MEMORIAL DAY

Joshua 4:1–9 ESV

1 When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’ ” 4 Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. 5 And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” 8 And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there. 9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.

JOSHUA 4:1

"Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth. "

A. Memorial Day is unique to our nation. 1. The Memorial Day observance was begun during the Civil War. 2. ''Some concerned women decided to decorate the graves of those who had bravely given their lives in that destructive civil conflict between the states.'' B. ''The day is intended to stir us to grateful recall of those who have given themselves, shed their blood, and lay down their lives in military battle for the cause of freedom in our land.'' C. It should be more than a holiday, because if not for these brave men and women we would not be sitting in this worship center today. D. A memorial is anything that helps us remember.

1-WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS MEMORIAL?

A-TO SERVE AS A SIGN AMONG YOU. IN THE FUTURE WHEN YOUR CHILDREN ASK YOU.

B- “WHAT DO THESE STONES MEAN?” TELL THEM

C- THE FLOW OF THE JORDAN WAS CUT OFF.

D- IT WAS CUT OFF BEFORE THE ARK OF THE LORD.

D1-WHEN IT CROSSED THE JORDAN.

C1-THE WATERS OF THE JORDAN WERE CUT OFF.

B1- THESE STONES ARE TO BE

A1- A MEMORIAL TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL FOR EVER.

2- WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS?

A- TEACH YOUR CHILDREN.

DEUTERONOMY 11:

Deuteronomy 11:18–21 ESV

18 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 20 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.

Ephesians 6:4 ESV

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

B-WHAT DO WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN?

Biblical truth

To Love God

To fear the Lord

Proverbs 9:10 ESV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

PRO

Who Jesus is

Who Jesus is

Why we need Jesus

That regardless what the world says Jesus is the only way to be with God

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Joshua 4:9 ESV

9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.

John 3:36 ESV

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.