Remembering God's Faithfulness

You have probably said this before, I will not forget that for as long as I live. So that, something in your mind, something happens, something that you say, hey, I will never forget that. There are some moments in your life that you never forget certain dates. Could be a birthday, could be an anniversary.

There are certain events that you will never forget, maybe the birth of a child, your wedding, certain places that you'll never forget. You remember 9-11 and where you were on that day, certain sacrifices, certain people. They become memorials in our hearts. This weekend is Memorial Day weekend.

And all across America, people will pause to remember those who gave their lives in sacrifice for our nation. Flags will fly, flowers will be placed at graves, stories will be told, and names will be remembered. And here's why, because remembrance matters. Tomorrow, we will see our government, we will see our military, we will see communities who are going to hold ceremonies and services and parades, all to remember and to honor those who gave their lives, fallen service members.

And we set aside a day to remember, and here's why, because a people that forget sacrifice lose appreciation for freedom. Let me say that again. A people who forgets sacrifice lose appreciation for freedom. Remembrance is important, and it's important to us as a nation.

It is also important to us as individuals. What we remember is also important. We ought to remember those who sacrificed for our freedoms, but we also want to remember God's faithfulness that has brought us to where we are today. This month is May.

Typically on the preaching calendar in the month of May, I'm going to preach to parents on the first Sunday of the month. I'm going to preach a Mother's Day's message. And then I'm going to take a week off, because we always had a student pastor, a minister who would preach the senior Sunday message. I've been preached to seniors in almost 20 years.

I think I enjoy it. I appreciate the opportunity to speak into the lives of our seniors. But this year, because it's a five Sunday month, does it feel like Memorial Day weekend is a little early? I mean, it feels like it's early.

And so I thought, you know, where I typically preach on family in the month of May, I want to just do something I haven't done in a long time, and that is to direct our attention to a message about remembering. In the first message of the month, which I preached to parents, we were in Psalm 78. In Psalm 78, the author begins by saying, I'm going to utter dark sayings. I'm going to tell you stories of old.

And here's the purpose. I want you to remember, we're going to pass on to the next generation, who God is, what he's done, and what he can do. Why? Because that they may not forget the wonderful works of God.

Here you say, one generation to the next generation. A generation who perhaps didn't even see what God did. But we're going to tell them the stories so that they know what God did, and then that they not forget. So that they turn around and they pass it on to the next generation.

Israel was to share these stories, these truths about God, so that the next generation wouldn't forget. That is, that if they didn't pass it on, if they didn't pass truth along, they wouldn't even have a chance to forget, right? Because you can't forget what you never knew. You can't forget what you've never been informed on.

And so we're going to inform the next generation, so that they will teach the next generation, so that they won't become like that rebellious generation, that stubborn generation that wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years. In that first message, I reminded you of the song that we sing from time to time, we will remember. We will remember, we will remember the works of your hands, and we will stop and give you praise, for great is your faithfulness. On Memorial Day, I share this with you right, a people that forget sacrifice loses appreciation for freedom.

But spiritually speaking, believers who forget God's faithfulness become vulnerable to fear, to pride, to discouragement, or as the author of Psalm 78 said, becoming like that rebellious and stubborn generation that wandered in the wilderness. So last week, I'm preaching to our seniors, we're in Joshua 1, and Joshua 1, God looks down on Joshua, and says, Joshua, I want you to get up, and I want you to cross over the Jordan River. All right, now here's the thing though. It wasn't just Joshua who was crossing.

He's leading a nation. He's leading a nation into a new season of life. And when you study Joshua 1, 2, 3, and 4, and all of it is surrounding this idea of crossing over this Jordan River and coming into the Promised Land, think about it. It's been 40 years of wondering.

It's been 40 years of waiting. It's been a season after another season of failure and discipline, and now they're on the brink of the river. God is finally bringing them through. And what they need, though, to get across this river is a miracle.

They do because it is impassable. And it is also in their mind, impassable, that we're going to get across this river. So God performs a miracle. And the miracle that he performs is that he stops the river.

He builds a dam, and all the water downstream flows away. And the river bed becomes dry, and all the water upstream begins to stack up on itself, and stack up on itself. And a huge lake is formed upstream, but downstream, dry river bed, and the people will cross over. And as soon as they cross over, God says, now build a memorial so that you do not forget what I have done for you.

