Memorial Day 2020
Notes
Transcript
Memorial Day 2020
Memorial Day 2020
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, Give ear to my supplications! In Your faithfulness answer me, And in Your righteousness.
2 Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no one living is righteous.
3 For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in darkness, Like those who have long been dead.
4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart within me is distressed.
5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands.
6 I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Selah
7 Answer me speedily, O Lord; My spirit fails! Do not hide Your face from me, Lest I be like those who go down into the pit.
8 Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You.
The key verse is:
5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands.
Today and this weekend, we honor memorial day. Monday is actual Memorial Day. Normally this day is marked by parades, picnics, time with family and friends, and usually hot dogs and potato salad. Monday may look different this year because of Covid-19, but let us still remember what Memorial Day is all about.
Memorial Day (previously, but now seldom, called Decoration Day[1]) is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the military personnel who had died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day
7 Things about Memorial Day you may or may not know.
1. Multiple cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day.
1. Multiple cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day.
According to the Library of Congress, President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, New York, to be the "Birthplace of Memorial Day," referencing a celebration the town had in 1866. However, other places are known to have celebrated the holiday earlier, and exactly where the first celebration took place remains in dispute.
2. It was originally called Decoration Day.
2. It was originally called Decoration Day.
The holiday was celebrated by “decorating” the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers, flags, and more, hence the name “Decoration Day.” Over time, it became known as Memorial Day.
3. Union General John A. Logan founded the holiday.
3. Union General John A. Logan founded the holiday.
Although people were already decorating graves of fallen Civil War soldiers in an unofficial way, General Logan codified the holiday. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he famously said.
4. Memorial Day wasn’t celebrated on the “last Monday in May” until relatively recently.
4. Memorial Day wasn’t celebrated on the “last Monday in May” until relatively recently.
When General Logan officially launched the holiday, he called for it to be observed on May 30. After the Uniform Monday Holiday Act took effect in 1971, however, it was moved to the final Monday in May.
5. Logan may have chosen May 30 an interesting reason.
5. Logan may have chosen May 30 an interesting reason.
The date was selected because it wasn’t the anniversary of any battle in particular—well, according to legend, that is.
6. It’s customary for the U.S. president or vice president to give a speech.
6. It’s customary for the U.S. president or vice president to give a speech.
And traditionally, that speech is delivered at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Ahead of Memorial Day weekend, the 3rd U.S. Infantry also place American flags in front of Arlington’s over 260,000 graves and niches
7. Originally, only soldiers who had died in the Civil War were honored.
7. Originally, only soldiers who had died in the Civil War were honored.
After WWI, though, the holiday began to encompass members of the American armed forces who had fallen in any conflict.
It is not a holiday we celebrate, it is a weekend to remember. We should not just recall the historical facts, but preserve the those sacrifices made for us to the point that it affects our present feelings, thoughts, and actions. We need to remember. We must remember. We cannot let the sacrifice of over 1.2 million soldier since the Civil War as of May 27, 2019, be just a case for historical facts. These were men and women; fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, friends, and neighbors.
We must remember.
7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”
As Christians, we must set up memorials of what God has done. We must tell those around us. We cannot just let it go as a part of our history. Just like where would we be, where would this country be without the sacrifice made our military to protect and ensure our freedoms. Where would you be, where would I be if not for the intervention of God in our lives? We must remember.
26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Jesus Christ instituted a new covenant. He gave us something that nobody that no one else could give us. He gave us Himself. He did not just die for us. He gave us everything.
Christmas of 2017, New York experienced it’s worst building fire in 25 years. The century-old Bronx apartment building caught on fire by a 3 yr old playing with a stove. The staircase in the 5 story and 29 unit complex, worked as a chimney spreading the fire throughout the entire building in record time. Private Emmanuel Mensah had just finished basic training and was visiting family over the holidays when the fire broke out. He would run in and bring out trapped people and then do it again. He directed his roommates wife and children to stop when they were heading towards the stairs and to go out a window and then he went back in to help more people. He did this at least 2 times before collapsing and dying of smoke inhalation.
Emmanuel loved America deeply even though he was originally born in Ghana. He had a great desire to serve this country. We have a lot in common with Emmanuel. We may have been physically born into this country, but we were born spiritually into a lost and dying world. When we came to Christ, we saw how much better it is to serve in his army than to serve ourselves. Just as Emmanuel had a great desire to serve his country, we have a great desire to serve our Lord and Saviour, the redeemer of our soul.
We know those who faithfully served the Lord and have left this world have heard these words:
21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
They have paved the way for us to hear the gospel message and be redeemed from hell ourselves. Every time we share our testimony, every time we invite someone to church, every time we praise and glorify the Lord, it is a memorial to that person. Just like the rights and freedoms we enjoy are because of the sacrifices of our military, our new life and citizenship in heaven is all thanks to Jesus Christ.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Memorial Day takes on special meaning as a Christian. We will not forget what the lover of our soul, our saviour, our God and our King has done for us. We will gladly and humbly serve Him with all the breath He gives us. Thank you Jesus Christ for the memorial of the cross. It is my statue of liberty.