Great Prayers of the Old Testament
Part 22: The Foundations of Our Freedom
Psalm 11:1-7
Sermon by Rick Crandall
(Prepared April 14, 2025)
*This week we celebrate our Declaration of Independence from England on July 4th, 1776. On that same day over in England, King George III wrote these words in his diary: "July 4th, 1776: Nothing happened today." (1)
*Poor King George couldn't have been farther from the truth! -- Because up in Philadelphia, Congress adopted our Declaration of Independence.
*It begins with these words: "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. . ." The United States of America was born on that day.
*Now 249 years later, we are celebrating the birth of our free nation. But in times like this it is important for us to know the foundations of our freedom. And the Word of God can help us in today's Scripture. Let's get started by reading Psalm 11:1-7.
MESSAGE:
1. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FOUNDATIONS OF OUR FREEDOM IS GOD'S GUIDANCE.
*There should be no doubt that God guided the hearts, minds and steps of those who came to explore and plant their lives on this side of the world. When Christopher Columbus came to the New World in 1492, he embarked on the longest voyage ever made out of sight of land. And Columbus did that, not because of what he had learned from navigational charts, but because of the compelling drive of the Holy Spirit.
*About himself, Columbus wrote, "I am a most unworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous presence." (2)
"Columbus discovered America by prophecy rather than by astronomy," the New Encyclopedia Britannica quite accurately explains. It was, after all, the Holy Bible that convinced Columbus beyond any shadow of a doubt that the earth is round. Some 800 years before Christ's incarnation (and more than 2,200 years before Columbus' own birth), the prophet Isaiah had written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit: "It is He [God] who sits above the circle of the earth." (Isaiah 40:22). And Columbus understood basic geometry well enough to realize that a circle, any way you looked at it, had to be round.
"Let God be true, but every man a liar," the Bible declares in Romans 3:4, and Columbus felt called by God to prove to the world that man had mis-calculated and that God's Word had been true all along. The earth was a circumference!
*Christopher Columbus wrote a book entitled BOOK OF PROPHECIES, in which he copied down Scripture pertaining to bringing the gospel to unknown coastlands. The following is an excerpt from his Introduction to the book:
"At a very early age I began to sail upon the ocean. For more than forty years, I have sailed everywhere that people go. I prayed to the most merciful Lord about my heart’s great desire, and He gave me the spirit and the intelligence for the task: seafaring, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, skill in drafting spherical maps and placing correctly the cities, rivers, mountains and ports. I also studied cosmology, history, chronology and philosophy.
It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel His hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from there to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because he comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures -- encouraging me to continually to press forward, and without ceasing for a moment, they now encourage me make haste.
Our Lord Jesus desired to perform a very obvious miracle in the voyage to the Indies, to comfort me and the whole people of God. I spent seven years in the royal court, discussing the matter with many persons of great reputation and wisdom in all the arts; and in the end they concluded that it was all foolishness, so they gave it up.
It is possible that those who see this book will accuse me of being unlearned in literature, of being a layman and a sailor. I reply with the words of Matthew 11:25, 'Lord, because thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hath revealed them unto babes.'
For the execution of the journey to the Indies I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied. All this is what I desire to write down for you in this book.
No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Savior, if it is just, and if the intention is purely for His holy service. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous presence. The working out of all things has been assigned to each person by our Lord, but it all happens according to His sovereign will even though He gives advice. He lacks nothing that it is in the power of men to give him. Oh what a gracious Lord, who desires that people should perform for Him those things for which He holds Himself responsible! Day and night moment by moment, everyone should express to Him their most devoted gratitude." (3)
*So, on August 3rd, 1492, after taking communion, after praying for God's blessing, he ordered the sail set in the name of Jesus, and they began the voyage. Weeks later, the 1st island that they landed on in the Americas, he named San Salvador, which means "Our Savior." And he knelt and prayed for God's blessing. On every island where they landed, he ordered his men to erect a large wooden cross. (2)
*Thank God for the divine guidance He gave to Christopher Columbus. But the most important guidance God ever gives us is right here in His Word. Psalm 12:6-7 tells us, "The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. You shall keep them, O Lord, You shall preserve them from this generation forever."
*What did our past Presidents think about the Bible?
-George Washington said, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."
-Andrew Jackson said, "That Book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests."
