Happy for the sake of freedom
Intro: In April 1863, in Columbus, Mississippi, after
decorating graves of her two sons who died representing their beloved
south-land, an elderly woman walked to two mounds of dirt at the corner of the
cemetery to place memorial flowers there also. "What are you doing?"
friends shouted, "Those are the graves of two union soldiers." Softly
that compassionate mother said, "I know. I also know that somewhere in the
North, a mother or a young wife mourns for them as we do for ours."
That loving deed set in motion our
celebration which has become known as Memorial Day. We honor these once a year,
but their sacrifice is evident every single day of the year! Today, we want to
honor the memory of all those who have sacrificed their lives on the altar of
freedom. Those sacrificed lives
were not given in vain! We are free today and have the right to assemble
ourselves together and worship our God.
Over 1.1 million men and women have died to guarantee our
freedom as Americans. They gave their all so that we might enjoy all the
blessings of this great land. Today, we honor their memory and their sacrifice.
Memorial Day is all about remembering and honoring the
ultimate sacrifice that has been paid by so many brave men and women of the
United States Armed Forces.
• I
am so grateful to those who have sacrificed and sacrifice, and those who will
sacrifice so much to have obtained freedom and to protect our freedom.
• As
we join together today in these great freedoms I would ask you stand with me to
honor and commemorate every one of those fallen soldiers in a moment of silence
as we reflect, pray and contemplate.
• Take
the moment of silence.
We remember the things we should forget and we so easily
forget the things we should remember that's why all through scripture from the
front to back God says, "Remember, remember, remember."
1.
Remember what faith feels like.
Deuteronomy 8:6 "So obey the commands of the LORD your
God by walking in His ways and fearing Him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land
of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out
in the valleys and hills. 8 It is a land
of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil
and honey. 9 It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is
a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills.
10 When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the LORD your God for the
good land He has given you. 11 "But that is the time to be careful! Beware
that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey His
commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. 12 For when you
have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, 13 and
when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have
multiplied along with everything else, be careful! 14 Do not become proud at
that time and forget the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in the
land of Egypt."
1.
We should thank God for the quiet
blessings in our lives.
1.
We seldom take notice or thank God
when work is going well, our lives are healthy, and our relationships seem to
be fine.
1.
God's people have been doing this to
Him for centuries.
1.
They seemed to not take notice that
in 40 years of wandering around in the desert that their clothes didn't wear
out, and their feet didn't blister and swell.
2.
This is why we give thanks before
every meal, to remember God's provision and thank Him individually and
publicly.
1.
I'm not afraid of my faith.
2.
I'm not afraid to display it.
3.
I'm not afraid to share it.
4.
I'm not afraid to walk in it.
1.
It is part of my every day I can't
forget to remember it.
2.
We can get into a place of safety, a
place of salvation, a place of blessing, a place of privilege, a place of faith
so comfy, so cozy, and so relaxing that we forget what got us there.
1.
I'm declaring to you today that we
can't forget our faith.
2.
Remember your faith.
3.
Faith is your confidence in Christ,
your calling out to God, your trust in His plan of salvation and eternal hope.
1.
Your moment in God, your encounter
with the Creator of the universe and the Savior of the world, your rescuing
moment.
1.
Connect to your eternal rescuing
moment.
1.
Sin has given us all an eternal death
sentence.
2.
Jesus paid our penalty.
1.
I want all people to know Him &
accept His pardon.
John 3:15 "so that everyone who believes in Him will
have eternal life. 16 "For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only
Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal
life. 17 God sent His
Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him."
4.
It's insane to me how after hearing
the Message of Jesus Christ and hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ humanity
would be so blind as to not see His love.
1.
That they would be so selfish as to
hang onto their rights and completely disregard His sacrifice.
2.
Choosing to find a way to work to fix
it themselves, carry it out on their own terms and conditions, therefore
rejecting God's perfect plan.
1.
In times of plenty, we often take
credit for our prosperity and become proud that our own hard work, our own
clever minds have made us blessed.
2.
So busy collecting and managing
things that we push God right out of our lives.
1.
I want to manage His things with
purpose, manage His things with gratefulness, manage His things with confidence
and manage His things with faith.
5.
In spite of all that God has revealed
in, through, with, and by His word, there are many Christians who still refuse
to live by faith, but choose to live by facts.
Illustrate here: Tape Measure.
The African Impala: The impala is one of the most common and most graceful of
all Africa’s antelopes.
1.
A slender, agile creature, it can
clear formidable obstacles and run at speeds faster than 37 mph.
2.
They are extremely fast runners who
can leap up to 10 feet high and 30 feet long in one leap.
1.
In spite of this great ability, an
impala can be kept in an enclosure with a solid fence no more than 3 feet high.
1.
Impalas will not jump if they can't
see where their feet will land.
1.
Impalas walk by sight and not by
faith.
6.
