Tomorrow for the Children's Sermon I am going to give each a flag. 
I wrote these thoughts

	Listen to our Flag!

What is the flag that you hold in your hand
	And wave as the band passes by?
What is the flag that is draped on a wall
	Or flying from a pole so high?

It is  just a cloth of different sizes
	And various colors too.
But as you can see the colors are three
	The colors are red, white and blue.

The white comes in two different shapes
	Some are stripes and some are stars.
The red color has only one shape
	It makes up the alternate bars.

Now the stars are found in a field of blue
	That is more like the sky in the day.
But it isnıt the colors nor the shapes
	But it is what the flag seems to say.

It was flown in the battle of Baltimore
	In the war of 1812.
It has been stained with blood and torn
	Slashed by saber and shell.

She has graced the casket of all the folk
	That fought for this country's life
But she has not been the cause or the source
	Of any of the worldıs warring strife.

What do I see when I look at the flag?
	How does it speak to me?
The red and the white are called stripes
 	Like those of Calvary.

The stars speak of Heaven
	From which Christ Came
To receive those stripes
	That healed the sick and the lame.

The number is fifty,
	One for each state.
And I am happy
	Now to relate

That not one is missing
	For that would be sad
To remove the star
	Because the state was bad.

And so I think when I see our flag,
	The beautiful red, white and blue
That it can preach the gospel
	Just like me and you.

To tell to all there is a battle
	And yet that battle is won,
Not by the efforts of nations
	But by God's own precious Son.

The blood that He shed before He was dead
	Upon that old rugged cross,
Will turn scarlet sins white in our Lord's sight
	And no one needs to be lost.

In heaven above where we will live in God's Love
	(For we know the Bible is true)
And the red and the white that represent the fight
	Will be but memories in that Heavenly Blue.


Dr. G.H.VanSandt  5/25/1997