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God Bless America - Sermon Continued · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

0:00
Well, hello church family and welcome to the CFBC Sermon
0:05
continued podcast. I think that's a great way to
0:08
put this inaugural episode that we are starting this week after
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the first sermon in the series that we've titled Under God for
0:16
the month of July. It's such a special time in our
0:19
nation that we're celebrating our 250th anniversary as a
0:24
nation semi quincentennial. Think I said that right?
0:28
I actually can't believe I just said that, right?
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I'll mess it up before it's over.
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But I'm joined by our worship pastor, John Huff to my right.
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And further to my right is our creative arts director, Haston
0:40
Mckissick. So man, these guys are such
0:42
great friends and an integral part of what we do here at CFPC.
0:46
Obviously, some of us from the stage and then some of us not so
0:50
much from the stage, but behind the scenes on Haston.
0:53
This is a cool change of pace for you to be in front of a
0:55
camera. So thanks for joining, but
0:58
church family and beyond church family, if you're not part of
1:01
the CFPC family, that's awesome. We're glad you're joining us.
1:03
We're wanting to do something to where we continue to provide
1:07
some follow up content during the week leftover, if you will,
1:11
that didn't get shared from the pulpit.
1:13
It's not that this is secondary or less important information,
1:17
but really, to be quite honest, Shaw, the hours that I put in to
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prepare, I don't get to represent everything that comes
1:26
to the surface. I've got 3540 minutes, but often
1:30
times there's so much more that could be said or shared.
1:33
And sometimes the questions or conversation that could be a
1:35
great follow up. We don't have time to process.
1:37
This podcast gives us an opportunity to do just that.
1:40
So we're we're grateful you're joining us and I hope that this
1:43
is encouraging. It's edifying, it's challenging
1:46
for you as a disciple of Christ for your understanding of the
1:50
word of God and your application in your life as a believer.
1:53
So with that said, I don't know what you guys thought about
1:59
Sunday. I mean, number one, we had a, we
2:01
had a really funny incident on Sunday during the that which in
2:06
my Third Point of the message, which was we need God to
2:11
sovereignly and spiritually awaken America.
2:16
I had something happen I've never had happen in my life.
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And I've been preaching since I was in my 20s.
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I'm 41 and I had AI had a an individual in in the audience
2:25
immediately loudly laugh. I think you could use the word
2:30
cackle. I think you could almost use the
2:32
word. It was elongated so loud that it
2:35
picked up on the live stream. I don't know what you guys
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thought, but I I think I just responded before even thinking.
2:44
I just kind of instinctively said what I said, which was I
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didn't think that was funny, is what I said, because I
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legitimately thought they were laughing at the content of the
2:56
point, which this lady actually responded back from her seat in
3:02
the audience to me in the pulpit.
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That, oh, it was the fact my husband and I were bantering
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back and forth on what the answer in the point, the fill in
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the blank of the notes that we have in our worship guide.
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And either he or she had gotten it right and wouldn't have
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gotten it wrong as they had, you know, tried to predict what I
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was going to say. They end up coming up to me
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afterwards in the welcome area. And I hugged her.
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I gave her, I prayed over them as a family.
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They were about to leave on a mission trip.
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I, I don't know how that all came about to laugh out loud in
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such a moment, but it definitely was awkward.
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I don't know what you guys thought but.
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Oh, I mean, I've, I've not had that happen that I can remember
3:38
in the service. Yeah.
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And then not only that, have the interaction back and forth where
3:44
there was follow up from the person you know.
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So that's just unusual. Yeah, So hasting, we obviously
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posted the first service. Yes, we did.
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Yeah, instead of the second. So, hey, you just never know
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when you're when you preach God's word.
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I mean, that's an exciting part of it, but we are an exciting
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point in our history. I think it's worthy of our
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attention. I mean, cause seriously, we are
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citizens first of the Kingdom of God.
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That's what we're arguing. We are believers.
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We are not citizens ultimately of this world, but of heaven.
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And yet in God's Providence, He has put us here in the here and
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now, in a specific nation over which he reigns in rules that
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He's sovereignly overseeing the rise of.
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We are Americans because of, because this is where and when
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God has placed us. And I think that there's a lot
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to be said for that and how we live out our faith in the
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context and identities that God has given us as believers first.
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So with that said, I'll just be honest, I didn't get a chance to
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really share with everybody on Sunday that the really the
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burden that I felt like we ought to as a church, take time to set
4:52
aside to process this from God's word.
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And I knew that would be so much content that we could possibly
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cover and had to really narrow it down.
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But I've been really excited about doing this.
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I think that I think that Sunday went well overall.
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I know that you step into challenging waters a little bit
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whenever you embark upon something that so closely
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connects to politics and history and the arguments and the things
5:20
and the different perspectives and Christianity or not and all,
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all the stuff. So part of what I wanted to
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process was just as kind of, as we walked through the sermon,
5:30
some stuff I didn't get a chance to say.
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And let me just invite you guys to interact, question, say, hey,
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I disagree. I agree.
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Here's what I'd have said differently.
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Here's how they could have been better, you know, stuff like
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that. So obviously we, we we dove in
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out in Psalm 33 and and pulled out some principles out of that
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chapter. We didn't expose it the whole
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thing. But the first one was that God
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is sovereign over the rise and fall of nations.
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And in a course David makes that really clear in verse 10 and 11.
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And by deduction from that and you know, we, we get that God
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has also been sovereign over the rise and fall of our nation.
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And how historians look back and see this clear providential
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engagement of the hand of God that superintended our rise, our
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birth and our prosperity and our blessing and protection as a
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nation. I shared a few of those things.
