• Twenty years ago, on September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists took control of four passenger airliners. Two were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third was crashed into the Pentagon. And the fourth was heading toward Washington, D.C., but crashed in a Pennsylvania field when passengers bravely overwhelmed the terrorists.
• Almost 3,000 people died, 25,000 were injured,
1. It was this attack on the homeland that caused us to Unite as a nation
• When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor it to drew Americans together in the face of a common enemy. The motto “United We Stand” appeared everywhere
• Flags were flown, and churches were packed.
• September 11 was a day of horror, but it pulled Americans together
2. In Isaiah days they encountered attacks on the homeland and God united with them
• “The Lord God helps me,” says Isaiah; “therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame” (Isaiah 50:7).
• These words matched the attitude of our country in the days after 9/11. We turned to God for help, and we found that God upheld us. We showed unity and resolve, setting our faces “like flint” on the challenges
3. Jesus is the one who will unite the people in Isaiah’s day, and today as well
• The prophet Isaiah talks about a servant who has been given a well instructed tongue when he says, “The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher”
• Jesus has that tongue hear what he speaks,
• As servants of God, we are to be teachers of grace and truth and justice.
• We are to treat others as we want to be treated, and to see everyone as a child of God, made in the image and likeness of God.
• We are to lift people up, not knock them down. Help them, not hurt them. Love them, not hate them.
4. To Live and be United is to serve
• To serve a world in need, to serve is to encourage the people around us,
• To serve is to develop relationships that are respectful and honest and open.
• Isaiah says that God wakens the servant’s ear “to listen as those who are taught” (v. 4), meaning that we servants of God have a lot to learn by listening. “he wakens my ear to listen like disciples” says Brevard Childs
5. We are United because God Helps Us “God blessed the USA.
• In The face of hardships like 9/11 we moved forward because the Lord was offering assistance. The God “who vindicates me is near,” said Isaiah. “Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together” (v. 8). Our challenge is to trust God and be United.
• We can do this by refusing to fall victim to fear. The command “Do not be afraid,” along with the closely related phrase “Have no fear,” is one of the most repeated phrase in the Bible. It appears about 80 times throughout the Old and New Testaments. This command is grounded not in wishful thinking, but in the conviction that Almighty God is willing to fight for us — if we allow it. No Fear that day, (911) first responders run into the building while others ran out. God helped them
• Yes, God will fight for us when we are battling illness in body, mind or spirit.
• God will help us when we are feeling lonely, overwhelmed or confused.
• God will assist us in the face of any difficulty, and God often does this through us
• Twenty years ago, the motto was “United We Stand.” But now, more than ever, is the time to stand together and Unite as people of faith. Yes I stand for the flag and kneel at the cross
• I love this land God has blessed the USA
Jesus had: the “tongue” of a teacher (v. 4), he could speak well; an “ear” to listen (v. 4),
he listened to God; he “did not hide” his face (v. 6), he stood up for what he believed in; he knew that “God helps” (v. 7), he trusted God at all times.
6. Finally God Prepared the Servant or the Christ
• God prepared Jesus for His Mission God will prepare you as well
• God Stood with The Servant (Jesus) when he faced real suffering God will stand with you
• God gave the Servant (Jesus) Instruction “Morning by morning 4 He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
• God gives the Servant help in the form of presence The Lord vindicates 8 He who vindicates me is near.
Who then will bring charges against me? He is innocent the Christ is innocent of all charges He had no sin.
• God united with the Christ, God unites with us, Are you United with Jesus?
