June 27, 2016

A Time To Remember

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A Time to Remember

Sunday, June 26, 2016

33rd Church Anniversary

Deuteronomy 6:4-12

The occasion of the 33rd anniversary of this church’s founding is a time to remember our origins.  From a humble beginning, through joys and tears, delights and disappointments, strength and weariness, God has blessed this body to affect thousands.  But this time of remembrance is also a time to acknowledge Moses’ caution to the newly freed children of Israel, to hear and remember God as the source of all blessings.  The Jews regard Deuteronomy 6 as the most important passage in the Old Testament, which is called the Great Shemmar.  The term means “hear” or “listen” in keeping with the first word in verse 4.  The emphasis is “hearing and remembering.” On that occasion of the second reciting of the Law in their hearing, Moses wanted the people to remember what the Lord had done for them.  Moses’ worst fear was that the children of Israel would forget how the Lord delivered them from Egyptian bondage.  He wanted Israel to know that the Lord stands out, the Lord stands above, and the Lord stands alone.

1. We Are to Stand Out. We don’t stand with the world; we stand with Christ. Christ suffered outside the gates of Jerusalem for our sins.  We are to stand out on our jobs and in our communities as examples to lead them to Christ.  They should respect our stand.

2. We Are to Stand Above. God called us to be the head, not the tail.  We are to be like the city on the hill, leading others to a place of safety, refuge and redemption.

3. We Are to Stand Alone. We have one Master to please, one benefactor to seek.  For God and God alone we are able to stand alone, doing what God said to do.  We understand that when God blesses us bountifully, we must beware of becoming full of ourselves.  Since everything belongs to God, we only have the loan of our possessions and the greater responsibility to God for their use.  We therefore live humbly; loving, praising, giving to and serving the Lord in sincerity, with intelligence and exaltation.