What Makes America Great?

July 5, 2009

Introduction

 

What is the secret of the strength of America?  A man came to America several decades ago, because he wanted to find the secret of America’s greatness.  As he searched the country, he found so many things that were similar to what he knew in Europe.  Finally, he began to visit the churches of America, and he concluded that he had found the secret of America’s strength.  He described the churches as being alive and vibrant with a faith that was real.

 

Yesterday was the 4^th of July.  We call it Independence Day.  It was on that day that the Declaration of Independence was signed.  It is a document that is now under attack.  On Wednesday, November 24, 2004 Reuters carried this headline:

Declaration of Independence Banned at California School

Declaration of Independence Banned at Calif School Wed Nov 24, 2004 04:12 PM ET
By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence.
Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek School in the San Francisco Bay area suburb of Cupertino, sued for discrimination on Monday, claiming he had been singled out for censorship by principal Patricia Vidmar because he is a Christian.

Williams asserts in the lawsuit that since May he has been required to submit all of his lesson plans and supplemental handouts to Vidmar for approval, and that the principal will not permit him to use any that contain references to God or Christianity.
Among the materials she has rejected, according to Williams, are excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's journal, John Adams' diary, Samuel Adams' "The Rights of the Colonists" and William Penn's "The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania."......... http://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6911883

 

So what about this man’s conclusion?  Is the answer found in our churches?  What do churches do?  What does the Bible say?

 

Body

 

I.       What does the Bible say?

 

A.    Righteousness exalts a nation.

 

(Prov 14:34 NKJV)  Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.

 

1.      We see the increase of sin all around us.

 

a.       The ever increasing acceptance of homosexuality.

b.      The acceptance of unmarried couples living together.

c.       Promiscuity practiced as it were completely okay.

 

2.      We have seen the decline of America as we have slumped into some of the worst economic times since the great depression.

 

B.     Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD

 

(Psa 33:12 NKJV)  Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

 

II.    Is there a reason that churches have made America great?

 

1. They preach living honorably with your neighbor.

 

1.      That means we don’t have to deal with corruption in our mail service.

2.      It means policemen that do not expect a bribe.

3.      It means that most people are honest, law abiding citizens.

 

a.       We are building in a neighborhood of thieves were very expensive for us.

b.      We lost about $1,000 worth of material in less than a week.

c.       We paid $25 per day for security cameras.

d.      It could have been much worse.

 

2. Christians are taught to work as unto to the Lord.

 

(Eph 6:5-8 NKJV)  Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; {6} not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, {7} with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, {8} knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

 

 

1.      That means doing a days work for a days pay.

2.      It means working and building with quality.

3.      Christians are taught honesty with all, including their employer.

 

3. Employers are to be honest with their workers.

 

(Eph 6:9 NKJV)  And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

 

III. Are there other ways that Christianity makes America great?

 

1. As investors, we are willing to invest our money in the businesses of other people.

 

Our industrial nation depends on people being willing to invest in companies.  Some have betrayed the investors, and men are suffering today because of these losses.  Once again, “Sin is a reproach to any people.”

 

2. We are taught to provide for our families.

 

(1 Tim 5:8 NKJV)  But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

 

1.      The young are secure:  provided for and loved.

2.      We train our young with the skills for loving and living.

 

3. But where are we today? 

 

1.      We have drifted from being a country of believers.

2.      We need to return to the living God.

 

(2 Chr 7:14 NKJV)  "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.

 

Conclusion

 

I.                   America has been great because it has been good.

II.                When America ceases to be good,  it will cease to be great/

III.             But we will all stand before God, to give an account to Him for our lives. Are you right with Him?

 

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Scripture quotations marked "NKJV™" are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

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