We relish in the fact that as Americans today, we celebrate the Memorial Day weekend.
Tomorrow is a very, very important day as a nation, it might be our most important day because you can have a birth of freedom, but you have to maintain freedom and listen, Jesus lives forever.
That’s how he maintains our spiritual freedom.
Think about it, you’re gonna be safe in heaven and your sins are gonna be securely forgiven only as long as Jesus lives.
And if you know your Bible, that’s like right on while regarding our freedoms as a nation, they only endure so long as people are willing to sacrifice their lives.
One gave his life to save us forever and untold millions over the centuries have given their lives that we might be for the moment free.
And we need to think about that today in the book of Acts chapter two, I’ll read the verses.
You can, you can stand in honor of God’s word, but I’ll read all the way through it.
If you would Acts chapter two, you can open your Bibles there or I’ll read from the Screens.
Acts chapter two. Now, when the day of Pentecost had fully come.
They were all with one accord and in one place and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire and one sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance.
And they were dwelling in Jerusalem. Jews devout men from every nation under heaven. Why?
Because it’s Pentecost, they were required to be there.
And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
Isn’t that an interesting statement? Why were they confused? If they heard everyone speaking in their own language?
This is why they were confused.
They were confused because they were hearing Galileans speak in the native tongue that only they knew.
And as a Galilean, they barely knew Galilean, just like many of us who are Americans, we barely speak English, we speak American, right?
You got to go to England. If you want to hear English, we’ve messed it all up.
And so verse seven, then they all were amazed and marveled saying to one another, look, are not all these who speak Galileans.
How is it that we each hear in our own language in which we were born?
Parthian and Meath mites. And those dwell into Mesopotamia, Judea Cappadocia, Pontius in Asia, uh Frigia and Peil Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene.
Notice how specific it is remarkable. That’s the areas of North Africa.
Visitors from Rome, both Jews and Pros Cretans and Arabs. We hear them speaking in our own tongues.
The wonderful works of God. That was the great announcement of what was going on. God was on the move.
God was poured out his holy Spirit.
So Father God, we pray that you would move today from this time forward in our lives.
Like never before the hour is late.
The work before us is great and father God may we like never before be used by you to glorify your son.
We pray in Jesus name and all God’s people said, amen. You may be seated church.
Hm All of that came about on the day of Pentecost because Jesus had given them, given us a promise.
And in Matthew chapter 28 beginning at verse 19, the Bible says, go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all whatsoever I have commanded you and low or behold, I am with you always even to the end of the world.
And all God’s people said, amen.
Jesus says that our mission as believers is to take the word to the ends of the earth.
That’s why every community should have a vibrant dynamic, spirit filled God empowered church wherever you live on the planet.
If it’s a church of a handful of people or many thousands, it’s irrelevant.
The fact that the Bible has got to be open, the name of Christ is to be exalted, the cross is to be preached.
The empty tomb is to be acknowledged.
And the fact that there’s only the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
And when that’s proclaimed, the culture, the world is changed and we’re moved a little bit closer to Christ every day in the living of that out.
And so as we approach this remarkable time of tomorrow’s great and it should be solemn.
I don’t know if you know this or not. Tomorrow is our nation’s most solemn Holy Day.
Memorial Day, but it’s going to be filled with celebration, isn’t it?
I understand that I, I, I just grieve like you do that. What are you doing tomorrow?
I, I, I mean, I know you guys get it, but the nation’s gonna celebrate, the nation’s gonna watch the Indianapolis 500.
What else is gonna happen? There’s gonna be potlucks, there’s gonna be barbecues, uh trips to the beach.
I don’t know whatever you’re doing.
We rarely stop to recognize that it comes at the expense of those who have died.
This is not Veterans Day. Tomorrow.
Veterans Day is for us to acknowledge our veterans who are living, who are with us.
But Memorial Day is to thank and to consider and to meditate on every single one of those patriots who gave their lives that we might be free right here right now today.
And, and thus, it’s called Memorial Day.
And um for good reason.
And so I think all of these three monumental things to me, to us come together on this same weekend, Memorial Day, this is a memorial, what you and I are doing today.
It’s a special day. And uh we’re gonna step through some things about how that works out, how that works out corporately as a church, how that works out individually as Christians.
But I love when Jesus said in verse 20 teaching them to observe all things, you know, we’re to be Disciple makers church.
And when he said, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever commanded you. This is disciple making.
