Remember the Lord
Notes
Transcript
An elderly couple was beginning to forget little things around the house. They were afraid that this could be dangerous, as one of them may forget to turn off the stove and thus cause a fire. So, they decided to go see their physician to get some help. Their physician told them that many people their age find it useful to write themselves little notes as reminders.
The couple thought this sounded wonderful, and left the doctor’s office very pleased with the advice. When they got home, the wife said, “Dear, will you please go to the kitchen and get me a dish of ice cream? And why don’t you write that down so you won’t forget?”
“Nonsense,” said the husband, “I can remember a dish of ice cream.”
“Well,” said the wife, “I’d also like some strawberries on it. You better write that down, because I know you’ll forget.”
“Don’t be silly,” replied the husband. “A dish of ice cream and some strawberries. I can remember that.”
“OK, dear, but I’d like you to put some whipped cream on top. Now you’d really better write it down,” said the wife.
“Come now, my memory’s not all that bad,” said the husband. “No problem—a dish of ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream.”
With that, the husband shut the kitchen door behind him. He emerged from the kitchen about fifteen minutes later with a plate of bacon and eggs. The wife took one look at the plate, glanced up at her husband and said, “I knew you wouldn’t get it right—where’s the toast?”
May I encourage you to follow the counsel of Nehemiah, the man who led the re-building of Jerusalem, “Remember the Lord”
Remembrance is a decisive act
Remembrance is a decisive act
And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan. And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before. And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.
Giving an opportunity to remember
Josh 4:20
And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.
12 more stones were left in the Jordan river as an immovable reminder of what happened as they walked across the flooded valley of the Jordan river on dry ground
The other 12 stones were taken out of the Jordan river
This was to give others the opportunity to see a testimony of what took place on that day
Those 12 stones might look like out of place stones to others as they walked by, but to those who knew the value of them they were more than just stones, they were a testament of the Lord!
There is wisdom in choosing a means to recall your memory about the goodness, the greatness, and the inexhaustible love of the Lord!
Bible - take notes
Journal
Notes app
Digital tool - Bible app
Recording a place and time of what the Lord has done in your life
In The British Weekly newspaper, a column called the “Glass Window” this letter was published: “It seems ministers feel their sermons are very important and spend a great deal of time preparing them. I have been attending church quite regularly for 30 years and I have probably heard 3,000 of them. To my consternation, I discovered I cannot remember a single sermon. I wonder if a minister's time might be more profitable spent on something else”
For weeks a storm of editorial responses ensued which was finally ended by this letter: “I have been married for 30 years. During that time I have eaten 32,850 meals—mostly my wife's cooking. Suddenly I have discovered I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet, I have the distinct impression that without them, I would have starved to death long ago. I received nourishment from every single meal.”
There are so many tools available to us today that can help us remember - give yourself and others an opportunity to remember the Lord
Choosing to a time and/or place to remember
They carried the stones to their camp
MAP
This was about a 3-4 mile journey from the Jordan river
As they walked from the camp to Jericho in silence the stones would be there
As they returned from walked around Jericho, the stones were there
They brought their families over Jordan, the stones were they
As they begun to battle and returned to camp the stones were there
It was a constant reminder of the Lord
Record those moments in some way of what the Lord has done
Salvation - Bible - Place
Let them be a continual way to remember the Lord
Bringing others into the memory
Josh 4:21
And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
If the memory is fresh and real, we’ll want to bring others into it
This isn’t speaking of just their children, but their grandchildren, great grandchildren, great, great grandchildren, and so on
This is a memory that is valued and treasured!
Can’t wait for you to see this memory - See these stones - they were in the Jordan river! Do you know how they got here? We carried them!
There’s an excitement and zeal
First time I took Holly to where I lived and got saved in Findlay, Ohio
Took my boys - building was gone, and building is gone
Year ago taking the boys to Enfield and seeing the school where GBC was started and met, the home we lived in, and the fond memories that we enjoyed of all that God did
Remembrance values the moment
Remembrance values the moment
Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:
Who
I want you to remember Who God is
So many things are battling for your attention:
Toys
Opportunities
Young girl
Young man
Remember the Lord!
