SPEAKER_00: The sermon text this morning comes from Joshua chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: This would be a good morning to grab your chair Bible, or if you have your own Bible, to open it up, because I'm going to be referring to Joshua chapter 3 as well.
SPEAKER_00: We are in a new sermon series.
SPEAKER_00: We started last Sunday, and the sermon series is celebrating 40 years of God's faithfulness to Alexandria Presbyterian Church.
SPEAKER_00: We have much to thank God for, and this morning we're going to see that once again.
SPEAKER_00: It historically goes to the days after 40 years of the Israelites wandering around in the desert.
SPEAKER_00: Now it was time to enter into the promised land.
SPEAKER_00: And so they the Israelites, probably, possibly two million people, a large group.
SPEAKER_00: They are waiting to cross over the Jordan River to take possession of that promised land.
SPEAKER_00: And now, after having crossed over, we read in chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priest's feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.
SPEAKER_00: Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe.
SPEAKER_00: And Joshua said to them, Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you.
SPEAKER_00: When your children ask in time to come, what do those stones mean to you?
SPEAKER_00: Then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.
SPEAKER_00: So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.
SPEAKER_00: And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded, and took up the twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua.
SPEAKER_00: And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and they laid them down there.
SPEAKER_00: And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priest bearing the Ark of the Covenant had stood, and they are there to this day.
SPEAKER_00: For the priest bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua.
SPEAKER_00: The people passed over in haste.
SPEAKER_00: And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priest passed over before the people.
SPEAKER_00: The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them.
SPEAKER_00: About forty thousand ready for war passed over before the Lord for battle to the plains of Jericho.
SPEAKER_00: On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses all the days of his life.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord said to Joshua, Command the priest bearing the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan.
SPEAKER_00: So Joshua commanded the priest, Come up out of the Jordan.
SPEAKER_00: And when the priest bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priest's feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all of its banks as before.
SPEAKER_00: The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.
SPEAKER_00: And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to the people of Israel, When your children ask their fathers in times to come, what do these stones mean?
SPEAKER_00: Then you shall let your children know.
SPEAKER_00: Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.
SPEAKER_00: For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.
SPEAKER_00: This is the reading of God's holy, infallible, inerrant word.
SPEAKER_00: This is a powerful word.
SPEAKER_00: We serve a powerful God.
SPEAKER_00: And he has sent us a powerful Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: The one who authored these words, the one who illumines our minds this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Let's ask for his help.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we pray that this day, this moment, your spirit would illumine.
SPEAKER_00: Oh Lord, cast out the darkness in our minds so that we could actually understand.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, cast out the doubt in our hearts so that we would actually believe.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, teach us.
SPEAKER_00: Teach us now from your word, we pray.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Celebrating 40 years of God's faithfulness, this morning we are focusing particularly on God's faithfulness in providing sacred spaces for worship.
SPEAKER_00: There's a story to tell.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you know.
SPEAKER_00: We have been crossing over for 40 years in some very tangible, practical ways.
SPEAKER_00: We have faced raging rivers in this congregation that looked impossible to cross over yet but God.
SPEAKER_00: That's what this sermon is about this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Forty years after the Israelites had passed through the Red Sea, that God parted, but then that whole generation died, except a couple.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua was one of them.
SPEAKER_00: Why did they die?
SPEAKER_00: Why did they perish in the desert?
SPEAKER_00: Because they didn't believe.
SPEAKER_00: Their hearts were full of a lot of unbelief.
SPEAKER_00: You see, you can be among the people of God and not be the people of God.
SPEAKER_00: You could be among the people of God and not believe the promises of God.
SPEAKER_00: You can be with the people, but are you of the people?
SPEAKER_00: That's always a lesson from Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: But let's look back at Joshua 3 first for a few moments.
SPEAKER_00: And if this sounds familiar to some of you, it is, because these have been some of the classic text in the history of Alexandria Presbyterian Church and some of our previous crossing overs.
SPEAKER_00: The first point from Joshua chapter 3, we all have to learn how to wait.
SPEAKER_00: What do I mean?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to read it just yet, but there they are, two million strong, and they come up to this raging river at flood stage, probably a mile wide.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you live along the Potomac River at different points, about a mile wide.
SPEAKER_00: And they're looking at this river, and surely some of them are thinking, God, why did you bring us here?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, okay, you parted the Red Sea, you've fed us for 40 years in the desert, you've provided, but we haven't seen this.
