Remember and Praise God (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
Gary McManus, 05/27/2018Part of the DCC Basics series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
May 27, 2018 Memorial Day Sunday
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (p.1143 / p.1159)
Even if we have never studied history or
even liked the subject of history, we cannot help
but know that the people who lived here 150
years ago—some of our own ancestors--left home
to fight in that Civil War. . .some did not return.
This is HOW Memorial Day got started—remembering
the dead of the American Civil War.
Five different communities claim that they
were the first to initiate a Memorial Day for the
Civil War dead.
That only means how widespread the desire
was to remember and keep in memory those
who had died in that conflict.
In 1971 Memorial Day became an official national
Holiday.
We now remember ALL of America’s war dead.
Pastor was never a soldier but was surrounded by
them.-
Our faith calls us to remember:
--the gift of life from God
--the inalienable rights we fight for
--the sins that make war necessary
--the desire to help others
Take a look at First Baptist Church of
Williamsburg, Virginia.
That church had to begin in secret in 1776.
It was an illegal gathering.
Because in this one gathering we see
what the American Revolution was fought for.
The American Revolution ended in 1781.
That Baptist church endured.
By 1800 that Baptist church included
white church members as well.
The First Baptist Church of Williamsburg
enjoyed what is called the free church tradition
of worship, but not all of the members of that
church were free people. . .not until after the
American Civil War.
Do YOU see what a wonderful thing that
freedom is?
And do you see why in a church we should be
certain to remember and to give thanks to those
who gave, as Abraham Lincoln said
(in the Gettysburg Address),
“the full measure of devotion. . . “ so that this
nation would be free from coast to coast.
The American Civil War WAS a terrible war.
We should never forget.
Our freedoms in the United States are still
quite rare around the world.
Oprah Winfrey (who owns her own media empire)
spoke to the graduates at the University of Southern
California’s Annenberg School for Communication
and Journalism on May 11th.
(She said (in part))
“Vote. Vote. Vote. People died for that right.
I think about it every time I cast a vote. So
don’t let their sacrifice be in vain.”
Praise God. . .and thank you . . .all of you. . .
all of them who made all this possible.
WE DO REMEMBER today that THEY
gave that we might receive and retain our rights.
Praise the Lord. Amen.
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