Intro: Independence Day - Video montage
Last year,(2013) almost 1 million citizens of other countries became American citizens.
This brings the total amount of naturalized American citizens to almost 50 million.
Comparing the latest figures of immigrants in different countries, the closest country to the USA boasts of less than 20 % of the number of naturalized citizens in AMERICA!
We are constantly made aware of the tremendous challenges this nation is presently facing on our southern border as each year, tens of thousands of unaccompanied children precariously cross into the LAND OF OPPORTUNITY and FREEDOM.
The USA was formed by IMMIGRANTS. That is the message that is broadcast 24/7/365 by our national ICON of FREEDOM sitting in NY harbor.
Personal illustration: 1966, after spending 5 years in Brazil, mom, dad and myself boarded a passenger ship in the port of SANTOS in south BRAZIL.
DESTINATION:
NEW YORK.
DURATION:
2 weeks
I remember as if yesterday the excitement that morning as the ship sailed into the NY HARBOR..
I remember that my first impression was disappointment…
I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS SO MUCH LARGER …
But with background clutter that includes the 100+story EMPIRE STATE …. in comparison, the Statue of Liberty looked so small.
Even though the statue was dwarfed by other structures in the busy harbor, the MESSAGE OF THAT ICON blares out the MESSAGE of FREEDOM that the entire world pays attention to.
Written on the base is part of this poem….
The Statue of Liberty
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips.
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
In New York harbor stands a lady,with a torch raised to the sky.
And all who see her,
know she stands for liberty for you and I
I'm so proud to be called an American
To be named with the brave and the free
I will honor our flag and our trust in God,
and the Statue of Liberty.
IF you are like me, You love AMERICA!
For MOST who have lived for any period of time in another country (as a missionary kid and then as a missionary, a total of 30 years of my life were lived in Brazil)
A person who has lived extensively in another country knows HOW VERY SPECIAL AND UNIQUE AMERICA IS.
You may love AMERICA.
You may hate AMERICA.
HOWEVER, one thing is non-negotiable based on 238 years of AMERICAN HISTORY:
No other country in the world comes even into the ballpark of having offered more freedom and opportunities to the less fortunate than the good ‘ole USA.
No other country in the world has even come close to the RELIGIOUS FREEDOM guaranteed by the American constitution.
GOD BLESS THE AMERICA!
THE YEARNING for freedom is what has brought 10’s of millions to this amazing nation during its 200 plus year history.
It wasn’t by chance that AMERICA has been the beacon of civil freedom for over 200 years.
IT WAS BY DESIGN…
The framers of THIS NATION purposefully wrote the founding documents to reflect JUDEO/CHRISTIAN CORE VALUES.
God has blessed AMERICA because AMERICA CHOSE GOD!
America is a BEACON OF FREEDOM, but as ALWAYS is the case, It was founded at a tremendous cost.
Today, we honor YOU who have given so much to help guarantee our FREEDOM
• Today, we honor the memory of SO MANY who gave up so much to guarantee our FREEDOM
• Today, we honor the memory of SO MANY who paid the ULTIMATE PRICE to guarantee our FREEDOM
You see FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE
SOMEONE ALWAYS HAS TO PAY THE PRICE FOR FREEDOM
When the framers of our CONSTITUTION met to hammer out our civil liberties and freedoms, they sought for divine inspiration.
These quotes from some of the signer’s of the Constitution reveal their focus as the met o hammer out the TIMELESS document that has guided our nation throughout the past 238 years.
As a man thinketh, so is he.
Matt. 12:34 For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.
QUOTES taken from the lives of some of the 56 SIGNERS of the CONSTITUTION.
(ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
Richard Bassett - "Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust... shall... make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: 'I, ____, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, an din the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.'"
Gunning Bedford - "Now to the triune God, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all honor and dominion, forevermore."
William Blount - “No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this State
Jacob Broom- Writing to his son: "Don't forget to be a Christian. I have said much to you on this head and I hope an indelible impression is made. “
John Dickinson - "To my Creator I resign myself, humbly confiding in His goodness and in His mercy through Jesus Christ for the events of eternity."
Benjamin Franklin - "I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- God Governs in the Affairs of Men, And if a Sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, Is it possible that an empire can rise without His aid?...Except the Lord build the house, They labor in vain who build it."
Nathaniel Gorham - "...I believe the Christian religion, and have a firm persuasion of its truth
Alexander Hamilton - "For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests."
