A Unified Walk Series

INTRODUCTION:

We will continue our sermon series on “The Walk of Faith” this morning with the fourth part. We

have discovered that a true walk of faith is a new walk, an honest walk, and a loving walk. Today, we will

examine the idea that the walk of Faith is a Unified walk.

America is talking about her enjoyment of a greater sense of unity now than any before in my

lifetime, and according to many twice my age, in their lifetime. We have rallied around our flag in

defense of “freedom.” However, as I have said once, I’ll say again, we are “missing the boat” in our

definition of unity. We have rallied around our flag, and unified under a single purpose - defeating

terrorism. We, as a nation, take pride in our diversity, while our enemy seeks to destroy us for it. But

our history books have been re-written today. My history books don’t tell of a nation that was formed to

celebrate diversity. That came later. Diversity was NOT the basis of founding our nation. Don’t get me

wrong - I’m not saying we stand opposed to diversity of background, but I AM saying that the common

ground on which our nation was founded was NOT the celebration of diversity. Rather, our nation was

formed so people of Christian faith (whatever their background) could practice their faith without

persecution and external controls. Their purpose was to spread the Gospel, not contain it to further

“diversity.” The founding fathers of our nation, extending back to our land’s discovery, had a different

country in mind than exists today. They recognized the sovereignty of God, His providence, and the

Savior’s desires for their life was good enough for them, come what may. Today, however, we are no

longer free to stand for solid, traditional Judeo-Christian values. We are no longer free to proclaim that

Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to heaven, and through Him, the ONLY way to genuine peace with

mankind.. We are unified under our flag, but our flag today stands for freedom FROM religion, not

freedom OF religion. Our flag now stands for freedom to pursue unrestrained pleasure, not sacrifice and

goodwill toward our neighbors. We have neglected our roots. Our roots are changing as a result.

As a nation, we have misunderstood this freedom for which our founders fought and died. We

have forsaken our faith in Christ as a nation in exchange for “freedom to do as we please,” not realizing

that we are truly free in only in Christ. As a nation, we claim to be “Christian” when it suits us, but when

it restrains us from doing as we please, we turn our backs on Him. We, if we were truly Christian, would

not be this way. As a nation, we are destroying ourselves at a faster rate than any terrorist organization

could hope to do, and we aren’t even aware of it. We are destroying ourselves with philosophy and vain

deceit, killing ourselves from the inside out. We do it by selling drugs, by encouraging the use of alcohol

and nicotine use, buy shooting one another and by killing our unborn and elderly. We destroy our

neighbors by allowing them to ruin their own lives as they please through homosexuality, financial

bankruptcy, adultery, and divorce while we silently turn our backs, saying to ourselves, “to each his own.”

We allow one another to destroy himself by practicing all sorts of deceptive things like lying to people

and calling it good. Many of us have built amazing justifications for our sinful ways, and so begin to call

our ways “Good.” However, God warns us of those that call evil “Good,” and good “Evil.” I would say

that if we were to ask God whether there was truly unity in America today, the answer would probably be

a resounding, “NO!” We continue to sin. America has not returned to God, for we are encouraged to

resume our lifestyles as before the attack a month ago. These practices, which have not changed after

the attacks, divide and tear apart. They are simply more subtle than the horrendous approach taken by

those that attacked us directly. They are equally horrendous and cost more lives each year than any

terrorist activity on earth. Yet we are not outraged at these things. Why?

READ COLOSSIANS 2:4-8

Neil Orchard was talking with a farmer about his soy bean and corn crops. Rain had

been abundant, and the results were evident. So his comment surprised him: "My crops are

especially vulnerable. Even a short drought could have a devastating effect."

"Why?" Orchard asked.

He explained that while we see the frequent rains as a benefit, during that time the

plants are not required to push roots deeper in search of water. The roots remain near the