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Couple things that I didn't share was, one, even going back
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all the way back to 1492, and if you read about why Christopher
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Columbus was motivated to do the four voyages that he did in
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total. But he actually writes in a
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book, he began in 15-O2 that he writes that he and his in this
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book, he had personally assembled all these Bible
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references that he had personally studied.
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And, and he writes that part of his motivation was actually the
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propagation of the Christian gospel in distant lands.
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Now, historians attribute all sorts of motivations and I'm
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sure they were multifaceted, but I think there's no doubt from
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his own word, in his own words, he actually does say, as
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imperfect as a man as he was and as we all are, that he was
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motivated in part by the propagation of the truth of the
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gospel to distant lands. And he wrote this.
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I love the statement that no one should be afraid to take on any
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enterprise in the name of our Savior.
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If it is right and if the purpose is purely for his holy
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service, it's amazing. So Christopher clearly had a
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identity as a Christian and as a motivation for you could even
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say the Great Commission, like he was looking for the Christian
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gospel to spread to other things.
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I talked about our date of birth and how the timing after the
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Reformation made it so available to be impacted by the ideas that
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were rooted in the Reformation, which all go back to the
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Scripture. What I didn't get to say is
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another key ingredient in our birth was the influence of the
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Mayflower Compact. So, you know, Fast forward from
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1492 to 1620. I mean, listen to how this
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reads. This is the first governing
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document written in the New World in English, OK.
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It says in the name of God, Amen, whose names are
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underwritten, having undertaken for the glory of God.
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And listen to this and advancement of the Christian
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faith and the honor of our king and country.
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A voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of
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Virginia do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the
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presence of God and one another covenant and combine ourselves
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together into civil body politics.
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I mean, notice the multiple mentions of God, notice the
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mentions of for the glory of God in the advancement of the
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Christian faith. And it was this, this was the
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first governing document that many people say the DNA of even
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our governing documents, our Constitution, go back to this
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one, which was clearly rooted in in the ideas of the Christian
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faith. So.
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Can I ask you a question? Why do you think that the
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Pilgrims sought to to influence this government that they were
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establishing with faith? Why?
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Why couldn't they do what England had done?
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You know, why? Why didn't they think that we
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can just remove this, we can do a faith separately?
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Why do they think that faith had to be integrated into the
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government of this new world? Well, that's a great question
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and I'm no Pilgrim expert, but what I do know is that they're
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driving foundation was freedom to live according to their
9:40
convictions. That was the restraint that they
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were under in their homeland. And so I don't think for the
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Pilgrims that they could conceive of a higher ideal than
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for their religious convictions to form the bedrock of the way
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they did life. So if you put what's the first
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big rock into the jar for life, well, the first one would be our
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religious convictions. And so no matter how we do
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politics, if we can't do our lives according to the
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foundation of our convictions, then there's no way we can
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really do civil politics, not rightly, not according to
10:13
conscience. And so they realized that there
10:16
was a natural law before national law and that natural
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law was God's law, IE things like the image of God built into
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man in women, right? The fact that we were made to be
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able to choose to serve God or not, and then we were made to be
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able to experience freedom. That was first freedom that God
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had given us and and ultimately a spiritual freedom.
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So I think for them it was just a right ordering of life, that
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it was first of all religious freedom.
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And then after they sought that, then they sought to organize
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what they knew was God's God. It instituted government.
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They knew their Bibles. They knew that government was an
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institution by God set up by God for good to restrain evil, and
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therefore is a natural ordering of life in the way they they,
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they knew the Bible directed. So I think that was part of,
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again, and that's really, when you think about it, how America
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unfolded. That was at our beginning,
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right? I feel like I would have been
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very aware of the almighty. You think they're not getting on
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a airplane? You know, you're sailing across
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the Atlantic in whatever condition the ship was in with
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whatever was going on you at the mercy of the sea.
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They can like probably questioning a lot like what are
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we doing? Oh, and to land not where they
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thought they were going to land. To face what they face when you
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read about the Mayflower and, and the disease, the struggle on
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the wild frontier. I mean, they, they basically
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sacrificed everything. And also I was going to mention
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it was the encouragement of their pastor that before they
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sent and he had to stay behind. That is, they followed his
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instructions to organize themselves, you know, in a civil
11:58
manner. They, he knew they would need
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that. But the first conviction was
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that we if we can't worship God freely, then what do we have?
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And and that's what they, you know, they, they forsake
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everything to be to do that. So one of the big questions that
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I didn't get a chance to answer, I'd love to dive into this is
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this this was just going to take a straight into some little bit
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of controversy. All right, which I think great,
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not necessary from the pulpit, but people want to ask and
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answer is America a Christian nation?
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And this question may be a good question, may not be a good
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question. I think it's a question and I
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think it's worth pastoral engagement and guidance.
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I think a well thought through biblical answer from a biblical
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worldviewer lens is necessary. So John, what I thought I'd do,
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maybe you and hasten, I would just pop quiz you on 10
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questions and the test is, is America a Christian nation?
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So I just want you to answer from your gut like this is a
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rapid fire. This is not look at this up in
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your Bible or look it up in these 10 pages of notes you
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printed to try to be ready. I'm praying.
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So just give me your and and hasten.
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If you disagree, I need you to. I need you to give an
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alternative answer. All right, but I think here's a
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way for us to think about is America Christian nation?
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Let's ask some more nuanced, some more specific questions.
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Are you guys ready? All right, John, number one is
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Christian teaching, the primary religious system that influenced
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the founding of the United States.
