October 17, 2021 - INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE HEART
By Pastor Israel La Guardia
“Remember and Never Forget”
It’s CEAC 32nd Year Anniversary today! Yes, we all praise the Lord for how He has sustained us by his immeasurable grace. We are what we are and we are where we are now and will be, all because of His great love, grace and mercy.
In our celebration today, I would like us to reflect on Psalm 78:1-72. This is a historical psalm. It is the recounting of events from Israel’s past that show how God persevered with his people, even when they disbelieved—while at the same time he cleansed his people by purging them of the unbelievers along the way. The psalm has selected events primarily from the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, and Samuel, ending with the reign of David.
The psalm is clear about its purpose and it is to recount these events in song so that future generations of God’s people might take the lessons to heart, particularly that they not be unbelieving and rebellious like the generations described here. The emphasis is on the people as a whole and the members’ obligation to embrace the covenant faithfully in each generation. Terms for “remember” and “forget” run through the psalm (Ps. 78:7, 11, 35, 42; cf. v. 39, where God remembers): the psalmist hopes that those who sing this will never again forget. (ESV SB)
CEAC’s past reminds us that we never have been at any point a perfect church. Sure enough there is so much to celebrate with all the ministry milestones and accomplishments and also so much to learn from our past challenges, mistakes and failures. Just like the people of God described in Psalm 78, the song reminded them to always “remember and never forget” who God is and what He has done for them, so that they don’t turn out to be unbelieving and rebellious and unfaithful to the covenant between God and them.
So we will remember and never forget that CEAC is God’s church, that He has called us to be the Body of Christ, that He has called us to love Him and in unity we are to love and serve one another and as His church we are to reach out to serve our community and beyond, as we continue to live out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, where Jesus is central to everything that we are and in everything that we do.
As we move forward and being reminded of Psalm 78, we need to remember and never forget to pass on the the next generations on how to;
set their hope in God and
not forget the works of God and
keep His commandments.
Psalms 78:5-7 (ESV)
“5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God,
butkeep his commandments;”