I want to appreciate this morning a message entitled Remembering God's Faithfulness. If you want to stay away, we're going to honor the reading of God's Word. We're in Joshua, chapter 4. Joshua, chapter 4, beginning in verse number 1.

The author writes and says, and it came to pass, that when all the people were clean, passed over Jordan, the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, now take you 12 men out of the people, out of every tribe of man, and command you them, saying, take you hints out of the midst of the Jordan, out of the place where the priest beat stood firm, 12 stones. And you shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where you shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the 12 men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe, a man. And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the Ark of the Lord your God, into the midst of the Jordan, and take you up every man of you, a stone of only shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel.

And this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, what do these stones mean, then you shall answer them, that the waters of Jordan were caught before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. When it came to pass over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were caught off, and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever. And the children of Israel did, so as Joshua commanded, and they took up 12 stones out of the midst of the Jordan, and the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carry them over with them into the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up 12 stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the beast, which bare the Ark of the Covenant, stood, and they are there unto this day.

Father, as we come to you today, God, will you help us to remember your faithfulness? God, will you help us to remember just how good and kind you have been? And Lord, as we remember, your faithfulness may our faith be strengthened. May our commitment to you be strengthened.

May our gratefulness be on the rise. And God, I pray today also that we, as Americans, would be grateful for every service member who laid their lives down so that we can enjoy what we have today, for we are blessed, but the blessing of freedom was not free. Lord, help us to remember, help our hearts to grow thankful. Thankful to you or thankful for others who are willing to pay the price.

Lord, I pray today, may our hearts be inclined toward you. May you today save souls today and may again our gratefulness rise. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

And amen. I want you to know a few things this morning. Number one, God brings us through difficult places. Now, you've got to go back and study all of Joshua 1, 2, 3, and 4 to kind of see the layout of this.

Because when you get to verse 1 of chapter 4, they've already crossed over. Then he kind of backs up in time and talks about, hey, here's what God was wanting to do. He's already chosen out some men. Sorry happened.

And now he's telling them to, you're going to the Ark of the Covenant's going in first. And when the priest feet hit the water, he stops it. Water's flow. Water's back up.

And when you cross over in the midst of the river, you take these 12 stones. What do you want your shoulder to carry them over? The problem is that they're standing on the east side of the river. And on the east side of the river, it looks impossible, because the river is impassable.

Now, I actually had the privilege of going, supposedly, to this very location. Where we went, and I don't know if that's really true, but where we went, our group went to Israel. Brother Chris Smith was on that trip, and Eddie was on that trip. And they stood in the Jordan River.

I got a picture of them standing in the Jordan River. I'm going to tell you. It's not very big. In fact, it goes to Jim's about where you are.

It's about yet. I'm standing on one bank. They're standing right here. River's right there.

It's a net in the middle. Jordanians on the other side with their machine guns. Israelis on this side with their machine guns. And we all feel, I guess, perfectly safe.

And here's where Israel crossed over. But it didn't look like that when they crossed over. It was out of its banks. Go back to chapter three, and it says, this is the time.

This is the season. This is the harvest where the river is out of its banks. This would be kind of like Brother Eddie pulling up one of those loggers, typically dry, typically passable. But a flash flood comes through.

And it's so full that he can't go anywhere he does. He just camps out. He's had to camp out sometimes for a day, two days, three days, until the water could go down. He could cross over.

That's the situation. There's no way across. There's no bridge. They're not going to be able to build their own dam.

There's not a boat where they can cross over. You know what they need? They need a miracle. They need a miracle to get across.

And God comes through. And God provides a miracle. He stops the water. And he leaves them safely across on drag round.

Now, we would think that's impossible, right? And it is. It's impossible for man. But it's not for God.

Mother's Day. The mother of great faith. We talked about moving them out. Oh, God, that's impossible.

It's not impossible for God. And damming this river up and providing drag round, not impossible for God. Verse 23 says, for the warrior God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you. They were to take these stones.

And they were memorial stones. And they are to be a testimony that God brought them through. And we can probably all say that there are times when God brought me through some flooded Jordan River moments in life. Is that true?

Some moments where you didn't know how you were going to make it. Some moments when you didn't know how God was going to provide. You thought the bird was too heavy to carry. The grief was overwhelming.