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I would say yes on that one. I think you would be correct.
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I don't think it's arguable that another religious system was the
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most influential beyond and beyond Christianity in our
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founding, right? So yes, right?
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The truth is, Christian teaching was the primary religious system
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that influenced our founding #2 where the majority of the
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founding fathers of the US Christians who generally
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believed in the truth of the Bible.
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That. I feel like that one's a toss
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up, but I would probably say yes to that too.
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You said the majority. We're the majority of the
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founding fathers of the US Christians who generally
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believed in the truth of the Bible.
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I would say yes to that. I think I would say yes to that
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too. Obviously not all were
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evangelicals. Some were clearly deist.
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I think if you put the question like this, where the majority of
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them, once you recognize the general truths of Christianity
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as written in the Scriptures, I think that the answer to that is
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yes. And you can't help but say yes
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to that based on the way they worded, you know, our original
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documents and some of the actual historical writings that they
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produced #3 is Christianity or various sorts, the largest
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religion in the US? At that time or now?
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Then and now, the largest religion in the US but
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especially then what? Do you want to say?
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I would say yes, it's, it seems like to me, I mean I, I would
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say, I mean we've. Obviously, is there a religion
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that more people adhere to in the US today than Christianity?
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I don't think so. OK, Yeah.
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So there's your answer. So then and now, essentially the
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one major, if you will, overall religion would have been
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Christianity. In other words, there's not.
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Islam is not more adhered to in the US right now than
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Christianity or claim to be, etcetera.
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So #4 Did Christian beliefs provide the intellectual
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background that led to many of the cultural values still held
15:39
by Americans today? Rights.
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Absolutely yes. The roots for individual
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freedom, protection of individual rights, respect for
15:47
personal freedoms, the value of hard work.
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We even call that the what the Protestant work ethic, the need
15:53
for strong National Defense, the share and the show of care for
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the poor and the weak, the value of generosity, of giving aid to
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other nations, respect for the rule of law.
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All these things are rooted in biblical principles.
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I'm. Afraid, they continue.
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Pray they continue, Absolutely. Whole like swearing in a
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ceremony which you know that there's, you know, ramifications
16:13
about all that, but they're not they don't have a Quran up there
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or like, you know it's. They don't, and there have been
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a few exceptions where some presidents have chosen a
16:21
different book than the Bible, but it's been the rare
16:24
exception. And some were sworn in without a
16:27
Bible present when they didn't have a Bible present.
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But the vast majority have been sworn in as the ultimate office
16:33
of our nation, their hand on the book, the God of the Bible
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inspired, right? So #5 So we've had four yeses so
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far out of our 10 questions. Number 5, was there a Supreme
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Court decision? This is a more difficult one at
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one time that affirmed that the United States is a Christian
16:52
nation are. You well well versed in Supreme
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Court cases? Say it one more time.
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Was there a Supreme Court decision at one time that
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affirmed that the United States is a Christian nation?
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I, I can't recall like I feel like it's a yes because I feel
17:17
like I, I don't know it. So it probably is, yes.
17:20
Your gut would be right. I'm not going to go in the
17:22
details about it for the sake of time, but you guys can look this
17:25
up. But there was, and it was a 1892
17:29
decision, Church of the Holy Trinity versus the US.
17:34
And the ruling established that a church had the right to hire a
17:37
minister from a foreign nation, IE England.
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And thus the church was not in violation of an 1885 law that
17:45
had prohibited hiring foreigners and aliens to perform labor in
17:49
the US. And the court's argument was
17:50
that there were so much evidence showing the dominant, quote,
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Christian character of this nation that Congress could not
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have intended to prohibit churches from hiring Christian
18:01
ministers from other countries. There was so much Christian
18:04
influence, basically. So number six, all right, I
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think that the nature of these questions is going to change.
18:10
So just hint him, are a majority of people in the US Bible
18:17
believing evangelical born again Christians?
18:20
Yes or no? That's a no.
18:22
Especially increasingly, no. Estimates range from 18 to 42%.
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To be born again. Obviously, only God knows the
18:31
status of the charge. Range 18 to 42.
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Most argue that probably closer to 20% is more accurate.
18:37
That sounds. 2 out of 10. 2005 Gallup poll came up with 22%.
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Again, like our best efforts will never be able to do a
18:46
perfect read on that, only God knows.
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But I do think that sounds pretty accurate to me.
18:51
That's interesting because I read a statistic yesterday that
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29 average, 29% of adults in the United States say they have
19:01
excellent mental health. I wonder if there's a
19:04
correlation there. Oh, less than about 3 out of 10.
19:08
So they have excellent mental health and obviously 7 out of 10
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don't believe they have mental health.
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And you know, compared. To that's fascinating #7 is
19:17
belief in Christian values the dominant perspective promoted by
19:21
the US government, the media, and universities in the US
19:25
today? I I would definitely would say
19:29
no currently. You would be correct.
19:31
When it when some of these institutes were founded, they
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were founded on Christian morals and intended to be Christian
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schools that have now kind of gone secular and would never
19:43
promote biblical values. That's right #8 does the US
19:48
government promote Christianity as the national religion?
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I don't think so. Not very publicly.
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This one shouldn't be there. Let me let me ask you like this
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national. Let me ask you like this.
20:01
You may be a little bit of shock mode because on podcast first
20:03
one, but does the does does America have a nationally
20:07
endorsed religion? No.
20:09
No, I would say no. No, obviously not so.
20:12
So the US government does not promote Christianity as our
20:16
nationalized, you know, endorsed religion #9 does the US have an
20:20
official state sponsored religion?
