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[ Silence ] >> Focusing our attention on that first verse of the eighth chapter of Genesis, "God remembered Noah." The subject of the message, "Forget Me Not."

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There is a flower which grows on all of the continents I believe practically. It's known as "Forget Me Not." According to legend, the flower received its name from the last words of a gallant knight, this courageous warrior was drowned in a vain effort to pluck the flower for his lady. Because of his thoughtfulness and devotion as well as his sacrifice, all of

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these are remembered in the name given the flower, "Forget Me Not." There's something Something within us that cries out to be remembered. We want to be remembered. There's nothing so devastating, so shocking as to be forgotten.

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Most of us are aware of that. From time to time when we are in the presence of someone that we know we need to remember and we don't quite remember them, we'll get close to someone who knows them and say, "Now, who is that?" So that when you get there, you will be able to call their name and show them that you remember.

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Because there's something painful about being forgotten. I think all of us here, husbands particularly, can know something or anticipate something of the pain involved in forgetting your wife's birthday or her anniversary or your, any special event, wedding anniversary and so on. And to forget a person, not to remember,

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is often viewed as an insult and a humiliating experience. Special days on the calendar call us to remember. During this particular time, Texas remembers as we celebrate 150 years of our state's history.

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We remember how we came to be as a state. We remember those who contributed to our being where we are today. Memory often inspires and motivates us

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in the achievement of desirable goals. The struggle for independence. The battle cry was made, "Remember the Alamo. Remember Goliad."

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This is a part of our yesterday as a state. Memorial Day is a time when we are called to remember. To remember the heroes and herons of our nation's history. It's a time when graves are decorated with flowers.

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It's a time when attention is focused on servicemen and veterans. They speak to us in dedication, in sacrifice, saying, "Forget me not." To remember is to be alert, is to be aware. I heard a friend speaking of a lady who was in her 80s,

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and one of the things he pointed out that not only was she seemingly full of energy, but he talked about her power of recall, that she could recall things that happened

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many, many years ago as if they happened just a few moments ago, her ability to remember. And that's something that oft times we begin to lose with age. We can't remember like we used to.

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When I worked on this message, I had a problem after having written it, I had a problem of remembering where I put it. remember is very important. And there is a danger in forgetting. We are able many times, as Freud talks about the conscious, the unconscious, and the conscience. And the

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unconscious is that dark part of the brain that sometimes things get down there and it may go from the conscious into the unconscious and many times you know it's there but you have a hard time trying to fish it out and finally after you think and ponder for a while it comes forth. As I said earlier there's a

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danger in forgetting. We may forget that which is essential to our well-being. We We may forget to take our medicine or we may forget a certain engagement and sometimes this forgetting has a detrimental effect. Children of Israel were constantly warned of the danger of forgetting.

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It is said to them, "Now when you get into the great cities of that land and you have houses that you did not build, wells that you did not dig, vineyards that you did not plant, beware. Beware lest you forget. Lest you forget. Lest you forget the God who brought you out of Egypt. Beware lest you forget that you would not have

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these things had it not been that you were delivered by God from cruel bondage. Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem that is remembered, the recessional which he says, "The shouting and the tumult dies,

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the captains and the kings depart, still stands that ancient sacrifice, a broken and a contrite heart, lest we forget, lest we forget, lest we forget."

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So on and on through the scriptures, The Hebrew people are reminded to beware of forgetting. The admonition comes, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not, forget not.

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Forget not all his benefits. The New Testament picks up the refrain in the letter of Hebrews, the admonition is, to do good and to communicate, forget not, forget not.

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There is a penalty for forgetting. If we forget to pay our accounts on a certain date, there is an additional fee. One of the wonderful things that we have in this life is the gift of memory. There's an advantage in remembering. It's said that an elephant doesn't forget. Memory is a special gift. It's a precious possession to be able to remember. We can

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stroll down memory lane, go back across the years, relive past experiences in the present. So Noah here is able to recall the mighty acts of God in his personal experience. He remembers when God spoke to him saying, "Noah, build an ark of gopher wood. Build an ark for the salvation of your household." He obeyed the commandment of the Lord. He built an

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ark. He made it according to the divine blueprint. He followed God's specifications. And he remembers how people around him ridiculed him. "Noah, Man you're crazy. Building this huge boat on dry land. What you gonna do with this? What you're doing is not only impractical it's absurd. Noah remembers

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the prophetic word it's gonna rain Noah. It's gonna rain. Prepare for rain. He remembers how it rained 40 days and 40 nights without stopping. And all of us remember when it rains like that. When we have an unusual rain not only is it news but we become concerned about how long it's going to last. Sometimes we

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pray for it and when we get a great deal of it we wonder about well this is enough Lord stop right now we don't need this much. And so it rains and we can remember when it rains in our lives if you've had it to rain in your life you can remember that and when it has rained for a long long period of time you

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certainly can remember that. So this is a record 40 days, 40 nights without stopping. When we've had to contend with the waters of destruction, not only when it has rained but when the flood has come and when the flood beats against our dwelling place, we remember it. We have to contend with the afflictions of

