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Did You Know? - September 22: Service • Freedom • Connection · Voices Of Life

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  Welcome to the Did You Know series of the Voices
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  of Life podcast, a ministry of the Church for
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  Life. A place where faith speaks, where history
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  breathes, and where hope finds its voice again.
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  Each episode is crafted to inspire, to strengthen,
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  and to guide you on your walk with God. And now,
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  to lead us through today's journey. Here. is
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  your host pastor david family friends listeners
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  across america and globally welcome to voices
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  of life did you know series a ministry of the
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  church for life i'm pastor david did you know
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  that september 22nd carries three powerful stories
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  of sacrifice freedom and national connection
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  from a young patriot who gave his life to a proclamation
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  that shaped the meaning of the civil war To a
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  new nation learning how to communicate across
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  the distance. September 22nd reminds us that
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  service, freedom, and connection are foundations
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  of life's meaning. Let's begin. Today we explore
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  these three moments of September 22nd, and they
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  speak directly to courage, dignity, justice,
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  and communication. Three moments, three themes,
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  one powerful message for our time. On September
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  22, 1776, 21 -year -old Nathan Hale was executed
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  by British forces in New York. A Yale graduate,
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  a schoolteacher, and a captain in the Continental
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  Army, Hale volunteered for an intelligence mission
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  behind enemy lines during the British campaign
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  for New York. Spying was a capital offense. Hale
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  knew the risk. He accepted it anyway. Captured
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  around September 21st, he was hung the next morning
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  at approximately 11 a .m., according to British
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  records preserved by the Library of Congress.
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  He is traditionally remembered by saying that
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  famous line, I only regret that I have but one
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  life to lose for my country. But historians note
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  that the exact wording cannot be confirmed from
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  surviving contemporary evidence. The phrase appears
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  to have been inspired by Joseph Addison's play
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  Cato and was recorded decades later. Yet the
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  meaning remains. Nathan Hale became a symbol
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  of courage, duty, and sacrificial service. This
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  moment speaks directly to service, not the romanticized
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  version, but the real version, the willingness
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  to accept responsibility even when responsibility
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  carries a cost. From military service to law
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  enforcement, firefighters, EMS, emergency management,
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  and volunteers, the heart of service is the sacrifice.
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  Jesus said in John 15 verse 13, Greater love
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  hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
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  life for his friends. Nathan Hale's story reminds
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  us that service is not about glory. It is about
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  love. And love for your country is probably one
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  of the greatest loves of all. In 1862, Lincoln
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  issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
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  So on September 22, 1862, five days after the
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  Battle of Antietam, President Abraham Lincoln
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  issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
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  this document announced that on january 1st 1863
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  slaves in the southern states still in rebellion
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  would be thenceforward and forever free but the
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  september proclamation did not immediately free
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  all slaves it only applied to areas in the confederate
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  territory and not loyal slave states or union
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  controlled regions So there were still slaves
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  in the northern states still going on during
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  the Civil War. We talked about this in a previous
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  podcast how President Lincoln's decision was
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  not truly done for humanity. It was done for
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  political reasons. It was done as a war -related
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  reason because He wanted to go ahead and cause
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  havoc in the South, and that was the main generator.
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  Otherwise, he would have released all the slaves,
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  including the northern states, but he didn't.
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  But the September Proclamation did not immediately
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  free all slaves. It only applied to those areas
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  that we talked about that were not under Union
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  control. So the final Emancipation Proclamation,
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  you would think, would have affected all slaves
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  everywhere. But it didn't. So the final Emancipation
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  Proclamation went into effect January 1, 1863.
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  It was the permanent abolition of slavery and
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  it was only for the southern states. It wasn't
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  until the 13th Amendment was passed and ratified
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  in 1865 where slaves were truly free and actually
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  the last slaves were in new jersey in january
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  of 1866. so a lot of people don't realize that
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  so it's just a point of contention that the emancipation
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  proclamation was not lincoln's love for people
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  for the slaves it wasn't the outrage it was political
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  it was all to cause havoc in the south and cause
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  the southern armies to be bogged down with escaped
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  slaves. And it also did not do anything for the
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  escaped slave statutes in the North. So if an
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  escaped slave came to, say, Pennsylvania, they
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  could be returned. Just want to point those little
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  parts out. I think it was important to make sure
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  we get the whole truth in here. But still, September
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  22nd was transformative. It reframed the Civil
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  War as a struggle involving freedom and slavery.