-Abraham Lincoln said, "I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to men. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this Book."
-And on Tuesday, January 30th, 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower was sworn into office with his hand resting on two Bibles. One was the Bible used by George Washington for his inauguration in 1789. And the other was the Bible given to Eisenhower by his mother when he graduated from West Point. Both of those Bibles were opened to 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says: "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (4)
*Most American Presidents have trusted in the guidance God gives us in His Word. And the Bible is one of the most essential foundations for our freedom.
2. ANOTHER CRUCIAL FOUNDATION IS PROVIDENTIAL PROTECTION.
*Providential protection is God's protection, God's loving, graced-filled protection of the nation He raised up to be a source of light and liberty for the world. By His amazing grace, God has already brought our nation through many "dangers, toils and snares."
*Today's Scripture tells of a very dangerous time in David's life. He had been visited by some of his concerned friends who urged David to run away. And David gave his reply in the opening words of this Psalm:
1. . . In the LORD I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, "Flee as a bird to your mountain"?
2. "For look! The wicked bend their bow, They make ready their arrow on the string, That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.
*"In the LORD I put my trust!" David was trusting in God's protection. And this kind of bold faith is the remedy for the flood of bad news that pours in on many of God's people today. William MacDonald explained that "when the news is all bad: Wars, violence, crime, corruption and political unrest, or when you are faced with very serious problems in your health, your family, or your finances, David reminds us that we can rise above the circumstances of life by keeping our eyes on the Lord." (5)
*That doesn't mean we won't struggle and suffer. David surely did. Listen to part of his prayer in Psalm 17:6-13.
6. I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.
7. Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You from those who rise up against them.
8. Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
9. from the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies who surround me.
10. They have closed up their fat hearts; With their mouths they speak proudly.
11. They have now surrounded us in our steps; They have set their eyes, crouching down to the earth,
12. like a lion that is eager to tear his prey, and as a young lion lurking in secret places.
13. Arise, O Lord, Confront him, cast him down; Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword."
*God surely is able to protect His people, and He will, at just the right time, in just the right way. There are countless stories of how God protected our nation's people during perilous times. One of my favorites is the story of George Washington at the Battle of Monongahela in 1755.
*At the time, Washington was an officer in the British army under General William Braddock. And Washington was a colonel. -- even though he was only 23 years old. At the Battle of Monongahela the British were attacked and nearly wiped out. Washington's responsibility during the battle was to take orders from General Braddock and ride across the battlefield on his horse to take the orders to the men. As the battle raged on, the officers were being mowed down. -- Finally, General Braddock was killed, and the men fled for fear of their lives, but Washington wasn't killed.
*After the battle Washington wrote to his brother John on July 18, 1755, and George Washington said, "By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectations. For I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me, -- yet escaped unhurt although Death was leveling my companions on every side of me."
*Fifteen years later George Washington and a friend, Dr. Craig were going through that same area. There they were met by an old Indian chief, who spoke to Washington through an interpreter and said this:
"I am chief and ruler over my tribes. My influence extends to the waters of the great lakes and to the far blue mountains. I have traveled a long and weary path that I might see the young warrior of the great battle. It was on the day when the white man's blood mixed with the streams of our forest that I first beheld this chief (Washington). I called to my young men and said, 'Mark young tall and daring warrior. He has an Indian's wisdom. Quick, let your aim be certain that he dies.' Our rifles were leveled, rifles, which but for you knew not how to miss."
*In fact, this Indian chief said, "I shot at you myself 17 times, and could not hit you. T'was all in vain. A power mightier far than we shielded you. Seeing you were under special guardianship of the Great Spirit, we immediately ceased to fire at you. And I am come to pay homage to the man who is the particular favorite of Heaven, who could never die in battle."
*Church: That story was in our history books until the 1930's. And it should be in our history books today, because God's providential protection is an essential foundation of our freedom. But Christians, I also share Washington's story of the Battle of Monongahela to make this point: The same God who protected Washington during that battle surely has the power to watch over us until the day He takes us to Heaven. (6)
3. ANOTHER CRUCIAL FOUNDATION IS GOD'S SACRIFICIAL SALVATION.
*The story of the birth and survival of our nation could never be written without the blood, sweat and tears that were shed for our freedom. We would not have an ounce of freedom without the men like those who stood here a little while ago, and the long ago battles we spoke of this morning.
