August 11, 2024 ~ Politics and The Church ~ Rev. Ed Burns

e for e e spe bu spe little e good morning and we're so glad that you're here this morning so welcome to all of you who are present and to those who are online as well and if you're able please stand and sing with us as we sing Praise Him Praise Him Jesus our Blessed Redeemer aren't we thankful for him today amen amen [Music] Praise Him Praise Him Jesus our Blessed Redeemer sing his wonderful love Proclaim H him H him glor strength and His holy name like a sheer Jesus Will guard his children in his arms he carries them all day long pra him praise him his excellent praise him praise him ever joyful song Praise Him Praise Him Jesus our Blessed Redeemer for our sin suffer and and we are Our Hope of Eternal [Music] salvation him H him Jesus the crucified his Praises Jesus our sorrows love un wonderful deep and praise Him pra him praise him praise him joyful s Praise Him Praise Him [Music] bless dream jesusi forever him him Propet and PR and King Christ is com over the world of vior and glorto the belong pra pra him his excellent praise him praise him every joyful so it said tell of his excellent greatness and we need to take the name of Jesus with us everywhere we go and um Proclaim him to a lost and Dying World so let us sing this this is a classic Hymn of the church take the name of Jesus with you [Music] take the name of Jesus with you child of sorrow [Music] and it will joy and comfort you where you go oh how sweet Earth and joy of precious name oh how sweet hope of Earth and joy of take the name of Jesus has protction [Music] everywhere together bre that holy name in pray pre oh Earth and joy of precious oh how sweet oh and joy [Music] of at the name of [Music] Jesus in heaven shall King of Kings we greatly crown him when our journey is complete precious oh sweet hope of Earth and joy of precious oh how sweet of bir and joy of is that your desire this morning that you take the name of Jesus everywhere you go amen that's my joy that's my desire that's the joy of my heart to take Jesus with me wherever I go amen amen it's so good to see all of you this morning in the house of the Lord on a on a hot J uh August uh Sunday morning and uh appreciate you all being here uh and part of the service this morning if you're watching online thank you so much for watching and being a part of our service online uh just a few quick announcements don't forget that this coming Wednesday night we start our Outreach back up out the West 22nd Street apartments and so uh if you want to help us with that uh we're going to be leaving uh being meeting uh excuse me we're going to leave the church at 6:15 so uh please just make plans to be here if you're going to work with us and help us out with that um and if you're not not be much in prayer for it it's a great Outreach it's a wonderful thing uh and we're just looking forward to what God's going to do with that and so be much in prayer about that this morning um also today uh we're going to be here in a moment we'll be taking up our Global Outreach offering uh and so if you've not uh uh given to that today is your day and your opportunity uh if you do if you forgot your check or your money or whatever you can uh grab just a piece of paper and put on there how much you're going to give and put uh Global Outreach on there and we'll know uh that uh to put it in there and account it for that and so uh if you are writing a check please make it out to the church uh and then the church will write one check uh to the conference for Global Outreach offering Global Outreach is one of those great opportunities for the church uh and uh it's 75% of those funds go to um that are taken up go to help fund missionary projects foreign missions uh and different things that they need and so um and then 25% of that stays uh in the United States for evangelism USA to help with uh uh Evangelistic Outreach and Evangelistic Ministries in our country and so 100% of what you give in Global Outreach uh goes uh to to Ministry no no administrative cost no anything like that 100% of that goes uh to uh ministering so here in a moment we'll be taking that up also this afternoon at 5:30 at the conference grounds uh is our Global Outreach Service uh Dr Mark Rutland will be speaking if you've never been to a Global Outreach service you need to go those are one of the favorite things of the year uh that our conference does and so it's a great experience and so that is at 5:30 uh today and so um if you've not gotten a weekly message they're at the back of the church um and you can grab one of those on your way out this morning uh we want to go to the Lord in prayer take our request of the Lord who have several who are sick this morning um we have some that are recovering from uh procedures and uh thankfully they're all able to be here with us this morning uh we celebrate that we rejoice in that uh but they're still recovering we want to remember all of them uh then we also want to remember uh our shuttin as well as those with immediate and continued concerns that are listed in the bulletin uh this morning maybe today you have an unspoken prayer request you'd like to signify with a raised hand amen several of those we serve a god who's able church he can do so so much greater than anything we can do and so when we pray that's who we're praying to amen let's go to the Lord in prayer father we love you God we just rejoice in you today God we celebrate your goodness we celebrate your grace and your mercy God we celebrate you today Father and Lord we ask today that in this place you would touch and that you would Minister that you would do the work that only you can do now father you that you will heal those who need a healing and that you'll strengthen those who need to be strengthened and God we ask today that in this church then in this service that God you will pour out of your spirit and that we will experience you a fresh and a new that our hearts will be attentive to