SPEAKER_00: Does that sound familiar?
SPEAKER_00: But we haven't seen this.
SPEAKER_00: This looks unpassable.
SPEAKER_00: And God says, Well, I want you to wait.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to reflect.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to see just how big a challenge this is.
SPEAKER_00: We don't like that, do we?
SPEAKER_00: It would have been better the way we think, okay, when they come to the river, just do it now, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We're on a roll.
SPEAKER_00: Do it now.
SPEAKER_00: He said, No, I'm going to give you a few days to really think more about how impossible this is.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to give you a few more days to think about how great and powerful I am.
SPEAKER_00: It's good to wait.
SPEAKER_00: For three days they lodged there before they crossed over.
SPEAKER_00: Time to think.
SPEAKER_00: Some of them, again, might have thought too much time to think.
SPEAKER_00: To look at this raging river at flood stage.
SPEAKER_00: No doubt some of them were saying, saying, let's go back.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go back to Sheetem, which was an oasis that they had already journeyed through.
SPEAKER_00: Do we really need this promised land?
SPEAKER_00: Do you ever ask that question?
SPEAKER_00: Do I really need all that God wants to give me?
SPEAKER_00: Or do we settle?
SPEAKER_00: I'll take just a little bit, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Give me just a quart.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want the whole gallon.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to be careful when we start thinking like that.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I think we do.
SPEAKER_00: F.P.
SPEAKER_00: Meyer, the great Baptist preacher, the 19th century, said this.
SPEAKER_00: Many a saint since then has come to these river banks.
SPEAKER_00: There is that river.
SPEAKER_00: There is always that river.
SPEAKER_00: Do you hear that?
SPEAKER_00: That's a good quote.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it true?
SPEAKER_00: There are rivers ahead of you.
SPEAKER_00: There are rivers ahead of us as a church.
SPEAKER_00: There's always that river.
SPEAKER_00: Not that it's continuous, but there is another river.
SPEAKER_00: And it's going to be hard.
SPEAKER_00: And you're going to wonder, how do we get over that?
SPEAKER_00: How do we get through this, whatever this is in your life right now?
SPEAKER_00: Waiting is hard.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I need this resolved now.
SPEAKER_00: Let that sink in.
SPEAKER_00: What is it that you need you think you need resolved now?
SPEAKER_00: Is it a diagnosis?
SPEAKER_00: Is it a cure?
SPEAKER_00: Is it financial breakthrough?
SPEAKER_00: Is it family tensions on Mother's Day?
SPEAKER_00: Is it a church going through a big transition?
SPEAKER_00: What is it?
SPEAKER_00: Waiting is not wasted time if you're seeking God.
SPEAKER_00: Waiting is not wasted time if you're seeking God for his leading and his empowering by his Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: However, waiting is not a substitute for taking action when action is required, nor is taking action a substitute for prayerful waiting.
SPEAKER_00: This is just the way it works.
SPEAKER_00: APC has had many divine seasons of waiting over the years, searching for places to worship, seeking a sacred space.
SPEAKER_00: I haven't done the math.
SPEAKER_00: Over 30 years ago, we were desperate for a place to worship.
SPEAKER_00: When we were meeting in a little office building in Old Town Alexandria, and after days of prayer and fasting and after seeking God, he opened up just the right place for this church.
SPEAKER_00: It's on Russell Road, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a place that was just the right place for this church for five years.
SPEAKER_00: And then we needed a new place.
SPEAKER_00: We came to a new river.
SPEAKER_00: And it seemed like a bigger river to me at that time than the last river.
SPEAKER_00: And we prayed and prayed, and we had days of prayer and fasting, and we waited on God, and we looked and worked really hard.
SPEAKER_00: We worked really hard, knocking on a lot of doors.
SPEAKER_00: This is back before the internet.
SPEAKER_00: And God provided a sacred place.
SPEAKER_00: It was called Delray Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, This is the place of worship I'm going to give this congregation for the next 25 years.
SPEAKER_00: But it unfolded chapters at a time.
SPEAKER_00: It kept us on our knees praying.
SPEAKER_00: It kept us waiting.
SPEAKER_00: Good waiting.
SPEAKER_00: And then after 25 years at Delray Baptist Church, there was another river.
SPEAKER_00: Where is the congregation at this point going to go find a building in the city of Alexandria that's going to be large enough to accommodate our present needs and our growing needs as we've seen we have needed?
