"In God We Trust" By Chris Ulrich July 17th,
2016
Thank you. Remain standing, please, as Ed K. comes to
lead us in prayer for the sermon. Ed: Bow your heads,
please. Father, we just thank You for
this day, Lord. God, You said in Your
Word, when two or three are gathered, you would be in the midst. And, Lord, I ask that You bless Chris as he
brings the message. Move him aside,
Lord; you would be the message, and he would be the messenger. God, that You would open up his heat and his
mind, that the things that would come out would be the things of You. And, Lord, us in the congregation, that You would
open up our hearts and our minds, Lord, that we would hear, individually, and
collectively what You have for us, Lord—write on the tables of our hearts, Lord—and
remember to share it with others. And to
always love our neighbor as ourselves, and to do good unto others, but
especially those of the household of faith.
Thank You for this day, Lord.
Bless the remainder of the service, and, again, bless Chris as he brings
the message. Amen. Than you, Ed. You may be seated. It’s good to be with you. It’s good to see everybody, here, this
morning. Finally, a little bit of a rainy
day, here. I know it’s been a couple of
weeks. I know that’s been pretty
widespread throughout the country, but… So, this month, our theme has
been, “One Nation Under God.” We’ve been
talking a lot about our Godly heritage, America’s Godly heritage. We’re going to have a few points, this
morning. • Turn
to God • Turn
back to God (I know that might sound a little bit in reverse, but…) • Trust
in the Lord This is something that many of us
learn early on, in our walk with God, in our Christian walk with God. Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in
at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to
destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the
way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. First of all, it’s a biblical
truth that there are a lot more people on a path of destruction than seeking to
live a godly life. And unfortunate as
that is, and there’s no sugar-coating it, it’s still a fact. But thank God He’s given us an opportunity and
an understanding of the plan of salvation, that we can live a Godly life. We can have an understanding in this day and
age and throughout the course of history, that blood was shed. But, before really getting started,
this morning, I would like to caution us on what a lot of us have heard called
revisionist history. Revisionist history
is based on changing the story, either by destroying evidence that something
did or didn’t happen to suit your own personal belief, or even just flat out
denying it. It’s not that difficult,
either, after hundreds of years, or thousands of years, because there aren’t
any survivors, there’s no video, there’s no personal testimonies of people that
were around, except for what gets passed on after each generation. Some might even say to us, “Well, you weren’t
there, how can you prove it?” And that
could be true about any event. It could
be true about, you think about the, God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and
the crossing of the Red Sea, and how God parted the waters. Now, it’s going to take faith to believe
that. It’s going to take faith to
believe that God actually flooded the earth.
It’s going to take faith to believe that. And we do put our faith in the Bible. And, whether people—and there’s plenty of
them coming out of the woodwork, these days—that just seem to be flat-out
anti-Christian, atheist, agnostic, or whatever word you want to use for it, and
it almost seems like it’s just par for the course. But, fortunately for us, there’s still
a fair amount of documents and records that have been saved that prove America’s
godly heritage. But I‘d still say it’s going
to take some faith to believe it. So what’s it going to take to get
America to turn back to God? And that’s
our first point today. 1st Point – Turn to God I know I’m asking that in a way
that makes it sound like America doesn’t know God. Well, all I can say is when the foundation
has been eroded, and severely damaged, and generations pass and the torch isn’t
passed on then, yes, there are a lot of people in this country that don’t know
God, and need to know Him for the first time.
I know I wasn’t raised to know God in a born-again experience, and I
don’t think my upbringing was that out of the ordinary. I know I’ve shared with many of you, I was
raised Catholic, but we stopped going at a relatively young age, but I still
there was such a thing as the Bible; I still knew there was such a thing as
churches in society. I still knew that
there were people around that did go to several different denominations, but, I
would have to say—and this isn’t on my parents, I feel like I had a great
upbringing—but I still feel like I was missing something. I still feel like there was a point in time
where, when all else failed, when all my searching and looking for answers,
whether it was in something I was reading, or in music, or in partying, or just
different relationships, it was still a matter of searching for truth. And, I think, a lot of times, people don’t
necessarily know what they’re looking for, but there is a matter of, like,
looking for truth. And then, when God
manifested Himself in such a way that’s unforgettable and undeniable—I know, in
my life, and I believe for every one of us here, too—then that truth is
revealed. I’m going to read from john
fourteen; a very simple verse, very easy to remember. John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me. So, it isn’t anything else. So, when that manifestation of Jesus comes
into our lives, what are we going to do then?
