SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Family Church's Sermon of the Week.
SPEAKER_00: We're so glad you're here.
SPEAKER_00: Each week we share a message from God's Word to encourage your heart, strengthen your faith, and help you grow in your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We hope this time blesses you and draws you closer to the heart of God.
SPEAKER_01: All right, good morning.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you all for being here.
SPEAKER_01: I know, I know yesterday was a big day, and lots of you were out for fireworks and parades and hanging out with family and friends and all that stuff, and some of y'all were out very late, especially.
SPEAKER_01: Anyone go downtown?
SPEAKER_01: One?
SPEAKER_01: Just one?
SPEAKER_01: All right, you are one brave woman.
SPEAKER_01: She had a daughter performing downtown, so I had to go in too.
SPEAKER_01: But man, I went downtown in 1985 for the 4th of July.
SPEAKER_01: Saw the Beach Boys, saw the fireworks, thought I'd get on the subway and zip right home.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't get home till four in the morning.
SPEAKER_01: And I waited for the subway for over for three hours, man.
SPEAKER_01: So so that that was my one shot going downtown.
SPEAKER_01: I experienced it.
SPEAKER_01: I don't have to do it again.
SPEAKER_01: But uh thank you guys so much for being here.
SPEAKER_01: And I know it's hot in here.
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's hot enough outside, but coming to church and for it to be this warm, I apologize.
SPEAKER_01: Something was off with the AC this morning, but I think we got it running and it's starting to cool off.
SPEAKER_01: So uh thank you all so much for being here today.
SPEAKER_01: And when I started studying for this morning, I kind of envisioned a very different sermon than than what what I want to uh say this morning.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, I was kind of kind of picturing, you know, just giving this eloquent defense of the you know our nation's uh Christian heritage, and and uh then I started studying for it, and I started realizing, you know, I I I thought I knew a lot about our Christian heritage, but the more I studied, I just realized, man, I am just scratching the surface.
SPEAKER_01: There is so much information out there about the Christian founding of this country, and and so instead of trying to instead of trying to do that today, I'm gonna talk about it some, but instead of trying to do that today, I'm gonna point you to three resources.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna point you to there's a a uh a podcast, and we've got it on video and audio.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then there is a uh a book that I'm gonna point you to.
SPEAKER_01: Um they're gonna put them on the screens.
SPEAKER_01: There's QR codes.
SPEAKER_01: The QR codes are at the bottom of your notes.
SPEAKER_01: So if I if I could require homework of you, this would be required homework.
SPEAKER_01: That's how amazing these are.
SPEAKER_01: Um so but I want to encourage you, get one of these resources.
SPEAKER_01: Watch the video, listen to the podcast.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a reader, get the book and read it.
SPEAKER_01: But I was just blown away, and you will be too, at the Christian heritage, the stuff we were not taught growing up.
SPEAKER_01: You know, these are things that you the things that you've, unless you've studied it, you've never heard these things before.
SPEAKER_01: And and so many amazing things.
SPEAKER_01: And there's there's a lot out there now.
SPEAKER_01: You know, you're scrolling and you're seeing pastors and politicians and stuff talking about our heritage, and there's a lot out there now about our Christian heritage, but man, this is a deep dive and really, really uh uh gives you something to say.
SPEAKER_01: Man, we we are a Christian nation.
SPEAKER_01: We were founded on Christian principles, and that's something we can be thankful for.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna let those guys do it.
SPEAKER_01: They do a much better job than I ever will.
SPEAKER_01: But uh, so I want you to to look at those.
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, in in the last, well, if you're my age, if you're my age or maybe older, you might remember some things about our Christian heritage being taught in history class over the years.
SPEAKER_01: You might remember some things because there were some things back in the day, 60s, 70s, that that were taught very, very clearly that we were a Christian nation.
SPEAKER_01: In the 80s, 90s, that kind of stopped.
SPEAKER_01: You stopped hearing that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_01: And probably in the last 20 years, you're you're not only not hearing about the Christian uh uh our our Christian heritage, you might be hearing the opposite.
SPEAKER_01: You might be hearing, you know, something that leans a little more towards lying about our heritage.
SPEAKER_01: All right, for so, for instance, I was in McKay's book, because that book I just recommended, I'm too cheap to pay full price.
