Rededicate: Returning our Hearts to God

Pastor Phil Derstine 5-17-26

 

  1. Our Blessed Nation – Originally Dedicated to God as a Christian Nation
  • Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD…" 
  • II Chron. 7:14 “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 the land.”
  • John Patrick Henry “It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”
  • George Washington "It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible." 
  • John Quincy Adams “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.”
  • Thomas Jefferson "The reason that Christianity is the best friend of Government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart."
  • Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
    • Coins: “LIBERTY- IN GOD WE TRUST”
  • Songs: National Anthem (Vrs. 4) “…this Heav’n rescued land” - “This be our motto: In God is our trust!”

My Country, ‘Tis of Thee (Vrs. 4) “Protect us by Thy might, Great God our King.”

America The Beautiful “America, America, God shed His Grace on Thee…” 

  • Pledge: “One Nation, under God…”
  • U.S. Capital Prayer Window: Psalm 16:1 “Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust.”
  • Washington Monument: “Praise be to God” (Latin - Laus Deo) 
  • Supreme Court Building – Sculpture of Moses holding the 10 Commandments above main entrance.
    • Supreme Courtroom – Huge oak entrance doors engraved with depiction of the 10 Commandments.
    • James Madison “We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, and to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
  • Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”

 

  1. Rededicate:  Returning our Hearts to God
  • Recommitting ourselves fully to God’s Purpose – Restoring what has drifted.
    • Repentance and renewed obedience
    • Romans 12:1 “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
    • II Kings 22:11 “When King Josiah heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.” (repentance)
    • Rededication begins with the Word of God.
    • Jonah 3:1 “Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time. (10) When God saw what they (The Ninevites) did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened.”
    • Joel 2:12 “Even now, declares the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.  (13) Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love…”
  • Rededicate: Your heart, Your prayer life, Marriage, Family, Worship, Calling, Witness, Priorities…
  • Restore whatever has drifted away from God.