So, turning to God isn’t some certain religion, or some lifestyle, or
finding a certain relationship, or a certain profession. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the
life…” and, to me, that was life-changing, and, I believe that to all of us,
that was life-changing. It’s not
something like, even what you shared, Linda, about, I knew, when I heard that,
it was a change for the better. And
that’s a lot of it, too; we see that, I think Satan tries to get us as we go
along in the years of living as a Christian, well, we missed out on this
opportunity, or, we missed the boat…
Well, what did we really miss?
And I’m not saying there aren’t some specific things, but, I feel like,
if Satan tries to say that we’ve been robbed by God, nothing could be further
from the truth, because we weren’t even guaranteed that day, much less all the
days that preceded it, or all the days that succeeded it, so, then, you tell
me. There was a song we did many, many
years ago, and I think a lot of us probably remember it, it was, “Without
Jesus, Where Do You Think You’d Be?” Does
anybody here remember that? Okay,
Bob. One person. Well, it was a song that we did many years
ago, so, it was called, “Without Jesus, Where Do You Think You’d Be?” And, it was at an early stage of my life
that—it got me thinking, then—and I think we have to have that same kind of
thinking, along the way. Because I know
that everybody here is at various points in their walk with God. It’s not like we’re all in the exact same
boat, at the exact same time, and the exact same age. But that’s another miracle of God. And that changes, based on, the things we do,
the choices we make, the decisions that we make, the situations that we put
ourselves in a position to be blessed of God.
And that was something our general pastor shared many years ago, about
putting ourselves in that position to receive the blessings of God. Because we don’t have to. And, it’s something that, God’s not going to
force Himself upon us. And, yet, what’s
it going to take to put ourselves in a position to receive that? Well, it’s going to take prayer, it’s going
to take fasting, it’s going to take reaping, it’s going to take sewing. It’s going to take a combination of a lot of
things, but I think a lot of it I going to have to do with wanting to do it,
wanting to be that blessed of God, as opposed to, “Well, I’ll just be here, if
God wants to bless me.” I think He’ll
still bless you to some extent, but not to the extent that He would’ve, if we
really seek, seek God with our whole heart.
But, do you think that the
decisions of our leaders—and I’ll say this—our so-called leaders are making on
behalf of the American people, today, are pleasing to God? It certainly doesn’t seem like a lot of them
are, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out, but it does take biblical
understanding and discernment, because then we’re able to identify it, like
expression goes, read between the lines.
Okay, what are they saying, here, that they’re trying to be persuasive
on some argument. And, sometimes it’s
just mind-boggling, some of the stuff, and especially different websites that
you see; I think Yahoo is probably one of the big ones, they’ve got so many
sites that feed into it, as far as different articles, and, sometimes, even
just the titles of these articles are just frustrating. They are just as ungodly as you could possible
imagine, and, yet, that’s the society that we’ve become. That’s part of, how much have we forgotten
that Godly heritage? And that comment’s not
about trying to implicate or indict anyone; it’s meant to point out that the
direction we’ve taken as a nation has been anything but Godly and it needs to
change. And I think we all can see
that. But, we look at it like, okay,
we’re all individuals, and we can’t control what the whole country’s
doing. But, the Bible talks about, in
Acts two, about save yourself from this untoward generation (Acts 2:40). So, is it inevitable that the country’s going
to reach financial destruction, or absolute ruin? I don’t know.
I just don’t know. How long will
that be? I don’t know. Does it really matter? We still have to live a Godly lifestyle; we
still have to be influential, as a Godly person in order to see that
happen. 2nd Point – Turn Back To God This part of the message is about
those who have gone astray and I suppose we all fit in that category in some
way, shape, or form, but the reality is this about our nation turning back to
God. This is about our theme of the
month, about the Godly heritage that we have, in one nation under God. I’m going to use some Old Testament, today,
because it’s till relevant. It’s not
like we just, “Okay, we’ll just go by nothing but the New Testament.” That’s not the case. Our country, by the way, has a
Judeo-Christian heritage, which, again, the Jews that were God’s people, their
influence, as far as the Old Testament and the New Testament—I know that they
don’t go by the New Testament; I get that.