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human existence, we remember that. To remember, I say, is to be alert, is to be aware, is to be conscious of something, and as we remember, we remember all of these experiences. Here it is, 40 days, 40 nights, the waters remain even after the rain for some 150 days, the waters are covering everything. Certainly Noah remembers that. And all of us remember the catastrophes

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and the calamities that occur in our lives. We can testify time and time again about the agony of loneliness. Can you, can you, can you, can you imagine how Noah must have felt in that hour? All of the acquaintances that he had outside his family are gone. All of the old familiar sights are gone. It has rained constantly for 40

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days and nights and even after the rain he's out here still in his boat for 150 days and sometimes in an experience like that you wonder whether you're remembered by anybody. It's It's a lonely experience. You know what?

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Most of the things that occur, the difficulties we have in our lives, the rain that comes, the floods that beat against us, when we're in the midst of those, it's a rather lonely experience. A lonely experience.

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So Noah remembers the agony of loneliness. He's heard God say, "Now build an ark and make it possible for the salvation of your family and all of the animals, a pair that we want you to put into the ark," all of that. But now all this time has come and all the rain has come and he wonders whether or not

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he's forgotten. He's forgotten. That's an experience we have when sorrow comes into our lives. When sorrow comes, pain of sorrow.

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And the loneliness that comes in the midst of that experience, we wonder. In the midst of our disappointments, we wonder. We wonder. No doubt Noah wonders how he's going to make it.

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The loved one is removed. We wonder how we're going to make it. How are we going to adjust? the way is already provided, nor make an arc. In other words, have a dwelling

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place, have an arc, have that inner strength that will enable you to cope in the midst of all of the adversities of life. An arc. You need an arc. The disappointments are gonna come. It's gonna rain. It's really gonna rain. And sometimes it rains and rains and rains and we wonder if it'll ever stop when we

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have a disappointment one after the other, but build an ark, build an ark, build a place of safety and strength in the midst of all of the rain that may come. Build an ark, build an ark, build an ark of faith, confidence. Build an ark of hope in the midst of all of the despair of our time.

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Build an ark, build an ark. Some people will tell you you're foolish if you build an arc of hope and confidence in the midst of all of the despair of our day. But build an arc.

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There's so much hatred, there are many who will say get ahead, but build an arc of love in the midst of all of the hostility of our time. Build an arc of love. Some will say you're foolish really to love people.

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But Noah built an ark. Built an ark. I have a feeling that possibly out there he's saying, "Lord, there's nobody left but me." he looks up and he hasn't heard from heaven in quite some time. And the Bible

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gives a word of redemption and hope. It says here, "And God remembered Noah." Noah Noah was not forgotten. And God remembered Noah. That's a good word.

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Because you see, the name Noah really means one to whom God brings relief. You know, we sing a song, I'm so glad troubles don't last always.

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And even though it rains, that God brings relief. that God remembers Noah. In spite of everything that may happen, in spite of all of the contradictions of human history, God remembers Noah. Brings relief

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when we follow God's commands no matter how difficult it may be, no matter how painful, God brings relief. God remembers Noah. Doesn't rain forever. Floods don't come forever and remain forever. God has control. God remembers Noah and he brings relief. And Noah said, "No, no, Lord, I hear what you're saying, but how will I know? How will I know?" God puts a rainbow in the sky.

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Yes, yes. Noah hears a sign. It's above. It's high enough for everybody to see. Nobody can take it away from you.

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There's a rainbow in the sky. At the end of the rain, Noah looks up and he sees a sign of hope. God remembers. And that's a good word, I say.

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God remembers Noah. Because we live in a world where we are concerned about whether or not we're going to be remembered. Whether or not we're going to be remembered. And you know the truth of the matter is

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that when most of us are gone in a few years there may not be much record of us having been here. In just a few years. That's not a comforting thought. But that's the way it is with man.

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Many of us don't even know who was here 111 years ago And yet we stand on their shoulders in this church What we have and what we are able to do it because there are unnamed servants of God who suffered here

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and We don't have their names, but they were here But God remembers that's good news that God remembers Even though my name may not go down in the history books, God remembers. God remembers Noah.

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Which means that while I'm just a passing creature here on earth that I can hook up with God and He remembers. He remembers. Many things that you do people easily forget. But God remembers Noah.

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The Prophet Samuel is told by God to go to the house of Jesse and to anoint one of his sons as the king of Israel. Samuel obeys God, he goes and seven of Jesse's sons are paraded before the Prophet to see if this one is the one that is to be the next king. and the Spirit tells him no this is not the one. Each time this is not the one seven of them come and so that's it. Jesse said that's it that's it Samuel.