20:23
I jumped ahead. That's no.
20:25
That's no absolutely #10 does a person have to profess Christian
20:30
faith in order to become AUS citizen or to have equal rights
20:35
under the law in the US? No.
20:39
We've asked 10 questions, we've had five yeses and we've had
20:44
five Nos. So the fact is, right when it
20:48
comes to is the USA Christian nation, well, it really all
20:52
depends on what someone means by Christian nation.
20:57
You got to define what are you really asking because in five
21:01
possible meanings, the answer is yes and five other possible
21:04
meanings, it's no. And in one sense, I think it to
21:07
be clear that the question really isn't all that helpful
21:09
because the question isn't all that clear.
21:12
And we need to be more nuanced and thoughtful and, and, and
21:15
specific when we talk about this because it can lead to arguments
21:18
and misunderstanding and confusion.
21:21
What what I can tell you is that the five yeses is no doubt that
21:28
the ideas and the principles and the values of the Christian
21:31
faith, we're part and parcel to the DNA in the format formative
21:37
times of our nation and have continued to be.
21:39
Let me just give you something. These aren't subjective things.
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Let me just tell you some objective things.
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OK? Engraved on the metal cap of the
21:47
top of the Washington Monument are the words praise be to God.
21:52
Bible verses are lining the walls.
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OK, in the famous address the Bible in Progress delivered in
21:59
Denver on May 7th by Woodrow Wilson, he told, he said, I mean
22:03
a president, the US told America was born a Christian nation.
22:06
Now again, what does he mean by that?
22:07
We got to be clear. What does he mean by that?
22:09
But they but then a president said that he says America was
22:13
born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness
22:16
which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture.
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OK, President Jimmy Carter told reporters in June of 1976, we
22:25
have a responsibility to try to shape a government so that it
22:28
does exemplify the will of God. 1931 we already mentioned the US
22:34
Supreme Court noted the United States.
22:35
That was again another Supreme Court decision that noted the
22:37
United States as a Christian nation.
22:39
And then President Roosevelt in a Mid-Atlantic summit with
22:43
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the darkest hours
22:46
of World War 2, described the United States as the lasting
22:50
concord between men and nations founded on the principles of
22:55
Christianity. Pope Pius the 12th 1947 wrote to
23:00
President Truman said flatly there this is a Christian
23:03
nation. I can tell you the history of
23:05
how Eisenhower attended a sermon and heard a Presbyterian pastor
23:11
in DC arguing that omitting under God in the Pledge of
23:14
Allegiance stripped the definitive factor from the
23:17
American way of life. Claiming this pastor claimed
23:20
that an atheistic American is a contradiction in terms.
23:24
That was then some of the the the the fuel to the fire of
23:29
under God being added to the Pledge of Allegiance. 2 years
23:32
later he made in God we trust the US official motto.
23:35
I mean on and on we we could go. Congress declared in 1983 the
23:40
year of the Bible. The crier who opens each session
23:43
of the Supreme Court closes with the words God save the United
23:46
States and the honorable court again like the US doesn't have a
23:50
national religion. You don't have to be a Christian
23:53
to be AUS citizen. Christianity birthed the value
24:00
of religious freedom. So you'll hear this argument
24:03
sometimes about secularists on the, you know, kind of the far
24:07
progressive side. They want to say Christian, the
24:09
US was founded on religious liberty.
24:11
And in some degree that's true. It really was.
24:14
But what's deeper than the first rock in the jar prior to
24:18
religious liberty was the principles of Christianity.
24:22
Islam didn't give us religious liberty.
24:25
Hinduism did not give us religious liberty.
24:28
Buddhism didn't give us religion.
24:30
Christianity gave us the image of God, that we're made in the
24:35
freedom before God, of conscience, of worship, that the
24:39
fact that faith is a matter of the heart.
24:42
That's what gave us religious liberty.
24:45
And I think as when we when we think of the values of the
24:49
United States, justice is one of the things that we hold closely
24:54
is like everyone, no matter who you are innocent until proven
24:58
guilty, you will stand before in court and you will be able to
25:03
testify and give a defense. And that's biblical values is is
25:08
justice that is something that that is from God is to give
25:11
equal justice to all, just like we read in Psalm 33.
25:15
I mean God saying like he loves righteousness and justice, and
25:21
those are values that I see everywhere in the United States.
25:24
We, we try to cling to the righteous side of things.
25:27
We try to make sure that everyone has a fair trial at at
25:30
every every identity when presented in court.
25:34
We obviously have and do fall so far short of the ideal of
25:40
perfect justice as any human enterprise would.
25:43
And we're not sugar coating over those things or turning a blind
25:47
eye to our downfalls as a nation.
25:49
But we are arguing is that the ideals that come from the
25:53
inspired Word of God have been our ideals, however far short
25:56
we've fallen of them. But that has been our starting
25:59
point, you know, as a nation. So well, you know #2 in the
26:03
sermon we talked about how God is the blesser of nations and
26:06
God has blessed America. Like, you just can't argue
26:09
against that. God is the one who ultimately
26:10
blesses and God has blessed our country.
26:14
We talked about that in the context of of the Old Testament
26:17
versus the New and how 2 truths are still true, that God is
26:21
still the blessed are of nations.
26:22
No, America is not a theocracy the way Israel was, and yet
26:29
every nation still chooses a God.
26:32
I think that's probably one of the most controversial things I
26:34
expected to say on Sunday. I did not say America was a
26:39
Christian nation, but I did say that every nation still chooses
26:42
a God. And what I really, what I meant
26:44
by that, and I explained this, is that underneath the founding
26:48
of every civil body or governing structure is a worldview.
