Call to Remember

Ramon Navarro

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Memorial Day

Today we commemorate the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

It is important that we observe holidays like Memorial day lest people forget those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. It is important that we remember what these men and women have done.

There are people in our midst who truly remember, they are those who actually fought in a war and survived. Their lives were changed forever. They still in a very vivid way, remember the ugliness and the cruelty of war and the trauma and the anguish of seeing their friends die..

Alex Ozols’ Testimony

Alex Ozols’ testimony..

Those who lived through the various wars remember in a very vivid way the trauma and the anguish of seeing their friends die

Young people, don’t ever forget that the freedom and even the luxury that you enjoy...

Memorials are also important in the Bible. Background of the story of Joshua.. background..

Joshua

4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down.9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been[a] in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

Joshua 4:21–24 ESV

21 And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, 24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

Joshua 4:21–24 ESV

10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, 11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the Lord and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. 12 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. 13 About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for war.

14 That day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.

15 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law to come up out of the Jordan.”

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”

18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.

19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea[b]when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”

Joshua

Memorials

We have a responsibility to help the next generation remember God and His work.

What are other dates do we remember? (birthdays, graduation, etc.)

The real point in all this is that we want to remember and we need to remember and that is why we want to capture the moment by keeping objects or mementos and by taking photographs, now in the digital world we can even easily take videos. I remember when we have to take the film to be processed and developed but now in the digital age we can instantly capture moments in our lives.

Now, Our generation is witness to the rise of the social media phenomenon of Facebook. I believe it became a hit not only because of the social component but also because of people’s desire to capture memories and connect to old ones.

That’s why we have two phenomenon within the Facebook phenomenon.

1. Capture new memories - this gave rise to the “Selfie”. (explain) Where are the best places to take a selfie? In front of a mirror, while in the car (I advise not when the car is moving! Just don’t!), I just saw the wildest selfie on top of a very high tower.

This is to capture new memories….

2. To connect to old memories – this also gave rise to another phenomenon, which is called “Throwback Thursday” , where a person finds a really old photograph and posts it online – the rules are – the photo should be at least five years old, should be posted on a Thursday for reasons I don’t know, and that the picture has to be interesting…

Some interesting comments people make on Throwback Thursday pictures..

- Guess which one is me

- Me 50 lbs ago

- I miss the full head of hair

- I can’t believe my parents were this good-looking

- Yikes!

Where is this sermon going… I’ll show you a connection in a moment.

I entitled my message today “Throwback Sunday : Remembering the Faithfulness of God”

THE TRUTH IS WE HUMAN BEINGS NEED MEMENTOS LIKE PHOTOGRAPHS OR DATES LIKE ANNIVERSARIES OR BIRTHDAYS IN ORDER TO REMEMBER MOMENTS OR MILESTONES IN OUR LIVES.

The truth is that God wants us to remember His faithfulness in our lives.

As we see from the story that we read from the bible that happened over 3000 years ago. Many of you have heard of the Israelites crossing the Red sea miraculously. How many of you know about a second miraculous crossing by the Israelites? This was the crossing of the Jordan River. Finally, after 40 years of coming out of Egypt, a new generation of Israel was entering the promised land. Problem was to get from where they were in the east to Canaan, the promised land on the west, they had to cross the Jordan river. The problem was compounded further as it is written in Joshua, in that the waters of the river are flooded that time of the year. And then God did an amazing thing – the bible said that God stopped the waters of the Jordan River from upstream that it stood in a heap.

“So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing.”

Story of the twelve stones, where God commanded Joshua to choose twelve men each representing a tribe of Israel to take twelve stones from the Jordan river and make a memorial from these twelve stones.

TWELVE STONES.

Two reasons memorials are important:

TO COMMEMORATE

TO COMMUNICATE

1. TO COMMEMORATE

TO COMMEMORATE

We are by nature forgetful people, these milestones help us to remember and to be thankful.

Remembering is the first step to thanksgiving.

How many times have someone disappointed you because they seem to have forgotten what you have done for them?

People are ungrateful because they easily forget.

God calls us to remember the greatest sacrifice the world has ever known. This is why we have the Lord’s supper.

This is my body which is broken for you .. do this in remembrance of me..

Cup..

In the story of Joshua,

We must reverse the tide of forgetfulness in the next generation.

Joshua 4:24 ESV

24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

We are by nature forgetful people, these milestones help us to remember and to be thankful.

Jos

Our remembrance becomes a signpost to a lost world.

We have a Christian memorial in the last supper

TO COMMUNICATE

2. TO COMMUNICATE

1. This memorial is to help us remember what God has done.

“And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever” (v. 7).

To paraphrase, “Tell your story, Keep a clear memory of what God did for you. Keep on telling your stories so that you never lose your own sense of awe and wonder of what God has done in your life.”

Build memorials that remind you of God’s mighty provision.

There are memories of places, places that trigger memories just as the memorial stones in today’s Bible passage. As a community of faith, there are some significant places that trigger memories of God’s faithfulness. For those of you who have been with crosswind for many years maybe when you drive by the school by Jewel or the strip mall on Smoky Hill road they serve as memorials of where God has taken this church under His care through the years.

