1. Mayflower Compact
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbjWqsC0Lpk
2. First Thanksgiving Proclamation -- 1623
The following proclamation was made by Governor Bradford in 1623, 3 years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth;
To all ye Pilgrims,
Inasmuch as the great father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, squashes and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the raids of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday November ye 29th of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Plymouth rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving t ye Almighty God for all His blessings.
3. In 1620, this group of "Pilgrims" came to America seeking religious freedom and an opportunity to carry out the Great Commission.
4. Their story is one of the Providence of God -- Proverbs 3.5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
I. The Pilgrim Story
A. Religious Intolerance
* The Pilgrims were part of the Puritans -- attempted to purify the Church of England
o Had illegal English bibles which had been smuggled into England -- most important thing to them as they heard God speaking to them through it [EEM
o The Monarchies of Elizabeth and James used clergy to control the people
Their fear was of accountability -- if the people had bibles, they would see through the sham of churches and the Monarchy//KJV -- Episcopal government of the church
The people had been sacrificing and starving while churches grew wealthy and fat
People came to want the Church of the NT, not of men
* Unable to Purify, they became "Separatists" (Pilgrims)
o By separating, they were denouncing the Monarchy (head of the Church of England)
o This was bigger than switching churches, this was TREASON
o King James, a tyrant, followed Elizabeth -- tripled the debt of the country; bankrupted; coined "Divine Right of Kings" to intimidate the people -- God set up governments, therefore, whatever the king wants he gets; saw himself as devout but was actually killing the devout
o Once "Separatists" there was no going back -- underground worship/study for 4 years
B. Attempts for Freedom
* Choice -- Get caught and die or escape to freedom; then grow and develop as a community of faith to come back and free people from the tyrant
* Attempt #1 -- secret negotiation with Dutch Sea Captain
o Walked 60 miles in cold September to coast
o Camped without tents, sleeping bags, or fires
o On the beach they were betrayed by the captain and arrested by the army; the captain sold them out and kept their money -- they were jailed
* Attempt #2 -- they saw the first attempt's failure as a temporary setback, learning experience -- second attempt more dangerous
o Men were separated from their families
Men went through woods to ship on the river
Women and children rafted but got sick and moved closer to shore where they were stuck on a mud bank -- captured by the army
o Captain had to leave -- could lose his ship or life by helping the Pilgrims
o A Miracle -- horrific storm on the North Sea -- carried the uncontrollable ship for 2 weeks; they prayed, especially when they thought they were about to die -- "Even now, LORD, you are able to save us." -- Storm stopped and they made their way to Amsterdam
100's of ships were lost in the storm
Miracle? They thought so!
o One year later their families came to Holland
o They stayed in Holland 12 years under the leadership of John Robinson, their Pastor, developing their faith and their community
Hard life -- no jobs (not in guilds); children worked for survival
Providence? This was the only country to which they could have gone that they would not have been persecuted to death -- France, Germany, and Scotland were killing thousands and thousands of non-conforming Christians
* Attempt #3 -- Back to England to sail to the New World
o Hired Mayflower and Speedwell for the 150 passengers
Speedwell leaked, went back to England for repairs and another opportunity to be captured
102 Passengers and 30 crew set out on Mayflower under the leadership of Governor William Bradford
The rest returned to Holland with John Robinson
o Numerous incidents of Providence occurred on their journey to America
"If we are to lose our lives in this endeavor, at least we know our cause is just and our cause is honorable." W. Bradford
Their perspective: Do the right thing and in the long run, God will bless it.
They saw themselves on God's mission to evangelize the world and were willing to lay themselves down in the mud as a bridge for their children and other to walk across to freedom in Jesus
* Success?
o Arrived in Massachusetts, not Northern Virginia
o Needed a system of law and order -- Mayflower Compact
They came, according to the Compact, "for the glorie of God & the advancement of the Christian faith."
People of differences: Gold and God; churches
Compact was a covenant with God and one another
Act of self-government and voluntary consent
o The Harsh Winter
47/102 died (women slept on children to keep them warm and many died) in 3 months
Fear of Indians -- mass grave
Squanto -- providence of God -- English speaking Indian, former slave helped them survive
Captain offered to take them home after the winter -- no takers, they had a cause and a purpose even greater than personal comfort or survival
o The result was a foothold of freedom in the new world
II. The Hebrew Story
A. Joseph and His Pharaoh
B. Moses and His Pharaoh
III. Our Story -- God has Provided
A. Jesus for Eternal Life
B. Jesus for Freedom to Worship Him
1. I will say your name
A preacher concluded a sermon one Sunday and a missionary introduced himself to him and said, "I was a medical missionary for many years in India. And I served in a region where there was progressive blindness. People were born with healthy vision, but there was something in that area that caused people to lose their sight as they grew older."
But this missionary had developed a treatment which would stop progressive blindness. So people came to him and he performed his treatment. They would leave realizing that they would have become completely blind, but because of him their sight had been saved.
He said that they never said, "Thank you," because that phrase was not in their dialect. Instead, they spoke a word that meant, "I will tell your name." Wherever they went, they would tell the name of the missionary who had cured their blindness. They had received something so wonderful that they eagerly proclaimed it. [Psalm 100.1
2. How will we tell his name?
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles [Pilgrims, AV] to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 1 Peter 2.11-12