This is what the real life network is all about. This is what this church is all about.
How many of you have been uh through the call ministry, raise your hands, the call.
I got news for you. I’ve been in Orlando this last week because it was part of the real life launch and the National Religious Broadcasters Network.
And for those of you who have taken the call ministry, which by the way, all of you should have raised your hands.
Because if you want to know how to share Jesus Christ with a stranger or anybody including a family member, you can do it in five minutes and do it with certainty.
If you take the call, we can equip you why? That’s part of making a disciple?
Because the disciple tells other people about Jesus Christ.
But how to say it, how to get to the point and how to close the deal.
It’s very specific. And when we were in Orlando this week, the wonderful people from evangelism explosion came up and they said out of all the works that we’ve seen of evangelism explosion that has taken place that has come out of the Coral Ridge pulpit in Florida over the last 40 years, that guy told me, he said, we’ve had nothing compared to what’s happened at Chino Hills.
We have monitored, we have seen this and we want you guys to know something that we’ve got one now for Children.
We have, we’ve got it designed for kids to share among other Children, Jesus Christ and how to meet them.
And they said, can we come, can we launch it at Chino Hills? Can we come and do it?
I said yes, yes, yes. Because I got to tell you all over this campus, there are little kids on fire for Jesus.
How did that happen? Because we believe in making disciples really young, teach them while they’re young, they get it, they understand it.
But all of this and everything regarding this day, both as a nation as a church.
And there is a gathering of people that will someday stand with the United Church in heaven above.
God has done a good thing. God has done a beautiful thing and he’s doing them.
So as we get into this today, think about the seasons of preparation that God has worked in your life, no matter who you might be, no matter what’s going on in your life vision.
God says in His word that without vision, my people perish, that means God wants to be preparing you, that God wants to give you vision.
And when you have a vision, there’s a message to share, listen you and I do not do what we do because we want to say something, we do what we do because we’ve got something to say and that something is the gospel of God that transforms our lives.
It christens us and launches us out on a mission. Why?
Because we’ve learned from scripture that there’s a vast harvest on this memorial day weekend when Americans stop to celebrate, I just want to remind all of you that we celebrate liberty and freedom.
And I’m going to confess to you right now.
I’ve had a hard time putting this message together because my emotions get in the way everything has come together in some grand moment.
For me personally, I remember three years ago and what happened here in this church and what you did by basically breaking down the walls and coming in and then what happened online when we went from thousands of viewers to millions of viewers.
And then the mail bag began to arrive with notes and letters from Cambodia, from Thailand, from Australia, from England, from India, from all around the world because their churches had closed.
But you were broadcasting the message of the gospel around the world and things changed dramatically.
We’re still doing the same thing that we’ve always done for over 30 years, but God changed the playing field.
He opened wide a door that we didn’t see it.
Let’s be honest, none of us saw it when COVID first hit, we didn’t know what was going to happen.
God knew exactly what was going to happen and you were ready because you were willing to worship.
There’s no strength in us. We were just willing to obey. He gave us strength to obey.
We basically said, Lord, here we are, send us and you did it and God blessed it and all of these things like today being a memorial, we celebrate the cost and the expense of freedom on March 23rd, 17 75 at Saint John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia.
Many of us have been there on our heritage tours. We’ve stood right here where this took place.
The Virginian delegates had gathered or assembled together to consider the possibility of the cost of gaining liberty and freedom in the yet unborn, United States of America.
Very few of us today know the times and seasons in such a message was delivered by the simple uneducated self taught Virginian farm boy Patrick Henry.
Now, when you look at Patrick Henry’s life, the college is named after him, you won’t find that uh humble description of Patrick Henry.
You’ll see Patrick Henry, the Patriot. Patrick Henry, one of the founding fathers, Patrick Henry, um the lawyer.
Uh you might even see Patrick Henry assigned to some school.
I believe that he was given an honorary degree from the College of William and Mary.
But uh listen, Patrick Henry was basically home schooled everybody.
Patrick Henry, as soon as he learned how to read his first book he read was Shakespeare.
He couldn’t read enough of Shakespeare and God used that in his life and you want to hear some amazing testimonies of Christ.
You ought to read about your founding father Patrick Henry.
But I’m gonna ask you right now if you’ll just listen to Patrick Henry right now, put your ears to the speakers if you would.
No man. Mr President thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism as well as the abilities of the very honorable gentlemen who have just addressed this house.
