June 29, 2008 Sermon Notes

Pastor Marty Grubbs -- June 29, 2008
“One Prayer … for the Nation”
One Prayer series, part five

My one prayer for the nation is that they would see Christ-centered people demonstrating the humility, love, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

This will happen as we exercise our freedoms as both Americans and Christians.
“But our citizenship is in heaven.” -Philippians 3:20

Freedoms we must not take for granted:

1. The freedom to act.
   “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.” -Jeremiah 29:7
2. The freedom to love.
   “Love your neighbor as yourself.” -Matthew 22:39
3. The freedom to serve.
   “… but serve the Lord with all your heart ... serve Him faithfully with all your heart.” -I Samuel 12:20, 24
4. The freedom to worship.
   “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing …” -Hebrews 10:25
5. The freedom to pray.
   “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray ...” -2 Chronicles 7:14

 

 

A morning thought…

About 350 years ago, a ship full of travelers landed on the northeast coast of America. The first year, they established a town site. The next year, they elected a town government. The third year, the town government planned to build a road five miles westward into the wilderness.

In the fourth year, the people tried to impeach their town government because they thought it was a waste of public funds to build a road five miles westward into a wilderness. Who needed to go there anyway? Here were people who had the vision to see three thousand miles across an ocean and overcome great hardships to get there. But in just a few years, they were not able to see even five miles out of town. They had lost their pioneering vision.

With a clear vision of what we can become in Christ, no ocean of difficulty is too great. Without it, we rarely move beyond our current boundaries. As a nation, we must allow ourselves to see what can be instead of what is. Praying for ourselves and our nation is a small price to pay for the great return it brings. It is the highest form of love we can give our country. “... 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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).