you that Lord our longings and yearnings will be after you and you alone move in this place this morning meet needs father uh strengthen and encourage and do what only you can do today and Lord we'll give you the glory for it God we'll give you the honor and the praise for it in Jesus name amen and amen amen amen amen this morning uh before we take up our offering I I want to celebrate something this morning is it all right if we celebrate today man I love celebration um two weeks ago we were on vacation um and I had something happen I don't know that ever happened before um uh I almost got kicked out of a of a convenience store you say well why well we were on our way to the beach we' stopped in Raleigh for um just to to fuel up and get some snacks and whatever else and we were in this convenience store and we got the text message that somebody had gotten saved in the service that morning and I'm raising my hands I'm high-fiving people hallelujah and the lady at the checkout counter she's looking at me like what the world the police had just left I thought I was get to get kicked out but uh Susan and I were talking about that and I just celebrate today that it's not about me but it's about him that and church can I just encourage you today it's not about you it's not about me it's about him and it's about the message of Jesus Christ being proclaimed and when that message is proclaimed lives are changed and that this morning is something to celebrate amen can we just celebrate that for a second this morning Amen Hallelujah Jesus we celebrate you today hallelujah hallelujah we rejoice in that this morning and so now we want to take up our tithe in our offering and our Global Outreach offering as well this morning so I'm going to ask our ushers to come and while our ushers are coming again let me encourage you in giving to this you know missions is one of our core values uh as a church and so when you give in your Global Outreach offering this morning uh you're giving to missions and it's an opportunity to reach outside the four walls of this church outside of our community it's Global uh and a Global Outreach and so when you give this morning again if you've not uh if you you're not prepared to give right now but you want to give uh you can just mark it on a piece of paper how much that is uh if you're going to write a check uh you can write a check and uh write it out to the church and we'll get it where it needs to go brother Christie won't you bless our offering this morning Father amen amen let's continue in worship this [Music] morning I don't know what about tomorrow I just live from day to day I don't borrow from it sunshine for it Skies may turn to gray I don't wor or the future for I know what Jesus said and today I'll walk beside him for he knows what is ahead many things about tomorrow I don't see to understand but I Know Who Holds Tomorrow and I Know Who Holds my [Music] hand I don't know about tomorrow it may bring the poverty but the one who feeds the sparrow is the one stands by I don't that be my portion May through the flame or [Music] flood but his [Music] go and I'm with his BL many things about tomorrow I don't see to understand but I Know Who Holds Tomorrow [Music] and I know holds my hand many things about tomorrow I don't see to understand but I know whoes tomorrow and [Music] my amen amen I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow but I know who does know what's going to happen tomorrow amen I celebrate that I rejoice in that this morning amen amen I am so glad uh to be back with you this morning uh we had a great vacation and a great time together with family and I just again uh rejoice in all that God did here at the message while we were on vacation thank you again uh for for being and continuing to come to church and and being a part you know uh sometimes you know pastors worry about if they go on vacation if you know if everybody's just going to stay home or not come to church but uh I was so thrilled last week uh whenever I was looking at uh uh the numbers and everything about how many we had here man can I just tell you it blessed my heart uh and I just I rejoice in what God is doing here at the message and um I'm believing God to continue to do great things among us amen amen if you will this morning remain standing with me turn your Bibles to the book of 1 Timothy Chapter 2 1 Timothy Chapter 2 reading just uh verses 1- 4 um and while you're finding First Timothy if you will turn around and greet one another in the Lord and just uh let everybody know you're glad to see them those ones who haven't been able to be with us um let them know we're glad they're back with us and uh um this morning okay look with me in the Bible in the book of 1 Timothy Chapter 2 um verses 1-4 um reading from the New Living Translation this morning here's what the word of the Lord say says I urge you first of all to pray for all people ask God to help them intercede on their behalf and give thanks for them now that that verse there is just man that's a mouthful did you hear what Paul told T Timothy he said pray for all all people all people not just the ones you like not just the ones you want God to get Vengeance on pray for all people and ask God to help them intercede on their behalf and give thanks for them those are three things if you don't know what to pray those are three things you can pray okay verse two it says pray this way for kings and all who were in Authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives mark by godliness and dignity this is good and pleases God our savior who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth when God had blessings on the reading of his word you can be seated this morning so this morning I had this planned long before the most recent events um I'm going to share with you about politics and the church this morning now don't get too excited okay um we're going to cover this in a right way because the season is upon us and discussions are