I want to thank Mrs. Karen Olsen Coy for leading this play.

I want to thank everyone involved in the play.

1. Should Christians be patriotic?
   1. What does Scripture say about being patriotic? I am glad you asked.
   2. In Romans 9:3, Paul shares: For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
   3. In that passage, the apostle Paul really cared that his people, the Jews, would know Christ.
   4. In a direct way, we can make the application that we must care that our nation knows Jesus. Indirectly, we can apply this to the idea of being patriotic.
   5. We should want the best for our country, right? Of course, we should.
   6. Romans 9 also shows that God can control nations the way He wants to. God has chosen Israel above other nations.
   7. In John 17:18 Jesus says: As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
   8. We are to be in the world but not of the world (John 17:16).
   9. Let’s turn to one more passage. Let’s turn to 1 Timothy 2:1-2: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way…
   10. That passage is telling us to pray for our leaders. Whether we like them or not, we should pray for our leaders.
   11. John Piper shares:
   12. C. S. Lewis wrote a book, The Four Loves, and he distinguishes philia, friendship; erōs, sex; agapē, the love of God; and the one that I think is relevant right here: storgē.[1]
   13. This comes from Piper: Storgē is a kind of affection. We should as Christians have an affection for our country. That is the type of love we should have for our country. When you leave our country, you are likely happy to come home. This is home, we love home. When we see our country losing certain good values, that disappoints us. Some of you may feel like you cannot recognize the country that you love. But this is not the love you have for a spouse, a child, or God (agape); this is an affection. This is a storgē
   14. Yes, in that sense, we should love our country. We should support our country. We should be patriotic. We should be proud to be an American. We should care that our people, the people of our nation, are saved. We should want the best for our nation. Christians should be the best citizens.
   15. We could go to other passages. Romans 13 is about being submissive to the authorities. We also see that in 1 Peter 2:12-17.
2. The United States has always been different because of our Christian values.
   1. Our Judeo-Christian history makes us stand out.
   2. We were founded on Christian values.
   3. We were founded on Biblical values, and there is a common-grace blessing when we follow His values. Yes, we had sins in our past, but our values, by and large, were Biblical.
   4. We see this in the impact of the Puritans before our founding.
   5. We have many quotes from our founders. See me for the Truth Project lesson 10, which shares much about this. Our founders recognized that we needed to teach Christian values. John Adams: “Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand.”[2]
   6. Washington’s Farewell Address, Sept. 17, 1796: “…And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion… reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles.”[3]
   7. Benjamin Rush: “The only foundation for… a republic is to be lain in religion.” “…Christianity is the only true and perfect religion; and that in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts they will be wise and happy.” (Benjamin Rush, “A Defense of the Use of the Bible as a School Book,” 1796.[4]
   8. The problem is that today the State has replaced God. The State is supposed to surrender to God’s authority. Our founders recognized the importance of a Biblical Worldview.
   9. We were founded on Judeo-Christian values, yet still have freedom of religion. People in the United States did not have to be Catholic, Protestant, or of any one national religion.
   10. We have always supported the Jewish people and later Israel (Genesis 12). Not perfectly, but our pattern has been supporting the Jewish people and Israel.

• Some applications:
  1. We must understand that God is at work.
  2. We must understand that God is at work in His providence, working through nations.
  3. We must be good citizens, really caring about our people group as Paul did in Romans 9:3.
  4. We must pray for our leaders (1 Tim 2:1-8).
  5. We must not make our country an idol. We must be Christians first and then Americans.
  6. Do you know Jesus?

The Bible uses four verbs to describe the Christian life: Believe, confess, commit, and trust. Let me explain:

1. The Bible teaches that we must confess our need for forgiveness. This means that we must confess that we are sinners in need of a Savior. In other words, we have done wrong things, and we need to be forgiven (Romans 3:23; 6:23; 10:9-10). We tell God this.
2. The Bible teaches that we must believe in Jesus. We must believe that He is who the Bible says He is. The Bible teaches that He was born of a virgin; He lived a sinless life and died on the cross for our sins, and He rose triumphantly over the grave (John 3:16; 14:6; 1 Cor. 15; 2 Cor. 5:17, and 21).
3. The Bible teaches that we must commit to Jesus as Lord and Savior. This means we are not simply fans of Jesus but followers of Jesus. Fans stay on the sidelines, but Jesus calls us to be on the field with Him. Jesus told them to count the cost before committing to Him (Luke 14:27-33).
4. The Bible teaches that we must trust The belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior is not a casual belief, but a firm trust (1 Timothy 1:15; John 3:16).

Firmly make the decision to be with Him in order to become like Him and to learn and do all that He says, and then arrange your affairs around Him.

[1] Piper, John. How Much Patriotism Is Too Much Patriotism? July, 3, 2020

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-much-patriotism-is-too-much-patriotism

[2] Letter of June 2, 1776, quoted in the Wall Builder Report, Summer 1993. John Adams, “Letter to Zabdiel Adams, Philadelphia, 21 June 1776,” in The Works of John Adams—Second President of the United States, ed. Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1854), 9:401.Truth Project Lesson 10

[3] The Will of the People: Readings in American Democracy (Chicago: Great Books Foundation, 2001), 38.

[4] Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral & Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas and Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), 93.