Dave spoke this morning from Joshua 4:1-7. He reminded us that children have many endearing qualities, but one of the hardest things as a parent is being able to answer their difficult questions (‘how high is up?’, ‘how far is there?‘) Children are naturally inquisitive – and rightly so! Joshua made provision for such questions by commanding each tribe to take a stone from the River Jordan to set up a memorial on the other side of the Jordan, so that when their children asked the meaning of these memorial stones, the people could take that opportunity to teach the next generation of the awesome things God had done for His people in making the river part so they could cross over.

Today is Remembrance Sunday, and 100 years since the signing of the Armistice which ended the First Wolrd War. As we have learned again about the horrors of that war (including the Battle of the Somme, the Battle at Ypres, the Battle of Passchendaele) in recent times, we remember those who sacrificed their lives for us and the survivors who suffered emotional and physical trauma from their experiences. In most towns, we have war memorials and there will be many services held around these today. A memorial acts as a sign to remind us of what has gone before, and Rom 6:3-7 reminds us of the new life purchased for each one of us through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Death now no longer has any claim over Him and as a result, we can become new creations (2 Cor 5:17), free from the power of sn. We have been crucified with Christ and His life now lives in us. (Gal 2:20)

Jesus gave His disciples their own memorial: Holy Communion. Every time we take the bread and wine, we remember what Jesus has done for us. It is our privilege and duty to pass on this memorial to the next generations, teaching our children out of our own experience of the awesome things Jesus has done for us. We must never forget to remember the sacrifice Jesus has made for us, by which we are reconciled to God, and to ensure we teach the next generation why we do this.