ramping up because it's a general election year in a few months we're going to go to The Ballot Box and we're going to vote for president we're going to vote for governor and lieutenant governor in our state and really and truly the future of our our country and our state will be determined um by what happens at The Ballot Box and that's not true just for this year that's true for every year every time there's a general election the future of the nation and the state is determined and a few things polarize nation and a church like politics Will in fact politics is one of those things that I just stay away from in in the church I Veer off of it in the pull pit um because it is so polarizing doesn't matter what you say you're going to upset somebody doesn't matter how you approach a topic it doesn't matter um what you say you're going to upset somebody because few things are as polarizing as the topic of Pol politics is in the last few weeks and again I had this ready before all of this or I had this planned before all these things that's taken place but we've seen a lot happen in politics the last few weeks a lot we had an attempted assassination on one candidate we had another candidate withdrawal from the race I don't know that in my lifetime so that there's been talk of I've been listening to different ones about things that happened in previous years but I don't think in my lifetime we've ever seen anything as tumultuous as our current political climate it is divisive it it literally draws in my mind a a correlation between the Civil War and now where brother is against brother sister against sister if we're not careful in the church it'll cause that same Strife to take place here now we have we've got one side calling for the candidate to resign they don't like they wanted one to resign then they got another one and they want them to resign then the other sides wanting this one to be arrested and criminally charged on everything we're in a mess as Christians we ask this question what is the churches and Christianity's role in this process should there be a complete separation of church and state where does the church live in this political process and what should we as Christians do when there's such political unrest which can I just tell you here I don't have this on my notes but I want to say this I think one of the most vile statements that has ever come out of politics is separation of church and state and let me clarify that I'm not saying that the state needs to be involved in the church but I am saying that the church needs to be involved in the state I am saying that Christians need to be involved with what's going on and we need to push biblical values as as vehemently as the other side pushes an A A A woke agenda we need to push Christian morals biblical morals So today we're going to talk about politics in the church and no I will not endorse a specific candidate and I'm not going to tell you who to vote for but let me tell you what I will tell you this morning I will tell you to vote biblical morals I will tell you this morning to look at voting records I will tell you to this morning to investigate who you're going to vote for and I will tell you this morning to pray for all the candidates I will not tell you that I think this one or that one but I will tell you this this morning that we need to pray for Revival in our nation I will tell you this morning that we need a move and a manifestation of the holy spirit in these last days that that will straight that will shake the strongholds of hell and of Satan loose off this nation I will tell you this morning to seek the infilling of the Holy Spirit and if you do not have the baptism of the holy spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues as the spirit gives the utterance then you need to experience Pentecost and I will tell you this morning if it's been a while since you've experienced Pentecost in your personal prayer time uh you need to seek a refilling of the Holy Spirit I will tell you this morning that if there has ever been a time in our nation where we need a Holy Spirit Revival now is the time I will tell you today that if there's ever been a time where we need a manifestation and a move of the Holy Spirit like we used to see in our churches and like we used to see in our personal lives now is that time I will tell you this morning to seek the promise of Joel 2 where it says then after uh doing all those things I will pour out my spirit upon all people uh your sons and your daughters will prophesy your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see Visions in those days I will pour out my spirit even on servants men and women alike I will tell you this morning that we need a Revival in this nation like we have never seen before we need another Great Awakening an Awakening of conviction of the Holy Ghost we need an Awakening of the gifts of the Spirit we need an Awakening in this nation to what is right and true and holy and just again I'm not going to tell you who to vote for you done made up your mind you're going to vote for who you going to vote for but I will tell you this this morning that if Christians do not vote biblical morals then who will so with that let's look at let's look at God's role in government here we go when it comes to leaders we see in Daniel chapter 2 where it says this in verse 19 it says through 21 it says that night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision then Daniel praised the god of Heaven he said praise the name of God forever and ever for he has all wisdom and power listen he controls the course of worldly he removes Kings and he sets up other kings he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars we must never forget this morning that God and not Humanity removes some leaders and sets up others we must remember this morning that it is God who sets things up it is God who is in control of the world and he is the one who who controls the course of world events