Sunday, January 7, 2007

Thanks for coming by! Below is the bulletin and then the message.

My hope and prayer is that the LORD will use what is on this blog for His Glory and the spiritual growth of all who come here.

God bless you today!

The LORD’s Day

January 7, 2007

We Worship In Singing

We Worship In Receiving the LORD’s Supper

We Worship In Hearing the Word of God

Jordan River Memorial Stones Joshua 4.1-9

*Tithes and Offerings can be placed in the box at the rear of the sanctuary*

Please join us for coffee and bagels downstairs if you are visiting today.

V

This Week

Bible Reading Psalm 58-60

Next Lord’s Day-

Morning Prayer- 10am in the church basement

Morning Worship- 10:30am(Sunday School for Children)

Spanish Service- 4pm

In Your Prayers For All of God’s People

Remember the men serving in the armed forces: Bradley, Julia Bujold’s grandson with Special Forces in Afghanistan, Jake Morgan, Pastor’s cousin’s son in Iraq, Ken Brown, Pastor’s friend’s son on his third tour of Iraq. Matthew Klaus, brother of Good Shepherd parent in Iraq as a firefighter for Haliburton... Pray for them and the others away from their families this Christmas. Praise God for keeping David Louis and Tom Hindelang safe during their times in Iraq. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Odette Wuytack who went to home to be with Jesus the morning after Christmas. Please keep them all in prayer in these days of sorrow and grief. Christine Frankland, Katharina’s daughter in need of healing

***********************************

Thank You So Much!!!Lucy and I want to thank you for the beautiful card each of you signed. What a wonderful surprise! Your notes were so meaningful. We were overwhelmed by the amount of the love gift. God bless you! I am continually blessed to be the pastor of this flock. What a privilege to serve the LORD in this place and time! As we journey into 2007 together we do so with joy and anticipation of what the LORD will do this year.

Love and Prayers,

Pastor and Lucy

Looking Ahead

*A number of nursery school families are going through difficult times. If you would like to sponsor a child presently at Good Shepherd, see Alice or call the school at 666-7503

-------------------------------------------------------------

Notes on Our Time in the Word of God This Morning:

Jordan River Memorial Stones

Joshua 4.1-9

Church e-mail: bayshorenaz@rock.com

(Church Phone: 631-969-1730

*1314 Pine Acres Boulevard, Bay Shore, Long Island, NY 11706-5436

Whatever you do, in word or deed, do all for the glory of God!

Jordan River Memorial Stones

Joshua 4.1-9

It seems that the LORD had Joshua write the book that bears his name for New Year’s Messages. There are so many message for the New Year that come out of it.

This morning we are going to talk about stones- Memorial stones. I have stones which have I have kept because they mean something: Fire Island, Dead Sea, Montauk Point, Pikes Peak.

These stones had great significance. Israel was moving into the land God swore to them. It was, as we have seen and will see, a tremendous history lesson. We tend to forget where we have come from. The men and women who are able to remember seldom get puffed up. They are kept humble by remembering their origins.

The LORD is interested in us staying connected to the things He did for us as He has brought us along the way, thus The Jordan River Memorial Stones.

This nation had a mixed blessing-tragedy filled past. Disobedience and unbelief had dominated the previous generation. The trek across the Sinai was disastrous for the generation for the ones that preceded the ones alive in Joshua- only two made it in. There were times when God delivered them and preserved them during their travels- like daily! Yet they rebelled against Him. They all died out in the wilderness.

Now the new generation is coming into the land but here Joshua following the LORD’s directions had them do something to memorialize this event. God had intervened and precautions were being taken against the nation forgetting it.

1. This Memorial was done through the family. vs.1-4

Twelve men, one from each tribe, participated. This action alone would bring this nation back to its roots. It began as a family. It was an interesting one- they all had the same father- Jacob-Israel. However because this man was a heel grasper - a supplanter there were 4 different mothers for this family. He reaped what he sowed.

Fractured and messed up as they were (and we are) God still works through families. Each tribe represented a son of all of Jacob/Israel’s children. These were their descendants. These twelve men touched every part of the whole nation.

A man from each tribe, at this momentous time, the nation was being summoned back to its humble beginnings.

Hosea 9.10a When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your fathers it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.

God, through this act of having these memorial stones picked up, was bringing them back to their early days as a nation, when they were just a family.