*True freedom is never free. A high price had to be paid, and it was. Most of us have seen the famous painting of Washington crossing the Delaware. Hope for freedom was almost gone. The war was almost lost. But General Washington crossed that river with 2,500 men. They were on their way to fight a battle that turned the war around, and changed the course of history.
*The painting is famous, but not too accurate. The actual crossing of the treacherous, ice-swollen river took place in the dead of night, in raging winds and later, a blinding snowstorm. Major James Wilkinson was on his way to join Washington and reported that the route was easy to follow. Major Wilkinson later wrote, "There was a little snow on the ground, which was tinged here and there with blood from the feet of the men who wore broken shoes," or no shoes at all. (7)
*That happened on Christmas Day in 1776. And since that time, over a million more of our soldiers have made sacrifices like that. Today they can point us to the greatest sacrifice of all: The death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins.
*And the same LORD that David trusted here in vs. 1 is the same LORD who died on the cross for us 2,000 years ago, after He humbled Himself to be born as a mortal man. As Paul wrote in Philippians 2:5-11.
5. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6. who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7. but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11. and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
*Jesus paid the price for our eternal freedom. One place to see the high price the Lord paid is in Psalm 22. There God pulled back the curtain a thousand years into the future to give King David a look at Jesus suffering on the cross for our sins.
[1] JESUS SUFFERED GREAT MOCKING ON THE CROSS.
*Listen to the LORD'S cry in Psalm 22:4-8:
4. Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.
5. They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.
6. But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7. All those who see Me laugh Me to scorn; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8. "He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!''
[2] JESUS SUFFERED GREAT MOCKING ON THE CROSS. AND HE SUFFERED GREAT MISERY ON THE CROSS.
*Hear the LORD'S cry to the Heavenly Father in Psalm 22:11-18:
11. Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help.
12. Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
13. They gape at Me with their mouths, As a raging and roaring lion.
14. I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me.
15. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.
16. For dogs have surrounded Me; The assembly of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;
17. I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.
18. They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.
*Jesus went through all of that for us. It will always be the greatest sacrifice the world will ever see. And now the Risen Christ offers salvation to anyone who will trust Him enough to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
*How foolish we would be to refuse the sacrificial salvation God offers to us. Trusting in the Lord is the most crucial foundation for our freedom. In John 8:31-32, "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.''' And John 8:36, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."
*So when we trust in Jesus Christ, we are saved! And we are set free, set free from the penalty of sin, set free from the power of sin, and one day set free from even the presence of sin. This is the God-given freedom that the world can't give, and the world can't take away. Trusting in Jesus Christ's sacrificial salvation is the most crucial foundation for our freedom.
4. BUT ANOTHER CRUCIAL FOUNDATION IS DEVOTED DISCIPLES.
*I am talking about godly men and women who were fully devoted to following the LORD. King David was a man like that, devoted to following the LORD. And GotQuestions.org tells us that "we can learn a lot from the life of David. For example, 1 Samuel 13:13-14 and Acts 13:22 tell us that King David "was a man after God’s own heart."
*"David is believed to have been twelve to sixteen years of age when he was anointed as the king of Israel. He was the youngest of Jesse’s sons and an unlikely choice for king, humanly speaking. Samuel thought Eliab, David’s oldest brother, was surely the anointed one. But God told Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart' (1 Samuel 16:7). Seven of Jesse’s sons passed before Samuel, but God had chosen none of them. Samuel asked if Jesse had any more sons. The youngest, David, was out tending sheep. So they called the boy in and Samuel anointed David with oil 'and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David'" (1 Samuel 16:13).
*David is probably best known as the courageous young man who killed the giant Goliath. Working on the Upward halftime devotion for that Saturday made me think of the rock David used to kill Goliath. I told David's story, and I climbed up on a ladder to show everyone how tall Goliath was. At nine and a half feet tall, he really was a giant! That's why all the other soldiers were afraid to fight Goliath. But David wasn't afraid, and it wasn't because of the rock in his slingshot. No! David was trusting in the Rock of our Salvation!
*In 1 Samuel 17:37 David said this to King Saul, "The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.''
*And after the giant mocked young David, in 1 Samuel 17:45-47 David told Goliath:
45. . . "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
46. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
47. Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands.''