leaders must have a mind and a heart of God if they want to continue in his favor leaders must have this desire within the that they want to please the king of glory and not please those who give the most money all too often people think that they're the ones who put elected officials in their position especially in our in our system we think well if this party pushes enough well they're the ones they got him there or if this one pushes hard enough and pushes back enough well those are the ones who guide them got them there the Bible is plain about this God sets up leaders God takes down leaders have we considered this today that a nation we're going to talk more about this here in a moment but I need to say it here that when a nation forgets God and a nation turns from God have we considered that the reason we have certain leaders in positions that continue to erode the moral fabric of a nation is because is God's judgment on our country when our focus is on the candidate more than it is it is in than it is on God we're in for failure when we focus on the leader more than we focus on the one who put the leader in position then we are setting oursel up for a great failure leaders must be in their role to glorify God and Advance his agenda there's a phrase in the Old Testament there's actually two of them I want to point out to you in fact the the book of First Kings ends with this phrase let me read to you ahaziah son of Ahab began to rule over Israel in the 17th year of King jehoshaphat's reign in Judah he reigned in Samaria two years list but he did what was evil in the Lord's sight following the example of his father and mother the example of jeroboam Son Of nebat Who led Israel to sin he served bail and worship Him provoking the anger of the Lord the god of Israel just as his father had done did you catch what it says he did evil in the sight of the Lord if we are not careful and we focus on the candidate more than we focus on the king of glory we will vote according to what we want instead of what God wants and when we do that we're in danger of putting somebody in a position uh that will lead us down a path of death and destruction can I tell you I would much rather have said over a leader what it says in 2 Chronicles chap 29 in verses 1 and 2 it says Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king of Judah and he reigned in Jerusalem 29 years his mother was Elijah the daughter of Zachariah listen he did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight just as his ancestor David had done we need leaders who will fear God we need leaders who will fear God and and who understand that they're responsibility is to worship the one true king and worship him only that's what we need in our country can I tell you that's what we need in our state that's what we need in our County in our community in our city that's what we need in the church we need people we need leaders no matter the level no matter the position we need leaders who will fear God who will say God is first and everybody else has got to get in line after him and so well what happens when government and leaders don't follow God we have to look no further than the text I read to you from Daniel 2 you see they had taken the the instruments of worship from the temple and they had taken them to their party and they had began to drink from them and and they had begin to to to uh take these instruments that were meant for worship and use them to celebrate an idol they had taken these things that were meant to glorify God and use them to advance their own party their own indulgences and can I tell you today when a nation does that when we take what is Holy and we apply it to what is Unholy we are in for judgment when we take what is right and true and holy and just and we app LLY it to those things that are not right true holy and just when we take sin and we make it right and we take right and we make it sin can I tell you a nation that does that is in trouble and is in danger of the Judgment of the almighty God that's what they were doing in Daniel 2 they had taken what should have been used in the temple and they' used it to celebrate their pagan gods and celebrate that they were the best and and their party was coming but God sent word he said tonight the kingdom will be taken from you and before the night was over they were invaded and the kingdom was destroyed where we get this phrase the writings on the wall it's where a hand appeared and wrote on the wall the Judgment of God can I tell you today one of the worst things for that could ever happen to us is for the Finger of God to to be to write a message against America and if we're not careful that's where we'll end up as a result of them doing what was wrong their their nation was taken from them when a nation forgets God that nation is destroyed Hosea says it this way in Hosea 4:6 my people are being destroyed because they don't know me since you you priest refuse to know me I refuse to recognize you as my priest since you have forgotten the laws of your God I will forget to bless your children I know the answer to this but how many of you by a show of hands would say you know what I want my children to be blessed let me see it children grandchildren I want them to be blessed then don't forget God because if you forget God says right here I will forget to bless your children it's that simple when a nation forgets God God doesn't bless her children you say well well well well that's not fair sin's not fair church sin doesn't care who it hurts sin doesn't care who it destroys sin doesn't care the generational curses that it pronounces on people but can I tell you a God-fearing person will care about that a person who says wait a minute and I want what God wants more than I want what I want I want God to be exalted God to be glorified God to be magnified when a nation forgets God God forgets to bless their children you say well that's what happens when a nation forgets God what happens when