It is good for our nation, the USA, to go back to its formative years at Plymouth Rock. It is good for us to go to Philadelphia, visit Betsy Ross’ home and see that indeed we began as 13 little colonies as the flag she made tells. We are the world’s lone superpower but it is good for us to go back occasionally, in our minds to remember when we were a small group of people scattered up and down the nation’s east seaboard.

It is good for us as a church to remember we didn’t always have a building to meet in, to think about the time when we began on Smith Street as a store front... grapes in the desert... It is good for us as the Church of Jesus Christ to remember read the Book of Acts and remember when we didn’t even have a store front to meet in, to see what they were engaged in and to continue in it.

It is good for us as individuals to remember difficult times, times when we were struggling to make ends meet, when a trip to the department store was a lot less rare then it is today and we got only what we absolutely needed when we went.

It was good for Israel -this large nation, about to move into an abundant land- a land of wonder- to be brought back to the time when it was a family.

2. The Essence of these stones was an object lesson v.5-7

v.6 a sign= a distinguishing mark- These stones were pulled out of the muddy bed of the Jordan at its flood stages (of course God had dried it up) to have the people remember what happened on this site. This was not a widespread practice but when engaged it showed its significance. God moved in this place on behalf of His people.

The sign was to distinguish the place, bring the event to their minds and hearts. It was to serve as warning- the memorial was to warn the people how God had told them in Deuteronomy to remember. It warned them of what could have happened if God was not with them. It let them know God spared their lives and that they need Him. It spoke of His amazing power and work.

Children with inquisitive minds and seeking hearts will raise questions. Take this as an opportunity to give out spiritual truth. We miss the mark so much here. I remember praying with my nephews when they were old under 12, out in the part of my parents’ property. When I said, "Amen," and opened my eyes they were all just staring at me )like I had lobsters coming out of my ears).

At the root of the Hebrew word stone was the idea to build. One of the things- an indispensable thing- is that one of the things that build up a soul or a family or a nation and a church is the appreciation for the miracles and wonders God has done personally for them.

What doe these stones mean? For us God’s intervention! In the 1960's Sunrise Highway was being expanded to accommodate what was then the fastest growing area in the country, Suffolk County, Long Island. Disney World was still a dream of Walter, our president was Lyndon Johnson and much of our property was being confiscated by New York State. We had a building fund, we had the sale of the what was left of the property and we had money from the state to compensate our loss. We also got a pastor who was a frugal general contractor and we built this building without any help from the bank- cash! God was in control.

These Jordan River Memorial stones were to be a memorial for the people of Israel forever. They were to serve as reminder, to recall, to be thought of Every time they saw them they would remember their history- their formative years when they were but 12 sons.

3. Obedience is good for everyone- even future generations! v. 8-9

Look at where these stones came from -v.8

From the middle of the Jordan

When you are in deep waters, remember that God can part them! v.9

When you are surrounded by problems, when you come to challenging times, remember where the priests who carried the ark stood and remember what was in that ark!

1- Manna - God will provide for our daily needs even to the point of raining down bread from heaven. (George Muller, the orphanage and the broken down bread truck)

2- The Law- God reigns. His law are in affect.

3- Aaron’s Rod- God is all powerful. He can do anything. He will use what is in your hand!

These stones were taken right from where the priests stood who carried the ark of the covenant. God makes promises and He keeps them! He never fails. He is faithful and true! You can trust in Him always! They were taken from where the river had flown and flowed again.

What were they to do with these Jordan River Memorial Stones?

Carry the over on their shoulders (v.5)

Put them down- place them in a permanent place, so conspicuous that children would ask what the meaning of them were.

God could have picked these stones up and set them there- after all He can do anything! Why put man through all this "trouble". It is interesting what we perceive as trouble may be great things!

God wants our hand in His Hand as He works.

He wants our hand in His Work.

He wants this for our good,- He doesn’t need our help.

He wants our hand but He is after our heart- for us to love Him Supremely!

Let the memorials of God working in your life stand. (v.9)

Keep them.

Talk about them.

Explain them.

Pass it on.

Don’t forget the past times of God working miracles in your family! Talk about these things with grandchildren and great grand children and nieces and nephews and cousins’ children. No one else can tell the next generation and the one after them and the ones after them like you can- it is your "His- story".

Tell them!