Under God
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You Shall have no other gods besides me.
You Shall have no other gods besides me.
Today's message comes from a heart who loves the country I live in. I love all of the people I have met and have the opportunity to meet. I weep over the division and violence in our nation. There are evil forces that stand in opposition to God and his Son Jesus Christ who want to see the witness of this nation obliterated. As a nation, we have allowed great evil in our past and in our present. It is right that we have repented of those evils and have sought a more godly future. It is not the sins of our past that will destroy this nation but the sins of the present. If this nations heart continues to wander from God then I pray for God’s mercy on his people. It is the duty of the Church to live out the love of Jesus Christ above all else. We cannot be blind to injustice our the enemy will use it against us. We cannot allow hate to fill our hearts or the enemy will use that against us. We cannot wish for a bygone day or the enemy will use that against us. We must, with clear eyes, pure hearts, and deep resolve stand firm in the Lord no matter what comes. Today’s message comes from this heart. I pray that God will guide me and speak through me. I pray that you would be encouraged and challenged and leave here with a resolve to walk according to the leading of the Holy Spirit in all things.
Pledges
Pledges
What is the point of a pledge? It is designed to remind us of our commitments and our purpose. It is also designed to remind us of what our country is supposed to be. Can i say the pledge of allegiance as a Christian?
Yes, I can.
Under God, submitted to his authority.
Liberty, Individual freedom and responsibility under US law.
Justice, The responsibility to defend the liberties of all.
Perspective
Perspective
Adam and Eve in the Garden
Adam and Eve in the Garden
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
How did that end?
Noah and the restart of earth.
Noah and the restart of earth.
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
How did that end?
1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
God chose a people
God chose a people
2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord.
3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them.
4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners.
5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’ ”
How did that end?
In 1 Samuel they abandon God and demand a King.
They end up in exile.
Patriotism
Patriotism
Can I be a Patriot as a Christian?
7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
This seems to say yes.
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,
14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
This seems to say yes.
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
This gives us perspective.
I owe my allegiance to God first. Then to the nation I live in.
What does this look like?
My hope is in God but I know that my welfare and that of others can come through helping my nation.
If injustice exists in my nation, I am called by God to peacefully try to make my nation better.
If the nation God has me in stands against evil and tyranny, I can stand with them.
America is the nation we live in. As long as America remains, Under God, i can be a patriot. If America turns against God, i can be a citizen, but I cannot be a patriot.
As Christians, our priority is to stand for the Gospel of Jesus. Our priority is to love our neighbors so that they see Jesus.
There is a danger in patriotism. If patriotism ever surpasses our love for God or blinds us to the needs of our neighbors we have become worldly and our country has become our idol.
Is our country getting the glory, or is God?
Are we great, or is God great?
Does God love the USA more than other nations?
Let’s pray that the heart of our nation turns back to God.