SPEAKER_01: So I went to McKay's used books and tried to find it.
SPEAKER_01: They didn't have it, so I had to pay full price.
SPEAKER_01: But uh anyway, I they have the free bin outside.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I've this was all in my mind because I was studying it and looking for the book and everything.
SPEAKER_01: And right on top, there was a an SAT, or excuse me, an AP history prep course.
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, well, that would be interesting.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and it was American history.
SPEAKER_01: I thought it would be interesting to see what does what does, you know, that what does it say about our Christian heritage.
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, this is this is prepping the brightest and best of American high school students for for U.S.
SPEAKER_01: history.
SPEAKER_01: And so I looked in the index, I looked for Christian heritage, I didn't see anything.
SPEAKER_01: I looked under religion, I found one heading, and and the heading is uh uh religious toleration.
SPEAKER_01: Religious toleration.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what it said the idea of religious toleration, allowing religious groups outside of the official or establishment religion to practice freely had European roots and new world manifestations.
SPEAKER_01: That was the description of religious toleration in US history.
SPEAKER_01: Then it went on to list four or five very obscure examples of localized decrees and writings by non-religious philosophers that suggest a very limited tolerance of some religions.
SPEAKER_01: Says nothing about our Christian heritage, not a thing.
SPEAKER_01: I was blown away.
SPEAKER_01: You know, and it says, you know, talks about religious tolerance in Europe.
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking, didn't we end up here because there was no religious tolerance in Europe?
SPEAKER_01: You know?
SPEAKER_01: So what we're being told today and what our kids are being taught today is really leaning more towards a lie than it is the truth.
SPEAKER_01: So so you middle school and high school students out here, you know, I just challenge your parents to listen to these podcasts and and read the book.
SPEAKER_01: I want to challenge you to do it too.
SPEAKER_01: Because you will be blown away and you're gonna hear a very specific history of the United States that you're not gonna hear at school, unless, unless maybe you go to a Christian school or if you're homeschooled, and boy, homeschool families, what amazing resources these are.
SPEAKER_01: But you're not gonna hear that unless maybe you're in a Christian school, you're homeschooled, and and it's gonna be very different than the history you're being taught.
SPEAKER_01: Very different.
SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, those guys do a much better job, you know, in these this podcast and these books, they do a much better job than than I ever will.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to share a few things with you this morning that that are in stark contrast.
SPEAKER_01: What what was said, the founding of this country is stark contrast into what we experience now and what we're being taught right now.
SPEAKER_01: Then we're gonna go and we're gonna look at the book of uh the second the second psalm.
SPEAKER_01: Um but but this this blew me away.
SPEAKER_01: This is this is in the book and on the podcast.
SPEAKER_01: The first uh July 3rd, 1775, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, George Washington was made the commander of the colonial army.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: His first decree as general, the first, the first order that he gave was this the general most earnestly requires and expects a due observance of those articles of war established for the government of the army, which forbid profane cursing, swearing, and drunkenness.
SPEAKER_01: You know, like today's army.
SPEAKER_01: That was a joke.
SPEAKER_01: And the soldiers out there are going, yeah, yeah, no, it's it's not like that.
SPEAKER_01: And in like manner, requires and expects of all officers and soldiers not engaged on actual duty a punctual attendance at divine services, church services.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna we're not gonna cuss, we're not gonna drink, and we're gonna go to church, was his first order.
SPEAKER_01: And here's why: to implore the blessings of heaven upon the means used for our safety and our defense.
SPEAKER_01: Because we're gonna honor God and implore that his protection and his advancement of this nation.
SPEAKER_01: That was the first order that General George Washington gave to the colonial army.
SPEAKER_01: At the end of the Revolutionary War, the new United States of America signed a peace treaty with England.
SPEAKER_01: The top of that peace treaty said this, in the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.
SPEAKER_01: And then it listed the conditions of the peace treaty.
SPEAKER_01: Then in Washington's first inaugural address, President of the uh as President of the United States, he said, I would be wrong, and I'm paraphrasing this, he said, I would be wrong if I did not recognize the hand of God on this nation and and uh through and that through the excuse me, and that through throughout the Revolutionary War and the early days of this country, it was obvious that God was intervening and that none of this would be possible apart from the presence of God.