But different men often see the same subject in different lights and therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful of those worthy gentlemen.
If entertaining as I do an opinion of a character very opposite to theirs, I should speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve.
This is no time for ceremony.
The question before this house is one of awful moments to the country.
For my part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of debate.
It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country.
Should I keep back my opinions at such a time?
Through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country and of an act of disloyalty to the majesty of heaven which I revere above all earthly kings.
Mr President. It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope.
We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts.
Is this the part of wise men engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty?
Are we disposed to be among the number of those who are having eyes, see not and having ears here, not the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation.
For my own part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost.
I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst and to provide for it I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided and that is the lamp of experience.
I know of no way of judging of the future.
But by the past and judging by the past, I should wish to know what has there been in the conduct of the British Ministry for the last 10 years to justify these hopes of peace and reconciliation with which the gentlemen are pleased to solace themselves and the members of this house.
Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not sir.
It will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss.
Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports to these war like preparations which cover our waters and darken our land are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation.
Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled?
That force must be called in to win back our love. Let us not deceive ourselves, sir.
These are the implements of war and subjugation.
The last arguments to which kings resort I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array?
If its purpose be not to force us to submission?
Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive to it?
Has Great Britain, any enemy in this quarter of the world to call for all this vast accumulation of navies and armies?
No sir. She has none. They are meant for us. They can be meant for no other.
They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British Ministry has been so long forging and what have we to oppose them?
Shall we try? Argument? Sir? We have been trying that for the last 10 years.
Have we anything new to offer upon the subject?
Nothing we have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable but it has all been in vain.
Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What new terms shall we find?
Which have not already been exhausted? Let us not. I beseech you sir, deceive ourselves any longer.
We have done everything that could be done to avert this storm from coming on.
We have petitioned, we have remonstrated, we have supplicated, we have prostrated ourselves before the throne and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and parliament.
Our petitions have all been slighted. Our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult.
Our supplications have been disregarded and we have been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne in vain sir.
After these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation.
There is no longer any room for hope if we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve and violate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending if we mean not basically to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained.
We must fight, I repeat it, sir.
We must fight and appeal to arms and to the God of hosts, is all that has left us.
They tell us, sir, we are weak, unable to cope with so formidable and adversary.
But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week or the next year?
Will it be when we are totally disarmed? And a British Guard shall be stationed in every house.
Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction?
Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot.
Sir, we are not weak.
If we make a proper use of that means which a gracious God has placed in our power, millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty and in such a country as that which we possess are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.
Besides sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.
There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.
The battle sir is not to the strong alone.
It is to be vigilant, the active, the brave.
Besides sir, we have no election if we were base enough to desire it.
It is now too late to retire from the contest.
There is no retreat but in submission and slavery, our chains are forged.
Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable and let it come.
I repeat it, sir. Let it come. It is in vain to extenuate the matter.
Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace, but there is no peace. The war is actually begun.
The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears. The clash of resounding arms.
Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle?
What is it that gentlemen wish?
What would they have is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery forbid it almighty God.
I know not what course others may take but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.
Remarkable, remarkable.
Noticed how many times I think I could have missed, but there’s some nine references to Bible in that speech of Patrick Henry’s, he didn’t see a separation.
Many people today would say that there needs to be a separation between church and state or that there is such a thing.
There is no such thing but know this, the state is not our answer.
The state is not our hope.
The God of creation has always been our hope and it’s the God of creation that gave this nation a birth.
That’s why tomorrow on Memorial Day, we stop and we honor those that gave their lives that we could be here today.
And to be anything that you want to be today, if we agree with it or not, if you think about it, you could be the most saintly believer possible.
You can be the most godless atheist.
This is the only nation on the planet that allows you to have the freedom to live whatever you want to live.
What an expense, what a price paid.
Now, God extends the gospel to all of us, for God’s soul of the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life.
That’s a decision that you can make.
And we’re at a crossroads with our country and we’re at a crossroads with our world and we’re at a crossroads with what is called the church in America.
The Greeks would call this a Kairos moment, the great moment of decision.
And we’re running on the fumes of a once great nation, in my opinion, a nation that humbled itself before God go back.
Search later. See, when was the last time that an administration or a president or a governor called for fasting and prayer to almighty God for the help of its state or its nation.
We have forgotten him. Listen to George Washington.
