In God We Trust

In God We Trust - July 4th, 2001

Focus: Trusting in God

Opening

Good evening…

In just a few days, America will celebrate her 225th Birthday. From the Mayflower to the Space Shuttle…America has changed dramatically in a relatively short 225 year period of time.

She has proven to be an ’icon’ for the world, a model of democracy…and all the glory must be given to God Almighty.

God has been an active participant in our nation from its beginning and we need to pray that He will continue to be merciful and gracious to us.

Last weeks message…Gentle Reminders, called us to remind ourselves of God’s Amazing Grace. This week’s message includes ’remembering’ as well.

Part of this week’s celebration throughout the nation will include a reflection on our history. That celebration must include a reflection of what God has done for this country and thanking Him for many blessings He has bestowed upon this Nation and its people.

Certainly the fact that we are a ’free nation’…a ’democracy’ was a plus in our development and advancement. However, there can be no denying that this Nation’s success is attributable solely because it chose from the beginning to put God first and to place our ’trust’ in Him.

The message this morning is about…Trusting God.

We live in a society that teaches us trust is for fools. "Trust someone or something and they will let you down for sure".

From our personal relationships with each other to our governmental relationships, including the Presidency of the United States, Satan has insured a deterioration in those relationships and we now have an almost inbreed cynical distrust of everything.

We have learned to only trust our own senses, our own abilities, our own ’common sense’, in order to protect ourselves from ’being let down’ or made ’the fool’.

It is a sad commentary…but it is true…and Satan has once again found a way to fragment our lives…by creating an atmosphere of distrust…to the point we even question God!

In the beginning…this Nation was based on God and trusted God…now it barely even recognizes His existence. But I want to assure you that God does exist today, that He is active in not only this Nations affairs but our lives and that activity is just as much alive today as yesterday.

God’s message to you today is simple…

"When Nations and people put their ’complete’ trust in God He honors and blesses them".

Prayer

Lord, we are a nation whom you have blessed and given great power to. You are a gracious and merciful Father, and we recognize you as the almighty, the King of Kings, as the Supreme ruler of all Nations. We call upon you to forgive this Nation, and to pour out your Spirit on her that she may be convicted to repent of her transgressions just as the people of Nineveh did and turn from their sinful ways….

We seek your guidance and wisdom in the decisions we make and the direction we as your people should be taking to return this Nation to a Nation that places You above all else…that places You in the center of every decision…that places You in the heart of the Nation and its people. Amen.

Scripture Reading

Please turn to Psalms 18: 1-3 in your Bibles or follow along in your worship folder. I will be reading from the New King James Version. This same scripture, with some minor variances is also found in 2 Samuel 22:2, but I would like to read from Psalms, which is filled with words of ’trusting in God’:

Psalms 18: 1 - 3

1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said: I will love You, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.

Introduction

The fact that we are living in a country that is freer than any other nation is the result of sacrifices made by those who went before us. We are the beneficiaries of someone else’s sacrifices…in many cases they sacrificed their very lives.

We are fortunate to be able to gather in this sanctuary today without fear of reprisal or arrest and worship the King of Kings…Lord of Lords. We have this freedom because of those men and women who held freedom to worship as the utmost of importance and were willing to sacrifice everything to create a society that allowed ’Freedom of Religion’.