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Transcript

Religious Freedom · 5-Minutes of Good News

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, Christians.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is Dallas Beecham.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Stand by for good news, religious freedom.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: It is one of the oldest hopes in the human heart.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it is one of the first reasons people came to America.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: The early believers who crossed the ocean did not come for wealth.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: They did not come for comfort.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: They did not come for political power.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: They came because they wanted freedom, freedom to worship God according to the scriptures.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: In Europe, kings controlled the churches, governments controlled the pulpits.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Pastors were told what they could and what they could not preach.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible was chained.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: The conscience was restricted, and the people were punished for obeying God.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: So they left.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: They stepped onto small wooden boats.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: They crossed a dangerous ocean.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: They risk everything because they believe something simple and powerful.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Faith is worth crossing an ocean for.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: When the pilgrims landed they wrote the Mayflower Compact.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: It began with these words In the name of God, amen.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: They believed God was the center of life, the center of family, the center of community, and the center of freedom.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: They did not want a nation without God.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: They wanted a nation where God could be honored without fear.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible says where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: That liberty is not political first.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: It is spiritual.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: It begins in the heart.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: It begins with truth.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: It begins with the freedom to worship God.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: America's earliest settlers understood this.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: They believed that freedom comes from God, not from kings, not from governments, not from culture.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And because they believed that, they built a nation where the church could be free, where the Bible could be preached, where families could worship, where conscience could be protected.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Today many people shout about separation of church and state, but the people who came here were not trying to escape the church.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: They were trying to escape the government that was controlling the church.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: They wanted a place where the word of God could be opened, where the gospel could be preached, where Christ could be honored, where believers could live out their faith without fear and punishment.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: That is the foundation.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: That is the beginning.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: That is the story of America.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And as we begin this series, let me highlight a very important point.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Religious freedom is not a political idea.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: It is a biblical idea.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: It is a gift from God, and it is worth protecting.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we should remember this too.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Religious freedom was never meant to be hidden inside church walls.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: It was meant to shape the home.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: It was meant to guide fathers and mothers.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: It was meant to teach children that there is a God in heaven and that every person must answer to him.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: That is why the early churches mattered.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: They were not just buildings.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: They were places where families gathered, where scripture was read, where hymns were sung, where children learn right from wrong, where neighbors learn to care for one another.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: A free church helps build a strong people, and a strong people can build a free nation.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: So when we talk about religious freedom, we are not talking about something small.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking about the freedom to live by faith, the freedom to teach truth, the freedom to raise our families in the fear and instruction of God, the freedom to say without shame that Jesus is the Christ of God, that freedom should never be taken for granted.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was purchased through sacrifice.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: It was protected by courage, and it must be passed on with conviction.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: I hope this message today causes you to think.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope this message causes you to have a good day.