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Samuel said wait wait wait Jesse don't you have another son? Oh yeah yeah yeah I do have another son. Yeah David but he's just a lad. God remembers David. He said "Well I'm gonna sit down until he comes." And so David is brought in and the Spirit says to Samuel, "Now that's the one." You see God remembers. David has somehow

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been forgotten, but God remembers. God remembers. God relieves. God redeems. God releases. God remembers. God remembers. Jesus is born in a humble town of Bethlehem. He's born out there in a lowly stable shed out there with the cattle. They are there in the end. They're celebrating and all of that and many of

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them are engaged in the celebrations at Herod's Court. But God remembers what happens out there in that stable and and he dispatches the angelic choir to sing about it on the Judean hills and he has a star in the heavens to lead wise men on the journey to the manger. God remembers, God remembers, God remembers.

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There is a thief on the cross. There is one in the middle, the innocent one, the blessed Son of God. He's dying. He's being mistreated. He's dying for the sins of the world. And both of them make fun of him. And while they're dying, one of them cried out, "Lord, when you come into your kingdom, remember me." And Jesus, while he's dying,

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He says, "Stop death, wait a minute, hold off, hold off. I've got work to do." And Jesus remembers that dying thief. He said, "I'm going to take you on up to the Father myself. I'm going to take you home with me." You see, God remembers. No matter what may be the condition or circumstance, God remembers. God remembers. He remembers that we are dust. He remembers that we are weak. He remembers that somehow we are doing the best we can when others may not understand.

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God remembers. God remembers. Noah, and he gives him a word of hope. And that's good news for those of us today because sometimes we just feel like we're just no more than a raindrop in the ocean. But God remembers and because he remembers that is our hope and that is our redemption and I see

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them. I see them as they come to that final scene in the judgment and they're together there. Jesus paints that picture in the 25th chapter of Saint Matthew. God remembers. They seem to have been doing things that they had forgotten. They had done it, they had forgotten about it. "Lord, what did we do?" She said, "I want you to go to

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the right hand. To my right hand. I want you to inherit the salvation that has been stored up for you since the foundation of the world. Well, what did we do? Well, when I was sick you visited me. When I was in prison you came to see me. When I was naked you gave me clothes and when I was without food, when I was hungry you

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fed me. God remembers. Thanks be to God that he does remember that that gives us hope, that gives us satisfaction, that each one of us is remembered of God, that we are precious in his sight. That's good news. That's good news. And as we extend the invitation we invite you to come to accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life

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to give your life to that one who forgets not. He remembers. As he remembers Noah, he remembers each one of us. We invite you to come, the door is open. I invite you to come this morning.

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[music] When on the cross of Calvary the Lord was crucified

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the mob stood round about him and mocked him till he died. Two thieves were nailed beside him

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to share the agony. But one of them cried out to him, ♪ Oh Lord, remember me ♪ ♪ Will the Lord remember me ♪

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♪ When I am called to go ♪ ♪ When I have crossed that chilly sea ♪ ♪ Will he his love assure ♪ ♪ Oh yes, he heard my feeble cries ♪

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♪ From bondage set me free ♪ ♪ And when I reach the pearly gates ♪ ♪ He will remember me ♪ ♪ Oh what a shame to kill him ♪

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♪ We're on the running road ♪ ♪ By such a death our freedom ♪ ♪ To rescue all the lost ♪ ♪ In battle's hail of ransom ♪

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♪ To save the countless we ♪ ♪ I know that I am free ♪ ♪ In Him I live ♪ ♪ He alone I will be ♪

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♪ With I am all in one ♪ ♪ With I am all in one ♪ ♪ He will be his promised soul ♪ ♪ Let me hurt behind my feet ♪

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♪ No more wrong, no more wrong ♪ ♪ His hand will heal ♪ ♪ I will, I will, I will ♪ ♪ No more hurt behind my feet ♪

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♪ He will, he will, he will ♪ ♪ I'll be there ♪ ♪ As he is, may we are with him ♪ ♪ My sins I now confess ♪

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♪ My body deeply crippled ♪ ♪ My soul is truly bled ♪ ♪ I'm flying behind these oars ♪ ♪ So that the higher I steer ♪

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♪ I feel I reach the world in grace ♪ ♪ It will begin for me ♪ ♪ It will, oh, it will begin for me ♪ ♪ And I am calling you home ♪

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♪ In the heart of the mountains ♪ ♪ There lives a king ♪ ♪ With a king and forbearers strong ♪ ♪ Let me, let me, let my people ♪

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♪ Love and adore his heavenly king ♪ ♪ One day I'll reach the shining day ♪ ♪ He will remember me ♪ ♪ This is the moment for the Lord to remember me ♪

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♪ When I am called to go ♪ ♪ When I am called to go ♪ ♪ We'll meet again, Mother, so ♪ ♪ Never, never, never be over ♪

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♪ Come on, will you set me free ♪ ♪ I'll carry my ring on her knee ♪ ♪ She will remember me ♪ [MUSIC]

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♪ Oh, when I have lost my sleep ♪ ♪ Will these wilder shores ♪ ♪ Just keep on burning ♪ ♪ And my people will rise ♪

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♪ From all this dark and made frail ♪ ♪ And when I reach the burning ♪ We will remember thee. [BLANK_AUDIO]