William Samuel Johnson - "Remember, too, that you are the redeemed of the Lord, that you are bought with a price, even the inestimable price of the precious blood of the Son of God."
William Livingston - "I believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, without any foreign comments or human explanations... I believe that he who feareth God and worketh righteousness will be accepted of Him..."
James Madison - "The belief in a God, all powerful, wise, and good, [is] essential to the moral order of the world, and to the happiness of man."
James McHenry - "...Consider also, the rich do not possess aught more precious than their Bible, and that the poor cnnot be presented by the rich with anything of greater value."
William Paterson - `Religion and morality ... [are] necessary to good government, good order, and good laws';
Roger Sherman - "I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. That the Scriptures of the old and new testaments are a revelation from God and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him."
George Washington "Almighty and eternal Lord God, the great Creator of heaven and earth, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; look down from heaven in pity and compassion upon me Thy servant, who humbly prorate myself before Thee."
…(56) including...
Vice president of American Bible Society
Preachers
Pastors
…
To remove monuments that were set in place in Washington that were dedicated to the GLORY OF GOD would be to leave our capital fatally scarred.
GOD is as much a part of American FIBER as APPLE PIE and BASEBALL.
GOD is mentioned throughout all of our founding documents and even though there are so many attempts today at rewriting history, HIS STORY is so indelibly impressed on every foundation pillar of this GREAT NATION, that to attempt to take Him out, would collapse the entire structure.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
LAND THAT I LOVE
STAND BESIDE HER
AND GUIDE HER
THROUGH THE NIGHT WITH YOUR LIGHT FROM ABOVE!
FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE
Richard Stockton a Quaker from New Jersey was one of the 56 signers of that declaration.
Stockton in 1758 helped to construct the Quaker Meeting house near his home Morven. Stockton was a prominent Lawyer and Landowner until the day that he signed that declaration. The English army routed him and his family from their home and he was imprisoned as a traitor to the crown. As a result of his harsh treatment, his health was broken. After his imprisonment he returned to the burned and sacked remnants of Morven and died their four years later at the age of 51.
Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence . . .
• 5 were captured by the British and tortured before they died.
• 12 had their homes ransacked and burned.
• 9 either died from war wounds or from hardships suffered in the war.
FREEDOM IS NEVER CHEAP or FREE
SOMEONE ALWAYS HAS TO PAY a high PRICE FOR FREEDOM
No national icon better summarizes the FREEDOM GUARANTEED BY THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION than the STATUE of LIBERTY.
When citizens of other world countries become naturalized American citizens, they receive with their citizenship rights and privileges guaranteed by the CONSTITUTION for every single citizen independent of
• gender,
• race,
• national origin,
• religion,
• age,
• marital status, or disability
In the words of RUSSIAN BORN, Branson comedian YAKOV SMIRNOFF … WHAT A COUNTRY!
With that said, however, in the course of human history, it is sobering to understand the implications of this TIMELESS PRINCIPLE:
THOSE WHO DO NOT LEARN THE LESSON OF HISTORY...ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT.
A brief look at history reveals that the average period of time before a given civilization collapses from global leadership is a little over 200 years.
INSTEAD of learning the lessons taught by nations like:
Assyria (247)
Persia (208)
Greece (231)
Rome (207)
Spain (250)
Britain (250)
AVERAGE: 232… we are six years LATE for our internal COLLAPSE! We must be on borrowed time! IT IS CALLED GRACE!
Many of us in this sanctuary have been amazed at the speed of moral decay in our precious country.
GOD did NOT choose to BLESS AMERICA….
GOD HAS BLESSED AMERICA because of the choices made by our founding fathers.
GOD HAS BLESSED AMERICA, because America chose to follow GOD’s rules of order.
That is rapidly ceasing to be the case in AMERICA.
It is FEASIBLE that the USA could collapse in the NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE as the WORLD’S BEACON OF FREEDOM and LIBERTY for having left its FOUNDING PRINCIPLES …
THE REASON…?
Because of the TRUE NATURE of BONDAGE and SLAVERY, IS NOT DEALT WITH BY HUMAN GOVERNMENTS and man-made constitutions.
Through birth, ALL HUMAN BEINGS are CITIZENS of this WORLD…
This citizenship TRUMPS all individual national citizenships
EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING with the exception of ONE Who was VIRGIN BORN, was born in BONDAGE TO SIN!
As long as ANY PERSON, MALE OR FEMALE, YOUNG OR OLD WILLFULLY remains a citizen of this world
THEY REMAIN SLAVES TO THIS WORLD... enslaved by the PRINCE OF THIS WORLD … SATAN!