We all get that. But there’s
still a connection, because it’s the same God.
All the disciples were Jewish.
All those that Christ came unto His own, and His own received Him not (John
1:11). So then it talked about—and I’m
going into a little bit of history, here—Paul went unto the Gentiles, God led
him unto the Gentiles, and that’s how it ended up spreading throughout the
world. Deuteronomy 27:17-19 Cursed be he that
removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander
out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of
the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. So what are some of these
landmarks we’re talking about? I know
it’s not just one, but I would have to say, we really need to start with the
Ten Commandments because that was written by the hand of God and is really the
basis of the laws of God. There’s
others, like hat was just written in Deuteronomy, about not perverting the
judgment of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. There’s things that are written there about
having a holiness, having a consecration to God, about something that’s
on-going, it’s not just some magic moment, or something, you know—people would
call it an epiphany. “Oh, yeah, I had a
revelation!” and then it just fizzles out the next day. Deuteronomy 19:15-20 One witness shall not
rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he
sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses,
shall the matter be established. If a
false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is
wrong; Then both the men, between whom
the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the
judges, which shall be in those days;
And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the
witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his
brother; Then shall ye do unto him, as he
had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from
among you. And those which remain shall
hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. I want to read verse nineteen
again, because that’s a highlight, here:
“Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his
brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.” So, if I make an accusation, and I say, “Oh,
I think this person’s a pedophile.”
That’s an ugly thing; that’s an ugly accusation. You’re talking about something that’s going
to face very, very severe consequences.
And I just fabricate it, and I go and I get a bunch of people, “Oh,
yeah, isn’t this what happened?” “Oh,
yeah, yeah.” You know, pay them off, or
whatever you have to do. And then it
comes back, after an investigation’s made, that that wasn’t true, whatsoever,
and that you completely made it up on your own, well, the punishment, whatever
it was, let’s just say fifty years in prison, then I would be facing that. But, because, in this day and age, you can
make an accusation, you can bring a lawsuit, you can say anything that you want
about anybody, call them intolerant, homophobic, racist, or bigoted or
whatever, and those are just words; those don’t necessarily face punishable
consequences. But, I know there was
something that happened in our country, probably twenty years ago, and a couple
of eighth graders—I remember when it occurred, they had devised a plan because
of a teacher that they hated so much to actually get them in prison, so they
fabricated a story that that teacher did something inappropriate to them. And I thought, you know, I wasn’t in school
much, prior to that, but, the truth of the matter is, no matter how much I
hated a teacher, and I liked a lot of teachers, but I’m being honest, there
were some teachers that I just was like, “Augh!
I just can’t stand them!” But,
the good news is, my parents would always side with the teacher. But that thought never even crossed my
mind. The thought of actually bringing
up false charges—because my goal was just to get out; to just graduate, and
then move on not to try to bring up false charges. But, I mean, because we’ve gotten to a place
where it’s like, you know, there’s no consequences, or maybe they’re minor, or,
if we just beat them to the punch, with enough dirt, then it’s like, everybody
else is going to believe them. And,
whether it’s done in the courts, or whether it’s done on Facebook, or whether
it’s done in the workplace—because, I’m not saying there isn’t any true justice
left, but I’m saying, whatever happened to, “I promise to tell the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help me God?” You get away from that Godly part of our
heritage, because, now it’s like, you’ve got somebody out there that claims to
be an atheist—and, again, the percentages are rising—what are they going to
swear on? the air? The Bible says that
Satan is the Prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2), so they might
think—I was driving down somewhere, I don’t know, recently, maybe Virginia,
maybe Arkansas, but I saw this bumper sticker, and it just said, “Nature is my
church.” And I thought, “You know,
nature’s a nice thing, but it’s still God’s creation.” And the Bible talks about, like, worshipping
and serving the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:25) So, you’re telling me, by your expression,
that, “I don’t go to church, because, out here, this is my church.” Okay.