But somehow, God brought you through. And you look back over your life. And you see these moments where God protected you. He provided you.

He sustained you. He answered prayers. And he carried you when you could not carry it yourself. The truth is, we don't have some stack of stones in our house or on our property that we look to and say, God was faithful.

But in our hearts across the storyline of the timeline of our lives, there are stones that have been placed, how like milestones. But these are big time markers where God came through. God provided. God sustained.

God showed up. And we remember. We remember that day or that night where God saved me in that altar or in that pastor's office or in my home or in my bedroom. And I know where I was when I met Jesus as my Savior.

I remember. I remember that night in the hospital when God met me. And he provided. And he answered a prayer.

He saw my wife through or my husband through or my loved one. I remember that season when God provided. I remember the valley where God proved himself to be faithful. You know, sometimes when God shows up, it is a miracle.

Like it is. Like he does something and it's supernatural. But oftentimes when God shows up, he shows up in natural ways, practical ways. We still give him the glory.

We still say, thank you, Lord. And see, when God shows up, look what happens. He says, remember. He tells the children of Israel before they even cross.

He says, this is how it's going to work. Here's what you're to do. And after you cross, just remember what I did for you. That is, he tells them before it happens, what's going to happen.

And after it happened, he said, build a memorial that you will always remember that it did happen. Verse 6 says that this may be a sign among you. God knew the future generations would need reminders. And I tell you, this current generations need reminders.

And here's why. Because people are forgetful. Hey, you forgetful. That's why I'm not too far.

You know, I have to ask. I'm forgetful. Now, there's been things that will happen in praise God for why just should I hate to remember? I'll be oh, I did not.

Now, when she says, did you remember? It's not like, what are you talking about? I don't have a clue. You're like, amnesia, I have no idea what you're talking about.

No, she was like, oh, that's right. But, I forgot to check on something, call someone, make a visit, do something, put water in the bath, drink, whatever it might be. Hey, I forgot, we're forgetful, we forget. And because we're forgetful, we're also forgetful spiritually.

All right? We forget prayers that God answered for us. Man, we prayed, we prayed. God came through.

Doesn't take long. We forget the answer to prayer. We forget the battles that God brought us through. Man, I don't know how I'm gonna get through this.

I don't know how I'm gonna get through it. Then God brings us through and then give us a little bit of time. We live like, we never even had a battle. Much less that God brought us through.

We forget the blessings that we once begged for. God, I want this. God, I'm praying for this blessing that God shows up. He gives us the blessing and then it's a matter of time.

We practically forget God was the one who gave us the blessings. And this is why memorials matter. I'm telling you it matters from a scriptural standpoint. Matter of fact, study the Bible and you will see that God has put memorials all the way through it.

Exes chapter 12, children of Israel about to leave Egypt. And you know what God does? Before they leave, he establishes a memorial. In essence, he's gonna say, here's what I'm gonna do.

And after I do it, don't you forget that I did it. Take a lamb, kill it, put his blood on the doorpost and on the lentil, take the lamb, roast it, eat it with bitter herbs, salt water, like tears, dip it and then unleaven bread. And then you're leaving here. Oh, and then next year on this day, do it again.

And the year after that, do it again. And the year after that, do it again. Matter of fact, do it perpetually so that you don't forget what I did for you. All the feast days, feast of unleavened bread, first fruits, Pentecost, feast of trumpets, feast of tavern circles, yum kapore, all woven into the rhythm of the life of Israel.

So that's kinda like on a cycle. Hey, we're just bringing you back. Just remember what God did. I want you to remember what God did.

How about afters of remembrance? Abraham came into Canaan, built an altar in Bethel, went over to Christians sent toward A. They built another altar. Then he went down to Egypt, kind of got away from the Lord, made some dumb mistakes.

But when God got him out of Egypt, made a beeline back to that altar, why? Because I wanna remember what God did for me. Remembrance, memorials. God has them in scripture.

He's got testimonies of remembrance, like Deuteronomy 6. Hey, do these things. Do not forget Psalm 78, which we were in a few weeks ago. We're gonna do these things so that we won't forget, so that future generations won't forget.

Joshua chapter four, do this so that you do not forget. You know what God's saying? Is I want you intentionally to remember what I have done for you. These God given reminders, the Passover, the altars, the fees, the testimonies.

