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President Abraham Lincoln Birthday Special · Voices Of Life

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  Welcome to the Voices of Life, a ministry of
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  the Church for Life, and I'm your host, Pastor
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  David. Today, we honor Abraham Lincoln's birthday,
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  a moment to reflect on the life of one of the
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  most consequential leaders in American history.
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  President Lincoln was a man of humility, conviction,
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  a man of sorrow and faith, a man who carried
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  the weight of a nation on his shoulders today
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  we're going to walk through his humble beginnings
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  his obsession with preserving the union the power
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  of the gettysburg address the true meaning and
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  impact of the emancipation proclamation and the
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  tragedy of his assassination this is just It's
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  not just history, it's spiritual journey through
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  the life of a man God used in an extraordinary
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  way. Abraham Lincoln was born in a one -room
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  log cabin in rural Kentucky. He had no wealth,
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  privilege, didn't even have formal education.
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  He grew up working the land, splitting rails.
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  He educated himself by reading from Firelight
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  and learning from the Bible. He also looked at
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  other books like Shakespeare and other borrowed
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  books. He walked miles to find these books because
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  he wanted to learn. His childhood was marked
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  by hardship and loss, the death of his mother
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  early in life, poverty. and the constant struggle
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  to just survive each and every day. But from
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  those humble beginnings came a mind shaped by
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  curiosity, a heart shaped by compassion, and
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  a character shaped by perseverance. Lincoln's
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  life reminds us that greatness is not born from
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  comfort. It is born from struggle. When Lincoln
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  became president in 1861, the nation was tearing
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  apart. Eleven states seceded. War erupted. Families
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  were divided. The future of the country hung
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  in the balance. And Lincoln carried a singular
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  consuming burden. The Union must be preserved.
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  And he thought this and felt this and did this
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  with every bit of energy he had. But he didn't
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  do it for political power or personal glory,
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  but because he believed the United States was
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  a sacred experiment, a nation founded on the
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  idea that all men are created equal. To Lincoln,
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  The union was not just a geography, it was a
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  covenant. It was a promise, a moral mission.
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  He once said, if the union falls, the last best
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  hope of earth falls with it. His obsession was
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  not control, it was a calling. In November 1863,
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  after one of the bloodiest battles in american
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  history lincoln stood on the battlefield of gettysburg
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  and he delivered one of his most powerful speeches
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  ever spoken the speech was just 272 words it
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  was only two minutes long but it reshaped the
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  nation's purpose and is still remembered very
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  clearly today he reminded america that the war
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  was not about union it was about a new birth
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  of freedom he called the nation to finish the
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  work of those who died so that the government
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  of the people by the people for the people shall
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  not perish from the earth The Gettysburg Address
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  was not a speech, it was a prayer. It was also
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  a vision. Call it a spiritual rededication of
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  the nation to its founding ideals. On January
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  1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
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  It declared that enslaved people in the rebelling
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  states shall be then henceforth and forever free.
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  But let's speak honestly. The proclamation did
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  not free every enslaved person immediately. And
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  it only applied to the Confederate states. outside
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  of union control so what was its true meaning
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  it transformed the civil war from a political
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  conflict into a moral crusade the war was no
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  longer about the union it was about freedom it
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  opened the door for black men to join the union
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  army and nearly 200 000 black men did and their
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  courage helped turn the tide of the war it signaled
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  to the world that america was rejecting slavery
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  as a national sin it paved the way for the 13th
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  amendment which abolished slavery slavery entirety
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  the emancipation proclamation was not the end
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  of slavery however but it was the beginning of
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  the end it was a spiritual declaration as much
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  a political one but as we said it did not affect
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  the union states and there were slavery in the
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  union states in fact it was slavery in union
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  states long past the end of the civil war so
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  this emancipation proclamation was strategic
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  to bring shame upon the south but it did not
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  address the nation's own shame at the time because
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  it wasn't throughout the entire united states
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  and probably should have but it was strategic
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  and it worked for lincoln On April 14, 1865,
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  just days after the war ended, Lincoln went to
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  Ford's Theater. He was hoping for an evening
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  of rest that was desperately needed. There, he
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  was shot by John Wilkes Booth. And he died the
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  next morning. The nation fell into mourning.
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  Church bells rang. People wept openly in the
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  streets. Black Americans held prayer vigils throughout
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  the night. Frederick Douglass said, Abraham Lincoln
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  was the first great man I ever knew who was wholly
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  unselfish. His death was not just a national
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  tragedy, it was a spiritual wound. But his legacy
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  did not die with him. His vision of unity, his
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  belief of equality, and his courage in crisis,
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  and more importantly, the faith in the American
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  promise, continue to shape us today. His death
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  was a tragedy, and it was felt on the former
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  Confederate side too, because Lincoln was not
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  a vindictive man, and he was offering very fair
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  terms when it came to their surrender. let us
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  pray father thank you for the life of abraham
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  lincoln for his humility his courage his compassion
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  and most importantly his unwavering commitment
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  to justice and unity teach us to lead with the
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  same integrity teach us to stand for what is
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  right even when it costs us teach us to pursue
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  unity in a divided world may his legacy inspire
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  us to walk humbly to love mercy and to seek justice
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  in our own time in jesus name amen thank you
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  for joining me for this special abraham lincoln's
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  birthday episode of voices of life a ministry
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  of the Church for Life. May his life remind you
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  that God can use anyone from any background to
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  shape history. When they walk with humility,
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  conviction, and purpose, it makes all the difference
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  to us all. I'm Pastor David, and I'll see you
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  next time.