4th of July

Today is of course the 4th of July.

Where many will get together with family and friends and stuff their faces full of hamburgers and hotdogs.

We’ll light the sky up with fireworks.

And we do it to celebrate the birthday of America.

Where we as a country became independent from Great Britain.

I was struggling to figure out what to preach on this week because I wanted to address the fact that it’s Independence Day but I’m also very aware that anything that gets brought up about our country can be turned into something political.

But as I was looking up some facts about what it was like back in 1776 I realized there are some similarities of things that took place that apply to our lives as a believer.

Let’s start with the fact that the 13 colonies were wanting to be free from a tyrannical government that did not have their best interest in mind.

The British government wanted to tax the American colonies to basically get money to pay off the expensive 7 Years War that had finally ended.

The problem was the people in the colonies would still not have the same rights as the people living in Britain.

One of the big issues was they were not allowed to be in Parliament at all.

So they fought that there should be no taxation without representation.

More and more issues like this were arising to the point where America decided it was time to be free from Great Britain and they were willing to fight for their freedom.

And on July 4, 1776 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence.

The Revolutionary War however continued until September 3, 1783.

And as I was researching things about Independence Day and the Revolutionary War I realized that I didn’t really know what our founding fathers sacrificed for us.

Many of us don’t really know what these men who signed the Declaration of Independence gave up so we could live in a free country.

I always thought they were all probably wealthy men who went on to live happy, wealthy lives.

But I came across an article that showed me otherwise.

This was written by a man named Loren Simmonds.

All of the 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence made sacrifices. Allow me to share some examples:

CARTER BRAXTON of Virginia was a prosperous planner and trader. His ships were destroyed by the British Navy. He lost his home to pay off the debts and died in poverty.

THOMAS LYNCH, JR. was an aristocratic rice plantation owner in South Carolina who risked his substantial fortune by signing the Declaration. His health rapidly declined and his ship was lost at sea on his way to Europe to recover. No one knows what happened to him.

THOMAS MCKEAN of Delaware was harassed mercilessly. His family went into hiding during the war, moving multiple times. He served in Congress without pay and died in poverty.

THOMAS NELSON, JR. of Virginia put his own home up as collateral to raise $2 million for the French allies. The struggling French government was unable to pay back the loans and Nelson’s entire estate was wiped out.

FRANCIS HOPKINS of New Jersey and WILLIAM FLOYD of New York both had their homes confiscated and used as housing by the British.

JUDGE RICHARD STOCKTON was taken from his bed in the middle of the night and beaten by British Soldiers, followed by jail and starvation. His home and all of his possessions were destroyed, forcing him and his family to live off of charity.

“Five of the 56 were captured by the British and tortured. Twelve lost their homes through looting, confiscation or burning to the ground. Seventeen lost their fortunes. Two lost sons in the military while another two sons were captured. And nine lost their lives. The sacrifice that was made by these 56 men and countless others to both establish and maintain our liberty has given us the privilege of living in freedom since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.”

As I’m reading this I’m first of all thankful for men like this who were willing to give up everything so we could be blessed to live in the greatest country in the world.

But I’m also thinking how this should be the mindset of every follower of Jesus.

Think about it.

Many of these men were probably pretty comfortable in their life .

They had great wealth and everything you would think you needed to be happy at that time.

Yet they believed in their cause so much they were willing to give it all up!

And what was it they were fighting for?

It says it right on the Declaration of Independence

“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.”

These sound like biblical things that we should be fighting for as well.

Think about LIFE first.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

God wants to give us TRUE life through Him but we need to fight for it.

Because we too have an enemy.

It’s not the British.

It’s another enemy who wants to control you and DOES NOT have your best interest in mind.

And if we want the LIFE that God can give us we need to stand up and fight against his attacks.

It’s not going to come easy.

Just like we talked about last week.

Following Jesus was never meant to be easy.

You might need to make sacrifices but the LIFE you will receive from it will be so worth it!

What about LIBERTY?

The definition for liberty is, “the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views.”

Our founding fathers fought for freedom.

For a place where you could have the freedom to have your own thoughts, political views, or religious beliefs.

