The Danger Of Those Glory "Daze” Of Yesteryear - A 9/11 Sermon Series

Sermon Brief

Date Written: September 7, 2011

Date Preached: September 11, 2011

Where Preached: OPBC (AM)

Sermon Details:

Series Title: A Series from Philippians

Sermon Title: Glory “Daze” of Yesteryear

Sermon Text: Philippians 3:4-11 [ESV]

Introduction:

Today is the anniversary of one THE most horrific attack against our nation in its history. Ten yrs ago today… what has become known simply as 9/11 is forever etched in our minds. We who were old enough to remember FULLY remember WHERE we were, and WHAT we were doing!

Ten yrs ago today… our nation changed! Before 8:41am ET our nation’s economy and outlook were booming. We were on the top of the world… we were the world’s SOLE super power… we were the beacon to the rest of the world…

But there was a dark side to our nation 10 yrs ago… 10 yrs ago we were a nation that had come to think that it was SELF-SUFFICIENT… that it was US that was all powerful… we had become a nation that no longer looked to God for guidance. We had leaders who spoke of God, but we also had leaders who suppressed the speaking about God.

To the outside world, our nation had become a country who had abandoned God OR looked like a nation who believed God was not important or even real. We spoke about God in one sentence and lived AGAINST God in our actions and how our society accepted sin and sinful lifestyles! This was not something that happened overnight but happened over a period of 60+ years.

But this sentiment that abandons God has NOT always been the mantra of our nation…

Our nation was founded by men who believed in God and believed that God was an integral part of each man’s life AND the life of a nation! These men were not perfect… these men were not Southern Baptists… then men would not all agree on doctrine, but what they DID believe was that God was Supreme and that all men answered to Him and that all men were blessed because OF Him. All of what we have and all we are able to do comes FROM God… this was there mantra.

They believed God did not wish the Gov’t to force religious practices upon its people, and they pressed for religious freedoms and religious diversity. They sought to establish a nation where UNDER GOD all men could live free and seek happiness in an environment to true liberty.

Again… they were not perfect and they had their flaws… but my point here is that this nation was founded on the principle of God being Supreme… and that God was a integral factor in the governance of our nation.

The phrase “In God We Trust!” is imprinted on ALL currency for our nation! This phrase is actually the official motto of our nation much to the disapproval of many anti-religious groups. This phrase was 1st used on the coins back in the 1860s and ultimately in 1956 was voted by Congress to become our national motto and that it should be placed on ALL coins and currency. Coincidently, this was the same year that Congress voted to place the words “Under God” INTO our nation’s pledge of allegiance…

The phrase “In God we trust” is a phrase that represents an attitude that there are things in this universe that are larger than ourselves and that there is a Supreme being out there upon whom we can trust and rely upon.

And although “In God we trust” IS the official US motto, our nation FAR from lives out that motto, and over the past 60+ yrs we have all but abandoned that attitude in almost every public venue of our nation.

Instead of “In God We Trust” our nation has mostly become a nation of people who have placed their TRUST blindly in the Gov’t… for the most part our nation has become a nation that places its trust in MAN over God. In other words… we have become a nation that puts confidence in the flesh of humanity over the sovereignty of a loving and holy God.

On 9/11 a wake up call was delivered by a terrorist group, and the ripples of that wake up call have been shaking things up for the past 10 yrs and I believe will continue to shake us up until we learn to trust in God… and stop trusting in ourselves!

Today, we are going to look at a passage of Scripture that tells us where our trust should reside, and on WHOM we should rely… Let’s look at Phil 3:4-11 (ESV)

4though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.