SPEAKER_00: And then God let us hear.
SPEAKER_00: But we didn't come immediately.
SPEAKER_00: It was about a 10-year period of waiting on God, seeking God, and so much prayer.
SPEAKER_00: We formed what was called a long-term committee that took several years to explore our options.
SPEAKER_00: What would we do?
SPEAKER_00: Would we just start planting other churches?
SPEAKER_00: Would we continue to rent a facility?
SPEAKER_00: We felt committed to the Lord to the city here.
SPEAKER_00: What would we do?
SPEAKER_00: And that committee worked hard.
SPEAKER_00: And this congregation prayed earnestly.
SPEAKER_00: And God said, I've got you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to take you over this nether river.
SPEAKER_00: I'll take you.
SPEAKER_00: And so what a story it was that we're sitting in this space.
SPEAKER_00: This space, this property, less than two acres where you park and where you worship here.
SPEAKER_00: Less than two acres, a property valued almost six million dollars.
SPEAKER_00: We got for six hundred thousand dollars.
SPEAKER_00: But God.
SPEAKER_00: God.
SPEAKER_00: This is a miracle.
SPEAKER_00: This is a miracle that we're sitting here.
SPEAKER_00: God continues to cross over his people when they need to, where they need to, how they need to.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not just for the church, it's for you personally.
SPEAKER_00: It's for you individually.
SPEAKER_00: It's for you as a family.
SPEAKER_00: Are there rivers in your life right now?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Don't rush in.
SPEAKER_00: Don't resort to your own strategies.
SPEAKER_00: Aren't you done with that, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Have you had enough of that?
SPEAKER_00: Just rushing in.
SPEAKER_00: Your strategies, your plans.
SPEAKER_00: Put them down.
SPEAKER_00: Take up his.
SPEAKER_00: But then there's a second point.
SPEAKER_00: I'm actually preaching two sermons quickly, though.
SPEAKER_00: We're still in Joshua 3.
SPEAKER_00: There's a second thing that God told them to do, to consecrate yourselves before you go over that cross.
SPEAKER_00: Consecrate yourselves, chapter 3, verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.
SPEAKER_00: That's a beautiful promise.
SPEAKER_00: For tomorrow, God will do amazing things for you.
SPEAKER_00: But you have to consecrate yourself.
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: It means to set yourself apart, to prepare yourself, to dedicate yourself to God's purpose.
SPEAKER_00: That's what that means.
SPEAKER_00: Are you doing that?
SPEAKER_00: Am I doing that?
SPEAKER_00: Set yourself apart.
SPEAKER_00: Dedicate yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Prepare yourself.
SPEAKER_00: God, ask that we be holy vessels for his use.
SPEAKER_00: And if you ask me, Pastor, are you saying that there are certain things that God does for people who prepare their hearts that he doesn't do for people that don't prepare their hearts?
SPEAKER_00: I will say absolutely yes.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to hear me clearly.
SPEAKER_00: Perfect?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: But consecrate yourself.
SPEAKER_00: We see in chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter 3, verse 2.
SPEAKER_00: At the end of the three days, the officers went through the camp and commanded the people as soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priest, then you shall set out from your place and follow it.
SPEAKER_00: Yet there should be a distance between you about 2,000 cubits.
SPEAKER_00: That's three football fields.
SPEAKER_00: Don't get too close to the ark, it'll kill you.
SPEAKER_00: That's the holiness of God represented.
SPEAKER_00: That's the tabernacle of the presence of God in that ark of the covenant.
SPEAKER_00: The ark is going to go before you.
SPEAKER_00: The priests are going to go before you.
SPEAKER_00: But you consecrate yourselves and you follow.
SPEAKER_00: You follow.
SPEAKER_00: Then Joshua said to the people, Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.
SPEAKER_00: Take up the Ark of the Covenant.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 7, the Lord said to Joshua, Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that you, as I was with Moses, I am going to be with you, Joshua.
SPEAKER_00: And as for you, command the priest who bear the Ark of the Covenant.
SPEAKER_00: When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.
SPEAKER_00: And Joshua said to the people of Israel, Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.
SPEAKER_00: Consecrate yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Third point, chapter three.
SPEAKER_00: The crossing over.
SPEAKER_00: The priest stepped into the river first.
SPEAKER_00: Leaders, leaders lead.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: That's just the way it is in life.
SPEAKER_00: Leaders have to lead.