He said we must never lose sight of the goodness of our cause.
Difficulties are not insurmountable, perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages.
Our nation is under attack. Our freedom is under attack. How long will they be under attack?
Is exactly what Patrick Henry said when we say peace, peace.
But as Lincoln said, our enemy, what we thought and hoped for, peace was out for war.
Jesus went to the cross to win the most absolute battle that would have ever been fought for all time and eternity when Jesus Christ took on the forces of hell and darkness.
We’re the ones that live in comfort. Now. Why?
Because the death of that great one who went to the cross when Jesus rose again from the dead, he guaranteed all that he said, and he said, if a man were to die, believing in him, yet shall he live that every word of God stands firm and shall be fulfilled.
The founding of this nation, contrary to modern Woke, education was birthed by the Mayflower compact that very few people read today.
I think you guys know it in this church more than anybody. No need to read it again.
But it is our nation’s birth certificate and one move after another by the Holy Spirit of God caused this nation to rise up and to be worshipers of God.
There was never a more industrialized nation on earth than this nation. Alexis de toil.
The historian chronicler came from France to figure out why was America so great and to said that the greatness of America was not found in its commodious seaports.
It wasn’t found in its golden fields of grain and it wasn’t found in its industrial prowess and it wasn’t found in its military strength.
Alex De to said, I discover the strength of America when I went into its churches because it was a people that had a knee bent to God.
Somebody might say, oh, this is Christian nationalism.
People say this when they’re losing their argument, we do not believe in Christian nationalism as you define it.
We believe what Ben Franklin said that God governs in the affairs of men. America will not last forever.
If America lasts at all, we’ve been invaded without a shot being fired.
There are known military groups, paramilitary groups that are now on our soil in this state and who knows?
But if in other states here, for what reason, for what purpose, what’s before us will we have the freedom to gather together again and praise and worship God as we enjoy it today.
Next week, next month, next year, I don’t know.
But I believe the answer to that lies at the foot of the pulpit and in the hearts of God’s people.
If the pulpit preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ and makes disciples of all who respond to that gospel, then there might be, there might be a pause from heaven.
We have so much to memorialize as a people we’re watching and seeing and hearing so many things that are talking about a, a global entity world.
You’re reading some of those things now and even this month and in the weeks ahead, there will be decisions made by our administration and leaders and president that will cause this nation to literally go into an agreement internationally that will never allow us to come out of our country is being surrendered under our feet.
But we say peace, peace, it’s all fine, it’s all.
Um I’m doing good friends.
Listen, we need to get back to the meaning of memorials. It’s not about golfing tomorrow.
It’s not about the Indy 500 tomorrow. It’s not about barbecues tomorrow.
And when I say that we need to look at the meaning of memorials.
I mean this by that, that is that we need to know the importance of what happened in history and we honor those who paid the price for our freedoms by their own blood.
But of course, the ultimate example of Jesus is Jesus Christ himself.
Joshua chapter four verse one tells us and it came to pass that when all the people who had completely crossed over the Jordan that the Lord spoke to Joshua saying, take for yourselves, 12 men from the, from the people, one from every tribe and command them saying, take for yourselves 12 stones from there or from the Jordan river out of the midst of the Jordan from the place where the priest feet, stood firm.
You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight. Verse four.
Then Joshua called the 12 men and he had appointed them from the Children of Israel, one from every tribe.
And Joshua said to them cross over before the ark of the Lord, your God into the midst of the Jordan.
They had to get their feet wet to uh to see it part which I think is awesome.
God’s gonna ask you to get your feet wet too before your challenge is part God always calls for action and involvement because that’s what faith demands.
You got to start somewhere friends. You can never have a memorial unless you get started.
And he says there in verse six, that this may be a sign among you.
When your Children ask in time to come saying what do these stones mean to you?
Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the arc of the covenant of the Lord.
When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off and these stones shall be for a memorial to the Children of Israel forever.
God loves when you and I decide to make a memorial. He loves that.
If you leave today with anything, leave with this, everything that you from this moment forward, please take this away God, you’re going to be asking yourself how is this memorial.
Make my day a memorial is today the day for a memorial. I’m gonna show you some photos.
It may not mean anything to you at all, but this is uh an overwhelming memorial. You have no idea.
There’s a few people that uh can share in this. But uh this is our, this is our city logo.
I don’t if you know that or not, if you see uh the county or the city vehicles.
