Today New Hope Oahu is celebrating it 9^th Anniversary! We’ve been given the opportunity to remember the miracles that the Lord has done since our first meeting. We’ve witnessed thousands of salvations and hearts touched by Jesus. We’ve witnessed lives transformed and healed by the power of God’s love. So God has given us this capacity to remember and provided days of ‘remembrance’ for us to stop and look back at all He’s done.

 

Throughout the Old Testament God tells the Israelites to remember. He delivered them out of slavery in Egypt by working many miracles. Then He moved them into a new land that would be strange to them. So God knew that they would need reflect back and remember just how He delivered them from bondage because...

 

 

1.     WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED GIVES CONFIDENCE FOR OUR FUTURE.

 

God is a loving Father who sets us up for success. He knew the challenges the Israelites would face in this new land for which they would need extraordinary faith. And just as He did with the Israelites, God tells us we need to recall what He’s done for us in the past in order for us to unknown futures with faith and confidence. Even a shepherd boy named David understood this as a youth.

 

Recall when the Philistines were at war with the Israelites? Israel’s armies including King Saul were paralyzed with terror by the giant Goliath. Not David! He responded quite differently than the rest of Israel. Though untrained in the ways of battle, David still offered to accept the challenge of this giant Philistine.

 

“Then Saul said to David, ‘You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.’ David said, ‘The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’ And Saul said to David, ‘Go, and may the LORD be with you’”

 (1 Samuel 17:33,37).

 

Remembering that God delivered him from the lion and the bear gave young David confidence to fight the giant. We know the outcome of David’s confidence. The giant was slain by a single stone. And eventually David became King of Israel. Then as King he had an opportunity to trust in the strength of his army or authority. But what does King David do?

 

He writes “I shall remember the deeds of the Lord...I will meditate on all Your work and muse on Your deeds... What god is great like our God?” (Ps.77:11-13). Even as a king, remembering gave David confidence. David knew his confidence was in God and not his own ability and strength.

 

The same is true for us here at New Hope as we celebrate all that the Lord has done through and for us over the past 9 years. We must remember our humble beginnings. We must remember the heart with which we served Jesus when we were small! We’ve developed many wonderful programs and missions. And many of these programs and missions have touched lives for Jesus. But it wasn’t the program, strategy, or mission that touched people with the love of Jesus. It was the heart of love behind the service. This is what we must always remember and correct back to. We cannot rely on our own strength.

 

Sometimes if when we remember we become discouraged or despaired, it’s possible that we are remembering the ‘wrong things’. So Paul directs us, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things...practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil.4:8-9).

 

What Paul is telling us is to focus on the person of Jesus in our situations and not on the situation! If we are to know God’s peace then our minds must ‘dwell’ on the person of Jesus remembering all He’s done for us. 

 

In the Cordiero family we have ‘stories’ that we remember together. Stories that tell of God’s provision and faithfulness to us. One we particularly enjoy is telling how God used our cat to bring home an expensive but ‘lost’ retainer that belonged to my son, Aaron! If God can use a cat to do a miracle, then God can do anything!!!

 

Q1: God loves and cares for each one of us. In each of our lives He has worked miraculously. Can you remember several occasions when you KNEW that God did something spectacular just for you?

 

God tells us to remember all that He’s done in order to build our faith for the future. Yet, because of the busy pace of our lives it’s so easy to become distracted. So, is there something that we can do? Yes! We can begin to…

 

·        BUILD GODLY TRADITIONS.

 

We live in a society that believes traditions are almost obsolete. Our society is so transient. Yet for many centuries traditions have been an integral part of cultures and families. In families, traditions provide children with a sense of ‘connection’ to something bigger than themselves.

 

Centuries ago when the Israelites were crossing over the Jordan River into the Promised Land, God commanded them to build altars at places of significance. Places where God showed Himself in miraculous ways to His people. God had a purpose for those stones. He told the generation of Israelites crossing the Jordan, “...when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them...” (Josh.4:6-7).

 

Those stones provided an opportunity for each generation to share a testimony of God’s faithfulness. They were delivered from Egypt by God’s power and entered the Promised Land by His power. God didn’t want them to ever forget that. This tradition of building altars was significant. It provided opportunity for elders to tell the younger generation what God had done.

 

Q2: Can you think of any family traditions that were meaningful to you as a child? Are there any traditions that are significant to you today? What is the purpose of those traditions?

 

Along with the many traditions the Israelites kept, the Lord also commanded the people to wear ‘tassels’. These were knotted pieces of fabric that hung from the Israelite’s clothing. What was the purpose of this? These were daily reminders.

 

·        TASSELS THAT POINT PEOPLE TO GOD.

 

“Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations...It shall be for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD...”(Num.15:38-39).

 

Again, God called the Israelites to remember! Are there any parallels in our time to these tassels and the daily reminders of God’s character and commandments? 

 

In our home we have Scripture plaques on many walls. This helps me when I get annoyed at home to remember God’s presence! Of especial help to me is our car’s bumper sticker. It reminds me that I represent Jesus when I’m frustrated in traffic and have a stirring of road rage. We want all of these traditions and tassels to serve an opportunity to remind us of who God is and what He has done.

 

But more than that, we hope they provide an opportunity for us to point others to a relationship with Jesus. These reminders are important because another generation is following us. And it is vital that each of us

 

·        DEVELOP A FIRST GENERATION FAITH WITH GOD.

 

Again, remember the Israelites who wandered in the desert for 40 years after they left Egypt on the way to the Promised Land. “All from that generation were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know...the work which He had done for Israel” (Judg.2:10).

 

It is God’s plan that each generation develop a personal relationship with Him. Remember, God is a FATHER not a grandfather! God has CHILDREN, not grandchildren! Reminders must give faith for the future not just good feelings about the past.

 

So the reason we tell our children what God did for us is to spur them on to discover their own first generation faith with God. We let them know what God wants to do for them! Our children cannot defeat their Goliaths by leaning on our faith. They need to discover who God is for themselves if they are to experience all that He as planned just for them. As we share our own testimony of what God has done for us, we direct them the Source of our faith so that they can enter into their own relationship with God, the Father.