Today’s Illustration: Two Million People Holding Hands!

Who: Two million people, citizens of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania

When: August 23, 1989

Where: A human chain linking Tallinn in Estonia, Riga in Latvia, and Vilnius in Lithuania

What: a human chain that united all 3 countries

“On 23 August 1989, two million people held hands to form a human chain over 600 kilometers long linking three capital cities – Tallinn in Estonia, Riga in Latvia, and Vilnius in Lithuania. This peaceful political demonstration became known as ‘The Baltic Way.’

The Baltic Way was a massive demonstration for freedom, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Hitler and Stalin, which had paved the way for the Soviet occupation of the Baltic States.” [1]

600 kilometers / 374 miles — about the same distance as — New York To Akron, Ohio / or JFK International Airport to Toronto Pearson International Airport
One in four people took part.
August 23 is now an official day of remembrance.
It is called Black Ribbon Day or the “European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.”
Over 82 years ago, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a treaty that put much of Eastern Europe under the Kremlin’s control.
The August 1939 treaty was between dictators Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin –The Moloto-Ribbentrop Pact
LUCIAN KIM: “Everyone joined hands, she says. She felt the energy of 2 million people flow through her body. That epic demonstration was followed by mass protests in East Germany and Czechoslovakia, then the fall of the Berlin Wall and independence for the Baltic nations. The infamous Hitler-Stalin pact seemed like history. In recent years, though, the Russian government has tried to justify the treaty. But Russian historian Nikolai Svanidze, also at the embassy, says there is no justification.”

Key Biblical Thoughts:

salvation
if you gain the whole world and lose your soul
inheritance
glory
freedom
persecution
trials / tribulation
bondage
Satan / sin

Sermonic Example:

(Include whatever information you find useful)

. . . . One day there will be an even longer line of citizens of another kingdom, and a far greater kingdom, a kingdom “in which dwelleth righteousness.” It is spoken of in Ephesians 2:4-7.
While many know Ephesians 2:8-9, the verses before that well-known passage speak of a line of people from all the ages, who have testimonies of God’s grace that span all time — from Adam to the last believer — testimonies of God’s grace that cover every imaginable situation of life . . . .

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

. . . . testimonies of men like Daniel in a lion’s den, or his friends saved out of the fire of a tyrant’s furnace, saved men and women who suffered horrific persecution for their Lord of which we know little to nothing about in America today, testimonies of men and woman jumping out of the World Trade Center buildings and saved in their last seconds of life — on the way down — to death . . . and testimonies of saints we know nothing about, not even their names, living in repression around the world!

And at last, we will all be celebrating our freedom — hands joined in hands — praising our Lord — our Lord who just loves us beyond our comprehension!