SPEAKER_01: So he's saying this wouldn't have happened apart from the presence of God.
SPEAKER_01: And in these these resources I've given you, you will see just God's hand throughout, over and over and over again in the the founding of this country.
SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, that's just three examples in the first first few years of of this country.
SPEAKER_01: And so now, fast forward 250 years, and what do we see?
SPEAKER_01: Very different, very different than how the way this nation was founded.
SPEAKER_01: Thank God there is a revival going on in this country, there is an amazing revival going on in this country.
SPEAKER_01: I prayed with the men before church this morning, Lord, keep that revival going.
SPEAKER_01: Pray that it would grow and grow and grow.
SPEAKER_01: But revivals happen because God's people are doing what they're commanded to do.
SPEAKER_01: So pray that that revival continues.
SPEAKER_01: But we live in a very different country now, and Psalm 2 tells us why.
SPEAKER_01: So look with me at Psalm chapter 2, starting in verse 1.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Why are the nations so angry?
SPEAKER_01: Why do they waste their time with feudal plans?
SPEAKER_01: So, two things in that verse that kind of describe the current conditions in our country, the current climate in our nation.
SPEAKER_01: And this is not unique just to the United States.
SPEAKER_01: It's like this anywhere, anywhere a nation turns its back on God, you're gonna see these things happening.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna see this happening.
SPEAKER_01: And if you look at any country, you're gonna see that anger becomes the default emotion in that country.
SPEAKER_01: When you turn your back on God, anger becomes your default emotion.
SPEAKER_01: There's a common current of anger for those who deny God.
SPEAKER_01: And you see it on the national stage.
SPEAKER_01: I I can remember years ago watching, just seeing glimpses of like British Parliament on television, and I'm like, you know, these guys are up and they're into each other's faces and they're shouting.
SPEAKER_01: They look like an umpire and a and a general manager, you know, just going at each other like that.
SPEAKER_01: There are fist fights breaking out in British Parliament, and I'm thinking, man, I'm so glad I'm American, because that never happens here.
SPEAKER_01: And now you watch CNN and every now and then, uh I'm sorry, C-SPAN, I don't watch CNN.
SPEAKER_01: You watch C-SPAN and they show in Congress and the congressional meetings, every now and then you see these shouting matches happen.
SPEAKER_01: You know, our country has turned into that because anger becomes the fault, the default uh emotion when you turn your back on God.
SPEAKER_01: You turn to anger.
SPEAKER_01: Then it says, why do they waste their time with futile and meaningless plans?
SPEAKER_01: That's because apart from God, you really don't have any purpose.
SPEAKER_01: And so none of your plans have purpose.
SPEAKER_01: When you turn your back on God, you have no real purpose.
SPEAKER_01: And when you have no divine purpose and no eternal purpose, the natural default is that your plans become self-serving.
SPEAKER_01: Your plans become self-serving.
SPEAKER_01: Because you're not serving God.
SPEAKER_01: So you've got to serve somebody.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna serve self.
SPEAKER_01: And just by example, the the Declaration of Independence says this.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: By God's design, we have the right to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
SPEAKER_01: Because of God.
SPEAKER_01: God has given us that right.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what the founding fathers said.
SPEAKER_01: Now, now, if you turn your back on God, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is whatever you want it to be.
SPEAKER_01: It's whatever you want, it's whatever you make it.
SPEAKER_01: You pursue whatever you want, and whatever your heart desires becomes your pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible warns against that.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible warns against letting your desires control you and your the your desires determine who you are and what you want your life to be.
SPEAKER_01: And and uh uh James 1, 14 and 50, James 1, 14 and 15 says, temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.
SPEAKER_01: These desires give birth to sinful actions, and when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
SPEAKER_01: So if if our you know, if if God's word tells us that we we are have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it's gonna tell us in God's word what that looks like.
SPEAKER_01: And so life, the Bible says, uh Jesus said, I came that you may have life and life more abundantly.
SPEAKER_01: Liberty, Jesus said, I came to free you.
SPEAKER_01: And if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.
SPEAKER_01: The pursuit of happiness in the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes, Jesus said, This is what it takes to be happy.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, if you if you are humble, repentant, meek, righteous, merciful, pure, you'll be happy.
