My preacher inspires me. I sit and listen and take notes. I don't want to miss out on anything. I hear the voice of God speaking through him and I wonder at the marvel of it. "To be called" must have some very special significance. It has to be a special connection to our creator. For it was He, who looked down on this earth of ours, and said, "Josh, I have a special purpose for you. You are my perfected vessel and I will use you to magnify my name."
The sermon was taken from Romans 5:1-10 and was a fitting one for Memorial Day. It's about dying to save others. In this case, Christ dying for sinners. But others have died, too, to preserve freedom.
Memorial Day, an observance honoring the war dead, was an outgrowth of the Civil War. So many losses were felt everywhere that people began honoring the ones who died for a cause bigger than themselves. This day, now a national holiday, is set aside to honor the ones who didn't make it home and gave their lives in the cause for freedom. Christ's very words spell it out so eloquently, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
Freedom, the right to make one's own choices with no restrictive government, is a right spelled out in the American Declaration of Independence. It goes something like this, "...that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...". Freedom is something mankind has yearned for and something man is willing to fight, and even die for. And, it's a battle that continues across the generations in this world.
There is another freedom. One that offers lasting freedom beyond this life. John 8:36 says that if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. And you'll know the truth and the truth will make you free. (John 8:32) And this freedom was won for us when Christ, the only Son of God, died on the cross for all of us. He won the battle for us. He crossed the barrier (left heaven and came to this earth in the form of a man) to save our lives. He proved he had the greater love (John 15:13). He died for the sinners of this world while still at odds with God.
The sermon was taken from Romans 5:1-10 and was a fitting one for Memorial Day. It's about dying to save others. In this case, Christ dying for sinners. But others have died, too, to preserve freedom.
Memorial Day, an observance honoring the war dead, was an outgrowth of the Civil War. So many losses were felt everywhere that people began honoring the ones who died for a cause bigger than themselves. This day, now a national holiday, is set aside to honor the ones who didn't make it home and gave their lives in the cause for freedom. Christ's very words spell it out so eloquently, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
Freedom, the right to make one's own choices with no restrictive government, is a right spelled out in the American Declaration of Independence. It goes something like this, "...that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...". Freedom is something mankind has yearned for and something man is willing to fight, and even die for. And, it's a battle that continues across the generations in this world.
There is another freedom. One that offers lasting freedom beyond this life. John 8:36 says that if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. And you'll know the truth and the truth will make you free. (John 8:32) And this freedom was won for us when Christ, the only Son of God, died on the cross for all of us. He won the battle for us. He crossed the barrier (left heaven and came to this earth in the form of a man) to save our lives. He proved he had the greater love (John 15:13). He died for the sinners of this world while still at odds with God.