Oh, and even this one, the Lord's Supper. Communion, built in. You know what Jesus said? Do this in remembrance of me.

You know what Jesus was saying to his church? Intentionally, remember. You know why? We gotta do it intentionally because we'll accidentally forget.

We'll forget in practical terms. We'll never actually forget. God saved me. I know he saved me.

But if we're not intentionally bringing it to our minds, if we're not intentionally remembering it, you know what happened? Our gratefulness will wane. You want your gratefulness to be on the rise? Intentionally, remember the faithfulness of God.

In a similar way, Memorial Day serves our nation that way. It reminds us that freedom isn't free. As a matter of fact, it's not even cheap. Freedom did not come inexpensively.

Someone sacrificed, someone served, someone gave everything so that we could have what we have today. So I'm telling you that it is good and that it is right to remember. Not to glorify war, I don't mean that at all, but rather to honor, sacrifice, and to express gratitude. Because the freedoms that we have, we often take for granted.

But those freedoms came at a tremendous cost. Someone paid the price, perhaps with their comfort, their time, their wounds, their tears, their lives. There are rows of white crosses across cemeteries around the world that testify to the fact that men and women, soldiers, and airmen, and sailors, and marines laid their lives down so that we could have freedom today. So let me say this carefully, but also clearly, that it is right to honor those who sacrificed.

It is. Here's what the Bible says, Romans 13 verse 7, render honor unto honor is due. Can I tell you something? We ought to be rendering honor to those to whom honor is due.

And certainly, those who laid their lives down for us are worthy of our honor. Not our worship, OK? I'm not saying that. I'm not saying put the country above Christ.

I'm not saying that. But we ought to give gratitude, where gratitude is due. Because many families in our nation know the eighth of sacrifice firsthand. There's an empty chair at the table.

There's a folded flag. There's a name that's engraved on a stone. There's a light that was given in service. Freedom always costs someone something.

And that truth also points us back to the cross. Because spiritual freedom also came at a price. So we must intentionally remember what God has done for us. Because forgotten faithfulness leads to a weakened faith.

Forgotten faithfulness that is God's faithfulness leads to our weakened faith. You see, when we forget yesterday's victories, we panic in today's battles. How many think about David? Before he became king, he's a teenage boy.

He's home watching over the sheep. His dad comes to him and loads him up with some cakes and some cheese and some raisins and says, I want to go check on your brothers in the battle and carry some of these gifts to the commanding officers. And David shows up and he encounters this scene where the listings are on one side of the valley, the Israelites are on the other. And Goliath, the champion of Gath, comes out every day and challenges Israel to just send out one man.

And no one man would go. And David's not there 15 minutes and makes up his mind. I'll do it. I'll go.

I'll fight this giant from Gath. And of course, people scoffed at that. He's brought before Saul. And Saul's like, are you out of your mind?

I mean, you're just a kid. You're just a kid. He's a warrior from his youth. He's a champion.

You can't fight him. Oh, yes, I can. Because I remember. I remember God's faithfulness.

One time I'm out watching over my sheep and a lion shows up and the Lord delivered the lion into my hand. And then a bear came and the Lord delivered the bear into my hand. You see, I remember the faithfulness of God then. And I'm trusting in the faithfulness of God now.

And I believe that God will deliver Goliath into my hand. Why? Because the battle belongs to the Lord. When we remember the faithfulness of God from yesterday, it strengthens our faith in his faithfulness today.

Remembrance strengthens our faith. It also helps us to move faith along to the next generation. Because we see it here in our text where God explicitly says, you're going to build this memorial. Because in the future, your kids are going to say, what are these rocks for?

And you're going to be able to share why the rocks, because God was faithful. Joshua 4, 21, and 22 says, when your children ask, then you shall let your children know. See, these stones created questions. And these questions gave an opportunity to tell a story.

Why are these stones here? Well, because God was faithful, he gives us an opportunity to teach the next generation about his goodness, about his power, about his faithfulness. And we said this in Psalm 78. The author said, we will not hide them from their children showing to the generation to come.

The praises of the Lord, his strength, and his wonderful works that he has done. That is, we're going to show the next generation who God is. We're going to show the next generation what he can do. And we're going to show the next generation what he has done.

The next generation needs to know about God's faithfulness. We need to build some memorials. We need to have some remembrance. But can I tell you this?