SPEAKER_01: That's where happiness comes from.
SPEAKER_01: But you take God out of the equation, and all those things become whatever you want it to be, and they become the desires of your heart rather than God's desires for you, and the desires of your heart drag you to sin.
SPEAKER_01: They drag you towards sinfulness, and apart from God, your desires will only drag you to sin.
SPEAKER_01: They'll only drag you away from God.
SPEAKER_01: Proverbs 14, 12 says, There is a path before each person that seems right, but in the end, it is death.
SPEAKER_01: Your desires point you in a certain direction that you think is right, but the Bible says, in the end, it's death.
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't bring you life, doesn't bring you liberty, it brings you bondage, doesn't bring you happiness, it brings you despair.
SPEAKER_01: And the same is true when you remove God on a national level.
SPEAKER_01: If you remove God, then you have no real purpose, and if you have no real purpose, your purpose becomes self-serving.
SPEAKER_01: And when the leaders of a nation become self-serving, then the nation becomes their servant.
SPEAKER_01: The people become their servants.
SPEAKER_01: What else could they be?
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 2.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 2, chapter, no, Psalm chapter 2, verse 2.
SPEAKER_01: The kings of the earth prepare for battle, the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, this is not the greatest translation of this verse.
SPEAKER_01: It would be better translated, and in some translations, you might be reading a translation that says it more like uh uh the kings, the kings are taking a stand and plotting together against the Lord and his anointed one.
SPEAKER_01: And at the time this was written, which is probably, you know, sometimes we assume David wrote all the Psalms.
SPEAKER_01: This one was actually written long after David was was had come and gone.
SPEAKER_01: And so at the time this was written, nations around Israel were kind of rattling their sabers against God and against the word of God and against God's people.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so they were they were taking a stand against God.
SPEAKER_01: And that happens today, but it's a lot more subtle.
SPEAKER_01: It's a lot more subtle, you know, but the end is the same.
SPEAKER_01: There is an obvious opposition to God and his word in our nation today.
SPEAKER_01: But it's but it sometimes it's very subtle.
SPEAKER_01: You know, because when you remove God from the equation, you are only a victim of your own sinful desires, and you're at the mercy of the sinful desires of those who govern.
SPEAKER_01: If you remove God from the equation, you're at the mercy of those who govern.
SPEAKER_01: I was asked to pray uh uh at a at a base local baseball league.
SPEAKER_01: I was asked to pray um on opening day, and and uh so they invited me.
SPEAKER_01: And I was kind of surprised because uh, you know, I don't know baseball.
SPEAKER_01: Not a baseball player, I don't have kids to play baseball.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know why they asked me.
SPEAKER_01: But I went and uh so ahead of time he sent me an email and you know what time to be there and all this stuff, and and it and it asked me to be kind of nonspecific and and you know about who I'm praying to.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01: So I went and I opened, I opened up, and I ended the prayer with something like, and God, thank you so much that I live in a country where I am guaranteed the right to worship as I please, and today I exercise that right by praying in the name of Jesus, the Savior of all mankind.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: I've never been asked back to pray to open, open that.
SPEAKER_01: But I was told, you know, if if you're I was told, I can't, I can't be specific, but I mentioned Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: If you mention the name of Jesus, you're gonna have opposition.
SPEAKER_01: You know, you're gonna have some opposition.
SPEAKER_01: And and Jesus said, if the world hates you, don't be surprised because they hated me first.
SPEAKER_01: They hated Jesus first.
SPEAKER_01: So we will face opposition when we use the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And look at look at verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: Here is how they plot against God and his people.
SPEAKER_01: Here's how they do it.
SPEAKER_01: Let us break, this is this is the kings of the earth talking, let us break their chains, they cry, and free ourselves from slavery to God.
SPEAKER_01: That's their strategy.
SPEAKER_01: That is Satan's strategy.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna stand against God and his word in the name of freedom.
SPEAKER_01: Sexual freedom, reproductive freedom.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna stand against God in the name of freedom.
SPEAKER_01: And the if the Bible calls it sin, Satan calls it freedom.
SPEAKER_01: So don't be don't be blinded, don't be fooled by that kind of talk.
SPEAKER_01: If it is sin according to the scripture, it is sin.