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  It opened the door. for thousands of black soldiers
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  and sailors to serve in a union cause and it
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  set the stage for watch night the powerful gatherings
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  of blacks on december 31st 1862 as they prayed
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  worship and waited for freedom to dawn this moment
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  speaks to freedom and to the responsibility that
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  comes with it american christians were deeply
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  divided over slavery some defended it others
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  opposed it and and slaves themselves resisted
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  bondage and some fled to the north but there
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  were really only one major rebellion prior to
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  the civil war and then was just individuals that
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  were trying to escape like um frederick bailey
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  perfect example back in the 1830s it was 1838.
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  They went toward the Union lines and then changed
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  their names so that they didn't get caught and
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  sent back. That's kind of how it works. So freedom
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  is never simple, it's never cheap, and freedom
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  is never automatic. Galatians 5 verse 13 says,
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  You have been called unto liberty, only use not
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  liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by
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  love to serve one another. Freedom carries responsibility.
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  Freedom carries more weight. And freedom calls
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  us to love. The slave issue was nothing but a
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  struggle. Not just for the slaves who some of
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  them were brutally hurt and others not. Others
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  were educated and treated well. It was for the
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  lawmakers. They had a hard time. And you have
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  to remember America inherited. slavery because
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  they were first British colonies that it was
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  the Brits that had slavery just like the Spanish
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  the Dutch that's the way it was it goes all the
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  way back to Slavic times when the Slavics were
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  slaves the Jews in Egypt I mean we can go on
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  and on about you know slavery the bottom line
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  is while there is human trafficking today which
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  is still a very serious issue there are no slaves
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  openly in any democratic country or a republic.
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  And that's kind of what's the most important
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  thing today, that we've gotten past that, and
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  it's not the direction that any country wants
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  to go that believes in freedom and faith. So
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  let's move on to 1789. On September 22, 1789,
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  the first Congress passed an act for the temporary
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  establishment of the post office. It was approved
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  by President George Washington. This did not
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  create the Postmaster General. That office dated
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  to 1775 under Benjamin Franklin. But the 1789
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  Act placed postal operations under the new federal
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  government created by the Constitution. Four
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  days later, Washington appointed Samuel Osgood
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  as the first Postmaster General under the Constitution.
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  The Postal Service became one of the earliest
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  mechanisms for connecting the new nation, linking
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  4 million people across 75 post offices and 2
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  ,400 miles of post roads. This moment speaks
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  to connection. Letters, newspapers, telegraph,
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  telephone, radio, television, internet, podcasts,
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  social media. Every generation finds new ways
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  to communicate truth, hope, and community. For
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  the Church of Life, this is our calling. To use
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  every tool available to connect people with encouragement,
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  clarity, and Christ. It's important to us. And
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  I want to thank our listeners across the country.
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  We have grown leaps and bounds lately. And I
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  just want to recognize that there's plenty of
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  people on the East Coast, whether it would be
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  New York, Elmhurst, Atlanta, Orlando. moving
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  on westward dallas houston moving to los angeles
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  up north by detroit and then across the oceans
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  to japan singapore brazil argentina and morocco
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  We've had listeners from all those places, and
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  I want to thank you for your time. Thank you
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  for listening. And I ask you to please, if you've
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  heard on a podcast, if you could like us, if
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  you can do a comment, tell us how we can improve.
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  We'd love to hear it. If you're on YouTube, you
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  can write a comment and hit the like button.
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  We really much appreciate that. And, of course,
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  subscribe. The more that you subscribe and telling
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  people about it, the better off. our broadcast
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  can become and that's where we want to be the
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  best that we can be for you that's what counts
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  september 22nd gives us three words service freedom
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  and connection nathan hale reminds us that service
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  carries sacrifice and he paid the ultimate one
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  the preliminary emancipation proclamation reminds
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  us that freedom carries responsibility and it's
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  not always what it appears to be And the Federal
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  Postal Act reminds us that connection carries
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  opportunity. And together they ask us, what will
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  we do with the freedom, responsibility, and communication
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  tools God has placed in our hands? Thank you
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  for joining us on this Voices of Life Did You
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  Know broadcast. Service, freedom, connection.
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  Three stories, one message, a life of meaning.
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  This is Voices of Life. And the story continues.
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  I'm Pastor David and we'll see you next time.
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  Thank you for joining us today on the Voices
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  of Life podcast, a ministry of the Church for
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  Life. As we close, may the stories we share strengthen
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  your faith, steady your heart, and remind you
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  that God is present in every chapter of your
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  journey. If this episode encouraged you, share
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  it with someone who needs hope. And until we
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  meet again, walk in truth, stand in courage,
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  and keep listening for the voice that leads you
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  forward. This has been Voices of Life. Peace
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  be with you.