What about you my friend?
1.
Do you remember what faith feels
like?
1.
Remember what it was to operate in
faith?
1.
Faith is not fear.
2.
It sure seems real close.
3.
But faith is not a feeling, it's a
belief.
Remember when the Roman soldier said in, Luke 7:7b "Just
say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 8 I know this
because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority
over my soldiers. I only need to say, 'Go,' and they go, or 'Come,' and they
come. And if I say to my slaves, 'Do this,' they do it." 9 When Jesus
heard this, He was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following Him, He
said, "I tell you, I haven't seen faith like this in all Israel!" 10
And when the officer's friends returned to His house, they found the slave
completely healed."
4.
Faith is taking Jesus at His
Word.
1.
Remember. Remember. Remember.
7.
What about Hebrews 11 with all
its references to the phrase “by faith,” all the people
mentioned had one thing in common: they each took God at His Word.
1.
For example, God told Noah to build
an ark because He was going to bring a massive flood. Noah took God at His word
and built the ark.
2.
God told Abraham to go to a place
that he would receive as an inheritance.
1.
Abraham took God at His word, left
his familiar surroundings, and he went.
3.
God indicated to Sarah, who was long
past the age of childbearing, that she would conceive a son.
1.
The Scripture states: “She
considered Him faithful who had promised.”
2.
She took God at His word.
4.
Regardless of circumstances, despite
arguments of logic and reason, regardless of feelings, each believed God, His
word and chose to be obedient.
2.
Remember what freedom feels like.
Exodus 13:3 "So Moses said to the people, "This
is a day to remember forever—the
day you left Egypt, the place of your slavery. Today the LORD has brought you
out by the power of His mighty hand."
5 You must celebrate this event in this month each
year after the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites,
Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. (He swore to your ancestors that he would
give you this land—a land flowing
with milk and honey.)
14 "And in the future, your children will ask you,
'What does all this mean?' Then you will tell them, 'With the power of His
mighty hand, the LORD brought us out of Egypt, the place of our slavery.
16 This ceremony will be like a mark branded on your hand
or your forehead. It is a reminder that the power of the LORD's mighty hand
brought us out of Egypt."
1.
Many of us have never lived one day
in the life of slavery, experienced one day in the life of a prisoner of war,
or spent one day without the freedoms we so inherently complain about and
disregard.
1.
The church is not about inflicting
more pain.
2.
We're not about inflicting more
shame.
1.
We don't exist to imprison but to
empower.
2.
We don't exist to extinguish fire but
to set it free that makes me happy!
Hebrews 12:2-3 NLT "[2] We do this by keeping our eyes
on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy
awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in
the place of honor beside God's throne. [3] Think of all the hostility He
endured from sinful people; then you won't become weary and give up."
3.
Because of the joy set before Him.
4.
He endured the cross, disregarding
it's shame.
1.
The cross was for the worst of the
worst of criminals and we deserved that not Him.
1.
The coming joy disarmed the cross of
its sting and it's present
pain.
2.
Seeing past it to the freedoms in and
through the blood of Jesus Christ.
2.
He was a man of like passions and
was tempted in every way that we
are yet lived His life without sin therefore being perfect.
5.
Knowing that His accomplished mission
would have the potency to rescue and redeem all mankind.
6.
Jesus preached as no other man did,
and exhibited miracles, as none else could.
1.
Christ's goal was to bring freedom
from the chains, freedom from the sin, freedom from the current scenario and
helping us walk in that freedom.
7.
Residing in that freedom.
1.
Freedom always costs someone
something and sometimes freedom costs someone everything.
1.
Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price
for all mankind.
2.
Remember. Remember. Remember.
2.
I believe many times Christians
especially forget what the bondage of sin feels like.
1.
We have been free for so long that we
have forgotten the strangle hold the Devil has on many of those around and
about us.
1.
Many new Christians don't make it to a
greater depth in Christ because they have no one to disciple and encourage them
along.
2.
They don't stay connected to God's
House and God's people because they don't see the importance and the relevance
of it.
1.
We must remedy that with truth.
2.
I want to be so busy and focused
accomplishing the purposes of God that the Devil has no idea what to do with
me.
1.
So connected to the purposes of God
and the mission of Jesus Christ.
2.
I think that the church has to
connect their freedoms to that mindset.
1.
Connecting every person possible to
freedom in Christ.
1.
Remembering our faith and remembering
our freedom.
3.
We remember because of the great
sacrifice.
1.
We remember because of the great
freedom that's been offered to mankind.
2.
We remember because of the life that
has been given, the blood that's been shed, and the grace that has been
offered.
1.
Remember:
John 15:12-13 NLT [12] "This is my commandment: Love
each other in the same way I have loved you. [13] There is no greater love than
to lay down one's life for one's friends."
2.
Mercy is our mandate and remembering
our faith and remembering our freedom will help us extend it to the world.