And for over 200 years this has been one of the biggest reasons why so many people want to come to this country.

To be able to share their thoughts or beliefs without facing persecution from their government.

We need to keep fighting for this today.

We talked about this last week but Christianity is under attack.

And we are moving more and more down the path where people will not be able to share their beliefs without consequences.

That is not what this country was founded on.

And even though we are starting to see that more and more we should be grateful that we live in a country that we have the FREEDOM to share with others the FREEDOM we have in Christ.

I mentioned last week 13 people every day are killed for their faith in Jesus around the world.

It’s crazy to think that there are countries out there in 2021 that will take your life just for something you believe.

We can’t even fathom that in America.

Millions of Christians in countries like China are forced to have underground church.

Where they meet in smaller groups at peoples homes so they don’t get caught by the government.

Here in America we can go and share the freedom we’ve experienced in Christ out in public on the side of the road for all to see.

And when I think of freedom I can’t help but think of the freedom we have in Christ.

We celebrate our freedom and Independence as a country on July 4, but we should be celebrating the freedom we have in Christ every day of our lives.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!”

We can celebrate that when we give our hearts to the Lord we are free from our old selves.

We’re not the same person.

We have freedom from GUILT and SHAME.

We should constantly be celebrating God’s amazing grace and that He FORGIVES us of the mistakes we’ve made in our past.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

It doesn’t matter what you did before you stepped foot on this property.

All you have to do is repent and know that you are forgiven and free from any guilt you may be feeling.

You can be free from SIN.

Many of you have experienced this kind of freedom.

Sin had a hold on you.

Maybe it was some kind of an addiction.

But through the power of the Holy Spirit you’ve been set free from that!

Romans 6:18 “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”

I’d say that’s cause to celebrate!

We also should celebrate that when you give your heart to Christ you are free from DEATH.

Not necessarily physical death.

But eternal death.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

When Paul speaks of death in this verse he’s not talking about physical death.

We know this because everyone on this earth whether they are a Christian or not is going to physically die.

But the death that Paul is talking about is eternal separation from God.

But as a follower of Jesus we get to have ETERNAL LIFE with God.

That’s why I like to say we don’t really die, we just change locations.

There’s so many things we should be celebrating that we are free from because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Our founding fathers fought for the pursuit of happiness.

They believed this could be a country where your dreams could come true.

Where you could find true happiness.

I believe part of that was under the assumption that you had faith in God.

Being a Christian nation under God I believe they thought that the combination of a free country where you could pursue your dreams, along with having faith and trust in God, you could be truly happy.

Of course we know that true joy and happiness can only come from God.

It’s in Him that we fill the empty void in our hearts.

That we are able to truly be content in this life.

It’s ultimately in pursuing Him that we find our happiness.

Bottomline is that our country is not perfect.

It is a nation that was founded by flawed human beings.

And there have been some major mistakes that have been made throughout our country’s existence.

But this country was founded to be a God fearing country.

That’s why we have “In God We Trust” on our money.

And early on Godly principles were taught in our schools.

“One-hundred-six of the first one-hundred-eight colleges formed in America were formed by Christians and built upon Christian principles. Before the Civil War (1861-1865), scarcely half a dozen colleges were established without a commitment to biblical and Christian principles, and most of the presidents of Christian colleges were clergymen.”

This included our Ivy League Schools like Harvard and Yale.

Looking at what these Universities teach now we think there’s no way that was ever the case.

These are the principles that this country was founded on and as followers of Christ we need to continue that fight and to stand up for truth.

And most importantly we need to fight for our faith.

Be willing to sacrifice things in our lives that are holding us back from surrendering completely to God.

We need to be able to live the life God wants us to live.

Enjoy the freedoms that come through Him.

And find the joy and happiness that only He can give!

So this Independence Day I hope we can be inspired by what our founding fathers did and hopefully be challenged to take their mindset and apply it to our faith!

And let’s not forget that there are men and women today who are still fighting for our freedom on a daily basis.

Those men and women who serve in our military and fight so we can enjoy the freedoms we have.

You have my utmost respect and appreciation.

Pray/Altar Call

We’re going to end with a patriotic song.