We are in need of an Assistant Teacher for the Wednesday Night R.A./G.A. K-3rd Grade class. If you can help, please contact Lisa Lapham or Earl Pond. Thank You!
See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity. For I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
II.Obedience brings blessing
A.We might possess the land, but we can only enjoy it if we obey God
B.We became a great nation because of our forefathers who were careful to honor God and respect His commands
1.Did you know that 52 of the 55 signers of The Declaration of Independence were orthodox, deeply committed Christians? The other three all believed in the Bible as the divine truth, the God of scripture, and His personal intervention.
2.These men were a part of the same congress that formed the American Bible Society. Immediately after creating the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress voted to purchase and import 20,000 copies of scripture for the people of this nation.
3.Patrick Henry, who is called the firebrand of the American Revolution, is still remembered for his words, "Give me liberty or give me death." But in current textbooks the context of these words is deleted. Here is what he said: "An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle sir, is not of the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death." These sentences have been erased from our textbooks.
a)Was Patrick Henry a Christian? These are the words he wrote shortly before his death: "I have disposed of all my property to my family. There is one thing more I wish I could give to them, and that is the Christian religion. If they had that and I had not given them one cent, they would be rich. If they have not that, and I had given them the world, they would be poor.".
4.Consider these words that Thomas Jefferson wrote on the front of his well- worn Bible: "I am a Christian, that is to say a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our Creator and, I hope, to the pure doctrine of Jesus also."
5.Consider these words from George Washington, the Father of our Nation, in his farewell speech on September 19, 1796: "It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, our religion and morality are the indispensable supporters. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that our national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
a)Was George Washington a Christian? Consider these words from his personal prayer book: "Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb and purge my heart by the Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of thy son, Jesus Christ."
6.Consider these words by John Adams, our second president, who also served as chairman of the American Bible Society. In an address to military leaders he said, "We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and true religion. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
7.How about our firstCourt Justice, John Jay? He stated that when we select our national leaders, if we are to preserve our Nation, we must select Christians. "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian Nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."
8.John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, was the sixth U.S. President. He was also the chairman of the American Bible Society, which he considered his highest and most important role. On July 4, 1821, President Adams said, "The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."
9.Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President of the United States reaffirmed this truth when he wrote, "The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country."
10.In 1782, the United States Congress voted this resolution: "The congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools."
11.William Holmes McGuffey is the author of the McGuffey Reader, which was used for over 100 years in our public schools with over 125 million copies sold until it was stopped in 1963. President Lincoln called him the "Schoolmaster of the Nation."
a)Listen to these words of Mr. McGuffey: "The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are derived our notions on character of God, on the great moral Governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free institutions. From no source has the author drawn more conspicuously than from the sacred Scriptures. From all these extracts from the Bible I make no apology."
12.106 of the first 108 Universities founded in America were distinctly Christian
a)"Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3; and therefore to lay Jesus Christ as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, let everyone seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of him (Proverbs 2:3)." For over 100 years, more than 50% of all Harvard graduates were pastors!
13.James Madison, considered to be responsible for most of the writing of our Constitution stated, “We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.”
C.It is clear from history that the Bible and the Christian faith, were foundational in our educational and judicial system….principles were establishedby which God would be able to bless us!
D.And GOD WANTS TO BLESS US!
Deuterononmy 28:1-14
“Now if you faithfully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all His commands I am giving you today, the Lord your God will put you far above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come and overtake you, because you obey the Lord your God”Deut 28:1-2 (HCSB)
III.A Radical change in Direction
A.In 1947, there was a radical change of direction in the Supreme Court as they began to make decisions based upon the phrase "separation of church and state".
1."Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." was now being applied to the states as well as to “congress”
2.Many early commentators understood the Establishment Clause did not prohibit governmental support of religion but merely support of one religious sect over others.
IV.The Rulings that followed
A.In 1962 the Supreme Court ruled that prayer in school was unconstitutional
1.Public school officials in New York formulated a “nonsectarian” prayer.
2.Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen.
3.Families of public school students complained the prayer to "Almighty God" contradicted their religious beliefs.
4.The Supreme Court determined it unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and require its recitation in public schools, even when it is non-denominational and students may excuse themselves from participation.