This is uh the city uh icon. Uh This is our logo and it is that massive.
It’s massive by the way, uh my house which is not saying much but my ho my entire home can fit under this tree.
Uh 1500 square foot house can fit under this tree.
This is in Chino Hills off of Bay Barry that’s looking at it from the backside from this spot.
By the way, when Lisa and I moved out here from El Costa Mesa, we took Rebecca and Ashley into our arms and we stood there and we stretched our hands out over the valley and we prayed a prayer.
We just asked God Lord. We don’t know why we’re here.
It was the first morning we had ever woken up without the smell of salt water.
We thought we’d gone to hell.
I’d never lived this far from the ocean before and it was a Sunday morning.
We moved on the Saturday, we woke up on a Sunday and we went up and stretched out our hands.
There was no pay and drive back in those days. We stretched our hands out.
We had no idea what we were saying or doing.
We remember what we said, but we didn’t have any idea what we were saying or what we were doing.
We just said, God, if it be your will, we’re here. We don’t know anybody here.
There’s hardly anybody here.
But if you want to use us, God use us and something was said to the effect of use us beyond those mountains.
If you’d like God, we had no idea.
It would be years later before a home bible study would start, Jim and Judy mcdaniels, Mark and Mary Andrews and God started to add people every Monday night, more people would come and we were shocked, but that memorial started.
But an earlier memorial had started when I gave my heart to Jesus Christ.
I didn’t understand that a memorial started on that day. And what about your life?
When did you accept Christ?
I wanna remind you that the day that you accepted Christ or maybe for some of you like Lisa, she can’t tell you a day, but she can remember a time when she got serious about Jesus, she can tell you what year that was when she was in school you need today.
I want you to leave here today tomorrow, working on something piece of paper, write it on something, put it in your notes or put it in your app or whatever it might be of remembrance that it was on this day.
I accepted Christ in such and such a year or at such and such a time.
And God, that’s where I start my memorials.
I start today with that remembrance of that memorials are to cause us to remember back and to ask certain questions.
What happened to dedicate this spot? What went on.
Joshua told the Children of Israel, you tell your kids what happened here.
Tell them the application of biblical truth to the memorial.
Listen people today, university professors, college students would listen to the very man who brought the country forth to birth.
They would listen to that speech and they would hate it and yet they are living in his and their reality, people will criticize George Washington, but they’re standing on the ground that he afforded them.
And what about your grandparents and your parents that have come before you? What price have they paid?
And we’ve come now to a place of great ease and I’m not a prophet, but I believe our ease is evaporating and it will be gone very shortly and God will have our attention again.
But you want to stop and ask the question, what happened in this place?
Make a spot, a memorial. So Jack, are you serious about that?
I’m deadly serious about this because I gotta tell you, my grandkids can tell you, hey, when you’re going down PC H and you cross over the river bed, when you get to Orange Street, just get into New Newport Beach.
Uh There’s a stoplight right there.
First stoplight after the crossing of the river bed, turn right park right there.
Walk out to the sand about 50 yards and there’s a volleyball net.
Why is that important to my grandkids and to my kids?
Because it’s the place of their origin.
I was playing volleyball and uh, a friend of mine who knew Lisa said, hey, Lisa, come over here and this cute blonde girl came walking up and I wasn’t about to let her think.
I thought she was cute. But, um, we hit it off that day and it was amazing because in that moment when we, we wound up, our friend said, hey, listen, let’s get together tonight.
He was a Christian brother. Let’s have some, let’s have some uh friends over. We’ll do this.
And so, uh, Lisa never being a woman to play games. 18 years of age, I saw her Bible.
I thought it was her grandmother’s Bible.
It was so worn out and I had come from a world of games and I was done with that little bit of a chip on my shoulder about that.
I thought people were bad and you should stay away from them.
Only good to preach the gospel to and then get away from them, lead them to Christ and then leave them alone.
That was my motto. And um within I kid you not, she’ll be at second service.
Those of you can ask her, you can say within five minutes, within five minutes of meeting up with her.
I said, uh, hey, so how many kids do you want to have when you get married?
Ask her? She said, well, I want to be a stay at home mom.
I said, that’s cool. Where do you want to live when you get married?
You would have thought I was gonna ask to marry her.
But there was no time to play games, so to speak.
And if she didn’t like my, uh, my conversation, it didn’t matter to me.
