Trivia

True or False: Americans have celebrated Independence Day with fireworks since 1777. True What food is most commonly eaten on July 4th? Hot dogs

True or False: The Liberty Bell rings every July 4th. False

Which colony was the last to vote in favor of independence? (It approved the Declaration on July 9, 1776.) New York

Which state was the first to ratify the Constitution? Delaware

Which two presidents died on July 4, 1826? Jefferson and Adams

Which future Presidents signed the Declaration of Indpendence? Jefferson and Adams

How many people signed the Declaration of Independence? 56

Who was the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence? Benjamin Franklin (70 years old)

How many grievances against King George III are listed in the Declaration? 27

Which U.S. president was born on July 4? Calvin Coolidge

What year did Congress make July 4 a federal holiday? 1870

What was the Liberty Bell originally called? The State House Bell

Which city served as the first capital of the United States under the Constitution? New York City

What was the Liberty Bell originally called? The State House Bell

Which signer of the Declaration was a minister? (He was actually a Presbyterian minister.)John Witherspoon

Message

America's Christian Foundation

Take your Bible tonight and turn with me to Psalm 33:12.

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage." (ESV)

As we gather just days before celebrating the Fourth of July, I want to ask a simple question:

How did America become America?

Depending on who you ask, you'll get very different answers.

Some will tell you our nation was founded merely on politics.

Others will say it was founded on the ideals of the Enlightenment.

Still others want us to believe that Christianity had little, if anything, to do with the birth of our country.

Tonight, I want to do something very simple.

I want to let history speak.

Not opinions.

Not social media.

Not revisionists on either side.

Just history.

The purpose of tonight's message is not to convince you that America is a perfect nation. It isn't. Our history is filled with incredible achievements, but it is also marked by painful failures and sinful chapters. We don't worship America, and we certainly don't believe America has replaced Israel in God's plan.

But we should also refuse to erase what history plainly records.

The foundation of this nation was deeply influenced by the Christian faith.

Every one of the original thirteen colonies had religious oaths or religious qualifications somewhere in its civil government. Every colony used religious oaths or affirmations for at least some public functions during the colonial period, and religious tests for public office were widespread and carried into many of the first state constitutions.

The men who founded this nation were not all identical in their theology. They came from different denominations, different traditions, and held different personal convictions. Yet they shared a common understanding that there is a God above every king, every government, and every nation.

Tonight, I simply want to walk through some of the documents that gave birth to our nation. I want us to see what they actually say. I want us to hear the words our founders wrote because we weren’t taught this in school. And as we do, I believe we'll be reminded that our freedoms are not ultimately gifts from government. They are gifts from God.

May we never forget the God who has so richly blessed this nation, and may we be the generation that points America back to Him.

Before we ever had a President… Before there was a Constitution… Before there was a United States of America… There was an army fighting for freedom.

Think about that for a moment.

These were ordinary men. Farmers. Blacksmiths. Merchants. Fathers. Sons. Men who had left everything behind because they believed liberty was worth fighting for.

Leading that army was General George Washington.

On July 3, 1775, George Washington became the General of the Continental Army.

On July 9, 1775, Washington issued his first General Orders to the Continental Army. In those orders, he directed that divine worship was to be observed on Sundays. If a regiment had a chaplain, the soldiers were to attend worship with him. If a regiment did not have a chaplain, they were to attend with the nearest regiment that did.

This is wild to me. That wasn't Washington saying, "If you have time this Sunday, you ought to think about going to church."

It was an order from the Commander-in-Chief.

Why?

Because Washington understood that an undisciplined army would never become a victorious army.

But he also understood something even deeper.

The battle they were fighting would require more than military strategy. It would require the favor and blessing of Almighty God.

As you continue reading Washington's orders throughout the Revolutionary War, you find that he wasn't just concerned with military tactics. He was concerned with the character of his soldiers.

He repeatedly condemned drunkenness. He condemned gambling. He condemned profane cursing and swearing. He expected honesty. He expected discipline. He expected virtue.

Washington believed that the conduct of the army mattered just as much as its courage.

He understood that if these men were going to ask God to bless their cause, they could not live however they pleased and then expect His favor.

In one order, Washington wrote that "the blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary."

Think about that.

The commanding general of the Continental Army was not placing his ultimate confidence in muskets.

He was not placing his ultimate confidence in cannons.

He was not placing his ultimate confidence in military strength.

He recognized that if this cause was to succeed, they needed the blessing of God.

Before the United States was recognized by the nations of the world...