26:53
And that worldview has a theology.
26:56
And that theology has a God. And it doesn't mean that we have
27:00
a nationalized state sponsored religion.
27:03
That's not what I mean, but it does mean that we have an
27:07
ultimate authority. There is that in a worldview by
27:10
which one is ordering one's life or one's country or one's
27:13
government, government, government.
27:15
So this is what I mean. In fact, the the famous Geneva
27:19
born political philosopher Rousseau made the statement,
27:25
which I find fascinating, but he said no state has ever been
27:29
founded without a religious basis.
27:35
That's quite a statement that there has been no human
27:40
organized leading governing system that doesn't have within
27:45
it. I mean, you think about, let's
27:48
just say you tried to start a purely secular state.
27:52
Well, that that state has a God. Who is it?
27:57
It's man. It's it's a man centered, not a
28:00
God centered. It's where our ultimate
28:02
authority. We are the standard setters of
28:04
truth and justice and righteousness.
28:06
We are our own God. This was the lie in the garden.
28:09
Satan wanted Adam and Eve to set up a philosophy of life that had
28:14
a religious conviction to it. Just not one with God at the
28:16
center, you at the center. I mean, there's never been a
28:20
state. And I think he's exactly right.
28:22
So. I think that's human nature too.
28:25
Is is we're born with a desire to to follow something greater
28:30
than ourselves. You know.
28:32
We, we just human nature. I mean, you can look at any
28:35
isolated tribe and they have idols that they worship.
28:39
I think it's just if we gather as a society that we're going to
28:42
ingrain those things into our thinking.
28:45
That's right. And so why not the ultimate guy
28:49
creator you know to to follow and base a religion off of or
28:53
base a government off of? It goes back to that reality
28:56
that God made mankind to worship.
28:59
Yeah. And our hearts are, as one,
29:01
famous theologians that are idol factories, like our hearts don't
29:05
know how to do anything but worship.
29:07
And John, as a worship pastor, you know, you lead us in singing
29:11
each week, and of course, that's one manifestation of worship.
29:14
But all we do is done in worship to the glory of something or
29:18
someone, to the allegiance of someone or something, to the
29:23
loyalty of something or something, you know, So we human
29:27
beings can't escape worship. It's just a matter of whom we
29:31
are choosing to worship, and that even effects our.
29:34
We we have to fight that battle daily of of self.
29:37
Right. You know our our self esteeming
29:41
ourselves more highly than we ought.
29:43
This is, you know, infinite perfect holiness.
29:47
Yeah, and righteousness, you know.
29:50
That's right. So what did you guys think about
29:54
some statistics I shared about if you talk about ebb and flows,
30:00
there's an ebb of patriotism in our nation, especially among the
30:05
younger generation. We see this.
30:07
I think I, I, I, when I read these statistics and studied
30:10
these, I didn't go into deep dives, but they resonated with
30:14
me as objectively as true to my subjective experience.
30:19
What did, what did you guys think?
30:21
Anything shock you? You disagree with you found.
30:24
Well, as I, as you know, if I think about the perspective of
30:26
folks, you know, a generation or so younger than myself, you
30:31
know, they're, you know, born in the era of 911, You know, they
30:37
school age potentially or probably during, you know, COVID
30:42
shut down. There's been a lot of, you know,
30:45
recession, just angst and turmoil.
30:48
Social media has made that, you know, you know, exponentially
30:52
worse. And so it doesn't surprise me
30:57
that it's low, but there are I, I think pockets of folks that
31:04
regard, have a high level of patriotism regard for the
31:08
country. I'm not talking about, like,
31:09
the, you know, Christian nationalism thing, but people
31:13
that feel like being a good citizen is biblical, people that
31:17
feel like loving your country isn't wrong and that there's
31:22
still, you know, ideals and things that we can hold fast to
31:26
that are biblical and, you know, loving of people and the nation
31:34
we've been blessed with too. I feel like there's a lot of,
31:40
you know, slandering of the country, even intentionally and
31:44
unintentionally online that people are quick to comment
31:50
before we know exactly what we're even saying, right.
31:54
So I do, I do sense that the people are just weary a lot of
32:00
the, the conversation, you know? Right, right.
32:04
I think a lot of it, you're right, is driven by some of
32:06
those factors. I think some of it is driven by
32:11
a naivety to what true historical things went into the
32:17
founding and the sacrifice that made our country what it is.
32:22
I feel like a lot of it is driven by entitlement.
32:24
If someone doesn't feel like their country is quote blessing
32:27
them, then they feel like it's depriving them of, you know,
32:32
prosperity or maybe because you know.
32:34
But what have you done for me lately?
32:36
Yeah, that's just entitlement you run into so often that I
32:40
think is a it it, it was just as a such a wrong, wrongly oriented
32:47
perspective. And I think some of it is truly
32:50
driven by a desire to see the principles that we were founded
32:54
on undone and a revision of some of that history.
32:58
I do think like you mentioned, even like a Christian
33:00
nationalism, I do think there is an overreaction to some of that
33:05
whereby, you know, sometimes you can take quote the Christian
33:10
approach or principles. And I think what we have to be
33:13
careful is what we're not trying to do as Christians in our
33:15
nation is superimpose our convictions on anyone else.
33:22
We are wanting the righteousness of God's truth to allow for
33:28
human flourishing in our land. But that doesn't mean forcing
33:31
someone to believe in Jesus. It doesn't mean coercing someone
33:35
to have to, according to their, you know, against their
33:37
conscience assent to things we believe the Bible says are true.
