We remember and honor today the thousands in Europe who down the centuries have witnessed to the power of the gospel, sometimes at the cost of their lives, and alongside them, the millions of God's first children our Jewish brothers and sisters, martyred for their faith in God throughout Europe.

Thousands of Christians died in the time of the Roman Empire under the rule of Emperors Nero, Decius, Valerian, and Diocletian, including the Jewish Christian Apostles Peter and Paul.

The gospel was spread by missionaries inside and outside Europe. There were Christian leaders in the church and in the nations; spiritual guides and intellectual leaders; monks and friars, Christian rulers, political leaders, advisers to king’s and those who shaped policy, there were Christian social reformers dedicated individuals seeking an end to injustice and inequality. Christian thinkers were at the cutting edge of the emergence of the West as a significant intellectual force and then there were those who humbly lived out the gospel while leaving no record for the historian. Many of them died for the sake of Christ. “All these we commend for their faith.”

The Bible doesn't gloss over the sins of the Patriarch's, the Church shouldn't hide theirs either. The zeal of the Church in Europe against what it considered heresy, along with a nasty streak of anti-Semitism in the 'dark ages' Church led to the Inquisition. Thousands of Jews suffered forced conversion, exile or death, beside thousands of Protestants killed for their ideals and faith. They died at the hands of the Church. There were Religious wars in Europe, while in England, Roman Catholics and Protestants provided martyrs, dependent on the denominational belief of the monarch at the time.

The 20th Century also provided millions of martyrs. The Holocaust over 6 million or more Jewish martyrs, men, women and children. Many Christian's spoke out against the evil at the risk of their lives, (e.g. Dietrich Bonhoeffer) others quietly worked with the Resistance, to hide and rescue Jews. Those caught became victims themselves. They deserve to be remembered and honored, whether Protestant, Roman Catholic or Jewish they all gave their lives for their faith. I am sure each of them has a place in His kingdom.

We shall name some today at the bottom of our prayer pages.