SPEAKER_01: It is not freedom for anybody, it's bondage.
SPEAKER_01: And here's God's response to those kings, verse 4.
SPEAKER_01: He says, But the one who rules in heaven laughs.
SPEAKER_01: I love that God, you know, God hears our plans, and you know, somebody said, You want to make God laugh, tell him your plans?
SPEAKER_01: You know, so here's the plans of these kings on the earth, their strategy, and he just makes him laugh because he knows nothing could be further from the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Says the Lord scoffs at them, then his anger rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury.
SPEAKER_01: For the Lord declares, I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem on my holy mountain.
SPEAKER_01: He laughs, and then he says, You think, you all you kings think you've got it under control.
SPEAKER_01: You think you've got a good plan, but I've already put a king on the throne.
SPEAKER_01: He already sits on the throne, and he governs you.
SPEAKER_01: You know, and and some theologians will tell you that that verse, when it says that he's already put his king on the throne, he's talking about the king of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: But there's a there's a problem with that.
SPEAKER_01: There's a problem with that, because it said, I put I put him on a throne on my holy mountain.
SPEAKER_01: That's that's the temple mount, the mountain of God.
SPEAKER_01: The kings of Israel did not sit on a throne there.
SPEAKER_01: That was that was God's throne.
SPEAKER_01: There was a palace not too far from the temple, but that's where the king sat.
SPEAKER_01: So when he said, I have put my king on his throne, on my holy mountain, he is talking about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He's talking about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So look at verse 7.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 7 says, The king proclaims the Lord's decree, the one, uh the Lord said to me, You are my son.
SPEAKER_01: Today I've become your father, only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession.
SPEAKER_01: You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.
SPEAKER_01: So the question is not, when will these kings get their act together and start obeying the one true king?
SPEAKER_01: The question is, when is the one true king going to rule the earth?
SPEAKER_01: The answer is now.
SPEAKER_01: The answer is he is on the throne.
SPEAKER_01: When God said that a couple verses ago, that was not a promise for the future.
SPEAKER_01: That is now.
SPEAKER_01: He sits on my holy mountain now.
SPEAKER_01: And so those kings may think, hey, I got it under control, I've got a plan, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that.
SPEAKER_01: And it might be good plans, it might be plans that that stand in stark contrast to the plan of God, but they they think they're under control, but they're not.
SPEAKER_01: Look at Proverbs 21:1.
SPEAKER_01: The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water, he turns it wherever he wishes.
SPEAKER_01: So the kings of earth may think they have a plan, but God is directing them.
SPEAKER_01: God is in control.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 72, 11 says, Yes, all kings shall fall down before him, all the nations shall serve him.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus is already ruling, he's already under control, he's already sitting on the throne.
SPEAKER_01: And there's nothing that any king of the earth can do, can do to change his plan.
SPEAKER_01: So the scripture tells us that these leaders that we have, the scripture tells us we're supposed to pray for our leaders.
SPEAKER_01: So all of our leaders right now, and not just not just U.S.
SPEAKER_01: leaders, because because we have a whole world full of leaders, and we should be praying, you know, at times for all of them.
SPEAKER_01: We should be praying for all of them.
SPEAKER_01: Um 1 Timothy 2, one, 1 and 2 says, I urge, I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.
SPEAKER_01: Ask God to help them, intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.
SPEAKER_01: Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.
SPEAKER_01: Pray for the leaders of this world.
SPEAKER_01: So let me give you four ways to pray for leaders, especially in this country.
SPEAKER_01: Four ways to pray for your leaders.
SPEAKER_01: Look at uh Psalm two, back in Psalm two, verses ten through twelve.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Now then, you kings, act wisely.
SPEAKER_01: Be warned, you rulers of the earth.
SPEAKER_01: Serve the Lord with reverent fear and rejoice with trembling.
SPEAKER_01: Submit to God's royal son, or he will become angry and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities, for his anger flares up in an instant.
SPEAKER_01: But what joy for all who take refuge in.
SPEAKER_01: Him.
SPEAKER_01: First way that you want to pray for your leaders is that you want to pray that they are biblically wise.
SPEAKER_01: He just said, now then you kings act wisely.
SPEAKER_01: You want leaders in this country and worldwide that are biblically wise.
