Is that correct, Courtesy? Right after service, okay. Psalms chapter 33, verse 12 in your Bible, the kids are dismissed. A great verse. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, Jehovah, and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord. for a nation who follow your footsteps, Lord. Thank you, Lord, that this nation was founded on your principles. Thank you, Lord, that this nation is one time called a Christian nation and can be called again. Lord, as many people throughout this nation who love you, who care for you, Lord, who live their daily lives devoted to you. And I pray, Father, Lord, bless this nation, bless the people who's leading this nation in a way, Lord, that bring honor and glory to your name. And I pray, Father, if there's someone here online who never truly received Jesus Christ as personal Savior, may today they call upon you for salvation. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. You may be seated. Well, today we celebrate America, and I think this is a great verse. Psalm 32 and verse 12. The Bible says, Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people who He had chosen for His own inheritance. What a great verse. Today, well, it was Thursday, but today, we as a church, we're celebrating America. America is a land of the free and the land of opportunity for all people. It's a melting pot. It is a land on which we can't have our dreams come true. You say, well, easy for you to say. Listen, I was not born here. I came here from another country. Since then, I became an American citizen. I went to the American schools. I graduated from college. I became a pastor. The Lord gave me every dream and opportunity that I desire in my heart. Well, He put the pastoral thing in my heart. I was not searching for that, but when I got saved, He laid that in my heart. But you know what? I went after, He gave me the college to go to. And today we can stand here and say, what a land of opportunity we have. I can go to church without being afraid of somebody coming with a gun or somebody persecute me. I have the freedom and liberty. Actually, it's freedom and liberty for any religion in the world is America. You can practice pretty much any religion in this country. Okay, so America, folks, is a land of great opportunity. When I lived in Portugal, the statement was always like this, America is the land of opportunity, a land of dreams, so everybody wanted to come here. So folks, this is a great country, and this is a great nation. This is the most prosperous nation on planet Earth. This is the most free nation on planet Earth. America, with all her flaws, and have many, continues to be the best nation on planet Earth. If you don't believe me, go try to live somewhere else. America was founded on Christian principles. America was one time a Christian nation. It was. If you look at American history, you can see how America was founded. We should not be ashamed of that as Christians. What a wonderful thing to plant our lives on the Lord Jesus Christ. Even individually. We can say my life is on the rock. My life is planted on God. My life is planted on the Lord Jesus Christ. So was America one time. But, unfortunately, we cannot call America a Christian nation any longer. Atheism has invaded the minds of so many people. Humanism. is in rampage through the minds and lives of people. Yes, we are celebrating America today for her freedom, but we can't ignore the fact that America of old is not the American of today. We can't ignore the fact that America and her people are walking further and further away from her roots, her foundation that made this nation a great nation. Abraham Lincoln declared, if destruction be our lot, we ourselves will be its altar and its greatness. is great in territory, resources, strength, beauty, and achievements. America has shared its wealth in scientific discoveries and medical accomplishments with all mankind. America have put her children in the front lines of the front, not only her freedom, but the freedom of many nations. America have paid a great price for the cause of peace and freedom in the world. America continues to be the land of freedom, of speech, and of religion. End of quote. A groom was terrified nervously on the eyes of another friend in his wedding date. What's wrong? Have you lost your ring? Ask a friend. No, answered the groom sadly. I've lost my enthusiasm. Many Christians have lost the enthusiasm for America. They say, what's the use? American is lost. Look at the politics, so corrupt. We're going nowhere. But listen, folks, besides all that, we have a God in heaven on which we can pray for America. Listen, instead of us being so critical of who's in power, we Christians should pray for those who are in power. Because if we have a president that is not Christian, pray that he will get saved. Pray for the Senate seats and for the House of Representatives, for the first responders, for our mayors, for all those people that are in positions of power. They need wisdom. They need God. They need people to pray for them. Who's going to pray for them? God's people. We need to pray for our nation so America can be called a Christian nation once again. Instead of saying, what's the use? Everything is lost. Maybe look at the positive, not on the negative. Because if we focus on the negative, it's doomsday. But if we focus on the positive, guess what? There's a God in heaven who hears our prayers. There's a God in heaven who loves you and loves me. There's a God in heaven who would listen, does or will do something about it. America needs God more than ever. America needs God's people to pray for their nation. Let's look at this from several points as we celebrate America today. America's destiny will be determined by its remembrance of God. Look what it says. