July 1, 2019

AM Service Scripture: Psalm 33:12

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord . . .

As we prepare to celebrate Independence Day I wanted to take a look this morning back on our country’s heritage as a Christian nation. Despite what many people in the media and other institutions might claim – America was founded upon Christian beliefs:

The very first English speaking people to arrive in America planted a cross and dedicated the continent to God.

The Mayflower compact repeatedly referenced God and spoke of the settlers intention to advance the Christian faith.

In early Delaware candidates for office had to state the person believed in God the Father, Jesus Christ his only Son, and in the Holy Ghost as well as the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.

George Washington stated the following thoughts:

         Patriots should add the most distinguished Character of Christian

         It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible

Patrick Henry emphasized that America was founded by Christians not on religions but of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

John Quincy Adams declared the greatest achievement in our revolution was to combine civil government and Christian principles together.

We very clearly started as a God – fearing, Christian nation. However, today many in our nation – perhaps even the majority – have turned away from our foundation and prefer to distance our country from God.

Proverbs 14: 34 tell us that Righteous exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

Sin is the greatest problem America faces today. Sin has infiltrated our families, our schools, our workplaces, our governments, our society and our churches. We are even legalizing sin in many places. As long as we have this sin problem – we will suffer consequences.

2 Chronicles 7: 14 reads: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

The Bible teaches that God’s healing and forgiveness will come when His followers, the Christians, decide to repent and seek God. If America is going to reverse its course and return to its Christian foundation the church and Christians have to led the way in repentance.

As Christians we are called to live a certain way. And its important that we live holy lives even when the people around us reject righteousness and pursue sin. Our lives ought to be a shining light in the darkness guiding others to the Lord. If we want America to experience revival we need to start living accordingly.

Philippians 2: 14-15 provides some teaching as to how we ought to live: blameless, without disputings, without rebuke and all before a perverse nation.

I believe the teachings in Philippians are just as applicable to America today. Let’s all commit to live according to God’s Word.

PM Service

Scripture: 1 Peter 2: 11-17

This passage in the Bible teaches about holy living. As Christians we are called to abstain from sin. We are to live honest lives. We are to do good works to glorify God to the people around us – especially so those who do not believe in God can see Hs love at work in us. We are to obey the laws of our authorities so that our obedience will reflect highly upon the Lord. We are to use our freedom in Christ to live as servants of God. And we are to honor all people, love them, honor the authority, and to fear God.

We live in a time of political turmoil. It seems that for the last 15 years there has been constant protecting all over our country – some of you that have lived longer than I might testify that the turmoil has existed even longer. There is constant arguing (not debate with respect but arguing with hate) among Americans. All of this turmoil can tempt us as Christians to wash our hands of the issues or to give up trying to fix them or to lose hope or to develop bitterness and rage. We have to guard our hearts and lives to ensure that we live according to God’s Word.

When Peter wrote this, the majority of his audience in the Christian world was living under the occupation of the Roman empire. The Romans were taxing them, forcing them into labor, taking away their resources, and brutally enforcing the Roman laws. The Romans were very opposed to Christianity. However, here is Peter telling the church they must continue to living holy, continue to glorify God in good works, and obey the laws of the land.

In light of this teaching, how are we as Christians living in America?

From this morning we saw that George Washington believed Christian Character was of the utmost importance. We saw the Mayflower Compact declared the goal of advancing the Christian faith.

As Christians today we need to live by these words and the Word of God. We need to be fulfilling the Great Commission – teaching people the Gospel. We need to be praying people. We need to be holy people. Even when the people around us are protesting and seemingly not doing anything to help situation but rather only make them worse. We, as Christians, must rise above and live our lives obedient to God.

Special Notes:

We were able to celebrate the salvation of Mr. Phillip Leavins Sunday morning. During the Sunday morning service Phillip responded to the invitation and came before the church to announce that he was placing his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and wanted to be baptized. Praise the Lord! We will baptize Phillip next week! Please join us in praying for him as he begins to walk in his new life with Christ.

If we can be of help in some way to you, please let us know.

In Christ’s Love

Charlie Tucker