SPEAKER_01: Lots of leaders appear to be wise.
SPEAKER_01: They make wise-looking decisions and everything.
SPEAKER_01: But the book of James says that any any wisdom, anything that claims to be wisdom that is not of God is demonic.
SPEAKER_01: It's working in opposition to God's plan.
SPEAKER_01: So you pray for biblically wise leaders.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, pray for leaders who serve God.
SPEAKER_01: Pray for leaders who serve God.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 11 said, serve the Lord with reverent fear, talking to those kings.
SPEAKER_01: So we refer to our political leaders as servants of the people or public servants.
SPEAKER_01: And that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01: That's great.
SPEAKER_01: That's a founding principle of our country that we are in control of what happens in our country, not political leaders.
SPEAKER_01: They represent us.
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01: But if they are servants of the people and the people become godless, the people turn their back on God, then who are those leaders really serving?
SPEAKER_01: They're serving the desires, they're serving the sinful desires of every individual in this country.
SPEAKER_01: And that's impossible to do.
SPEAKER_01: You can't serve the desires of every individual in this country.
SPEAKER_01: So what happens is they default to their own sinful desires.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what guides this country, the sinful desires of the leadership.
SPEAKER_01: So pray, pray for leaders that will serve God.
SPEAKER_01: Also pray for leaders that will fear God.
SPEAKER_01: We've talked a lot about fearing God in the last few months.
SPEAKER_01: Um the fear of God is knowing that we are so completely loved and cared for and redeemed that the thought of disappointing him causes us to fear, knowing that there are consequences to our actions.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it looks like to fear God.
SPEAKER_01: And Proverbs tells us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: So you can't have a leader who is biblically wise if he does not fear God.
SPEAKER_01: So pray, pray for leaders who who fear God.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, or fourthly, pray for leaders who submit to the authority of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Pray for leaders who submit to the authority of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Last year, my son Jacob, he's in the military.
SPEAKER_01: He was uh he had the honor of being part of the military parade last year uh that commemorated the 250th anniversary of the U.S.
SPEAKER_01: Army.
SPEAKER_01: So had a huge parade downtown, and uh he got to got to lead his group, battalion, company, whatever they call it.
SPEAKER_01: He got to he got to march on the front line and and call the cadence and everything while they were marching.
SPEAKER_01: Really cool, very proud of him.
SPEAKER_01: So I went downtown and my son-in-law Spencer, my grandson Judah, uh went with me.
SPEAKER_01: So we went down and we watched the parade.
SPEAKER_01: It was awesome.
SPEAKER_01: Flyovers, music.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, just amazing.
SPEAKER_01: And uh um, so when it was over, we start walking back to the car and the police reroute us to go around the block and and then back in and continue because there was a protest going on.
SPEAKER_01: And I could see the protest.
SPEAKER_01: There were about 50 people and they're standing in the middle of the street blocking traffic, shouting, no king, no king, no king.
SPEAKER_01: And you've seen that in the news.
SPEAKER_01: People shouting, no king.
SPEAKER_01: There was a similar rallying cry during the Revolutionary War.
SPEAKER_01: The leaders of our country and the soldiers would go into battle shouting, no king but King Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: No king but King Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: This country was founded by men who submitted to the authority of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And when you watch, you listen to that podcast and you read this book, you will see that the majority of the men who founded this nation, like overwhelming majority of the men who founded this nation, submitted to the authority of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And so we need to pray for men who will submit to the authority of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And let me wrap this up with one final quote.
SPEAKER_01: In an address to the Continental Army, John Adams said this, and I and I've kind of rewritten this to put it in a little more modern and understandable terms, but he said this said, No government has enough power to control people whose desires are no longer restrained by moral values and religious conviction.
SPEAKER_01: No government control.
SPEAKER_01: A country full of people with no morals, no government can control it.
SPEAKER_01: Greed, ambition, revenge, and the pursuit of pleasure can tear apart even the strongest constitution as easily as a whale rips through a fishing net.
SPEAKER_01: Our constitution was designed to work for a people who govern themselves through morality and faith.
SPEAKER_01: Without those foundations, it cannot successfully preserve a free society.
SPEAKER_01: So you can ask the question: was our country founded on Christian principles by Christian men?