a nation follows God I'm glad you asked there's two scriptures that come to mind the first one's found in habach chapter 3 in verses 17-9 here's what the word of the Lord says it says even though the Fig Tree trees have no Blossom and there are no grapes on the vines even though the olive crop fails and the fields lie empty and Barren even though the flocks die in the fields and the cattle barns are empty yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will be joyful in the god of my salvation The Sovereign Lord is my strength uh he makes me as sure footed As the deer able to tread upon the heights can I tell you today when a nation chases after God when a nation turns to God it doesn't matter how bad it gets they recognize that their needs are met by the king of glory that the needs are not met by a government their needs are not met by people he may use them but that's not where the blessing comes from the blessing comes from on high the blessing comes from the king of glory uh the blessing comes from the almighty God can I tell you today when a nation remembers God God blesses that Nation it says in 2 chonicles 7 verse1 14 one of the most uh popular scriptures but it says this that then 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 I will hear from Heaven forgive their sin and heal their land when a nation turns to God God blesses that nation and I don't know about you but I want the blessings of the Almighty God in my life I want God to bless this nation I want God to bless the people of this nation but for God to bless us uh we must turn to God again and chase after the things that are right and true and holy and just again blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord the nation's blessed we can't be defeated as long as our eyes are on the Lord Church how blessed how wonderful is it to walk in the blessings of God there's nothing greater than that church God will help a nation God will help a nation who seeks after after him God will bless a nation who chases after him you see there's forces at work in our nation that want to deprive us of the blessings of God you see this morning Satan hates rules and government Satan hates rules and he hates government he don't like it why because well rules and laws point us to God think about the Ten Commandments What do they do they point us to God the whole of the Old Testament law points us to the king of glory in the New Testament the concepts and precepts of Jesus point us to the father you see laws and and government or rules and government they they point us to God and Satan doesn't like anything that God has so Satan hates rules Satan hates government listen to the words of Christ and see how they point us to God in Mark chapter 12 verses 30 and 31 it says this and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart all your soul all your mind and all your strength the second is equally important love your neighbor as yourself uh no other commandment is greater than these Jesus also said in John 13: 34 and 35 so now I am giving you you a new commandment love each other just as I have loved you you should love each other you love your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples You See It All Points these laws and these rules that that Christ put out that that that the Old Testament puts out they point us to God and Satan hates that Satan doesn't want our desires Satan doesn't want our vision to be on God he wants it to be on everything else Satan hates it because Satan wants the attention on himself when we read the story and the account in Isaiah of the fall of Lucifer from Heaven he says Lucifer was saying I will Ascend to the throne of God I will be like God I'm going to be above him I am it was all about him he wanted all this attention on himself he wants the whole world to to look at him and what he can do and The Temptations of Christ by Satan all the attention was on Satan all the attention was on what he could do all the attention was on what he could provide for Christ but here's what I find amazing about this and we've got to realize this this morning that all s Satan has is a counterfeit of the real thing everything all the power Satan has is just a counterfeit it's just a reflection of the real thing all Satan's power is allowed by God he has nothing unless he is allowed to have it and every time Satan uses his power it reminds him that he is using borrowed power and that he is on borrowed time why do you think Satan hates us so much because we're a reflection of Christ the reason Satan hates Humanity so much and and hates individuals so much and and does all that he can to destroy us is because we're made in the image of the person he tried to overthrow and he don't like it Satan hates Humanity can I ask a question I just need to ask this why would you want to serve somebody who hates you why would you want to give your life up for somebody who doesn't even like you that's why when I was in school I I uh even then I didn't have much sense but I had enough sense to recognize this that these fraternities and these sororities they wanted you to rush them during rush week and pledge week and all this stuff it it it baffled my mind that I had to go through a that if I wanted to be a part of their fraternity I had to go through a week of torture pay you money so I could call you my brother it baffled my mind no you're not going to torture me you're not going to do anything like that to me and I'm certainly not going to pay you to do it just so you I can call you brother and I can go to some part no that doesn't make sense that's what Satan does to humanity he abuses you he makes fun of you he cost you money he'll do everything he can to destroy you and make you think that he's your friend and he hates you but God loves you can I tell somebody this morning God is passionately in love with Humanity so much so that he gave the life of his only son so that you could have a life with him you see the world wants you to