The next generation also needs to know about the sacrifices that made our freedoms possible. I think there's a couple of trips that every person ought to go on. You've heard me say this before, but I actually think every person ought to go on a foreign mission trip. Like, get out of America.

Go to a third world country. Go somewhere where the culture is so different from America that when you see the church operating in a different culture, it peels the veneer back. It removes the lens that you look through. Because I tell you something, everyone in this room, we all have our idea about how Jesus' church works, and we all think we're right.

When you go to another culture and you find out, that's different. Oh, same God, same truth, same gospel, same awesomeness of people loving the Lord. But it's done so differently. When you come back here, you have attended to say, hey, let me loosen up a little bit.

Let me not hang on so tightly to the things that I thought were important. Everyone ought to go on a foreign mission trip. Secondly, everyone ought to take a trip to Washington, DC. I know that Brother Terry Lee has coached Lee, used to carry a group of kids every year.

I don't know what program that was, but that ought to be instituted every one ought to go. I've only been to DC one time. I went to 2009. It's my first trip there.

And I'm going to tell you, I want to go back. I've been wanting to go back now for almost 20 years, because we couldn't do a fraction of all that DC has to offer in terms of monuments, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson. We got to see all of those. But also, I've got this World War II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, the Wall.

When our girls went, Sabron was what? 11, Jayden was probably getting close to 9. And they took their little piece of paper, and we went to the Vietnam Memorial, and we found the name of Robert Nix. Took the little pencil and paper and etched it.

Now, this is not ever new, Robert Nix. My girls didn't know Robert Nix, but he was a member of South Indian Baptist Church. And he died in Vietnam. And so his name is on the memorial, so it just meant something to us.

All right, let's go and let's see that name. Everyone ought to go and see these memorials and what they stand for. I was in the courthouse, though, just two weeks ago. I took someone up there so I could see the probation officer.

I've never been to see the probation officer. But turns out, the probation officer's in the same hallway. The driver's license office is in. So I've been in that hall a lot.

I guess I'll always come through that door and didn't really go any further. But so while this person was dealing with their probation officer, I'm just kind of meandering up and down the hallway, reading all the bullets and boards and so forth. And lo and behold, I mean, again, I've been in this hallway multiple times. When we moved here, I had to get a Texas license.

When I got a CDL, I had to change my license. When my girls got old enough to drive, I took them to this very hallway. And little did I know that while I'm sitting in a chair, I'm sitting across the hall at the driver's license office. Right behind me on the wall is a memorial to every man in Morris County who gave his life in war.

World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam. And then you come down to the bottom and says, War on Terror, Alex Maddox, our very own who gave his life. I'm just telling you that we ought to spend some time at some memorials. We have a memorial at our flagpole, placed by the family of Alex Maddox, remembering the men of this church, like Robert Nix, who gave their life.

In World War II, J.C. Ellison, Mary Ann Clark, Robert Nix, Vietnam, and Alex Maddox, War on Terror. Our children need to hear. When it comes to God, they need to hear the stories about God's provision, not about it in your life.

They need to hear how God showed up. They need to hear the testimonies of answered prayer. They need to hear the stories of faithful saints. And when it comes to our nation, our children need to hear about those who served sacrificially, whether they serve at their time, their health, their wounds, their lives, people need to hear.

Because if one generation fails to remember, the next generation will fail to value. Let me repeat that. If one generation fails to remember, the next generation will fail to value. That's true nationally, it is true spiritually.

If we fail to remember, we will fail to value the cost of freedom, and I'm gonna say it again, freedom is expensive. And if we fail to remember what God has done, we will fail to value his faithfulness, his grace, his mercy, and even the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We must tell the story. Why are we saying the song?

Tell me the story of Jesus? We stand in two pits week after week, and we proclaim the story of Christ, the story of God, the story of redemption, restoration. But we must also tell the stories, like the stories of the greatest generation. I told you not long ago, you know, I watch all kinds of stuff on TV.

Sometimes people ask me like, man, how do you have time to watch all that stuff? You tell us about watching, you know, that I flip through and I go through, but there's this channel called America at War. Can you watch that? I watch it.

I watch all this stuff about World War II and Korea and Vietnam and all these exploits and battles, and just tell me, we need to remember. I guess that's why there's a whole channel dedicated to it. So we don't forget. We need to remember, we need to remember what happened.