SPEAKER_01: Well, you just heard a guy who was a designer of the U.S.
SPEAKER_01: Constitution, co-writer of the Declaration of Independence, third president of the United States.
SPEAKER_01: He was there.
SPEAKER_01: He just said, apart from God, this is not going to work.
SPEAKER_01: America is going to fall apart and crumble apart from the presence of God and the godliness of its people and its leaders.
SPEAKER_01: But it's not just the leaders.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just about them.
SPEAKER_01: Because we're the ones that put the leaders in office.
SPEAKER_01: And so it only works if the people ascribed a biblical morality and faith in God.
SPEAKER_01: That's why it is so important that the church rise up during these times, not just at the voting booth.
SPEAKER_01: That's important.
SPEAKER_01: You know, in November, there's gonna be a lot of things that we need to show up at the booth to defend.
SPEAKER_01: But it's not just about that, it's about sharing the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Because you're not you're not gonna reach your neighbor by voting.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna reach your neighbor by loving them and serving them and sharing the gospel with them.
SPEAKER_01: There is a revival going on in this country right now, and it's and it's happening on a national stage, but that's gonna pass.
SPEAKER_01: As all things do that are on TV and internet, you know, those things will pass.
SPEAKER_01: But what won't pass are the lives that you change, the people that you point to Jesus, who ultimately say, I'm gonna give my heart to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't change.
SPEAKER_01: And that's where that's where the real freedom of this country lies, is when the people of this country accept the freedom that Jesus provides for them.
SPEAKER_01: That's our responsibility.
SPEAKER_01: So, so it's not just our our leaders, we have to be biblically wise.
SPEAKER_01: That's why I tell you almost every week, you have to spend time in God's Word.
SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna be biblically wise, and you're gonna ascribe to another form of wisdom that resembles wisdom, but you have to be biblically wise.
SPEAKER_01: You have to serve and fear God, and you have to submit to the authority of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And submitting to the authority of Jesus begins by accepting Him as your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: And if you're here, if you're here with us every week, you you know what I'm gonna say.
SPEAKER_01: You could stand up here and say it for me if I needed it to you, which is part of the reason why I say it the same way every day, so that you can share this.
SPEAKER_01: Don't think that you don't know how to share the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Just say what I say every Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: But if you're here today and you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, that's where it begins.
SPEAKER_01: That's where it starts with that submission to the authority of Jesus by accepting his free gift of salvation and just saying, I'm I'm gonna stop living life according to my own desires because I know they lead to destruction.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna I'm gonna start living my life by following Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know what all that means.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I don't I don't know everything the Bible says, but you don't need to know all of that.
SPEAKER_01: You just need to know that Jesus died on the cross so that you can have eternal life, and that there's there's nothing you can do to earn it, you could never deserve it.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone in here are sinners.
SPEAKER_01: We were born that way, and you need to accept Christ as your Savior if you've never done that before.
SPEAKER_01: So today I'm gonna challenge you.
SPEAKER_01: When I lead you in a moment, pray and accept Christ as your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: You know, and this isn't this isn't just a ritual, this isn't something we just do every week, and you say the prayer because you're a good church member, and good church members repeat prayer.
SPEAKER_01: It has nothing to do with that.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing to do with that.
SPEAKER_01: This is about you saying, I'm gonna surrender, I'm gonna surrender my sinfulness, I'm gonna surrender my own desires, and I'm gonna choose to follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: That's what this is about.
SPEAKER_01: So let me have every head bowed and every eye closed.
SPEAKER_01: It's not because of anything that you do that you are that you deserve to go to heaven, it's because of what Christ did on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: And the scripture says that Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose again so that you can have eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
SPEAKER_01: No one comes to the Father except through me.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is the only way to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus shed his blood on the cross so that we can have forgiveness of sin.
SPEAKER_01: In the Old Testament, to get forgiveness, they would shed the blood of lambs.
SPEAKER_01: Every year, they would shed a lamb on behalf of the whole country.
SPEAKER_01: People who sinned throughout the year would bring a lamb or bring another animal and shed the blood of that animal for forgiveness of sin.