*David was trusting in the Rock of our Salvation. And later, after all of David's enemies had been defeated, he wrote a song about it. Here's part of David's song from 2 Samuel 22:
2. . . "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
3. the God of my strength, in Him I will trust, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence.
4. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.
31. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; he is a shield to all who trust in Him.
32. For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
33. God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect.
47. The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, the Rock of my salvation!"
*Jesus Christ is the one and only Rock of our Salvation! And nobody loves the lost more than Jesus! He died on the cross for us. He died on the cross for all people!
*And David surely "was a man after God’s own heart." But he was far from perfect in many ways. And the worst example was David's adulterous affair with Bathsheba the wife of Uriah the Hittite. That affair led to Bathsheba's pregnancy. And after Uriah nobly refused to have sex with his wife while the rest of the army was fighting the people of Ammon, David hatched a murderous plot with General Joab to have Uriah stationed at the worst part of the battle, then to have the rest of the army withdraw, so that Uriah would be killed.
*It was a horrible sin, and in 2 Samuel 12:10, the Lord told David that his house would always bear the burden of his sin with Bathsheba. Thus said the LORD through His prophet, Nathan, "Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife."
*Ultimately, all of the world's sorrows can be traced back to sin, and sometimes the problem is our own sin. Christian author Kay Arthur helped us see the danger of sin when she said, "If you tolerate sin in your life, that sin will not only take you farther than you wanted to go, it will keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and it will cost you more than you thought you would pay." (8)
*David was far from perfect in many ways. So were the founders of our nation. But they were convinced that Psalm 33:12 was right when it says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."
*Patrick Henry said, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians. Not on religion but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ." William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, said, "If we aren't governed by God we will be ruled by tyrants."
*When Thomas Jefferson was our President, he also served as head of the school board in Washington, D.C. Jefferson insisted that two books be used: The Bible and the Hymnal by Isaac Watts, which was rich in Bible teaching. And the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Jay (1745-1829), wrote, "The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the Word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts." (9)
*One of the most crucial foundations for our freedom was the godly men and women who helped bring our nation to life. A great majority of them were fully devoted to following the Lord. And we need to strive with all our might to be more like them.
*But in vs. 3, "if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The great news for us today is this: The foundations that gave birth to freedom in our nation can never be truly destroyed. God's Word will never be destroyed! As Psalm 119:89 says, "Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven." And in Matthew 24:35 Jesus declared, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."
*God's providential protection will never fail! That's why in Psalm 36:5-7 David wrote:
5. Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, And Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
6. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
7. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
*God's sacrificial salvation will never pass away, for in John 5:24 Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."
*Also know that God will always have devoted disciples in this world. So the foundations that gave birth to our freedom can never be fullly destroyed. But the foundations can be destroyed in a government, in a culture, in a generation of people, and even in a Bible-rejecting church. For a hundred years or more arrogant, atheistic, "progressives" have rejected the godly wisdom upon which our nation was founded.
*They have systematically placed like-minded judges and other politicians in positions of power to disregard the clear meaning of our founding documents. The original student guidelines for Harvard in 1636 stated, "Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well (that) the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3). And therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning." It continued with the admonition to seek God as the only source of wisdom. And then declared, "Everyone shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein." (10)
*But one modern Harvard scientist said, "More and more of what used to be the domain of religion has been ceded to science. It's the trend of modernity. I think this is a tide. . . This is the direction of history." (11)
*Ironically, the far-left atheists who favor the most immoral lifestyles also support and defend radical Muslims who passionately hate the things that Hollywood loves. How can that be? It's because they are united in their opposition to Christ. They feed on each other's passionate rejection of Jesus.
[4] OUR OPPOSITION HAS VERY STRONG SUPPORT. THEY ARE ALSO DETERMINED, HATEFUL, AND OFTEN VIOLENT.
*We can see this kind of riotous mob in Acts 19:28-29 where God's Word says:
28. . . When they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!''
29. So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul's travel companions.
*Today, thousands of Christians around the world are being martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ, while here in the USA the assault on anything Christian has been relentless up to this year. In 2019, Dr. Todd M. Johnson of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary estimated that more than 70 million Christians were martyred over the last 2,000 years! More than half of those murdered Christians died in the 20th century under fascist and communist regimes. They also estimated that 1 million Christians were killed between 2001 and 2010 and about 900,000 were killed from 2011 to 2020. (12)
*And again in vs. 3, "if the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?"
