Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of life and the gift of remembering where our lives comes from.  Today, we pay tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the preservation of our way of life.  A life where we are free to worship You without fear of persecution.  But freedom comes at a cost.  All of those who gave their lives for our sakes mirrored the sacrifice that You made on the cross.   Even as You were nailed to the cross, You embraced all of us and all of our sins so that we could understand how You love us and why you are jealous for us.   Today we confess, we confess that it is by Grace alone that we have been saved by the free and unmerited gift of Your favor.   It is through our faith in the only begotten Son of God that we have eternal life.   It is through the Word of God, the Word made flesh, that we know that even as we walk through darkest of valleys we are never alone because You, Lord, are always with us.  Your truth marches on in all of us Lord.   So let’s live this life fully in the cause of Christ because there is no more time to hold on to past regrets or afflictions that are simply eclipsed by God’s Glory.