I was talking to a guy when I was home, and—this is a guy in his late
sixties. This is a friend of my dad’s,
and we ended up going bike riding. The
guy’s in real good shape, you know, so--now, he had asked my dad—now, my dad is
not a church-goer, but he’s not against it.
I mean, so here’s the point: So,
he asked my dad, he said, “Now, you said your son is an ordained minister. Now, how did that happen?” I don’t know if my dad had a really great
answer for him, but he said, “I don’t know.
Ask him when you guys go bike riding.”
So, we were out riding, and we got to a place where we were just
stopped, and, you know, I’m not like, waiting for a big moment, but he said,
“You know what? What got you started
going to church? What got you interested
in the Bible?” And I just told him, “I
was seeking for truth. I was seeking for
answers.” I said, “You know, we weren’t
really a religious family, that’s for sure, but I know that it was—“ again,
“—an unforgettable and undeniable experience with God, and, when I eventually
found this church. I got invited out,
you know, I learned about the Bible, about being born again.” He was like, “Wow! That’s great!” And I thought, “You know what? I’m going to ask him!” And I’m like, “Well, how about
yourself?” And he was like, “Naw. I was Catholic,” and in the early nineties,
there was a lot of controversy about some of the priests, and, I won’t get too
deep into that, but he quit going.
Twenty-plus years ago. So, I’m
looking at it like, I know God changed my life.
And, again, I can’t force it on somebody else, but I also look at it
like, thank God to know the Truth, and not just be part of some religious
organization, because there is a difference, as far as being born again. There is something to be said about what
God’s done for our lives, and not just going somewhere, and not even knowing in
whom we believe. The Bible talks about
needing to know in whom we believe. But, you know, getting back to the
Godly heritage, I have to kick myself every now and then because I sometimes
feel as though we’ll never turn back to God as a country and I tend to give up
on that hope. How many else feels that
way? A lot of it has to do with seeing
the ungodliness that has crept in and just seems to have taken over not just
here, but all over the whole world, it seems to have taken over. It becomes so prevalent, and it’s just numbing,
and it’s to the point where it’s like, you know what? again, we have to save
ourselves from this untoward generation.
Now, I’m not talking, on the other side of the scale, either, about
everybody all of sudden deciding that they’re going to be baptized in Jesus’
name, they’re going to be born again. But is God so small that He couldn’t shake
things up? I know it was relatively
short-lived, but after 9/11, people were just scratching their heads. People were doing some soul-searching. There were churches that were actually
filled, there was people that were going to prayer meetings, and, you know
what? I don’t even remember this, but, I was reading this book that Rob S. had
given me, and it alluded to, after the towers came down, there was a cross;
there was an actual bunch of girders of metal that sort of formed in to the
shape of a very noticeable cross. And,
if you look it up—I looked it up, the cross at ground zero, and it as kind of
like God’s reminding us, “Hey, I’m still here.
I’m still in the saving business.”
And, even in the midst of that calamity, God is still in the saving
business. But, what does it take to get
us to seek God? Is it always going to take
a crisis to get us on our hands and knees and seeking God? It might. Luke 21:25-26 And there shall be
signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth
distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for
looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of
heaven shall be shaken. So, men's hearts failing them for
fear… Do you want your heart to fail
with fear because of this terrorist attack, or this killing, or this
mass-murder, or this disease, or this fight, or this conflict, or something
else, because it just seems like it’s accelerating. And, I’m not saying there hasn’t been times
in our world’s history that things probably looked pretty bleak. Yeah, you could go back to the Great
Depression; read some history on that.
You go back to like, before the end of World War II, when they started
dropping the atomic bombs. You go back
to look up the history of the Cuban missile crisis, and how close we came to
total nuclear devastation. Pretty
close. And those were times that were
fifty, sixty, seventy years ago. So,
it’s not as though every single time some crisis arises, it doesn’t necessarily
mean, “This is the end! Today’s the
end! It’s going to happen right now!” I’ll just say one more thing, here, and then
we’re going to read from Second Timothy, but no man knows the day nor the hour
wherein the Son of Man shall return (Matthew 24:36), so, if you ever hear from
anybody, “Oh, I know when He’s coming back,” just say, “No you don’t, because
nobody does.” So, do you think there are
a lot of problems here in America right now?