But she was definite, she was answering and she had an answer for every question I put forth her and this is in five minutes after meeting up.
It’s, uh, I waited a couple of months to ask her to marry me, but that was a long time.
So you might say, well, that’s silly.
A volleyball net on the sand at the beach in southern California.
It changed our lives and our grandchildren are here and our Children are here and without her, I wouldn’t be here because without her, I probably would have been dead.
And you and I are together, we’re here together and we went to that tree together, you know, all along the way.
It seems like one guy seemed to know it but he never said much about it.
And it’s so I’m gonna question him when I get to heaven. And that’s Chuck Smith.
He was just start a home bible study. I said, no, I’m not gonna do that.
I, I don’t teach, I told her I don’t teach, you need to send a pastor.
And, uh, he said, I want you on the radio.
I said, we don’t do radio, everything he threw at us.
We said no to He was right all along the way.
I’m gonna ask you today that you had a dedicate a spot in your life.
Go to the oak tree. If that’s it, go find something in your life, husband, wife, mom, dad, single person, find something today.
Make a memorial of it. Make a dedication to God. Listen.
Also this, you want to ask yourself the question, why did it have to happen?
Now, most of this will not be answered. But in heaven, why? Listen?
If you just simply go by feeling you’re going to be quickly let astray because you laughed.
When I said, I woke up, Lisa and I woke up that Sunday morning having just moved out here and all we could smell was grassland and, and milkweed and, and cow manure, um and not salty air.
And I thought my God, what have we done?
But you ask him, why, why did it have to happen?
Mean God will have an answer. It’s always a memorial. God is used. Christian.
God is wanting to use you and he’s gonna use you for his glory.
Just make sure he gets the glory all the time. He does it.
And you always want to ask the question too. Could such a thing happen again?
How many of your parents raise your hands?
The one of the greatest prayer requests that we have is oh God, whatever you’ve done in my life, do it more in the lives of our Children, right?
Isn’t it? So, and you have grandchildren? Oh God, use them.
In fact, you and I look around the world that we’re here and we know God.
God will take care of it.
But in those moments when we get our eyes kind of off of God, we begin to almost panic with the sense of thinking, oh God, if this world is what it is now, what will it be when our grandkids grow up?
And now I’m at a point where who can imagine?
Don’t even try trust God look to him.
But on this Pentecost Sunday, when the Holy Spirit came down and the church was born, God saw fit that over time over the millennia of ages, God would bring forth a nation that also became the number one missionary country in the world.
Did you know that by the way, did you know that the United States was used by God to protect and to house many of the scattered Jewish people for 2000 years, they had a refuge to immigrate to many of them came through Ellis Island, if not even before.
And God used America almost as a nursery for the Jewish people before they were going to be called back to their homeland.
In 1948 America has been a big brother to the nation of Israel.
We should be humbled by that and honored by that at the same time.
But friends, God always requires a sacrifice, the birth of this network. Yes.
People were paid for their task and for their expertise. That’s not the point. That’s biblical.
A workman is worthy of his pay. It’s the vision. You can’t buy vision.
Friends listen, it’s the sweat, you can’t buy sweat.
It’s the difficulties and those who are here right now are thinking about Orlando when the truck was supposed to arrive with all of the, the equipment to set up our real life network.
Launch this fantastic, beautiful best looking.
I might add, I don’t mean to upset anybody but uh it was the best looking set up at the entire N R B gathering, the largest broadcasters network gathering in the entire world and the truck that was driving our ours down from, I think Tennessee or somewhere broke down and had all kinds of problems and all kinds of difficulty.
And then we were trying to get there and there was this humongous storm over Florida and we couldn’t land.
So we did circles forever over the Gulf of Mexico. And then the pilot says we’re running out of gas.
No, he did. But he was funny about it. That’s how he kept us from all.
He said, you know, I know we’ve been here for a while and you probably figured this out, we’re out of gas.
He said we’re gonna go fill up at the closest, uh, filling station, he called it and he said, so we’re gonna sit down in Tampa and uh with hopes of eventually getting to Orlando.
And I’m looking at my watch and I’m thinking I gotta be in Orlando two hours ago.
But God had a different plan.
God had something else going on but God put it all together.
But could such a thing happen again where God would breathe life into this nation?
It will not come from Washington, it’s not gonna come from Sacramento. You know this, listen.
Should we be involved in Sacramento? Yes. Should we be involved in Washington? Yes.