He is the One that brought us over the Jordan river!
He is the One that you can safely give your heart to.
He saved me. He’s my Father and Friend.
I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus,
Since I found in Him a friend so strong and true;
I would tell you how He changed my life completely,
He did something that no other friend could do.
No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There's no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O how much He cared for me.
What
He stopped the Jordan river about 30 miles upstream from where we crossed!
The ground was dry!
We walked across, and the very moment the Levites came out of the river bed; the water came back just like it was before!
God does that which is powerfully meaningful in our lives
Each of us have seen God do something in our lives that is unique and personal to our lives
That moment is a powerful testimony
Remember what the Lord did!
Moses had his staff that God turned to a snake
Aaron’s rod budded and was kept
The tabernacle was filled with evidence reminding the children of Israel of the manna and God’s provision
Prayer request - Provide healing, safety travelling, bless in special and abundant ways that strike fond memories
The community around is taking note of how God is blessing and changing this building - remind your children of what God has done!
Remembrance treasures the opportunity
Remembrance treasures the opportunity
That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever.
Telling others
Excited to share what God has done with not only your children, grandchildren, but with others!
Zeal that can’t stop talking about it!
Salvation
Answered prayer
Growth among God’s people
Powered by wonderment
The inspiration of this is a fear, which speaks of an awe, of the Lord
Song:
You alone, you walked that road all for love
The road to calvary where death would lose its sting
Where chains are broken free
Greater love has no one than this
That you would give your life the perfect sacrifice
To wash our sin away
Your grace amazes me
There is something about an awe of Who God is and what He has done that compels us
These stones would be visited often by:
Judge named Samuel
King Saul
King David
Elijah & Elisha
Prophets - Hosea, Amos, Micah
Generation after generation stood in awe as they remembered the Lord and what He did just miles from there
“There is more joy in Jesus in 24 hours than there is in the world in 365 days. I have tried them both.”—R. A. Torrey
Corrie Ten Boom and her family resisted the Nazis by hiding Jews in their home. They were ultimately discovered and sent to a concentration camp. Corrie barely survived until the end of the war; her family members died in captivity. Seared by this terrible trial by fire, Corrie’s faith in God also survived, and she spent much of her time in the post-war years traveling in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, sharing her faith in Christ.
On one occasion in 1947, while speaking in a church in Munich, she noticed a balding man in a gray overcoat near the rear of the basement room. She had been speaking on the subject of God’s forgiveness, but her heart froze within her when she recognized the man. She could picture him as she had seen him so many times before, in his blue Nazi uniform with the visored cap—the cruelest of the guards at the Ravensbruck Camp where Corrie had suffered the most horrible indignities, and where her own sister had died. Yet here he was, at the end of her talk, coming up the aisle toward her with his hand thrust out. “Thank you for your fine message,” he said. “How wonderful it is to know that all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!”
Yes, Corrie had said that. She had spoken so easily of God’s forgiveness, but here was a man whom she despised and condemned with every fiber of her being. She couldn’t take his hand! She couldn’t extend forgiveness to this Nazi oppressor! She realized that this man didn’t remember her—how could he remember one prisoner among thousands?
“You mentioned Ravensbruck,” the man continued, his hand still extended. “I was a guard there. I’m ashamed to admit it, but it’s true. But since then, I’ve come to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It has been hard for me to forgive myself for all the cruel things I did but I know that God has forgiven me. And please, if you would, I would like to hear from your lips too that God has forgiven me.” And Corrie recorded her response in her book:
I stood there—I whose sins had again and again been forgiven—and could not forgive. It could not have been many seconds that he stood there—hand held out—but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do. For I had to do it. I knew that. It was as simple and as horrible as that. And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. And so, woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me.
And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, and sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. “I forgive you, brother,” I cried. “With all my heart!”
For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.