This Tuesday we celebrate our nation’s independence and on Sunday I want to draw our attention to the strong influence our Christian faith has had not only on the forming of our country but also the blessing our nation has experienced since its founding. Sue and I have had the privilege to travel to a number of other countries around the world and there is no question that The United States of America is the greatest nation in the world. In the United States every person has the potential and opportunity to reach thier greated outcome. A fair question to ask is, what is it that has made our country what it is today? 

Before he became president, Dwight Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of Allied forces during WWII. Following the war he was very concerned about the advancement of opposing worldviews such as communism that would undermine what he saw as the strength of the United States as executed in defeating the fascism. He firmly believed the strength of this nation was rooted in a common faith in the God of the Bible and that when God was honored, His blessing would result. It was President Eisenhower that added the words “under God” to the pledge of allegiance for our country. Psalm 33 is likely the most influential passage in scripture that led him to add those words to our pledge and that will be the text for my message on Sunday. 

Every generation of Americans needs to come to terms with what are the foundations of our nation. What do we believe will bring about the blessing we all desire for our nation? Join me this Sunday as we consider what it means to be “One Nation Under God” and genuinely seek His blessing on our nation.

What an unappealing sermon title! Who in their right mind would want to go listen to a preacher that just goes on and on, not knowing when to conclude. Maybe you have been in a service like that – where you thought the sermon was never going to end. Maybe you have thought that about me sometimes.

The title of my message this week isn’t referencing the actual message this Sunday. I promise you – it will not go on forever. Instead, the title is referencing a message we are all to proclaim without end. That message is found in our observance of the Lord’s Table / Communion. This Sunday we will not only participate in the communion service but I will teach on it from 1 Corinthians 11. In that passage the Apostle Paul instructs us to continue to proclaim the truths found in communion until the return of the Lord. And that is the Sermon that Never Ends. 

Communion is an important aspect of our spiritual life because it takes us back to the beginning point of our relationship with God; That we are all condemned in our sin, but in Christ we are saved through His blood and death on the cross. Communion, in the simplicity of the bread and the wine, takes us back to the foot of the cross, reminding us we are only saved by Christ’s vicarious sacrifice for us. Romans 8:32 reminds us that if God was willing to give up His own Son for us, what else would he withhold from us? Nothing. Communion provides a reset for us and challenges us to live not in our own strength, but in the strength of all that Christ provides for us. When we do that, we become the living sermon of the Gospel that never ends. Join us this Sunday as we share the elements of communion and discover how we can be a gospel message to all that we encounter. 

Throughout the course of human history, neighborhoods have constantly changed from a family-based entity, to a grouping of families, to the spacious agrarian environment, to muti-ethnic, urban communities. And with the changes to neighborhoods comes questions of what it means to be a neighbor. This Sunday we are considering the very famous “Good Samaritan” parable in Luke 10 where Jesus is asked two questions: 1) what must I do to inherit eternal life? 2) And who is my neighbor? This passage makes it clear that neighboring and eternal life are related to each other. The way we view and treat our neighbors is a reflection of how genuine our faith in God is.

One of the effects of our fallen, sinful nature is we live with great limitations. There are only 24 hours in a day. We can only spend money according to our income. And our emotional bandwidth can only manage people who share our beliefs and convictions about the world around us. Those limitations lead us to ask the question “who is my neighbor?” Because of my limitations I need to limit the number and kind of people I’m obligated to be a neighbor to. When Jesus tells the Parable of The Good Samaritan He doesn’t answer this question because it is the wrong question. Jesus concludes the parable by asking the correct question about neighboring: Which of the three do you think was a neighbor . . .? And that is the correct question we must ask ourselves as we think about how genuine our faith in God truly is. Join us this Sunday as we look at this parable and the age old question of neighboring.