pay everything to call them brother or to call them sister uh but God says I'll pay everything all you got to do is say yes I'll pay it all all you got to do is say yes I'll be a part I'll give up everything I'll sacrifice it all so you can be a part of me and Satan hates that church Satan doesn't like it Satan wants to destroy it let me give you real quick this morning five ways Satan destroys Godly pursuit in government five ways real quick first of all personal ideologies gets people wanting their own things over what God wants can I tell you and quote to you what a church member told me one time and these are the words of a church member I could take you to the spot it was that shocking for me when they told me this they said quote I know the Bible says it's wrong but I don't care what the Bible says I'm going to do what I want to do I know the Bible says that but I can't do that personal ideologies when personal ideologies get in the way of God we've got to choose something church you've got to choose this day because whenever our our opinions and ideologies conflict with the Bible we must always defer to the Bible the Bible is right we have the propensity and the potential church to be wrong the next way that Satan destroys Godly pursuit in government you ready in the name of Tolerance tolerance has become a religion in our nation tolerance must be maintained at all cost but the tolerance is one-sided can I am I okay everybody's quiet on me now because y'all know I'm telling truth tolerance is one-sided and Christianity is the target the media is the gun tolerance is the projectile and woke Society has its finger on the trigger and they're trying to destroy Christianity tolerance has sent our country into a downward spiral that will only be corrected with a return to biblical Holiness tolerance has destroyed this nation they want us to be tolerant of everything but nobody's willing to be tolerant of anything unless it fits their agenda I don't get it common sense has went out the door and one of the ways Satan destroys Godly Pursuits in government is in the name of Tolerance the next way is this you ready for it it's a focus on self a focus on what I want you know we're instructed in the Bible to have self-control but when you when we want to when Satan wants to destroy Godly Pursuits in government he'll put a seed within somebody to focus on themselves and what they can get out of it the next one is this for the love of money money is the root of evil is that what the Bible says no the Bible says the love of money is the root of evil of all evil that's what the Bible says nothing wrong with having money in fact i' like it when people have money I like it when I have money there's nothing wrong with that there's nothing wrong with liking and needing wanting nice things nothing at all wrong with that in fact can I say this this morning the church needs people who have money it does God blesses the church through blessing in people with money some of you gave this morning in the Global Outreach offering or you gave in a regular offering and your giving blessed the church your giving blessed the Global Outreach offering your giving you were blessed with nothing wrong with money but when we love money more than we love our God there is a problem we've got to get to this place in our country where the pursuit of money is not the top goal it's the pursuit of Christ that makes the difference Church personal ideologies tolerance of focus on self For the Love of Money the last one is and probably this is going to be the most controversial and I'll get nasty looks on this one but I'm going to say it anyway five one of the ways Satan destroys God pursued in government national pride I want to make sure I'm clear on this I am as patriotic as anybody I love our country I love our nation I want God to bless our nation but can I tell you today I must love my God more than I love my country and if we are not careful in our nation and we will have more pride in our nation then we have love for our God and that's dangerous for the church it's dangerous for a country because here's the reality today a nation can be wrong personal ideologies can be wrong your opinion can be misguided but God is always right let me finish with this this morning now that I've up stirred up the whole apple cart here now that I got everybody like what in the world's he gonna say next let me give you this morning four ways or four roles Christians have in government you ready for them the first one is this and now I'm gonna say this one and don't don't don't shoot at me okay don't now I'm not talking about physic I hope you don't physically shoot at don't shoot mean eyes at me when I say this one you ready for it the first role that Christians play in government is this it's three-fold you ready pay your taxes register Dev vote and inform yourself if I were to ask you this morning by a show of hands I'm not going to because I think I know the answer how many of you enjoy paying taxes have you ever gotten that if when you do your taxes and you file your taxes they ask this question of like do you want want to give extra no I don't no I do not want to give extra money to the government you waste it you spend horribly so no I don't want to give it extra to you I do want to pay I supposed to pay let me back up on that I will pay when I'm supposed to pay I don't want to though every time I have to go and pay taxes on a vehicle that I have owned for decades but I got to pay property tax on that thing I will never get the value out of my old Ranger that they say it's worth I'll never get it I had to put tires on that thing a while back and the tires cost more than the truck would cost every time I put gas in a vehicle I'm paying taxes I get taxed on money listen I hate it okay but we got to do it pay your taxes and if you don't like how much taxes you're paying be sure to register to vote and go vote and when you vote vote biblical morals register to vote