The Greatness, The God, The Guilt of America [Independence Day]

The Greatness, The God, The Guilt of America
Ps. 33:12-22


http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/GuiltOfAmerica.html

With all her faults, America is still the greatest place on Earth to live!

1. HER GREATNESS
• Great in her beauty
But that’s not what makes her great.

• Great for her freedoms
Real trend today in America for anti-Americanism, anti-patriotism…the UN is doing much to strip us of our sovereignty.
They revise history to undermine the character and integrity of our founding fathers, saying they weren’t who we know they were. They say they weren’t motivated by principle but by property, were motivated by greed and desire for wealth.
But that’s not true…the men who signed the Declaration of Independence had far more to lose than to gain! Most were very wealthy already. 24 were lawyers and such, 9 were landowners or rich farmers, 11 were merchants, the others were physicians, ministers, politicians, etc. All but 2 who signed had families. They were educated men of standing in their communities…they knew security and prosperity, but felt there was something more imp’t than security: freedom!
They knew that the penalty for treason was death by hanging, yet they signed!

John Hancock—[signed twice as large as all others] “Now his Majesty can read my name without his spectacles!”
Stephen Hopkins—[old when he signed] His hand shook as he signed…looked up and said, “Gentlemen, my hand trembles, but my heart does not!”
4 delegates from NY were particularly wealthy/British ships were nearing just a few miles off the coast when they signed, most of NY had already evacuated…they and others were pursued, some were captured and tortured, and of course, many died!

Young people, you need to know when you look at this Flag that these red stripes are bars of blood, a price paid for you to be free!

And when young people today burn that flag in ignorant demonstrations, it’s not freedom of speech, it’s high treason against the land of the free and the home of the brave, and should be prosecuted as such!

That’s the greatness of America—great for her freedoms!

2. HER GOD
Just as the revisionists want to rewrite history in order to undermine the character and integrity of our founding fathers, they also want to undermine our Godly heritage. They try to tell us this nation wasn’t really founded upon God.
Why can’t some Americans accept their roots? Even a South American president years ago said, “people came to my continent looking for gold, but those who came to America were looking for God!”
1620—1st pilgrims arrived. A little band of people crossed the Atlantic in a sailboat 26 X 113 feet…they landed on the Atlantic coast in the bitter cold of winter. As they stepped off the boat they signed a compact {Mayflower}, the 2nd paragraph of which begins: “for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith.” That first winter was rough…at times the daily ration of food was 5 grains of corn per person, per day! 44 died in the first 5 months and 58 survived. In the fall of 1621 they reaped their first harvest: 21 acres of corn. Their immediate response was to thank God…they marched thru the corn fields singing, “the earth is the Lord’s and fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein!”
Dec. 13th: those 58 gathered w/ 80 friendly Indians and celebrated 3 days of thanksgiving which the encyclopedia