SPEAKER_01: When Christ came and shed his blood, he did that so that so that you can have forgiveness of your sin and have eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrews says, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus came to fulfill the law, so there's no more sacrifice needed because Jesus paid that sacrifice once and for all.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're here today and you want to accept Christ as your Savior, it's just a matter of telling him, hey, I want to follow you.
SPEAKER_01: I believe everything that John just said.
SPEAKER_01: I believe in the death, burial, and resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: I believe that your blood was shed so that I can be free from sin.
SPEAKER_01: And you can pray that however you want.
SPEAKER_01: If you're struggling to put that into words, you can just pray something like this.
SPEAKER_01: And just again, it's not about repeating a prayer, it's about meaning this and me just helping you to put into words what's going on in your heart and mind.
SPEAKER_01: And you just pray, God, thank you for sending Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Because on my own, I could never deserve to go to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: I could never earn my way to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: It's only because of Jesus that I can spend eternity with you.
SPEAKER_01: So today I trust in his death, his burial, and his resurrection for my salvation, and I trust in his shed blood for the forgiveness of my sins.
SPEAKER_01: So today I confess to you, I am a sinner who needs to repent.
SPEAKER_01: And I turn from my sin and I turn to you, and I accept Jesus as my savior.
SPEAKER_01: And if you just prayed that and you meant it, it means that you have a home in heaven now.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to walk out of here thinking, Oh, I hope I go to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: I hope, I hope I'm good enough, I hope I do enough.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to worry about any of that.
SPEAKER_01: If you've accepted him as your savior, you are guaranteed a home in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And nothing can change that.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said that he's the way, the truth, and the life.
SPEAKER_01: It says, when you are saved, that you cross from death into life.
SPEAKER_01: So that your name is written in the Lamb's book of life.
SPEAKER_01: It says your sins are forgotten.
SPEAKER_01: And that's because of what Jesus did on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: So still with heads bowed and eyes closed, if you're here today and you just you just need to take, you know, this awesome, awesome weekend, 250 years of a of the greatest country on earth, and and you just need to stop and think, hey, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: The best thing I can do to be a good citizen of this country is to is to turn from my sin and repent.
SPEAKER_01: I've accepted Jesus as my savior, but I've I've been I've been uh lazy, I've been, I've been uh I've been sinning, I've I just I I I haven't I'm not doing what God's called me to do.
SPEAKER_01: If that's you today, and and and you just want to say, hey, I want to I want to get my life back on track so that I can be the person God called me to be, knowing that that's what's gonna change this country.
SPEAKER_01: It's when the people of God repent and they live according to the scripture.
SPEAKER_01: If that's you today, and you just want to lift your hand, I want to pray for you right now.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: God, thank you so much for those that are here today that that may have accepted Christ as their Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I just pray that you would bless them.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray that they would they would uh understand the decisions that they've made, that they would understand the truth of God's word as they begin to read it and study it.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray that you would put people in their life and in their path that would encourage them and point them in the right direction.
SPEAKER_01: Good examples they can follow of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray that we can be for there for them as a church to help them to grow and to encourage them.
SPEAKER_01: God, I pray for anyone in here that that is uh in need of repentance, that needs to turn their heart back to you, that needs to set their life on the right path, Lord, I pray that you would just bless them.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, give them peace, knowing that you are that you are their God, you are their creator, you are their savior.
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, when our desires line up with your desires, that's when, that's when we have happiness and we have peace in our life.
SPEAKER_01: So, God, I thank you for this church.
SPEAKER_01: I thank you for the amazing people that are here.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, thank you for answered prayer in the lives of our brothers and sisters that have been sick.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, thank you for for uh just your blessing on this church.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, use this church, use these people to advance your kingdom in Noakesville and Bristow and Gainesville and Manassas.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that we can see that that national revival we're seeing.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that we can see the same thing in this area and that it's obvious that people are turning to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And use this church, use the people of this church to make that happen.
SPEAKER_01: God, thank you for sending Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It's because of him that we can be here today, and it's in his name we pray.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to Family Church's Sermon of the Week.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this message encouraged you and helped you grow in your faith.
SPEAKER_00: If it blessed you, share it with a friend and follow so you never miss a new episode.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more about Family Church at myfamilychurch.com.
SPEAKER_00: If you are in the area, join us on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: We meet at Patriot High School, 10504 Till Run Drive.