Latest / Voices Of Life / Did You Know? - September 17 — Covenant, Conflict, and Courage

Transcript

Did You Know? - September 17 — Covenant, Conflict, and Courage · Voices Of Life

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Did You Know series of the Voices
• 0:03
  of Life podcast, a ministry of the Church for
• 0:07
  Life. A place where faith speaks, where history
• 0:11
  breathes, and where hope finds its voice again.
• 0:16
  Each episode is crafted to inspire, to strengthen,
• 0:20
  and to guide you on your walk with God. And now,
• 0:24
  to lead us through today's journey. Here. is
• 0:29
  your host pastor david welcome to the voices
• 0:36
  of life i'm pastor david and today we're stepping
• 0:39
  into one of the most extraordinary dates in american
• 0:42
  history september 17th across three centuries
• 0:46
  this single day has carried moments of nation
• 0:49
  building nation testing and nation healing it
• 0:54
  is a day where the american story intersects
• 0:56
  with the story of faith freedom, and conscience.
• 1:00
  Let's walk through the defining events of September
• 1:03
  17th, moments that shaped the Constitution, the
• 1:07
  battlefield, and even emotional recovery after
• 1:10
  9 -11. On September 17th, 1787, inside the Assembly
• 1:16
  Room of Independence Hall, 39 delegates signed
• 1:20
  the final draft of the United States Constitution.
• 1:24
  The Articles of Confederation had left the young
• 1:27
  nation weak, divided, vulnerable. The Constitution
• 1:30
  Convention, held behind closed doors for nearly
• 1:33
  four months, produced a new covenant for the
• 1:37
  American people. The document created the framework
• 1:40
  of the federal government, established checks
• 1:43
  and balances, and set the stage for the Bill
• 1:46
  of Rights. But for us in the church, September
• 1:49
  17th opens a deeper conversation. One the founders
• 1:53
  themselves wrestled with. Now here's the church
• 1:56
  connection to faith and freedom. We start with
• 1:59
  religious liberty. The founders believed faith
• 2:03
  must be free and never coerced. Then there's
• 2:08
  freedom of conscience. A person's inner convictions
• 2:11
  belong to God, not to the state. Then there's
• 2:16
  the separation of church and state. not to remove
• 2:20
  faith from public life, but to prevent government
• 2:24
  control over the church. There's been a lot of
• 2:28
  court decisions, and this is why I speak to this
• 2:31
  over the years, about faith in our schools for
• 2:34
  our children, and you had a lot of challenges
• 2:37
  from people of different denominations or atheists.
• 2:41
  And the court swung probably a little too far
• 2:44
  because, again, it says very clearly not to remove
• 2:48
  faith from public life. And if a child wants
• 2:50
  to pray in school, they should be able to do
• 2:52
  so. Then the next one is the First Amendment.
• 2:56
  Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
• 2:59
  of religion or prohibiting the free exercise
• 3:03
  thereof. Remember, we are a Judeo -Christian
• 3:07
  nation. That's how we started. Founding fathers
• 3:11
  prayed every time they met. They realized the
• 3:17
  importance of having God as part of their spirituality
• 3:20
  and their faith when making laws that will affect
• 3:25
  many lives. While I would never advocate to prohibit
• 3:28
  the free exercise of any religion, there is a
• 3:32
  difference between exercising freedom of religion
• 3:36
  and a religion that is designed to kill freedom,
• 3:42
  to overthrow governments. And that's not really
• 3:45
  a religion at all. That's a movement. And you
• 3:48
  could put it under any guise that you want, call
• 3:51
  it what you want. It's still a political movement.
• 3:54
  Moving on, the role of faith in early America.
• 3:58
  Scripture, sermons, and moral philosophy shaped
• 4:01
  the founders' worldview. And founders' understanding
• 4:04
  of religious freedom meant liberty was seen as
• 4:06
  a God -given right, not a government gift. On
• 4:09
  September 17, 1862, the bloodiest single day
• 4:13
  in American military history, at Antium Creek
• 4:16
  in Maryland, Union and Confederate forces clashed
• 4:20
  in a brutal dawn -to -dust struggle. 23 ,000
• 4:25
  Americans were killed, wounded, or missing. The
• 4:28
  Library of Congress calls it the most terrible
• 4:30
  single day on the American battlefield by virtually
• 4:34
  any measure. Not World War II, not Vietnam, not
• 4:38
  Korean War, none of these wars have compared
• 4:41
  to that one day on September 17, 1862. The battle
• 4:47
  halted Robert E. Lee's first invasion of North