Jesus came to pay the WAGE of sin which is DEATH… and through His shed Blood, to offer us citizenship into HIS HEAVENLY KINGDOM… if we would within our free will ASK HIM.
EVERY CITIZEN in His Kingdom has PRIVILEGES…. Joy, peace, PURPOSE to live…ABUNDANT LIFE
Every citizen also has responsibilities …
To walk in all the light that we receive…
To share with others… GOSPEL make disciples
Sin IS NOT DEALT WITH by the CONSTITUTION or by American citizenship!
The GREAT NEWS!
Freedom from slavery to sin is offered free of charge to every single human being on planet earth independently of
• gender,
• race,
• national origin,
• religion,
• age,
• marital status,
• or disability
Just as AMERICA boasts of a national ICON located in NY Harbor, we who have received the forgiveness of sin and adoption as children in a different KINGDOM also have an ICON.
This ICON has stood
• unchanged,
• unaltered,
• untouched,
• unbothered,
• undamaged,
• unscathed,
• unharmed and
• intact for more than 2000 years.
Those who find themselves at the base of this icon, discover freedom and liberty in the truest sense of the word and are forever changed!
The CROSS
The cross of Jesus
Melts sin hardened men
Transforms derelicts into productive citizens
Turns HATRED into LOVE
BITTERNESS into FORGIVENESS
WEAKNESS into STRENGTH
DISCOURAGEMENT into JOY
BLINDNESS into SIGHT
SLAVERY into FREEDOM
And
BONDAGE into ABUNDANT LIFE
Emperors have tried to destroy it.
Philosophies have tried to stamp it out.
Tyrants have tried to wash it from the face of the Earth with the very blood of those kneeling at it.
Yet it still stands.
And there shall be that final day when every voice that has ever uttered a sound , every voice of Adam's race, shall raise in one mighty chorus to proclaim the name of Jesus.
For in that day, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess, that Jesus Christ CRUCIFIED ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY
is truly LORD of lords, KING of kings
OUR REDEEMER and SHEPHERD OF OUR SOULS.
We could go visit Ellis Island tomorrow by flying to NY and catching a ferry boat…
THE CROSS...???, well, there is no way to find it.
We say the cross of JESUS, but probably…
It was wood that had been used for others
And for many following His death…
And if it survived the destruction of JERUSALEM,
It would have been lost or destroyed along with so many other pieces of wood over these 2000 years.
However, the CROSS is visible through FAITH.
Do you see it?
More importantly,
Do you see HIM?
His outstretched Arms are a visible reminder of HIS GLORIOUS INVITATION.
Statue of Liberty..
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Matthew 11:28-29
New Living Translation (NLT)
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Are you weary this morning?
Has your joy taken a hike and seems like a distant memory?
Is the burden that you are carrying this morning to heavy for you to bear?
Is the journey that you are on this morning seem to difficult to finish?
Is SIN dominating your life and are your feeling it’s DEATH GRIP on your very SOUL?
Is what you are doing with your life WORKING FOR YOU?
Are you sick and tired of grabbing for all the gusto that this world system states that you need only to find that it is all SMOKE AND MIRRORS AND DECEPTION after DECEPTION?
Are TIRED of the INNER BATTLE of knowing what is right but doing what is wrong.
Are you fed up with being RELIGIOUS while all the while feeling that GOD is extremely distant and absent from your world?
Are you tired of trying to be good?
Are you tired of PUTTING ON A HAPPY FACE while your heart is breaking?
Are you fed up with life in the LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE?
Then do I have news for you or NOT?????
THERE IS ROOM AT THE CROSS FOR YOU!
There are no IMMIGRATION QUOTAS in HIS KINGDOM!
There are no requirements of hoops to jump through or expectation levels to be fulfilled.
CITIZENSHIP in HIS ETERNAL KINGDOM is not based on our performance but rather based on HIS OBEDIENCE on the CROSS OF CALVARY!
Your CITIZENSHIP CERTIFICATE is written in HIS BLOOD and inscribed in the PAGES of HIS WRITTEN WORD!
LISTEN:
TO ALL who believe. (John 1:12)
THAT IS WHY PAUL SAID
I will glory in the cross (Galatians 6:14)
Play video invitation.
End with "I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE LAMB"
The video montage of this message can be seen at www.uplandfirst.org
The two video montages can be downloaded. Simply send your request to eldonandkay@hotmail.com
