“Independence”
By Brother Kenneth Ray
June 26th,
2011
Click here to download printable sermon
notes in pdf format.
NOTE:
This sermon contains a number of quotes from the Declaration
of Independence. To download a copy of that document, click here.
Welcome to
our 4th
of July service. Before
we get started,
let’s have a moment of silence. We
live
in a land of liberty and freedom, but it’s still a land of risk; our
independence can slip away. If
we don’t
remember those that came before us who helped us to obtain what we
have; if we
don’t appreciate what we have, we can lose it.
Sometimes children don’t appreciate what their
parents provide them
with, because they don’t fully appreciate what their parents had to do. There are those that have
come before who
have given us what we have, more than just our founding fathers.
Acts
22:28
…But I was free-born.
There
are those
that have paid the price, and there are those that can say, “But I was
free-born.” “Life,
liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness”—this is one of the most famous phrases in the Declaration of
Independence. I
have a coffee cup with a
similar phrase (some of you may have the same cup):
“Life, Liberty,
and the Pursuit of All Who Threaten It.”
It is considered by some to be one of the most
well-crafted, influential
statements in the history of the English language.
It is still so stirring—when I hear it, my
crooked back straightens up. You
may
serve in the US Army, or you may serve in the US Navy, or you may serve
in the
US Marine Corps, you may even serve in the US Air Force, but what are
the first
two letters of each of those? Really,
we
serve the US. Those of us that serve, or
have served, when
you get right down to it, we serve God.
We preserve the liberty to seek God.
We fight for your life, both physically and
spiritually, because we need
both. “We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…” As we reflect today on the
freedoms that we
are afforded, we see that it has come at great cost.
I read somewhere that the only thing that’s
free is God’s grace, but, even that you have to work to keep it. “And for the support of
this Declaration,
with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we
mutually pledge
to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” This reminds me of the
three Hebrew children
who said to the king, “We are not careful to answer thee in this
manner.”
Daniel
3:16-17
…we are not careful
to answer thee in this matter…
Our
military men
and women fought, aided, and died to achieve the purpose of freedom,
and our
rights. Men and
women still serve to
maintain and protect those rights.
You know
that right now, there is now draft.
We
have an all-volunteer military. At
the
same time, you don’t have to be in the military to serve. If you see a need, you can
meet it. My
daughter likes to ask me why I do some of
the things that I do, but she’s asked me enough times that she knows my
answer
by heart, “Because this is America,
and I can.” So,
just as Paul answered,
so we can say, “But I was free-born.”
We
are born free to do many things, among which is seek out and worship
our Lord
and Savior without fear of punishment or imprisonment, to declare a
desire to
have the closest of relationships with our Creator, to seek His ways
and follow
His teachings, and to not be a closet Christian.
We are free to maintain the standards that
God gave us, to partake in a freedom that even this great country
itself is not
able to provide to us.
John
8:36
If
the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
As
you look
around today, enjoy the many nice things of Friendship, Fellowship, and
Freedom. Remember
those who came before us that
protected it and allowed it to prosper.
Thank and bless the One who protects, watches over
and blesses us from
sea to shining sea.
Sermon
notes by Pete Shepherd
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