33:41
And so I think sometimes really technically Christian
33:44
nationalism is when we may go to the point of seeking to impose
33:52
Christianity in such a way that would infringe on someone's
33:56
religious liberty. But that's what the founders
33:58
were so clearly protective of, right?
34:00
The truths that informed the freedom for someone to be, to
34:02
operate according to conscience was Christianity.
34:04
But we don't take that Christianity and infringe on
34:06
someone's, you know, but we are wanting to see the truth of
34:10
Christianity influence every facet of our life and society.
34:14
Why? Because we know that those
34:16
things will lead to human flourishing, but we can't force
34:19
them. So I think there's, there's more
34:22
I want to talk about on that in future podcasts, but I think
34:26
that that is one of the questions.
34:28
And one of the controversial things that it would be helpful
34:30
for us to process is what is that?
34:32
What is that line between the principles of our founding and
34:35
then how those principles gave us a landscape where people have
34:38
the freedom to operate according to conscience.
34:40
And then where are the boundaries of that?
34:41
Where are the boundaries that when you can't operate according
34:43
to your conscience cause your conscience is bad for society
34:46
and actually you're engaging in wrong and it's harming you know?
34:49
So where what are those boundaries?
34:51
We all have to wrestle with Jesus and what he said because
34:56
he said radical things. That's right.
34:59
You know, and so, but also the things he said are life giving
35:05
and so you everyone must wrestle with, you know, the things that
35:09
he said and how he walked and talked in the country and areas
35:16
he was in. And you?
35:18
Know he there's things he said about, you know, render to
35:21
Caesar, give God, what's God Caesar, Caesar's and there's
35:23
things that are important for us to ponder.
35:29
You know, why were those things included in scripture?
35:32
These things have great value to us, you know, and that's part of
35:36
that, you know, conversation, too.
35:38
I think to quote Mufasa, he would say, remember who you are.
35:45
And for my generation and younger, you know, we've kind of
35:49
forgotten who we are, whether that's because of cancel culture
35:54
or, you know, people want to change the ideology that we're
35:59
founded on because they're trying to demonize or make it
36:02
more secular. And so they take aspects of the
36:05
Founding Fathers, which a lot of them had slaves.
36:08
Like. The sins of these men of having
36:11
slaves, and they say they could say nothing, right?
36:14
Exactly. That was like throwing the
36:16
country out with the bathwater comment that I made, Yeah.
36:18
Yeah, so I think that's a wrong way to view it.
36:23
There are no good people. And we have all created great,
36:25
you know, done great sin. That doesn't mean that we can't
36:28
have honest confessions, honest values, right, and truths that
36:32
we can speak from. And, and a lot of these men
36:36
spoke on their convictions, young men, mind you, these these
36:40
founding fathers were young men. I mean, George Washington was 44
36:45
whenever he assumed the presidency.
36:47
A lot of these founding fathers were in, you know, 18 if you go
36:51
all the way back to Alexander Hamilton.
36:52
And so these were young men that were thinking these things
36:57
through. I mean, they were heavily
36:59
influenced by the Bible, but as well as they were very well
37:03
studied a lot more than probably I am or any of us in this room
37:07
are. But these were men that care
37:09
deeply about this nation and we and they were like you said.
37:14
And, you know, they were putting their lives on the line, their
37:16
fortunes on the line. They mentioned that right in the
37:19
Declaration of Independence that they were risking life and limb
37:24
and fortune and honor, and we're doing so independence on God's
37:28
divine help because they knew it would be at stake if there was
37:33
not victory. So when they when they they
37:37
stood where they stood, obviously they were making a
37:39
choice to rebel against the crown.
37:41
They believe they had a right to do so.
37:43
They knew their Bibles, they knew what Romans 13 said, and
37:46
yet they believe they had warrant to seek to obey God
37:49
rather than man when man was in an unjust way operating in
37:55
government leadership right as as king in that case, but.
37:58
I think suffering is a part of it, too, because you think about
38:01
like, I think about my granddad on both sides, you know, being
38:04
in World War 2, you know, some call it the greatest generation.
38:09
And those folks, the things that they encountered from age, you
38:14
know, kids to 1830, depression, you know, war, you know, the
38:23
draft, all these, all these things that allowed us to be
38:27
where we are today. We're a part of the story.
38:29
But it's just like we don't have that concept of, you know, that
38:36
level of fighting for what's right.
38:38
Yeah. It's almost like that we have in
38:41
our generations haven't had the call to a sacrificial investment
38:45
that has caused us to say, hey, our blood, blood, sweat and
38:49
tears have gone into the formation the making of this
38:51
country as sometimes other generations have that have
38:54
caused a patriotism and love of country and willingness to serve
38:56
and sacrifice to rise up. And in a lot of ways you're
38:59
right that that's been that's been lacking y'all.
39:02
The third final place that we landed, which I kind of started
39:05
us with that got the laughter, was that we need God to
39:09
sovereignly and spiritually awaken America.
39:13
You know, we as a church have a mission statement to love people
39:16
to life in Jesus Christ in a vision statement that says we
39:19
want to see our growing community saturated with the
39:21
gospel of Jesus Christ. What happened in the 1st and 2nd
39:26
Great Awakenings was a saturation of the gospel of
39:30
Jesus Christ in our country and in every community.