• 4:50
  and gave President Abraham Lincoln the strategic
• 4:53
  position he needed to issue the preliminary Emancipation
• 4:58
  Proclamation. A turning point in moral direction
• 5:01
  of the war. But it wasn't truly all spiritual.
• 5:07
  And it wasn't truly all moral. It was political.
• 5:12
  It was meant and designed only to cause havoc
• 5:16
  in the Confederate states. It did not apply to
• 5:19
  the northern states. We talked about this on
• 5:22
  another podcast. So it was a political move.
• 5:27
  So when I look at the spiritual reflection here,
• 5:29
  Antium reminds us that the fight for freedom
• 5:32
  often comes at a terrible cost. It asks us to
• 5:35
  consider what does it mean to stand for liberty
• 5:38
  and when the price is blood, sacrifice, and national
• 5:42
  anguish. Something to think about. So on September
• 5:46
  17, 2001, just five days after the 9 -11 attacks,
• 5:52
  the New York Stock Exchange reopened. Traders
• 5:55
  stood shoulder to shoulder, many wearing black
• 5:58
  ribbons, some still covered in dust from ground
• 6:00
  zero. The opening bell was not just an economic
• 6:03
  moment. It was a national act of courage, signaling
• 6:06
  that America would rise, rebuild, and refuse
• 6:09
  to be paralyzed by fear. In the seasons of national
• 6:13
  trauma, reopening the doors, whether of a church,
• 6:16
  a business, or a community, becomes an act of
• 6:18
  faith. It says, we will not let darkness define
• 6:23
  us. And that's really important. You can't let
• 6:27
  someone that wants to bring harm, someone that
• 6:31
  wants to disrupt, or somebody that wants to bring
• 6:35
  anguish to people and let them understand that
• 6:39
  we will not tolerate it, we will not put up with
• 6:42
  it, we will stand back up. That's the importance
• 6:45
  there. There were some other significant events
• 6:48
  on September 17th through the... years. In 1939,
• 6:53
  the Soviet Union invaded Poland. It was a decisive
• 6:58
  moment in the early days of World War II. This
• 7:01
  is when Stalin made a pact with Hitler, and Hitler
• 7:05
  had already invaded Poland on one side, and Stalin
• 7:09
  came on over to the other side. Part of the agreement
• 7:12
  was they got to have the oil fields, and that's
• 7:14
  why Stalin made that pact where they would not...
• 7:18
  be hostile to germany so uh germany and the soviet
• 7:22
  union split poland basically and they they both
• 7:25
  occupied it for a period of time until hitler
• 7:29
  decided to attack russia but um you have to think
• 7:34
  about that they were just as much invaders of
• 7:37
  poland as germany was there was absolutely no
• 7:40
  difference during that time in 1939 so september
• 7:44
  17 1944 Operation Market Garden began, one of
• 7:49
  the largest airborne operations in history. And
• 7:52
  that's what gave that extra thrust for the Allies
• 7:57
  to finish and defeat Germany. On this date of
• 8:02
  1978, the Camp David Accords were completed,
• 8:06
  a landmark peace agreement between Egypt and
• 8:09
  Israel. This was brokered by President Jimmy
• 8:12
  Carter. And finally, today, is known as Citizenship
• 8:17
  Day or Constitution Day. A national observance,
• 8:20
  not necessarily a holiday, but an observance
• 8:23
  honoring the Constitution and those who became
• 8:26
  U .S. citizens who were naturalized. So that's
• 8:29
  what happened on today. And when we look at September
• 8:32
  17th as the day of covenant, conflict, and courage,
• 8:37
  1787, we define liberty. 1862, we fought for
• 8:43
  liberty. In 2001, America stood back up for liberty.
• 8:47
  And woven through each moment is the same truth.
• 8:51
  Freedom is sacred because conscience is sacred.
• 8:54
  The Constitution protects it. The battlefield
• 8:57
  tests it. And the human spirit, by God's grace,
• 9:01
  preserves it. This has been Voices of Life. Did
• 9:05
  you know? I'm Pastor David. Until next time,
• 9:09
  stay faithful, stay courageous, and keep living
• 9:12
  the truth and know that liberty is never an accident.
• 9:18
  It is a calling. Thank you for joining us today
• 9:21
  on the Voices of Life podcast, a ministry of
• 9:26
  the Church for Life. As we close, may the stories
• 9:31
  we share strengthen your faith, steady your heart.
• 9:34
  and remind you that God is present in every chapter
• 9:37
  of your journey. If this episode encouraged you,
• 9:41
  share it with someone who needs hope. And until
• 9:45
  we meet again, walk in truth, stand in courage,
• 9:49
  and keep listening for the voice that leads you
• 9:51
  forward. This has been Voices of Life. Peace
• 9:55
  be with you.