SPEAKER_00: We spend a lot of time in this church talking about how our leaders lead.
SPEAKER_00: We talk about that a lot, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: From the pulpit in the classroom.
SPEAKER_00: Prayerfully, humbly, collaboratively.
SPEAKER_00: That's how leaders lead.
SPEAKER_00: They lead by a life of faith and repentance.
SPEAKER_00: They lead by searching their own hearts first.
SPEAKER_00: They lead by asking God to transform our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: And when leaders ask God to transform their hearts, God has a way of transforming the hearts of those who follow.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I've noticed.
SPEAKER_00: But you have to take the step into the river.
SPEAKER_00: You can't stay frozen out of fear.
SPEAKER_00: You got to move.
SPEAKER_00: You got to step out in faith.
SPEAKER_00: APC has had so many crossings.
SPEAKER_00: We have to take the step at the right time by faith.
SPEAKER_00: Many occasions where we've had to wait, consecrate ourselves, and by faith step out.
SPEAKER_00: I want to say the last thing before we drop over to chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: This is this.
SPEAKER_00: But none of these are the greatest crossings.
SPEAKER_00: What's the greatest crossing over?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus tells us in John chapter 5, verse 24.
SPEAKER_00: But when you believe the word of God, when you take Jesus into your heart by faith, when you become saved, when you become a Christian, at that moment you cross over from death to life.
SPEAKER_00: That's the biggest crossing over there is of all.
SPEAKER_00: Have you crossed over?
SPEAKER_00: Have you yet crossed over from spiritual death to spiritual life by putting your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone?
SPEAKER_00: That's the biggest crossing over.
SPEAKER_00: All the other crossingovers don't matter much by comparison until you do that.
SPEAKER_00: You ready for chapter four?
SPEAKER_00: We're moving quickly.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: I want to focus on the last paragraph printed in your bulletin.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a city with many memorials, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: What's your favorite?
SPEAKER_00: People travel great distances to come to see the World War II memorial, to see the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial.
SPEAKER_00: We have so many great ones.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We probably had, I don't know, the greatest ones in the world.
SPEAKER_00: Just a few miles from here.
SPEAKER_00: How many times have Cher and I had gotten a car, just drive a few miles and just get out and walk around these beautiful memorials?
SPEAKER_00: What's a memorial for?
SPEAKER_00: To remember to honor the memory of a person or an event.
SPEAKER_00: That is what a memorial is.
SPEAKER_00: So we don't forget.
SPEAKER_00: So we don't forget as a nation the many people that gave their lives that we could enjoy our freedom in this country.
SPEAKER_00: But that we don't forget that the Son of God gave the greatest sacrifice of all.
SPEAKER_00: That we don't forget.
SPEAKER_00: And so Joshua, on the Lord's instructions, the Lord said to Joshua, you tell this priest, when they stepped their feet in the water, and the priest always went first.
SPEAKER_00: What happened when they put their feet in the river?
SPEAKER_00: The river stopped flowing.
SPEAKER_00: It walled up on both sides.
SPEAKER_00: A miracle.
SPEAKER_00: And then they carry the ark of the covenant.
SPEAKER_00: God always goes before his people, with his people, and yes, behind his people to protect.
SPEAKER_00: And Joshua says to the, I want one man from each tribe of the twelve tribes.
SPEAKER_00: Probably had to be a strong guy because he had to pick up a big stone from the riverbed, the dry riverbed.
SPEAKER_00: He had to pick up that stone and carry it.
SPEAKER_00: And initially they put together a monument in the river bed itself, but that monument ended up on the other side of the river as a place where people would see and remember what God did.
SPEAKER_00: Twelve large stones carried out of the Jordan Riverbed, placed on the other side at Gilgal.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know what the word Gilgal means?
SPEAKER_00: The Lord has removed our reproach.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot in that.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have time, but the Lord has removed my reproach.
SPEAKER_00: My shame, my guilt, my mess.
SPEAKER_00: Don't forget that.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord has removed it at the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And Joshua says to the people on instructions from God, take those twelve stones, put them together, make them a monument at Gilgal, so that generations down the road they will come and they will say to dad and mom, What do these stones mean?
SPEAKER_00: Why are they here?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you have those signs that are monuments down the road in DC.
SPEAKER_00: You can get the history.
SPEAKER_00: But there always needs to be an explanation to the meaning.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let the kids try to figure it out for themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Can I say that on Mother's Day?
