May 27, 2018
Morning Service

Memorial Day or Decoration Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces. The holiday, which is currently observed every year on the last Monday of May, will be held on May 28, 2018. The holiday was held on May 30 from 1868 to 1970.  Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries. Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veterans Day – Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving, whereas Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans.
The practice of decorating soldiers' graves with flowers is an ancient custom. Soldiers' graves were decorated in the U.S. before and during the American Civil War.
In 1868, General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois, established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the Union war dead with flowers.[16] By the 20th century, various Union and Confederate memorial traditions, celebrated on different days, merged, and Memorial Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service.
The preferred name for the holiday gradually changed from "Decoration Day" to "Memorial Day," which was first used in 1882. Memorial Day did not become the more common name until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967. On June 28, 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971. After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply, all 50 states adopted Congress' change of date within a few years.
On Memorial Day, the flag of the United States is raised briskly to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to the half-staff position, where it remains only until noon. It is then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day. The half-staff position remembers the more than one million men and women who gave their lives in service of their country. At noon, their memory is raised by the living, who resolves not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.

Memorial: an object made in order to honor a person or event: A memorial service is an event held to remember a person who has died.
Memorials are held to commemorate important people and/or events and to pass them on to future generations lest they be forgotten. In most cases people are remembered for a sacrifice they made. In the case of our Memorial Day we remember the sacrifices of those who have given their lives to protect our freedoms. Memorials are important reminders that freedom is not free, someone paid a price.

In Genesis 9:8-17 God established the rainbow as the sign of His covenant with Noah that He would not flood the earth again to destroy all flesh. It was a reminder of both God's judgment in the past and His promise for the future. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." 17 And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."

In Exodus 12 & 13 the Lord brings about His last plague upon Egypt which prompted Pharaoh to finally release the children of Israel from their enslavement. The first born would be killed unless the blood of a lamb was spread on the doorposts and lintel in which case the angel of death would pass over that house. The Lord then established the Feast of Passover as a yearly reminder of this event and the freedom that resulted from it. 12 'For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 'So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.

Joshua 3 & 4 records the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River on dry ground. 5 and Joshua said to them: "Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' 7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark 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." The purpose was specifically so that when future generations of children would ask about the stacked stones, the story of the crossing could be retold. It was important to remember their history.

The book of Esther records the plot of Haman, a high official in King Ahasuerus' court, to annihilate the Jews living in Persia. The plot was reversed by the efforts of Queen Esther and the Feast of Purim, which is still celebrated to this day, was established to remember the story. 26 So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.

Then there is the ultimate sacrifice, one in which we all can gain freedom. But alas freedom isn't free and someone had to pay the price.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

John 15:12-13 Jesus said, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 " Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

Romans 5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

In the New Testament we find that a central ceremony of worship is done as a memorial. In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul explains the purpose and procedure of the Lord's Supper or Communion. He explains its history and its meaning by citing Jesus' very words concerning it. Jesus said that both the bread, which represented His body, and the cup, which represented His blood, were to be partaken "in remembrance of Me" (vs. 24-25). This ceremony of memorial is observed by His followers as a proclamation of His death until He comes 23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.

Only very important events were set aside as memorials to be kept and the sacrifice Jesus made was ultimately the greatest. Communion was one of the main reasons the early church assembled together.

Our prayer: Dear Lord give us a renewed understanding for the sacrifices made to keep us free. Thank you for the supreme sacrifice Jesus made and may we always keep the memorial of the shedding of His body and blood alive in our hearts and worship service. Amen.