39:33
And it was the wholesale inversion towards Kingdom things
39:39
that happened as a result from worldly things to Kingdom things
39:43
and values that really set the culture of our nation on such a
39:48
trajectory that allowed us, I believe, to flourish in ways
39:52
that we have and did. So I mentioned, you know, I was
39:57
able to go into some detail on the first Great Awakening that
40:00
that happened and. And some individuals involved in
40:04
that I, I didn't get to quote all of some of the things that
40:07
Edward said. Let me let me say one that I, I
40:10
left out this word. This, this was Edward Edwards
40:13
describing some of the results. He says our assemblies, that
40:16
means of the church were beautiful.
40:19
Our public praises were greatly enlivened.
40:22
Our young people when they met, were want to spend their time
40:25
talking about the love of Jesus Christ they had abandoned.
40:29
I love this terminology that abandoned their frolicking,
40:32
their night walking, their impure language and lude songs,
40:35
and among all, young or old, there was seem to be a change in
40:38
their habits of drinking, Tavern haunting, profane to speaking
40:42
and extravagance of apparel. Notoriously vicious persons have
40:47
been reformed. The wealthy, the fashionable,
40:49
the great bows and fine ladies have relentless wished their
40:53
vanities. You know he's just describing
40:56
this wholesale change in their community and culture.
40:59
He specifies things like people took a new interest in reading
41:02
the Bible. Worship services greatly
41:04
increased in attendance. Feuding colonists settled their
41:07
differences. Argumentative neighbors
41:09
apologized to each other, neglected debts were paid.
41:12
Families and friends were reconciled.
41:14
It was a time of joy and families on account of salvation
41:17
being brought unto them. Parents rejoicing over their
41:20
children as newborn and husband over their wives, and wives over
41:24
their husbands. The gospel was leavening.
41:29
We use that metaphor of like the leaven and dough to make bread
41:32
rise. The gospel was leavening
41:34
society. It was leavening America in such
41:37
a way that America was changed by a mighty movement of the Holy
41:42
Spirit of God. I can't imagine what our country
41:46
would have been like had God not done that on 2 occasions prior
41:50
to our birth and soon afterwards, as the Word of God
41:53
said, and we mentioned that righteousness exalts a nation,
41:56
but sin is a reproach to any people.
42:00
You know, I left out quotes from Ben Franklin and others at the
42:03
Continental Convention that I could have said, but even George
42:05
Washington you referenced earlier, I left this out, but I
42:09
love this statement. He said it is the duty of all
42:11
nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to
42:14
obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to
42:17
implore His protection and favor.
42:20
I mean, it's things like that that came out of a culture
42:22
saturated with the gospel, the principles of our faith.
42:27
And so this is when I made a statement.
42:29
The God that America trusted in was the God of biblical
42:32
Christianity. I wasn't saying that Christian
42:34
that that America was officially a Christian nation.
42:37
I wasn't saying that every founding father is an
42:39
evangelical born again believer. I wasn't saying that you got to
42:41
be a Christian to be an American.
42:42
What I'm saying though, is that the world view most central to
42:46
our nation and our founding was the world view of Christianity.
42:51
This was the God. It wasn't a different God.
42:53
It was the God of the Bible that.
42:56
So let me also read a quote from Alex de Tocqueville because this
43:02
is about as objective as it gets.
43:03
Like I'm just quoting what a guy who came and studied America and
43:07
published this in 1835. So this is, you know, gosh, it's
43:10
like 60 years after our founding.
43:13
This is what he says. The Americans combine the
43:17
notions of Christianity and liberty so intimately in their
43:21
minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one
43:25
without the other. There is no country in the whole
43:30
in which the Christian religion retains a greater influence on
43:34
the souls of men than in America, and there can be no
43:38
greater proof of its utility and of its conformity to human
43:41
nature, then that its influence has most powerfully felt over
43:45
the most enlightened and free nation on the earth.
43:47
Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of
43:50
the country was the first thing that struck my attention, and
43:54
the longer I stayed there the more did I perceive the great
43:57
political consequences resulting from the state of things to
44:01
which I was unaccustomed. In France I'd almost seen always
44:05
seen the spirit of religion in the spirit of freedom, pursuing
44:08
courses diametrically opposed to each other.
44:10
But in America, I found that they were intimately united and
44:14
then they reigned in common over the same country.
44:18
Back to your question over what the pilgrims did.
44:22
They saw these two things of the reigning of the government and
44:26
of the principles of Christianity so, so intimately
44:28
intertwined. They couldn't conceive of the
44:30
two separate from one another. They never they, they, they did
44:34
not see these things as incompatible.
44:39
And, and so they allowed the one to inform the other.
44:42
And so, you know, I want to finish and see what comments you
44:47
guys have, but I did make a statement that the soul of
44:49
America is in trouble. And I really do believe that.
44:52
I think that's a controversial statement depending on who you
44:54
ask. But if you're asking about are
44:57
we remembering and are we continuing in the trajectory
44:59
from which we were the rock from which we were hewn, I think
45:03
there is no question that we are more removed today from those
45:07
principles of our faith in forming and driving and
45:10
saturating our culture, our communities and our leaders than
45:16
ever before. So that obviously is, is a
45:23
concern. And you know, the the, the
45:28
essence of a quote, Christian America or Christianity
45:33
influencing America. Is this right?
45:35
That just kind of conclude and and recap is that what we're
45:39
saying is that the ethical system adopted by Americans and
45:43
embedded in our social order rested in a biblical moral
45:46
order. What we're saying is that the
45:49
philosophical foundation of colonial American culture and
45:52
law was the judeo-christian ethic worldview sourced in the
45:57
scriptures. Not all founders were born again
46:01
believers, but it's clear that their view of man had a deeply
46:04
religious foundation, that human rights were God-given, that man
46:08
was endowed by his Creator, that they were natural laws and
46:11
natural rights, and that freedom was a natural result of the
46:15
sacredness of human life. And the development of a free
46:19
man was not divorced from the idea of moral man any more than
46:23
religious man could be separated from moral man.