But do we understand that we are involved in salt and light in a temporal kingdom here?
Because we live for an eternal kingdom of eternity with Christ forever.
But that doesn’t mean that doesn’t mean we abandon our responsibility now and we see so much God godlessness rampant.
And there’s a big struggle for the soul of our nation and friends when they begin to attack and make fun of you and try to hurt you.
Just know this that means you’re on the right trajectory and that you’re right over the Target.
And when you join us on our heritage tours, we go and we still can visit the hat, the blood stained hat and his outer coat, his garment of Abraham Lincoln who gave his life.
Did you know that? He told me? You know, his last words to Mary?
I didn’t know this until we went to Lincoln’s Theater in Washington DC.
His last words to her was Mary.
I want to walk the streets of gold with my savior Abraham Lincoln.
And a bullet was put in his brain because he believed that black and white in any color in between should live and live freely.
And that’s not what’s being taught in our schools.
We need to listen, we need to take our schools back and it’s easy to do because truth is truth and it never changes.
We just need to speak out.
I want to ask you to put your, put your, in fact, you might want to close your eyes or just listen to what he had to say about memorial four score.
And seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now, we are engaged in a great civil war testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.
We are met on a great battlefield is at war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.
It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.
The brave men living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract the world will little note of what we say here.
But it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the living rather to be dedicated to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us.
That from these honored dead, we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolved that these dead shall not have died in at this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and the government of the people by the people.
For the people shall not perish from the earth.
One of the shortest most powerful speeches ever penned in history, but also very prophetic hopeful, inviting, challenging, exhorting it cost him his life.
You know, to say those words and to believe in those words.
And yet, what do you see in Washington DC today?
But the awesome, an almost overwhelming Lincoln memorial and people come from all over the world to read the Gettysburg address and, and his second inaugural address that are engraved in stone flanking Lincoln on each side.
And in the second inaugural address, there’s five Bible references, but we have forgotten that as a people, we need to also remember that the critical truth for us in making memorials is that there’s always a message to a memorial as imposing as an awesome as a visit to Washington DC might be what is known as the mall.
One of my favorites is the Jefferson memorial.
Four panels hang suspended or I should say engraved on the walls upright, massive and Jefferson stands alone in the middle.
Each panel referencing God, did you know that?
And Lincoln took opportunity to quote Jefferson at that Gettysburg address, but messages friends are tied to memorials and memorials are only as awesome and as worthy or as notable as what happened there.
And that’s probably why for my generation, the most moving place of all for me in Washington DC is the World War Two memorial, I believe by far, it’s the most beautiful memorial of them.
All. If you’ve never been, you should go and I forget the number but each star stands for so many thousands of soldiers died.
Did you know we stand in memorial tomorrow to celebrate and to have fun and goof off and play?
But we need to remember that at Omaha Beach in Utah Beach in Normandy France, that the United States lost more than 10,000 men in four hours to liberate Europe America tagged to be the mean ugly nation that it’s being talked about today.
Not in other countries on our own soil. Do not.
The fools know for a moment that with our nuclear power and the prowess of our military since 1945 that we had the power to completely conquer the entire globe.
No one could stop us.
We’re not in an invading force where the country people call when they’re in trouble.
But that’s not what’s taught to our kids.
Our memorials are being torn down and truth is being lied about.
There’s a message in a memorial and it’s up to us to find out what that message is.
We must ask ourselves, what is that memorial saying to us when God establishes his memorials?
Think about it. The ark of the covenant was a moving memorial, those stones and those altars.
Abraham erected a memorial to God.
When God spoke to Abraham, bringing him out of the Earl of the Cal throughout the Bible.
The entire Bible is a book about memorials.
What is it saying to us?
We would ask this Pentecost, Sunday, the Pentecost of 2000 years ago.
Speaking to me, speaking to us, encouraging me, encouraging you.
We also want to ask about the message of a memorial.
What are we to do about it. This perhaps concerns me the most.
Winston Churchill said, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
What are we going to do about it?
Listen, I believe Jesus Christ can come back today and I’m living like it.
But if he doesn’t, I’ve invited California pastors to join me on Tuesday to challenge them on how to stand and how to do righteousness in the public square.
So be praying for us please. We’ve invited them to come, bring their wives.
We’ve done. We’ve removed every possible hindrance from them, giving us an excuse.
Will you come? California pastor?
Will you come and just stand for righteousness?
