Memorial Day Locally Globally (John 15:9-17)
Gary McManus, 05/25/2014Part of the Life With Jesus is Better series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
Memorial Day Sunday 2014
Live Locally, Think Globally
There will be many names mentioned in today’s
message. Some of these names may sound familiar
to some of you. Some of these names are local names.
Some of these names are names that have received
national attention.
These names, these people. . .some of them are separated
by a century and a half. And yet, these people, Pastor is
certain would support one another.
The first names are / were Civil War soldiers from
Salem Township. It is the 150th Anniversary of the American
Civil War. The Northern states went to war in order to
preserve the union. Southern states seceded in order to
keep the institution of slavery.
To fight for the Union also meant a united country without
slavery. Abraham Lincoln was not a pro-slavery President
and his election platform did not include the continuation of
slavery. This led to the American Civil War.
Slavery was a horrible institution.
And slavery is STILL a horrible institution.
Slavery still exists all over the world. It exists here.
So, we look briefly at another list of names:
Elizabeth Smart. . .Amanda Berry. . ., Gina DeJesus. . .
Michelle Knight and Jaycee Dugard. Their cases are well known.
The captivity of these women happened in the 1990s, 2002—
in the 21st Century in the United States.
Slavery still exists in this country. And slavery is still horrible.
Slavery includes labor exploitation, economic exploitation,
sexual exploitation/abuse, captivity. These usually include
crimes of violence, rape, abuse, theft, and pornography.
Some statistics:
Estimates place the number of slaves worldwide from
21- 50 million people: men, women, children
Most are adults. (Children 18 and younger only make
up one fourth of all the slavery victims)
Victims are usually in forced labor for over a year and a half.
Recall that the captive Nigerian school girls are threatened
with being sold into slavery.
The seller is a criminal AND the buyer is a criminal.
Our soldiers did their part 150 years ago.
Are we doing our part?
There is much that the followers of Jesus can do. By. . .
What we believe. . .
What we practice. . .
What we teach. . .
What we allow. . .
What we support. . .
Resources to help:
Elizabeth Smart Foundation: elizabethsmartfoundation.org
Christian organizations:
A21Campaign.org
Worldrelief.org/human-trafficking
Slaverynomore.org
Faastinternational.org
Amen
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