46:28
So this is what we mean by Christians, Christianity's
46:31
influence in America. And so no one listen, no one
46:36
argues that America was heaven or ever has been heaven on
46:40
earth. But the the history is clear.
46:44
America's Christian history is clear.
46:46
And it was America's moral choice that made this nation the
46:50
envy of the world and a haven for the oppressed seeking to
46:54
live life in accordance with the freedom that was God-given.
46:57
And to be honest, the moment that you take away the right of
47:04
a human being to be free as a God-given right, then what
47:10
you're doing is you're essentially saying within the
47:12
state has the ability to give or take that right.
47:17
And you just totally changed the foundation by going from a God
47:23
centric view to a man centered view.
47:26
And if you lose, and we'll talk about this in the future, but if
47:28
you lose religious freedom, quite honestly, you've really
47:31
lost every freedom because that's really the, I've heard
47:34
religious liberty described as the Canary in the coal mine,
47:38
which of course is like, if the Canary dies, that means there's
47:41
not enough oxygen for you to live.
47:43
And so and you're in trouble. And that's where, of course,
47:48
we're seeing religious liberty and these things under attack
47:50
and we're at a thin margin of retaining that thing, which was
47:54
the founding principle. I think that's made our our
47:56
nation so great. So any final comments, thoughts,
48:00
questions as we wrap up guys? I think that for me, something
48:07
that's really hard to balance is my desire for people to come to
48:12
Christ and also my desire as a citizen of the United States to
48:19
welcome in and be a melting pot of faiths and different
48:23
backgrounds, because that's who we are as an American spirit is
48:27
You can have immigration, immigrants come and bring and
48:31
influence and bring, you know, their culture with them and
48:35
assimilate into the United States, but comes with that
48:38
comes their faith too. And so I'm, I'm always, you
48:42
know, at fighting over which one, you know, wins ultimately.
48:48
And I know that I'm a dual citizen, like we said at the
48:51
beginning, like I'm first and foremost a citizen of heaven and
48:56
secondly, citizen in the United States.
48:57
And so I believe that we have a unique opportunity in the United
49:01
States where the people come to us and we have a great
49:05
opportunity to share the gospel so that we can one day see these
49:09
people come to faith in Christ. Where we can have these cultures
49:14
and their influence and the things that make them their own
49:16
people, right? Come and bring in and create the
49:20
American culture, which isn't a melting pot.
49:22
Sure. But also hopefully see them come
49:25
to Christ as well, which is a a great joy that we get to have
49:30
here because, you know, we we want to see every tongue and
49:35
tribe right? Profess Christ as That's right,
49:38
yeah. Yeah, those tensions between
49:40
freedom to worship according to one's conscience, and yet we're
49:44
praying like mad that one's conscience is convicted by the
49:46
Holy Spirit to trust Christ. And I think until our
49:50
citizenship is united and ultimately only in heaven, then
49:54
we'll face that tension as living as aliens in exiles on
49:59
earth. Not everything will feel
50:01
natural. And we live in that balance, you
50:03
know, as Kingdom citizens here and now based on the principles
50:07
of heaven, saying, Lord, let your will be done on earth as
50:10
it's done in heaven, while ultimately being someone to
50:13
choose how they choose to live before God.
50:15
So Johnny, Nina, the pop quiz before we go or are you good?
50:19
I just thinking honestly, the, the bringing back the
50:23
conversations around the meal table, yeah, versus our first
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impulse as a society to go online and, you know, get the
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gotcha comments in or the theme or whatever.
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And somebody's Jesus again modeled that for us.
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It's like people greatly disagree with him and disagree
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with who he had at the table around him or who's, you know,
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house he would go to and all that.
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I think he modeled for us that very thing.
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It's like if we're unwilling to have a conversation with someone
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right face to face from the get go, you know, where do we think
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we're going to? Sure, Yeah, we hope and pray
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that God sends 1/3 Great Awakening.
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Can you imagine if Cartersville, our community, our state, our
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nation was saturated with new believers?
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You know, that does things legislation can't do, that does
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things that nothing else touches.
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The Holy Spirit alone can change the human heart.
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That's the hope of the world. It's the gospel.
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It's not a country, it's not a nation.
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God has blessed America, and ultimately I believe that
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blessing has been for the propagation of His gospel in
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such ways. It has not gone forth from any
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other nation quite like it has gone forth from the US.
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And I just pray God continues to to move in our nation in a way
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where his will can be done. So well folks, thanks for
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joining us. I hope this has been helpful.
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Further clarifying for you, we're going to keep going this
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month as we follow up each sermon.
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Let let me suggest if you've got questions, maybe put those in
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the comments. If you are a CFBC attender, our
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emails are on the back of the worship God.
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You could send an e-mail with questions you have for you'd
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like for us to address. That'd be fun to try to do.
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I'll make sure John gets all of those.
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If he gets them wrong, Hasting can correct.
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So we'll have fun with that. But hey, let's pray for our
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country. Let's pray for an awakening.
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Let's pray for the Holy Spirit to move.
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Don't forget to share the gospel, right?
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To actually speak the words that you know can change someone's
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eternity and also impact even our nation, our neighborhoods,
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our homes, our families, marriages and kids and life
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right now. So that's a wrap as you go.
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You go to make disciples. We'll see you next time on the
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sermon continued here at CFBC.