"Healing For The Us"

“A Healing for the US!”

Opening Illustration: From Blue Fish TV – Our Christian Heritage – this reflective clip takes a historical look at the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the godly intent of the men who signed it.

Thesis: We need a healing in the United States spiritually. To receive this healing of the land we must follow the pattern laid out by the Word of God in 2 Chronicles 7:14. If the church does these steps then the Lord promises to forgive and to restore America.

Scripture Text:

2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Introduction:

Does our nation need a healing? The Facts: Current Condition of the Country and the Church:

Peter Marshall noted in his Restoring America series how this nation is in a spiritual and moral free for all. He noted that this country is in a civil war and the battle is between morality and immorality, between following God’s Word or not following God’s Word, between good and evil.

Peter noted how the Lord is going to judge this nation for the American holocaust that is killing 4, 000 babies a day in our country. This nation will be held accountable for this horrendous act of murder because we were a country that was established with a national statement of faith which emphasized our right to independence and a commitment to build this nation on God given rights and values.

He sites other indicators which point to the spiritual and moral bankruptcy of Americans:

*There are two million Americans in prison the largest ever.

*There are forty five million with Genital Herpes in this country.

*There are 900,000 cases of HIV Aids in this country.

*In Americans 10 and older 30% are carrying a sexually transmitted disease.

*50% of the Christians in America do not believe in absolutes

David Barton’s statistics from Wall Builders:

• Since the law was passed of separation church and state in 1963

o Birth rates for unwed girls ages 15-19 has increased from 15 births to every 1,000 girls in 1964 to 34 births to every 1,000 girls by 1987.

o Pregnancies to Unwed Girls under 15 years of age in 1963 was 5,000 across the US by 1987 it had climbed to 26,000 yearly.

o Violent Crime in 1962 was 250,000 acts of violence by 1987 it had climber to 1.7 million acts of violence a year.

o Sexually transmitted diseases – Gonorrhea – age group 15-19 was in 1963 – there were 350, 000 cases across the country but by 1983 it had increased to 1.2 million cases across the country.

o Divorce rates have tripled since 1963.

o Sat scores have plummeted by 60 points since 1963

 Statistic from book Myth of Separation of Church and State.

National Statistics reveals the following condition of the nation:

*United States leads the world in Divorce – David Barton Wallbuilders

*United States leads the world in teen pregnancy – David Barton

* Violent crime is at an all time High in America and is leading the Western World (Bureau of Justice Statistics).

# In 2005 there were 1,823,400 violent crimes in the United States - The serious violent crimes included are rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and homicide.

George Barna’s statistics also verify the dangerous condition of America today – his reflect the condition of the church:

• George Barna reports that giving to churches dropped significantly last year. In 2000, 70% of Christians gave to the church, compared to 84% in 1999. Barna’s survey also showed that while 32% of Christian claimed to have tithed, a check of the household income showed that only 12% actually did.

• Yet they spend 2x more on entertainment than on God’s work.

• 23% of Christian interviewed in a pole said they bought a lottery ticket once a week.

• Doug Hagedorn stated, “I quote a number of Barna’s recent giving statistics, and giving to the church continues drop. The average American pays $1,000 a year in interest and only gives $754.00 a year to the church.”

• Check out the following statistics:

o The average Christian only gives 2.2% of their income to the Lord (2003 census).

 Avg. giving per household is $754.00 a year

 Yet they spend this much on other items in a year (2003 census of a household making a little less then $60,000 a year):

• Entertainment: $2,378.00

• Transportation: $9,090

• Food at home: $3,718

• Food away from home: $2,722

• Alcoholic Beverages: $412

• Housing: $14,662

• Tobacco Products: $403