*The most important thing to do is KEEP TRUSTING IN THE LORD! For in vs. 4, "The LORD is in His holy temple, The LORD's throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men." If the foundations are destroyed, keep trusting in the Lord. For in vs. 5, "The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates."
*I thought God loves everybody. He surely does because John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
*And in Ezekiel 33:11 the LORD God said, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?"
*But after all of the love God has poured out on us, especially through the cross of Christ. If after all of that, people stubbornly refuse to follow the LORD. Then again, in vs. 5-6, "The wicked and the one who loves violence (The LORD'S) soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup."
*What is going on right now in our world cannot go on forever. And it will not go on forever. Godless people make the fatal mistake of leaving God out of the equation. But God has the final say on everything.
CONCLUSION:
*So right now there are only two possibilities for our nation and our world: Revival or ruin. So pray for worldwide revival, and a miraculous number of new souls being saved. Pray as Jesus told His disciples to pray in Matthew 9:37-38, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
*And if you have never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please call on the Lord to save you today. This is the most important thing we can ever do in life. Jesus knows everything about our lives, both the good and the bad. But Jesus still loves us anyway! He is the only way to God's forgiveness and eternal life in Heaven, so please put your trust in our crucified and risen Savior. You can do that right now as we go back to God in prayer.
(1) "Nothing Happened Today" by Morris Chalfant - Source: SermonCentral sermon "Can America Return to God?" by Mark Beaird - 2 Chronicles 7:14
(2) Original source unknown
(3) Sources:
-World Net Daily - "Columbus the Christ-bearer" - Published: 10/09/2006
-http://www.wnd.com/2006/10/38277/
-StudentNewsDaily.com - Daily News Article - October 12, 2009 - "Christopher Columbus in his own words"
-Examiner.com - "Christopher Columbus: Man with a mandate from God" - October 6, 2012
(4) Sources:
-Adapted from Morgan, Robert J. - "From This Verse" - Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers - 2000, copyright 1998
-Wall Builders Resources - Spring 2003
(5) Adapted from "Believer's Bible Commentary" by William MacDonald - Edited by Arthur Farstad - Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Copyright 1995 - Psalms 11:1-7 - Psalm 11: "Why Flee When You Can Trust?"
(6) KERUX ILLUSTRATION COLLECTION - ID Number: 22253 - SOURCE: RM-Bible (7/4/99) - Taken from America's God and Country Encyclopedia, p 636-637
(7) Sources:
-EyeWitnesstoHistory.com - Washington Crosses the Delaware, 1776; AMERICANREVOLUTION.ORG
-Jiskha Homework Help
(8) SermonCentral illustration contributed by Joel Vicente on May 31, 2003 - Scripture: None - Tags: Sin General, Sin Punishment Of
(9) SermonCentral sermon "To Reclaim Our Heritage" by Melvin Newland - 2 Chronicles 7 14
(10) "Faith in America", Steve Green, 2011, p. 3-5; Harvard.edu - Source: "In Other Words" - June 2015, #2 - Produced by Dr. Raymond McHenry - www.iows.net
(11) Boston.com News 9/16/2007 - Source: Church Leaders Intelligence Report - 11/14/2007
(12) "Christian Martyrdom: Who? Why? How?" - Blog: Archived - The Inquiry - "Christian Martyrdom: Who? Why? How?" - Posted on December 18, 2019 - Dr. Todd M. Johnson - Professor of Global Christianity and Mission - Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary - https://www.gordonconwell.edu/blog/christian-martyrdom-who-why-how/
ORDER OF SERVICE:
Welcome and prayer
God Bless America – congregation
Offering
My Country Tis of Thee – (video of scenes across America will play during song)
Salute to the Armed Forces Introduction: War has been a reality of life down through the ages. We are so grateful for those who have served our country to gain and protect our freedom. Many who enlisted have seen war and all who enlist know it is a possibility. We want to honor your bravery as we sing the theme song for each branch of service and as your branch of service is mentioned, please stand.
Salute to the Armed Forces (video of each branch during song)
Scripture Reading: Psalm 11:1-7
Transition to Find Us Faithful: Find Us Faithful Song
Invitation – Jesus Is the Answer