There was a movie that came out in 16—that wasn’t too long ago—it was
called, “Easy Rider.” It’s the kind of
movie I like, because it was a couple of guys going on a road trip, but,
anyway, there’s a scene in there where they’re sitting around a campfire, and
they’re talking, and one of them says, “You know, this used to be a heck of a
country, and I don’t know what happened.”
So, you’re talking something that was almost fifty years ago, that,
their perception of what was happening then was unfortunate, was something like
there’s a lot of calamity. And I get
that the Viet Nam war was very unpopular—there was a lot of people on both
sides of the fence. But, I’ll have to
say this: The farther we depart from the Bible, prayer,
righteousness in God, honesty, and everything else that a Godly life consists
of, the worse things are going to get. 2 Timothy 3:1-14 This know
also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
unholy, Without natural affection,
trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are
good, Traitors, heady, highminded,
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such
turn away. For of this sort are they
which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away
with divers lusts, Ever learning, and
never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so
do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the
faith. But they shall proceed no
further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also
was. But thou hast fully known my
doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity,
patience, Persecutions, afflictions,
which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I
endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil
men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou
hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; So, do you think America needs to
turn back to God? Absolutely. 3rd Point – Trust in the
Lord I’m going to read a verse. This is another one that is common; it’s
popular, especially for those of us that grew up here in the faith. Proverbs 3:5-7 Trust in the LORD
with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall
direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine
own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. This is our main text for the
sermon today and the title of the sermon is also derived from this, and it
happens to be, “In God We Trust.” I’m not looking to get people to
trust me, and I’m not putting all of my trust in anyone else for that
matter. Let me clarify that: I suppose if given the choice of the two I
would rather be trusted by people than not, and I would rather be trusting of people,
someone who has proven to be honest, but I think we’ve all seen enough in our
lives to know that nobody is perfect.
But that doesn’t mean I doubt everything and everyone along the way
either. I’m going to read a passage that
talks about how do we draw the line? How
do we know who to trust, and who not to trust? Matthew 7:16-20 Ye shall
know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles? Even so every good tree
bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit
is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. So, Christianity is the basis of
what our country was formed on, despite claims otherwise. And I think maybe we’ve heard that, “If the
shoe fits, wear it.” If you hear people
say, “No, it’s not,” I disagree, and I think everyone in this room disagrees
with that. So, now let me get into that
a little bit more. Even in 1892—and I
know that’s going back a long time--but our US Supreme Court declared this to
be a Christian nation. I looked up a
little bit about the “In God We Trust” that we see on our currency; that was actually
very recent: 1957. So, what does that have to do with it? What does that mean, as far as our
relationship with people that are not Christians? Do we try to force them to
convert? No, but we don’t compromise our
beliefs, either, or accommodate everybody else’s belief under the sun and start
changing all our laws to appease them.
Because that’s what’s happening.
Sure, let’s get rid of the Ten Commandments in a public place, let’s take
prayer out of school, let’s prohibit the Bible from being read in public schools,
let’s redefine marriage, let’s celebrate lewd and ungodly behavior, and
ridicule and criticize Christianity because I’m sure God’s pleased with that,
right? God’s got to love that. Like, everything else under the sun except
Christianity; I don’t think so. I
absolutely do not think so. You know, the truth is that if
most people want to gloss over our godly heritage, then there’s not much we can
do about it, and this is what I mean:
I’m talking about from their standpoint; I’m not talking about from ours. I’m talking about how they view it, because,
if they’re going to—the Bible talks about he that is righteous, let him be
righteous, still. He that is
unrighteous, let him be unrighteous, still.
He that is Godly, let him be Godly, still. He that is holy, he that is unholy, let him
be holy and unholy, still (Revelation 22:11).