There are objects that serve as memorials. Let me tell you a story about a personal check, just like this one, but dirtied with fingerprints, stained with blotted ink all over that it almost becomes unreadable.

Cross and the Switchblade story.

Now that you are sitting in those comfortable chairs, I hope that the sight of those old folding chairs that got tired and stained from many years of use both for the services and for Koinonia, I hope that the sight of them will trigger from our hearts a deep sense of gratitude. Thank you God for your provision, thank you Lord for moving someone to give $10,000 to pay half of the cost of these new chairs. You know that person and family will surely be blessed by the Lord. GOD IS GOOD! (offering of praise)

These memorial stones will serve as a testimony to future generations.

Joshua 4:21–23 ESV

“21 Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; 23 for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over”

Let’s build memories with our children. Tell them your story, your journey. Use opportunities to build a Family altar around the dinner table and even in the car.

Joshua was a kind of man who made sure that his family stayed faithful.

“. . . 24 that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

One important sign that we can give the world around us is our unity. Jesus said in

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.

I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

The world will know Jesus by our unity. Tell the person next to you.

Sadly, some people look at disunity in the church as an excuse to avoid church. I won’t come to this church because the pastors don’t agree. I won’t come to that church because people there are quarrelsome, and so on and so forth.

It seems that while the men were carrying their stones back to the shore that Joshua personally picked up another twelve stones and built a memorial in the very center of the riverbed, as a personal act of worship. For Joshua this was a very private act and also representative of a pivotal point in his walk with God.

Let’s be careful to build the memorial stone of unity in our community of faith.

The memorial stones become a personal commitment because they help us remember what God has done for us personally.

As we remember, we become like our covenant-keeping God.

God will always remember and follow through on His promises. The Bible proves that God is a covenant God, we see that in the Old and New Testaments.

How many times have you seen this in the Bible, that even though a whole nation disobeyed Him, even though a whole country disappointed Him, even though the majority insulted His Name, He still would forgive and He still would deliver because He remembered the promise that He made to someone that loved and obeyed Him.

A few examples:

But God remembered Noah…, and the waters receded.

He remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive.

God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.

When you go into battle … you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies.

He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

God remembers – sometimes Christians dwell in God’s punishment- they use scripture that God passes down that punishment to the third and fourth generation – Oh the generational curse. Third and fourth generation, but that memory is short compared to the next part, “but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me, and those who keep my commandments”.

WHY SCARE PEOPLE OUT OF HELL, WHEN GOD CAN LOVE THEM INTO HEAVEN. (Repeat)

God uses this memorials so we can be like HIM, He remembers. He is a remembering God.

Isaiah 49:15–16 ESV

15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

Isaiah 49:16

Now let me ask, can God forget? He can forget only because He chooses to forget.

Hebrews 8:12 ESV

12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Psalm 103:11–12 ESV

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more ()

Isaiah 43:25 ESV

25 “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Micah 7:18–19 ESV

18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. ()

Corrie ten Boom added and God placed a sign on the seashore which says – “No fishing”.

God has buried our sins in the sea of forgetfulness (). Corrie ten Boom added and God placed a sign on the seashore which says – “No fishing”.

The memorial stones signal a time of personal commitment.

Note that the meaning of verse 9 is widely debated among biblical commentators:

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.

“Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.”

The memorial stones become a personal commitment because they help us remember what God has done for us personally.

Last Sunday, the worship song that Sandy sang during worship really ministered to my heart:

“You are forever in my life, You see me through the seasons..

I’m carried in everlasting arms, You never let me go through it all”.

God’s love never lets go. We remember how much we are forgiven. And when we remember how much we are forgiven we love Him.

There is a story in Luke chapter 7, Simon the Pharisee’s house.

47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

He who is forgiven much, loves much. He who is forgiven little, loves little.

In and a similar story was told of another woman that anointed Jesus with costly perfume. And Jesus said “wherever the gospel is preached, what that woman did will be told as a memorial to her.

Memorials are important to God.

One act of remembrance is the Lord’s supper. Jesus said “Take eat, this is My body which is broken for you,do this in remembrance of Me. This cup is the new covenant in My blood, this do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me”.

God’s love and faithfulness is worth remembering and the Lord keeps building those memorials for us to live by, to build our faith, and to take our commitment to the next level.

Build a legacy of faith to the next generations.

What will we be remembered by?

What will be your personal epitaph.

I told Guia once that I want these words in my tombstone – “I love to tell the story, it will be my theme in glory, to tell the old old story of Jesus and His love.”

These of course are words of a hymn written by Katherine Hankey....I want to be remembered not for anything else but by the love of Jesus who saw someone so lowly, undeserving such as myself and saved me..

I was a nobody but I am loved by Somebody..

Jesus is the focal point by which God remains faithful to your life.

May Jesus be the central story of your life.

We were in Israel 4 years ago, we visited the garden tomb..

If Jesus had an epitaph on that now empty tomb it would simply be “Jesus, friend of sinners, died for you and me”. And those simple words, simple but true, tell the whole story of Jesus and His love.