you enough?
Can we ever give enough praise?
Enough medals
Enough salutes
Enough speeches
I think the answer is no
Words and ceremonies can never express the gratitude we have for those who purchased our freedom
For those men and women who died in the service of our country
For those men and women that gave their lives and their freedom for the cause of Christianity
Or for our Savior Jesus Christ
Who gave it all
Everything he had
Paying a debt he did not owe
On a cross
Humiliated
Beaten
Rejected
Abused and killed
So that you and I could have the chance at true freedom-spiritual; freedom
Deliverance from what we deserve
Once again we come together to give thanks
But our words will never be enough
So
If our words are inadequate- if they are never enough
How do we truly show our gratitude?
How do we give thanks?
How do we let them know?
----Pause----
How do we let them know?
How do we let them know that we understand the price they paid?
How do we let them know that we understand the sacrifice they gave?
How do we let them know that we want to honor them?
I believe in all my heart the best show of gratitude is action
Not what we say
But what we do
Not our words
But our deeds
We as a show of gratitude first to our Lord and Savior
Must love as he loved
We are to love each other as he loved us
We are to practice sacrificial love
Unconditional love
A love that does not see the past
A love that does not see the outside of someone
But
a love that sees their hearts
A love that listens to each other
A love that encourages one another
A love that gives of ourselves to others