So, people are going to plant their flag, they’re going to dig their
heels in the sand, they’re going to be opposed to Christianity at every
turn… I could start naming them—I’m
talking about people, like, in a public setting, people that are little more
prominent, maybe, in their—in media, in government, places like that. But I’m looking at it like, “You know what? I don’t really care what they think.” I really don’t care what they think, or what
they declare, or what they think of me; I don’t feel inferior to them, I don’t
feel superior to them. I just look at it
like, “You know what? God saved me, and
that was it. There is no doubt about
it.” This message isn’t trying to tell
a skewed version or even a politically-correct version of this country. It’s about finding the facts that prove that
faith in Jesus Christ was at the founding of this country. It wasn’t Islam, and it wasn’t Hinduism, and
it wasn’t Scientology, or Buddhism, or Atheism, or Satanism, or Communism, or
Marxism, or anything other religion or any other form of government. And I’m not just naming a bunch of religions,
or a bunch of forms of government just for the fun of it. But we’re not talking about the heritage of
Saudi Arabia, or China, or Egypt, or Germany, or any other country for that
matter. We’re talking about what
happened here in the United States of America.
We’re talking about those things that God brought were here. I was actually looking up a little
bit of, like, George Washington’s inaugural address, where it took place, and
some of the other—and I’m not going to read it; it was pretty lengthy, to be
quite honest with you. But I know that
he invoked God. He prayed to God, said,
“This is what we’re going to do,” and he was the first president, and,
actually, it was 1789, and the first capital of the United States was in New
York City. So it wasn’t in Washington,
and it wasn’t in 1776; it was actually 1789.
We should be patriotic and I
believe most citizens love the United States.
I know I travel a lot in this great country, and it only reinforces my
love of this country. Whether it’s
places like Arizona, or Yellowstone, or Joshua Tree, out in California, or
Myrtle Beach, or Vermont, or you could just name a place, and, you know, I
think there’s something in every state that I love. I haven’t been in every single solitary state,
but what I’ve seen, it only reinforces—like, when I see the Grand Canyon, I’m
like, “My God! That is God that created
that.” You see Yellowstone and—even if
you just see it in pictures… even if you’ve just seen the ocean in pictures, or
for those of us that have gone… And
that’s just a portion of the world, a portion of the solar system, a portion of
the universe—that’s God, Jesus Christ that created all those things. It is pretty incredible. But, you know, for all those things, we still
can’t put our patriotism above our love of God.
Yes, we should be patriotic, and, even if you’re not, okay; you have
your reasons, I have my reasons.
That’s—we’re not going to sit here and try to dispute that or argue
about that. But I do believe that,
whether you are or you’re not, we have to put our trust in God above all else. Do we trust in God with an urgency
that can be seen by others? Do we fear
God as much as Noah did—the Bible says that Noah moved with fear (Hebrews 11:7)
to the building of the ark. And I love
that! There’s another verse that talks
about Noah found grace in the eyes of God (Genesis 6:8), but it took him a
hundred years. And that’s another one,
“Oh, no! You weren’t there! You don’t know!” I believe it.
I believe; the Bible says that, and I believe the Bible’s true. Do we believe God enough to believe that
there is a day of reckoning? Do we make
choices that prove that we’re Christians and aren’t ashamed of the gospel of
Christ? Or are we a bit too nonchalant,
a little bit too relaxed, and a little bit too asleep at the wheel? Pastor Ulysse, down at the conference, shared
a little bit about having an urgency, and an emergency about the sharing, and
it’s not just that message, and it’s not like we go to conference just to get
stirred up for a couple of days, and then it just sort of fizzles out. It’s supposed to remain. It’s supposed to be something on-going, that
carries us. Not just that, but other
things like we’ve talked about.
Different prayer meetings, different times of fellowship, even the
get-together at the McClinton’s for the—I’ll be there. I’m going to try to ride my bike up there,
so, I’ll have to get directions from you guys. So where do we go from here? That was actually the original title for the today’s
message but I believe God led me in another direction. So where do we go from here, and what do we
do? Should we buy gold or stockpile an
arsenal of weapons? Should we build a
bomb-shelter or go completely off-the-grid? (I like that expression, “off the grid.” I’m not off the grid, but—sometimes I try to
be, but, that’s, I forget.) Should we
just move to another country? “Oh, yeah,
I’ve had enough! Yeah, okay.” Or bury our heads in the sand and act like
nothing’s wrong? I can’t say that I have
all the answers for those questions, because those are things we each have to
ask ourselves. But I do know this: We need to continue trusting in God with all
our heart, and right along with that we need to look on the fields, for they
are white to harvest already. That happened
to be the theme of our church conference, and that message will always be
relevant. Thank you for your time, and
God bless.
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