Happy birthday America 2018

John 8:36 (ESV)

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

We live in the United States. The United States of America was started over 225 years ago. That seems very old. But the ideas it was started with are still important. Americans are free to live where they want, and say what they believe, and to worship God where they would like to do so. These are BIG Freedoms. Some other countries don’t have those freedoms. Today we are celebrating Independence Day: the day our country declared its independence (or freedom) from rule by others. It takes hard work and sacrifice to keep our country safe and free. These may include: Veterans, persons in the armed forces, first responders, statesmen, citizens, etc.)

When our county started, the people then fought a great war for America. They were victorious in that fight! and they started a new country here, the United States of America. They had a new flag for their new country. Each thing in our flag means something special. The stars represent the number of states we have now. The stripes represent the number of states America started with (13, 7 red & 6 white). Even the colors of the flag mean special things.

 RED – COURAGE

 WHITE – PURITY

 BLUE – FAITHFULNESS

As we know there was a man named Jesus, who was and is the Son of God, who came to earth many years ago, way back before America was started. Jesus came to set us all free. He came to set us free from sin and death. He was COURAGEOUS because He stood up to evil and did what was right. He was PURE because He was the Son of God and because He never did anything wrong. He was FAITHFUL to do what He came to do, even though it was very hard. And in the end He was victorious and WON over sin and death.

HE came to set people FREE, not only in this country, but in every country all over the world. He came for all people who would believe in Him, no matter where they lived or when they lived. He came for all people everywhere!

Jesus came to save us! He came to set us free!

Dear Lord,  We come to You this July 4th, grateful for our country and grateful for the men and women who gave their lives so that we might be free. We proclaim our allegiance to our country and total dedication to You. May Your name be praised and celebrated throughout our country on this our joyous national holiday. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Happy Independence Day

Galatians 5:13-14 (ESV)

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

July 4th is also known as Independence Day. Independence means freedom.  In our country we enjoy a lot of freedom. We are free to come to church and worship, we are free to choose what we want to be when we grow up, we are free to choose where we want to live, we are free to choose most of the things that affect our daily lives.

Now, this might come as a surprise to some of you, but did you know that freedom isn't free? That's right, someone had to pay the price for us to have the freedom that we enjoy. There are men and women right here in this room this morning who have helped to pay that price. Some have served in the Army, Navy, Marines, or Air Force. Many of them have fought in wars and some may have been wounded and some people paid the ultimate price for freedom. They gave their lives fighting for our freedom.

Yes, we have a lot of freedom, but the greatest freedom that we have is the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. The Bible teaches that the penalty for sin is death, but you and I have been set free from this penalty. We have been set free because Jesus paid the penalty. The Bible tells us that Jesus died to set us free from the penalty of sin. Instead of death, we have been given eternal life. This freedom wasn't free, Jesus paid the price.

As we celebrate Independence Day, let us remember to stop and thank God for those who have paid the price for our freedom. But even more important, let us remember to thank God for Jesus, who has set us free from the penalty for sin, because he was willing to pay the price.

Dear Lord, we thank you for the freedom that we enjoy in our country. We are thankful for those who paid the price for that freedom, but even more important, we thank you for the freedom we have because laid down Your life to pay the penalty for our sin. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Our country is blessed

Psalm 33:12 (ESV)

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

Many of our founding fathers held strong personal beliefs in the LORD God. Many of the men and women who colonized America did so in an effort to find a safe new place to worship God as their consciences dictated, without hindrance from any established government religion. They found what they were looking for here.

When it came time for America to establish its independence from England, the Declaration of Independence was written. In it are some very strong words tying the rights of human beings to the existence of their Creator.

Here are some of them…

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 that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  These words, and the words that accompany them, are some of the most amazing words ever written! They state that, just because God has created people, we have a set of certain rights, which belong to every person. Essentially it says that we have these rights just because God created us and gives them to us!

The Bible says that “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD” as we read in Psalm 33:12. It referred originally to the nation Israel, but can refer to any nation whose God is the LORD.

Our nation has been blessed by following the LORD God. God blesses our nation directly and indirectly. He blesses us directly because our country was founded by men and women who followed Him, and there are still many people here who worship Him and follow Him. He blesses us indirectly because the laws of our country were set up to reflect God’s Law which is given to us in the Bible. Following God’s laws, and His will for us, brings blessings.

Yes, our country is blessed. But the Bible speaks of another blessing as well. 4000 years ago God told His servant, Abraham, that “All nations will be blessed through you.”  This promise was fulfilled 2000 years later when the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born! Jesus was a descendant of Abraham, and it is true that through Jesus all nations were blessed. Through Jesus anyone anywhere in the world may be set free of sin and death, because He paid the price for all our sins. John 8:36 tell us: So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. People from every nation all over the world have accepted Jesus as their Savior! God has truly blessed the whole world through His Son, Jesus Christ, and through Abraham, His ancestor. And God has truly blessed our country as well! God bless America!

Dear Lord, we thank You for blessing America. Help us turn our hearts back to You. Help us to remember to pray for our leaders as they lead and make decisions. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.  

Happy Birthday America

Psalm 33:12 (NIV)

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

    the people he chose for his inheritance.

Living in America is GREAT. On this America’s birthday let’s look at some interesting words someone wrote entitled, "Only in America."

1- Only in America can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

2- Only in America are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.

3- Only in America do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions, while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

4- Only in America do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a DIET coke.

5- Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our junk in the garage. Guilty of that.

6- Only in America do we use answering machines to screen calls and have call waiting so we won’t miss a call from someone we didn’t want to talk to in the first place.

7- Only in America do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

As we celebrate the greatness of America there are many things that are sad and need to be fixed. Check out the words of George Carlin in which he titled, "Paradox of Our Time."

- The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

- We spend more, but have less. We buy more, but enjoy less.

- We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.

- We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

- We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

- We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

- We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

- We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years!

- We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.

- We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

- We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

- We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.

- We write more, but learn less.

- We plan more, but accomplish less.

- We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait.

- We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

Even though there are a lot of negative things about America I still believe that America is the greatest country in the world. We are blessed to have been born and raised in America.

We keep asking God to bless America. He already has. Now it’s our turn to bless America.  God has and still is blessing America. But we need to do our part to bless America!

We can do many good things. We can be good citizens, vote, be patriotic, salute the flag, sing the national anthem, show courtesy to all people and especially, the elderly, obey the laws, pay our taxes, respect the law and its leaders. But on this the birthday of our nation the biggest thing we can and should do is pray. Pray for our leaders at every level that they will get on their knees and seek God’s face so that they make decisions that would be pleasing to God.

Dear Lord, we thank You for this great nation. We thank You for the founding fathers that let You be the foundation. We pray that once again we would turn our country back to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Happy Fourth of July

Proverbs 29:18 (King James Version)

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the fifty six men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the fixty six fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well death would be the cost if captured. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education.

They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government!

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So, take a few minutes this year while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Dear Lord we thank You for the freedoms we have. We thank You for each man and women that have given their life so that we can have the freedoms we have. In Jesus’ name, Amen.