The leader of the Continental Army was calling his soldiers to worship God, to live moral lives, and to remember that victory ultimately comes from the Lord.

That shouldn't surprise us.

Because when we come to the Declaration of Independence just one year later, we discover the very same theme. The founders did not declare that government gives us our rights. They declared that our rights come from our Creator.

Now fast forward exactly one year.

The war is still raging.

The outcome is anything but certain.

The greatest military power on earth is trying to crush thirteen small colonies that dared to believe they could govern themselves.

Then comes July 4, 1776.

Fifty-six men gathered in Philadelphia and signed one of the most influential documents in human history: the Declaration of Independence.

As Americans, we know those words. We've heard them countless times. But I wonder how often we've stopped to think about what they actually say.

Listen to these words.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..."

Did you catch that?

Our founders did not say our rights come from a king.

They did not say our rights come from Parliament.

They did not say our rights come from government.

They said our rights come from our Creator.

That one sentence changes everything.

Because if government gives you your rights, then government can take them away.

But if God gives you your rights, no king, no congress, no president, and no court has the authority to take away what God has given.

Our founders understood something our culture desperately needs to remember.

Government is not God.

Government is accountable to God.

The government does not stand above the Creator. It stands beneath Him.

That is why the Declaration appeals to God repeatedly.

It speaks of "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God."

It declares that we are "endowed by their Creator."

It appeals to "the Supreme Judge of the world."

It closes with "a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence."

From the first paragraph to the last, God is not absent from the Declaration. He is acknowledged throughout it.

Now hear me carefully.

The Declaration is not Scripture.

Our Founding Fathers were not apostles.

America is not Israel.

But these men clearly understood that liberty could never be separated from the God who gives it.

And there is something else we should remember.

In Thomas Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration, he included a strong condemnation of slavery. He wrote against the slave trade and held it up as a moral wrong.

But not everyone agreed.

Two colonies—Georgia and South Carolina—refused to support the document if that language remained.

So in order to keep unity among the colonies, that section was removed.

The Declaration was signed, but not without compromise.

Even in that moment of great truth, there was also a reminder of human weakness.

The principle was declared—that all men are created equal—but the practice would take generations to catch up.

And that truth did not disappear after independence was declared.

Eight years later, after the war had finally been won, America would sign the document that officially ended the Revolutionary War. Once again, the founders would publicly acknowledge God. And what they wrote at the beginning of that treaty is just as remarkable as what they wrote in the Declaration.

The Revolutionary War would continue for another seven long years.

There would be victories.

There would be devastating defeats.

There would be bitter winters.

There would be moments when it looked like the dream of independence was over.

Yet through it all, the Continental Army endured.

Then, in 1783, something remarkable happened.

Representing the United States were Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. They met with representatives of Great Britain in Paris to sign the treaty that would officially end the Revolutionary War.

This wasn't just another document. This was the document.

This was the moment Great Britain formally recognized the United States of America as a free, sovereign, and independent nation.

You would expect a document of that importance to begin with words about governments.

Or kings.

Or nations.

Instead, listen to the very first line.

"In the Name of the most Holy & undivided Trinity."

Those are the first words of the Treaty of Paris.

The first words in the document that officially recognized the United States of America.

Think about the progression we've seen tonight.

Before America was a nation, Every one of the original thirteen colonies had religious oaths or religious qualifications somewhere in its civil government.

After the war broke out, General Washington ordered his soldiers to gather for worship and reminded them they needed the blessing of Heaven to win the war.

When America declared her independence, our founders declared that our rights come from our Creator, not from government.

When the war was over and our independence was recognized by the greatest empire in the world, the treaty opened, "In the Name of the most Holy & undivided Trinity."

Again and again, the leaders of this new nation acknowledged that there was an authority higher than themselves.

They understood something that our culture has largely forgotten.

Freedom is not self-sustaining.

Liberty cannot survive without virtue.

Virtue cannot endure apart from truth.

And truth ultimately finds its source in God.

Our founders were not claiming perfection.

Neither should we.

But they did understand that no nation can thrive indefinitely while rejecting the very God from whom all blessings flow.

The question for us tonight is not simply, "What did they believe in 1776?"

The real question is this:

What do we believe in 2026?

Will we continue to acknowledge the God our founders openly acknowledged?

Or will we assume we can preserve freedom while abandoning the One from whom true freedom comes?

Psalm 33:12 still reminds us, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD."

That wasn't just true for ancient Israel.

The principle still stands today.

Any nation that humbles itself before God will experience His blessing.

Any nation that forgets Him does so to its own peril.