This week on Facebook, I came across this video and it was a man named Bud Hadike, I don't know if I'm saying his name right. Born in 1925, he died two years ago, March 2024. But in this video, and I posted just a snippet of it to my Facebook and you can look at it and keep researching it, you'll find these other videos of Bud speaking. But Bud served in the 8th Air Force and in this video, he's 90 something years old and he's remembering, he's reflecting, and he points to his hat, he's got the 8th Air Force on his hat and he says, you know, 26,000 from the 8th Air Force died in the war, 26,000.

And he makes this comment, he says, there's 26,000 young men ages 18 to 26 who never became husbands, who never became fathers. Young men who never came home. And I'm telling you, here's a guy who's 90 something years old and you watch and you see the emotion that is in him. And he says, here's what, if I could answer a prayer for me, I would want every American to know these things because we need a prayer to God, a thanksgiving for these men.

And here's the thing, Robert, he's so overwhelmed with emotion and thanksgiving and gratefulness, but he was also in the plane. Shut down. He's in a plane and he gets two engines, he's taken out, he said he's going to be 17. He said the B-17 was not designed to fly with two of his engines out.

And so it's going to crash. And they've already got their parachutes on, they're going to bail out of the airplane, they're going to get out there. And the pilot who's flying the plane says, don't jump yet. I think, I think I can get it from behind enemy lines back into allied territory.

And they do. They cross the Rhine River, they crash in Belgium. And after they crash, you know, these Americans show up. Like, man, what are you doing landing this bird here?

And then it wasn't long that people from England showed up in a transport plane. They took all these pilots and airmen and bombers and gunners took them back to England. You know what they did? From right back in the B-17 and off he went again.

He said he flew another 20 plus missions. Grateful. Overwhelmed. He was the one who was sacrificing.

I'm just telling him, we ought to be grateful. We ought to be overwhelmed. We've been given freedom. Our freedoms have been protected and preserved at great expense.

We must never forget one, let's not forget the sacrifices made for our nation and two, let's not forget the sacrifice that was made for our salvation. It's grateful people live differently. When someone recognizes what Christ has done for them, you can't remain unchanged. Gratitude is produced.

Worship comes forth. Humility, obedience, service, faithfulness. Too many people today want the benefits of freedom without the appreciation of the cost. Memorial Day reminds us, somebody paid for what we enjoy.

And the cross reminds us that Jesus paid for what we can never earn. As meaningful as those stones were at Jordan, there is a greater memorial today. It stands behind me in this bad history. It's the cross of Christ, right?

It's the symbol, right? The cross. But one time I had the actual cross. And what it entailed to death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus.

It is a reminder of God's faithfulness and love to us. Because he had the cross of mercy, justice. At the cross, sacrifice, grace came to sinners. And salvation was purchased.

And the price for our ultimate freedom was paid. And here's how Peter said, he said, you weren't redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold. You were redeemed by the precious blood of a lamb. That even of Christ Jesus.

Christ gave his life so that we can have eternal life. Peter went on to say, verse 24 of chapter 2, who his own self bear our sins and his body on the tree. So every time we look to the cross, we remind it that God keeps his promises. And every time we look to an empty tomb, we remind it that God defeated death.

I'm going to tell you why the Lord's Supper so important. Because when we partake of the Lord's Supper, we are reminded of the cross. We're reminded that God paid a price that I could never pay. Jesus did for me what I could not do for myself.

The Lord suffers this memorial that causes us to remember, intentionally remember, as Paul quoted to the Corinthians. But he's quoting Jesus. Do this in remembrance of me. You see, our faith is sustained by remembering what Christ has done.

And with that, remembrance, our gratefulness for God's faithfulness grows. So just as Israel was never to forget that Jordan crossing, they built a memorial. So they wouldn't forget. Even so, we have a memorial.

And what God says is, don't ever forget it. Don't ever forget what I've done for you. Don't ever forget that Jesus paid the ultimate price. Don't ever forget that your salvation is completely 100% totally free by the grace of God, but it's not free to God.

It was free to us. Here's the bottom line of the message. God calls us people to remember his faithfulness. So future generations will trust him too.

Hey, let's remember. Memorial Day weekend, let's remember those who sacrifice for our nation. When it comes to our testimonies, our lives of walking with God, let's remember those who have faithfully walked with the Lord. Let's remember those prayers that God answered.