SPEAKER_00: Don't leave it to your kids to figure this out on their own.
SPEAKER_00: You tell them.
SPEAKER_00: You tell them what God has done for you.
SPEAKER_00: You tell them the stories in your life.
SPEAKER_00: You tell them the stories of the ways that God showed up for you and did what only God could have done for your family, for you personally, or for your church.
SPEAKER_00: You tell them.
SPEAKER_00: Don't keep your mouth shut.
SPEAKER_00: God has done something great.
SPEAKER_00: Dan Allender, the Christian counselor, says, faith grows as we name the moments.
SPEAKER_00: Faith grows as we name the moments in which God appears in our life and rescues us.
SPEAKER_00: And then we gain a sense of the meaning of those moments for the rest of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Memory is the key to faith.
SPEAKER_00: I think he's right.
SPEAKER_00: Memory, remembering what God has done, is the key to faith.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let it just kind of slip away.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, that was great that he did that.
SPEAKER_00: Remember.
SPEAKER_00: Memorialize.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he says to do.
SPEAKER_00: God has done something great.
SPEAKER_00: So, in closing, just two points.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord alone is your deliverer.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord alone is your provider.
SPEAKER_00: For 40 years, God provided for the Israelites, the manna, the quail.
SPEAKER_00: God led them by the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
SPEAKER_00: These stones are for future generations.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to hear that.
SPEAKER_00: These stones are not just for you, they are for future generations.
SPEAKER_00: These are the stories that you're going to tell your children, and these are the stories that you're going to tell your grandchildren, but make sure you tell them.
SPEAKER_00: I was there.
SPEAKER_00: I saw what God did.
SPEAKER_00: Tell the story.
SPEAKER_00: Tell your kids, tell your grandkids.
SPEAKER_00: I heard from I wasn't there because very few of you were here through some of these crossing overs in our church, but I've talked to people that were there.
SPEAKER_00: And I know it's true.
SPEAKER_00: Exodus chapter 16, verse 32 and 33, after the Israelites were grumbling in the wilderness at that time.
SPEAKER_00: This is before this.
SPEAKER_00: God says, and God, you remember they were grumbling, they didn't like the food, and God sent them manna, and they were grumbling and they were complaining, and they were more focused on what they didn't have than what they did have.
SPEAKER_00: And God had to discipline them.
SPEAKER_00: That's part of it.
SPEAKER_00: If we don't listen.
SPEAKER_00: If we don't listen, He knows how to discipline us.
SPEAKER_00: He knows how to get our attention.
SPEAKER_00: He said to them, and I love this phrase, and some of you might remember this from years past.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I want you to take an omer of manna, a small piece of manna that fell that morning in the desert.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to take that, and I want you to get a jar, put it in a jar to preserve it.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to put that in the Holy of Holies later on when the temple is built.
SPEAKER_00: Get a jar.
SPEAKER_00: Do you have a jar?
SPEAKER_00: Do you have some way to record the great deliverances of God in your life?
SPEAKER_00: It seems that more often than not, when somebody comes into my office for the first time, they comment on all my stones.
SPEAKER_00: What are all the stones for?
SPEAKER_00: Well, they come from the bottom of Lake George.
SPEAKER_00: That's our go-to special place.
SPEAKER_00: In the beautiful Adirondack Mountains in a gorgeous river.
SPEAKER_00: They come from the riverbed of the Lake George where it's spring-fed.
SPEAKER_00: Beautiful, beautiful lake.
SPEAKER_00: And my grandsons, my grandsons have pulled them out of the bottom of the lake for me.
SPEAKER_00: It's good to have strong grandsons.
SPEAKER_00: And they say, Poppy, will this be a good one this year?
SPEAKER_00: Gotta look it over.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a good one.
SPEAKER_00: Let's take that one back home.
SPEAKER_00: And every one of those stones in my office has a has a little tape on it with a name.
SPEAKER_00: Every one is a specific answer to a specific huge river in my life or in this church's life.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to forget.
SPEAKER_00: Let's not forget.
SPEAKER_00: So we don't forget that He has provided for us.
SPEAKER_00: In the future, when your children ask you, how did you cross that river?
SPEAKER_00: You're going to have something to say.
SPEAKER_00: May we all have stories to tell about our great God.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever the river may be.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, the big the maybe the biggest one is, how did you get saved?
SPEAKER_00: Have you told your kids that?
