Loyal To God, Loyal To America

1. I have 3 “passions” in serving God – the order of importance to me depends on the circumstances of the day. Prayer; Our Jewish Roots; God in US History – then and now

2. I have a strong calling to stir American Christians to remember our godly roots and loyalty to God

3. Jeremiah 29.4-14 4 clicks

4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 8 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the LORD.

10 “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare[b] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

4. Loyalty to USA – and Our God

I. We Live Here

A. In the world, not “of the world”

B. Too often “we’re just a passin’ through” makes us unconcerned for what we’re passing through

1. The World to Come is Real

2. What about the NOW? Joshua 24:15 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

C. God put us here for a purpose in times like these (Esther 4:14)

II. God is at Work Here

A. A Unique Nation of Israel/USA

1. My people, called by my name

2. Israel/Christians in USA

B. With a Unique God – Who is like you? Exodus 15; “How great is our God?”

C. With Great Plans – Jeremiah 29:11 “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

I once read the true story of a woman who told about how frustrated she’d gotten with her husband during the early years of their marriage. Apparently they both worked, but she took pride in the idea that she could still prepare good meals for them to eat. She’d prepare meals in advance and put them in freezer bags, carefully labeling the bags in large clear letters: “Meatloaf” or “Pot Roast” or “Steak and Vegetables or “Chicken and Dumplings” or “Beef Pot Pie.”

But when she’d ask her husband what he wanted for dinner – he’d never make a decision. He’d just say something like: “ah, whatever.”

So, she decided to stock the freezer with what food that he actually asked for. NOW, if you looked in her freezer you’d see a whole new set of labels. You’d find dinners with neat, legible tags that say: “Something Good,” “Whatever,” “I Don’t Know,” “I Don’t Care, “Anything,” “Food.”

This woman had planned “good things” for her husband. She had spent a great deal of time preparing good food for her husband to eat. But he just didn’t seem to care…

III. God Cares About Those Who are Here

A. Our Mission is His Mission –

1. Evangelize the Lost – Luke 19:10; Matthew 28:18-20

2. Building Up the Saved – 1 Thessalonians 5:11 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

3. Be the Conscience to the Community (as leaven, salt and light) – Titus 1:15 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.