5.The Supreme Court ruled that the state could not compose an official prayer and that aid to all religions was as impermissible as aid to any one religion.
6.The Court rejected the defendant's arguments that people are not asked to respect any specific established religion; and that the prayer is voluntary.
7.The Court held that the mere promotion of a religion is sufficient to establish a violation, even if that promotion is not coercive. The Court further held that the fact that the prayer is vaguely worded enough not to promote any particular religion is not a sufficient defense, as it still promotes a family of religions (those that recognize "Almighty God"), which still violates the Establishment Clause.
B.In 1963 the Supreme Court prohibited the common practice of commencing the school day with a prayer or devotional Bible reading.
1.The Court rejected the argument that recitation of the Lord's Prayer and Bible reading fulfilled the secular purposes of promoting moral values and diminishing materialism.
C.In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled that Kentucky's effort to post the Ten Commandments in public school rooms was unconstitutional
D.In 1985 the Supreme Court ruled Alabama's law permitting one minute for prayer or meditation was unconstitutionalon the ground that it was in fact enacted to encourage prayer.
E.In 1992 the Supreme Court prohibited clergy-led prayer at high school graduation ceremonies.
F.In 2000the Supreme Court extended the ban to school sanctioning of student-led prayer at high school football games because of the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer at a Friday night ballgame in Santa Fe, Ind.
G.What Spirit teaches a man not to pray, or not to read the Bible to our children?Who is the Father of all Lies, one of his many names? Who is it that was cast out of Heaven for open rebellion to the Father? So, who is it that the Supreme Court is following when they consider how to interpret the Constitution
V.God Wants to Bless us! Deuteronomy 28:13-14; 30:15-16
A.We must listen to His commands – v13
B.We must be careful to observe His commands – v13
C.We must notturnaside from His commands and go after other gods – v14
VI.God’s blessings on those who obey Him is a world widetestimony of GOD – v10
Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the Lord’s name, and they will stand in awe of you.
A.Geographical blessings – v3
1.Katrina 1,2,3
2.Oil Spill – worst in the world.
You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
B.Family blessings – v4
Your descendants will be blessed,
1.US #1 in Divorce world wide
C.Material blessings – v4
and your soil’s produce, and the offspring of your livestock, including the young of your herds and the newborn of your flocks
D.Food blessings – v5
Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed.
1.Drought.
E.Directional blessings – v6
You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
1.911 bombing
F.Blessing against our enemies – v7
“The Lord will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you from one direction but flee from you in seven directions.”
1.Bombing of New Yorka, b.
G.Financial blessings – v8, 12
“The Lord will grant you a blessing on your storehouses and on everything you do”
“You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow– v12
1.2007 Debt – 8.9 Trillion
2.2010 Debt – 13.1 Trillion
3.2014 Debt. – 18.3 Trillion
4.2001 US owes China $71 Billion
5.2006 US owes China $242 Billion
6.2010 US owes China $2.5 Trillion.
H.Spiritual stability blessings – v9-10
“The Lord will establish you as His holy people, as He swore to you, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the Lord’s name, and they will stand in awe of you.”
1.“McGuffey Reader” which was used for over 100 years in our public schools
2.(McGuffey) FIRST READER - Includes stories of children who want to please God and who love to learn. Use in the second and third grades.
3.(McGuffey) SECOND READER -- covering about third grade through fifth grade reading levels. Contains stories on the Bible, American history, manners, animals, courage, honesty, God, and the love of reading.
4.(McGuffey) THIRD READER -- Readings address questions such as how we know the Bible is from God; character building topics such as work versus idleness; and topics of science and nature.
5.(McGuffey) FOURTH READER -- Students will read of Napoleon and Wilberforce, of Jesus and the Apostle Paul. They will ponder death, good and evil, the Bible, eternity, duty, and God. Elocution helps included. May be used at high school level, although some schools use it with good readers in junior high.
I.Abundantly divine blessings – v11-12
“The Lord will make you prosper abundantly with children, the offspring of your livestock, and your soil’s produce in the land the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open for you His abundant storehouse, the sky, to give your land rain in its season and to bless all the work of your hands.”
1.“If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on My people,”
2.“and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways,”
3.“then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”