SPEAKER_00: Do your kids know your salvation story?
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to take a moment to pause.
SPEAKER_00: Do your kids know your story of how Jesus saved you from your sin?
SPEAKER_00: They should.
SPEAKER_00: There's no bigger story to tell.
SPEAKER_00: It may be a church journey.
SPEAKER_00: It may be a health crisis that God delivered you from.
SPEAKER_00: It may be something spiritual, emotional, physical danger that God delivered you from.
SPEAKER_00: So that you will know that only God, only God.
SPEAKER_00: You know, as I've been reflecting on this sermon, prepping for this, I was thinking, this is stunning to me.
SPEAKER_00: In the city, in a big metropolitan area like Washington, D.C.
SPEAKER_00: and even Alexandria City, the three most precious places of worship are all one mile apart.
SPEAKER_00: I find that really strange but encouraging.
SPEAKER_00: We have had offers to take this church other places.
SPEAKER_00: We could have moved to Arlington.
SPEAKER_00: No, this is God called us to be Alexandria Presbyterian Church.
SPEAKER_00: That just stuns me.
SPEAKER_00: God says, I'm gonna I've got you.
SPEAKER_00: And I I remember the time thinking, where, God?
SPEAKER_00: Nobody's got space for this.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Oh yeah, we do, I do.
SPEAKER_00: Get a jar.
SPEAKER_00: So what's your jar?
SPEAKER_00: Do you do you do you have a journal?
SPEAKER_00: Do you have a journal?
SPEAKER_00: Do you write it down?
SPEAKER_00: Do you take pictures?
SPEAKER_00: By the way, down that hallway on this level, that's our little memorial.
SPEAKER_00: You see five different church buildings that God provided, sacred spaces.
SPEAKER_00: That's part of it for us.
SPEAKER_00: Our stories of remembrance.
SPEAKER_00: Sharpie party.
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand if you were at the Sharpie party.
SPEAKER_00: Keep them up for a minute.
SPEAKER_00: The rest of you are saying, What, what, what?
SPEAKER_00: When this church was being built before the drywall was put up, many of us came with our sharpies and just wrote promises of God.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know how many promises of God are right behind those walls right there.
SPEAKER_00: Just praying God's promises.
SPEAKER_00: Prayers that people prayed.
SPEAKER_00: All over this building there are there are written statements and promises from God's Word.
SPEAKER_00: God, would you continue to go with us?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: And the last point is in the last verse 24.
SPEAKER_00: Do this, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God.
SPEAKER_00: So that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord our God is mighty.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me, memorials are missional.
SPEAKER_00: This is not just for us.
SPEAKER_00: This is for the people of Alexandria in Washington, D.C.
SPEAKER_00: and beyond.
SPEAKER_00: You see that?
SPEAKER_00: Memorials are intended to be missional, not just kept to ourselves, although that's great for us.
SPEAKER_00: But no.
SPEAKER_00: Let the city know that I am a great God and let them see what I can do.
SPEAKER_00: I am the God who can forgive their sin.
SPEAKER_00: I am a God who can show them compassion and mercy.
SPEAKER_00: I am the God who can do all these things.
SPEAKER_00: You put your memorials up and you point them to what Jesus Christ has done.
SPEAKER_00: It's not for our glory, it's for his.
SPEAKER_00: It's missional.
SPEAKER_00: The point, they point to the mercy and the might of the one true God.
SPEAKER_00: And yes, they do point our children.
SPEAKER_00: Mother's Day.
SPEAKER_00: The memorials in your life are intended to point your children and your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren to how beautiful our God is.
SPEAKER_00: How faithful our God is.
SPEAKER_00: How mighty our God is.
SPEAKER_00: We have a solid rock.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, please, please accept our thanks and our praise this morning.
SPEAKER_00: You have been so good to us.
SPEAKER_00: You have done so much for us.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you for the greatest crossing over of all that Jesus, you crossed over.
SPEAKER_00: You took the floods of God's wrath upon yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, you took the fury of God's wrath for our sin.
SPEAKER_00: And you swallowed it.
SPEAKER_00: You took it into your chest.
SPEAKER_00: You were crucified on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: That you were raised from the dead on the third day, proving that not only are you alive, but you would make us alive in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, show us what to do with this sermon.
SPEAKER_00: Show us what to do with the memorials of our life.
SPEAKER_00: That our children may know when they ask what kind of God you are.
SPEAKER_00: This we ask in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.