inform yourself find out what the candidates that you're voting for find out their voting record see what they support listen to their speeches the political party you're affiliated with make sure you read their platform and you can agree with what they say register to vote inform yourself the next one is this obey authorities you may not like some of the things they do you may not like some of the rules but as long as those rules are not contrary to the Bible we have a Biblical obligation to follow the laws of the land you may not like it you may not like that the speed limit is what the speed limit is you may like to go faster amen I'm the guy that likes to go a little bit over the speed limit don't judge me it's just who I am my right foot is heavier than my left foot amen some of you are out there you're in agreement with me but you're afraid to say yes and uh [Laughter] but we still have to obey the authorities still have to obey the rules you don't get to make up the rules as you go along thinking that the rules don't apply to you it's in those moments when we do that that we get out of favor with God we have a Biblical obligation to obey authorities the next way the next role Christians have in government is this you ready for it vote wisely I've said it numerous times today and I cannot overemphasize this vote biblical morals vote according to the Bible Christians must have a Biblical world view and vote to support that Viewpoint we must have this desire church that we want what God wants vote wisely quit voting foolishly you say well what are you trying to say I'm just saying it I'm not saying one is right and the other is wrong I'm just saying vote wisely vote biblical morals vote according to what God's word declares and you'll be okay this nation will be okay if we'll vote biblical morals the next one is this you ready for it stand up figuratively and literally quit being afraid of somebody saying something mean about you Christians are some of the world's worst about getting our feelings hurt and getting offended because somebody said something if Jesus declared it that they hated him and they G to hate you too the gospel of Christ is offensive and it is time that Christians get a thick skin again and do not care if people do not like us as long as we're declaring what is right and true and holy and just you've got to quit can I tell you I I'm waiting for a church I'm waiting for church people that'll say you know what I am tired of the world telling me I'm wrong and me not saying anything about it I'm going to say what is right if you going to say what you believe is right then I'm going to say what I believe is right and if you don't like it well then we can come to some kind of conclusion and we can agree to disagree but I believe it's time that the church stands up again we have been quiet we have secluded ourselves inside of our for walls long enough we have been afraid to say anything we have been beat down and we have been pushed to the side we have been marginalized long enough and it is time for men and women of God to stand up and Proclaim this is what we believe to be right based on the word of God I said it at the beginning and I'll say it here if Christians do not stand up for what is right then who will the world's not going to stand up for what is Right Satan is not going to tell people to stand up for what is right so it's it's incumbent it's left to the church to stand up for what is right and to not be pushed down not to be pushed aside and inter if we do get pushed down then we stand back up the Bible tells us when we've done everything we know to do stand to stand up and I believe it's time that the Church of the Living God that we stand up again and Proclaim that there is a way that seems right to man but the end of it is death and there is a way that is also a path uh that leads to life and life Everlasting you choose CH which path you choose there's a way that seems right to man and then there's the right way and it's time that the Church of the Living God that we stand up and that we quit being told to be quiet and we listen I remember a day in the church when when we didn't care what people said about us they laughed at us and they called us holy rollers and we're like yeah kindly we are I saw sister so and so do it last week I saw brother so and so I saw them rolling the Holy Ghost can I tell you we need that again in the church it enables us to stand up I don't care what people say when they attack us we've got to care what God says at the end of the day we must ask God this question God are you pleased with my actions and if God is pleased then does it really matter what the world says so this morning I want to close with a prayer a prayer for righteousness prayer for Revival and a prayer for Unity regardless of your political party or your political preference we are commanded in the Bible to pray for our nation's leadership there's four things we need to pray you ready for them I'm going give them to you real quick the first one is Unity this nation is fractured Church we're fractured politically we're fractured racially among social statuses we need the unity of the body in the United States of America again we need to emphasize that United again the next thing we need to pray we need to pray for healing we need a Divine Healing and healing can only happen through the power of the almighty God we need a healing in this nation not only that but we need to pray for understanding the Bible says to pray in the spirit and to pray with understanding and I'm not talking about necessarily that you're going to understand their Viewpoint or understand I'm talking about having a spiritual understanding church and understand understanding the the spiritual implications of what's going on in our nation pray with that understanding the last thing is this that I believe we need to pray for I've mentioned it before already but we need to pray for Revival we need to pray for Revival a Spirit-filled