Let's remember those valleys that God brought us through. Let's remember the cross. Because remembering God's faithfulness gives us confidence in the future. And remembering God's faithfulness today helps future generations to trust him in the years to come.

You see, the same God who brought Israel across the Jordan River is the same God who raised Jesus from the dead is the same God who walks with us today. Maybe today you need to commit yourself to remembering some things. Maybe like that song that we sing, we will stop and give you praise for great is your faithfulness. Maybe today we need to stop and we need to remember some things that God has done for us.

Hey, how about this? Let's remember where God found us. Do you know where you were when God found you? Let's remember how God brought us through.

Let's remember how God's been faithful to us. Maybe today you need to thank him again. Maybe today right now you are faced with something that looks like an impassable, impossible crossing of a flooded Jordan River. There's no way across.

But what's impossible for you is not impossible to God. Maybe you need God to bring a miracle into your life. It may be supernatural, it may be natural. When it's all said and done, do we really care?

If it's supernatural or natural, we just say, God, I want you to come through. God, I need you to do something for me that I cannot do for myself. Maybe today you need to find yourself in an altar. Say, God, will you help me to get across another river?

I'm trusting that you will because I can look back in time and I can see where you brought me across time, after time, after time, after time. But maybe today, maybe today what you need to cross is a great gulf of sin. That great gulf of sin that separates you from God. And can I just tell you something, here's a news flash.

You cannot cross it on your own. You cannot. But praise God, the good news is this. When we use, we actually use the word cross.

When I say this, do you need to cross a great gulf of sin? You know what God put into the gulf of sin? Across. The cross of Calvary.

It is through the finished work of Jesus Christ. It is the fact that He died for you, was buried and raised again. And if you will trust in Him, not in yourself, if you will trust in Him, not in good works, if you will trust in Him, not in a church, if you will trust in Him, not in baptism, not in the Lord's suffer, not in some ordinance of the church, if you will trust in Him and Him alone, He'll bring you into a personal relationship with God. He'll grant you forgiveness of sin for ever home in heaven, a reconciled relationship with your heavenly Father today.

Perhaps you stand at that great gulf, and you see that there is a way to cross, and it's by the cross, but you have a choice. Will you receive the gift of salvation? Will you receive what God is freely giving to you? It's a gift.

And with every gift comes a choice. Receive it or reject it. Today, if you sense your need of salvation, and the God freely offers to you His Son, so that you can have a relationship with Him, then will you by faith or you by trust? Receive that from Him today.

Will you trust Him? I'm gonna tell you what that cross is for me. It's a reminder. It's a reminder of just how faithful God's been to me.

I can remember when I was nine years old, and I got down on my knees, and a pastor's office, and prayed before the Lord Jesus Christ. I said, Dear Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sin. Come into my heart and be my Savior forever and ever. That was the prayer of a nine year old kid who understood that he was lost, and he needed a Savior.

Prayers do not save us. Jesus saves us. But when we cry out on His name, Romans 10, 13 says, who shall recall the home of the name of the Lord? Shall we say, when we cry out, we're exercising our faith.

Lord, I'm trusting you. I'm asking you. I'm trusting what you did for me. Not what I can do for myself, because I can't do anything.

So this altar is open to you today, an altar of remembrance. I told you what the cross means to me. But if you've never been saved, I just want you to know what it can mean for you. It can mean salvation.

It can mean a forever home in heaven. It can mean a reconciled relationship with God. It can, but you have to receive it. And I'm asking you today, would you do that?

If you never put your faith, you're trusting Christ. Would you like to day be the day? You draw a circle somewhere on God's reign earth. You say, I know where I was standing.

I'll never forget it for as long as I live. I know where I was standing when I met Jesus as my Savior. Let the day be the day of salvation. I'm gonna have you stand this morning.

We're gonna have a hymn of invitation, but the rain is gonna come. We're gonna sing. We're gonna pray that God's Holy Spirit would touch our hearts today and that whatever it is that He's putting His finger on the spot and saying, that's it. Let's respond to that.

Let's respond to the need of salvation. Let's respond to the need of remembrance. Let's respond to the need of us being grateful for God's faithfulness. Let's worship the Lord.

Scott speaks to your heart, you come.