The Cost of Freedom - Memorial Day 2025

0:00 Intro
1:44 Joke
2:53 Worship
8:12 Announcements
14:03 Pledge of Allegiance
16:40 Worship Continued
28:53 Message
1:00:50 Reading of Names
1:08:26 Communion
1:15:45 Closing Worship

Fun Fact: The first Memorial Day was on May 30th, 1868. It used to be known as Decoration Day and it honored fallen Union soldiers. It is a day when we remember the service and sacrifice of our military forces. These men and women are charged with defending and preserving the freedoms we enjoy in this country. Some have laid down their lives for this cause and we thank them.

Our history should remind us that freedom isn’t free. There is always a cost. There’s an analogy between the sacrifice of our military to preserve our freedom and Jesus Christ. Jesus went to the cross to make the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our eternal and spiritual freedom. He gave us the ability to live free of sin.

We can’t forget the history of our country, from the Declaration of Independence, to the War of 1812, to the Civil War, the World Wars, all the way to today. The more we study history, the more we see it and the more we can appreciate the hand of God working through it.

Otherwise, we start to think that we don’t need God and we start to drift. God’s truth is an anchor and history is the record of where we have been and what God has done for us. In order to return to where God wants us to be, we need to repent and admit that His way is best. So much of what needs to change around us has to change within us first.

Through Christ’s ultimately sacrifice, we have access to the power that can change our hearts and change the world around us. Jesus won the war against sin. When we are right with God, and walking in what God would have us do, there is a ripple effect that changes everything. Jesus forgives sins and gives us eternal life, which is the ultimate freedom. Let’s never forget that.