devil defeating Soul stirring Revival in this nation that's what we need to pray for this morning will you stand with me I'm going to ask us all I'm going to ask us to gather these altars this morning and I want to ask us to pray pray for our nation we need God we need God to do the supernatural Among Us so this morning if you will will you meet me at these altars will you gather here with me this morning and let us pray for our country that God will stir us that God will send Revival that we will experience Pentecost again that we will see a Great Awakening of the holy spirit in this nation that God's people will be stirred that there will be a move to righteousness that there will be a Revival that there will be Unity Among Us that we can pray with understanding that God will heal but most of all that lives will be changed for the cause of Jesus Christ will you pray that prayer with me this morning will you pray with me today will you pray and I'm talking about pray I'm not talking about an now lay me down to sleep prayer I'm talking about praying I'm talking about calling out to the almighty God God because our nation needs a move of the almighty God will you pray that with me this morning let's pray father we love you God we adore you we magnify you we exalt you and Lord we lift you up today God we need you [Music] today God our nation needs you we cannot afford to forget you God we got to have you today [Music] God this morning we're calling to you God we're calling to you today and we're asking you to touch in this nation touch oh God stir us God bring us closer to you let there be a Revival of Pentecost here let there be a Revival of souls being saved Sanctified and filled with the Holy Spirit God we need you today today God we lord we're dependent on you God we can't live without you we can't be without you God we need you today like we've never needed you [Music] before God we're dependent on you we're dependent on your power we're dependent on your anointing we're dependent on you God we need you in this country so God we call to to you and we ask that you stir us we ask that you draw Us near we ask oh God that you send Revival that you stir us oh God and bring us near and close to you God we've got to have you Lord we can't live without you we're desperate for you we're desperate for your power we're desperate for you oh God [Music] God stir us holy spirit we need you Jesus we got to have you Lord let there be a longing and a yearning let there be a desire within us oh God Jesus a desire for more of you a desire for for a manifestation of your spirit God we need you [Music] [Music] today oh Lord there's more things we don't know going to happen but lord it's in your hands and we know you're in control Lord we don't trust the situation but we trust the one who is is in control of the situation God we recognize today that without you we have nothing but with you we have everything God bless this nation Lord let us turn to you let us yield to you oh God so that you bless you stir and that you bring us closer God we need you God we yield to you today we defer to the power the anointing of the Holy Spirit God draw us nearer nearer God than ever before God we need you God we need you today Hallelujah Jesus we just love [Music] you God we give it all to you we yield to you God Jesus we lead you we need you oh God lord we're desperate for you Jesus we give it all to you today Jesus we thank you [Music] yes [Music] one [Music] streng I know [Music] [Music] for power [Music] come in your own church there's ever been a time when a nation needs a Great Awakening it's right now I've said it before I'll say it again I believe with all that is within me that we're in the times that the Bible talks about in Matthew 24 I believe we're there and what we must realize from that two things one Jesus is returning soon the second thing is what it says in Matthew 25 have we considered this and in Matthew 25 there's three Parables two of them 50% are cast out one of them a third is can we can we ponder that a moment that 50% 50% is cast out I don't want that church for this church for us that's not good numbers 50% I don't care how you cut it 50% is failing and I don't want to fail so what do we got to do we got to pray we got to seek God we got to call to the king of glory we've got to let our lives be focused on Christ be spiritually formed in him know what we believe stand firm on it stand up and let somebody know Jesus saves and proclaim the gospel amen amen let me encourage you starting in September September 1st it's going to be a big day for us okay it's first Sunday of the month so we're take communion together we're also going to be launching something called pray and go it's where we're going to I mean I'm going to encourage you to participate in something for 30 days so you need to be praying about this see if you're willing to do it and it's just an emphasis it's going to be our fall push to gather okay I need you to be praying for it because I'm believing that God's going to do something exponentially greater in this church than we've seen in a very very very long time I'm believing God for it will you pray that prayer with me will you believe God with me now when we pray that and we believe God for it you know what that means don't you that means God's going to ask us to do something God's going to ask us to do something and we've got to be willing to say yes to whatever it is amen and don't forget this evening at 5:30 is the Global Outreach uh service at the conference if you want to go let me know I can give you directions there uh we can all meet there if you want to go and be be a part it's always a great great service Dr Mark Rin is a fabulous speaker uh and so I know that you'll enjoy him and so you love the Lord this morning in love with Christ today I'm in love with Christ and all that he's done for us amen I'm going to ask our council member the week brother Norman Moore if he will dismiss us in prayer