I'm Building Something
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I’m Building Something
I’m Building Something
Monument: a statue, building, or other structure erected to commemorate a famous or notable person or event.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial: Keystone, South Dakota
The rock carving depicts the faces of four U.S. Presidents, from left to right: George Washington (1732-1799); Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826); Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919); and Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
United States Marine Corps War Memorial, Arlington
United States Marine Corps War Memorial, Arlington
One of the most famous images of World War II is commemorated in bronze on George Washington Memorial Parkway in Arlington, Virginia. The United States Marine Corps War Memorial, built to honor Marines who died in service
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Emancipation Monument
Emancipation Monument
At the corner of East Capitol and 11 streets NE, visitors of Lincoln Park can find a statue of President Abraham Lincoln and a newly freed slave at what is known as the Emancipation Monument.
A monument is built so that a person or an event will be remembered.
The book of Acts is considered to be under the genre of historical narrative
Luke is giving us an account of Apostolic History
Acts 2 we see the Holy Spirit being poured out on the day of pentecost
In chapter we see a lame man being healed at the gate called Beautiful
(Acts of the Apostles)
Chapter 6 we see the implementation of Deacons
Chapter 7 We have Stephen the first martyr
Chapter 8 the Holy Spirit falls on the Samaritans
Chapter 9 we are given the backdrop on Saul’s conversion.
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort,
Caesarea was the base for Roman military administration
Because Caesarea was a base form Roman military, Loyal Jews in Jerusalem considered Caesarea a pagan city (Kee, Good News, 50–51).
Cornelius was a Roman Centurion—a captain in charge of about 100 men—
He was also apart of the Italian Cohort - A Roman military unit
a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.
#1 Devout
Cornelius was a devout man - He had a strong veneration for God.
#2 Feared God
“Who feared God with all his household”
Feared: to fear (reverence) v. — to regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of.
As for me and my house!
#3 Generous
“He gave alms generously to the people”
alms n. — the act of contributing money or goods to the poor; especially as flowing from a disposition to kindness and compassion.
Generously!
#4 Prayed
“Prayed continually to God”
This Greek word is mentioned 8x
to pray ⇔ beg v. — to pray to God, conceived of as begging Him for something indispensable or necessary.
About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.
“Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.”
memorial n. — a structure or object intended to commemorate a person or event by preserving or evoking their memory.
God has a memory…
But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.
I have to accept the fact that God remembers…
If my prayers and my alms can ascend to God as a memorial…
Then also my sins were building a memorial before God!
A memory....
The work of Christ!
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
propitiation n. — the means of appeasing wrath and gaining the good will of an offended person; especially with respect to sacrifices for appeasing angered deities.
But not only did Jesus appease the wrath of God....
But His work on the cross erased God memory....
But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”
then he adds,
“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
And because I don’t practice sin I am not building a monument of sin....
But I practice righteousness…
So my prayer and my generosity is building a monument to God
The Angel told Cornelius....
“Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.”
Don’t stop praying!
This is a prayer out of necessity and not a want…
but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Don’t stop giving
Don’t stop blessing people
Don’t stop helping those in need
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Keep building your monument....
God has not forgotten about you!