Because if you stand for righteousness, it means you got to do something.
We cannot be Spectators to what’s happening around us.
That’s how we got in the mess that we’re in our nation is hemorrhaging and I’m sorry, this may be self serving.
But I believe the pastors hold the key to sparing America at this hour from judgment and are from invasion.
It’s the pastors. We don’t need all of them.
God says I just need one, but we’re not happy to have one.
So pray that on Tuesday, God will speak to these pastors that are coming to do righteousness and then we are to speak about a memorial.
We’re to speak up about it. Tell people book of Deuteronomy chapter six, tells us you can read it later.
Verse six down to verse nine. We’re to tell our kids, it’s a beautiful passage.
Did you know that we’re supposed to when you read Deuteronomy Six? It kind of looks like this.
Everybody, when your little kids are walking around, you’re supposed to be telling them about the Bible.
It says, tell them, tell them about what God has done when they wake up when they’re living their day and when they go to bed, tell them, tell them, tell them filling our kids with thoughts of God.
We’ve got to tell people church, we got to stop being afraid of what is so grand and so great that God has given us salvation through Jesus Christ alone.
He asks you nothing to add to that but repentance from your sins to call out to Christ because He did it all.
I’m free to preach and you’re free to listen.
You’re also free to get up and walk out as I’m free to get up and walk away because people died so we could.
And then we end with this.
There’s the makings of a memorial. I hope you take this in the right way.
I find this closing argument just flat out romantic to me.
When it comes to me and my God, the making of a memorial to me means this, that there comes a monumental moment in your life and it comes to every single one of you.
There’s a moment many times we miss them and I, I just pray God, please don’t let us miss that monumental moment that God brings.
And it’s a challenge. It’s most often it’s draped on something very difficult.
Maybe it’s a battle with cancer or maybe it’s a job thing or a relational thing and everything seems destroyed.
Maybe it’s a divorce and, you know, the only people that benefit from a divorce I have figured out are the attorneys, but I do know who pays the greatest price.
It’s the Children. How is it that I meet?
People who are 30 and 40 years old who will talk about their lives and they start crying when they get to the divorce story of their mom and dad that wound is deep.
See Jack, how can that be a memorial?
Because listen, everything and anything that would conquer you is the very thing that you can run to God with and take it to him and say, Lord, please fix this.
It’s impossible. No man can fix the scar. No man can fix the pain. No man can heal this.
But you and God will do it out of disaster. He’ll bring hope. It’s incredible.
I’m almost done.
The moment of dedication is in the making when it takes us forward.
When you and I visit a memorial, it should cause you and I to get up and take us forward man.
I tell you when, when we go to Washington or when we go to Israel with you and we take our heritage tours or our holy land tours, every single stop or every single visit along the way is a commissioning and you feel energized to take something away, you become like what you’ve been exposed to.
And if that thing is bad, God will make it good.
If that thing is good, God will make it great, but be expecting to dedicate a memorial in your life, Christian.
And then finally, memorials can only display a greater truth.
Nobody stands at the base of the Washington monument or the Jefferson memorial, or the Lincoln memorial and talk to Lincoln or talk to Washington.
But if you walk with me 500 yards over to the Vietnam war memorial, a black stone cold wall that is subterranean ground, it starts at ground level and goes down with tens of thousands of names.
What do you see? You see people talking to a wall?
It’s as close as they can get to their dad, brother.
A memorial only matters when it takes root in your heart.
And so church family, what a day you’ll have tomorrow.
Thanking God.
It’s not going to be a bad thing for you to have a banana split or hot dog.
It’s not a bad thing.
If you’re gonna go sailing tomorrow, it’s not a bad thing.
If you just stay home and watch whatever they do on Memorial Day on TV.
I guess the, the Indie, right? It’s not bad.
The bad thing would be that you failed to thank God for the freedom that you have in Jesus and for the temporal liberty that unless God intervenes, we’re breathing our last.
But God, I’m gonna ask you to stand as I commission you.
We make a memorial today a decision in each and every one of our hearts right here right now in Exodus 12 4, the Bible says, so this day shall be to you a memorial and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations and you shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance, which is a perfect dove tale ended.
Our last verse, Paul said to the believers in Italy and so dear brothers and sisters.
I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you.
Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable.
This is truly the way to worship Him.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world.
But let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect in Jesus name and all God’s people said, amen.
God bless you, church, family. God bless you.