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. A South America president once said, South America was found by men seeking gold, but North America was found by men seeking God. Another man said, the Spaniards came here for gold, the French came here for gain, but the original colonists came here for God. Our truth is that. I believe America has reached the pinnacle of greatness unlike any nation in human history because our founding fathers established American laws and precepts on the principle of God's Word. And this includes the Ten Commandments. God had blessed this nation because of its early days she sought to honor No, don't misunderstand me here. Yet this nation was founded on biblical principles by people who loved God. But I believe that even today, as much as atheistic our nation is, there are many people who love God in this nation. There are many people who pray for this nation. There are many people who say, Lord, You can do something in our nation. You can have a revival throughout this nation. I believe so. I believe there are people who got on their knees every day and pray for this nation. I believe so. So, letter A, under that first point, how we do this? The destiny of America is determined by its remembrance of God. How we do this? Give God the glory. Look what it says in verse 12. Bless the nation whose God is the Lord. We still sing God bless America today. We still have, in God we trust, imprinted in our money. We still have the freedom of speech, praise the Lord. We still have freedom to practice our religious beliefs. And I believe that all this is possible because God didn't give up on America yet. There's a lot of Christians in this nation who love the Lord and love America. You know one thing I saw yesterday coming? I don't see here in the north, but I see down south. I was driving and the Lord stopped me right in the last light before I get to the airport. I look on one side, I look on the other side, I look on the other side, I look on the other side. Four young men, I'm talking about maybe 2018, 2022, with the Bible preaching on the street. They were right there. If you ever wanted to hear, whoop in the wind under your car and listen to them. They were preaching God's Word right in the street. Listen, America has people today that still love God and loves His nation. I'll tell you why. It takes a lot of guts, a lot of devotion and a lot of want to go to a street and preach and you don't know if anybody's going to hear you. But they were there faithfully. Faithfully and they were preaching towards the cars and I were watching. Oh like black praise the Lord I don't know what the nomination they wore. I had no idea one thing. I know they were there with the Bible So let it be or number two under that first second out of that first point don't forget you godly heritage look at verse 12 blesses the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom he had chosen for his own When the pilgrims landed in Plymouth Rock, they kneeled down in the shore and thanked God for giving them a new country. The worship of Jesus was the center of every new settlement in this land. When the Continental Congress faced great problems and difficulties and knew now which way to turn, Benjamin Franklin called upon the members of Congress to fall upon their knees and pray. Here's one thing I remember. Who remembers 9-11? What happened in front of our state capitol? Our senators, our House of Representatives were there praying for America. You might think I'm silly, but you can go back on footage and watch that. It was a patriotic time in America. It was no more divisions. It was everybody was for America because America was in trouble. I'll tell you what, how we put America, God back in America. I'll tell you what, when we opened the door of our homes and we said, Lord, come in. Be the center of my home. That's how it starts. It starts when we invite God in, we don't invite God out. You know what we did in public schools? We invite God out. That's what we did. The public arena in America, we told God, get out. You're not welcome here any longer. We need to invite God back and say, Lord, we've made a mistake. Turn back around, Lord. In the state of Oklahoma, they passed a law The Ten Commandments are back in schools. Praise the Lord for that. Our young generation needs to know there is a God. There is laws we need to follow in God's law. There is a God on which we are accountable to. The reason America was stood for more than 200 years is that God has been in her history ever since her beginning. Benjamin Franklin uttered these profound words, God surely was not idle spectator when this great nation was born in his name and with his grace. I hear people say, what about the separation of church and state? Well, that's a big one. Let me tell you folks, you will never find that statement, not anything remotely like that in the Constitution of America. However, you will find it in the First Amendment. These words, look what it says, Congress will make no law respecting the establishment of religion nor prohibit the free exercise thereof. It says nothing about you and me getting involved in government. It just says that the government cannot get involved in the business of the church. The statement separation of church and state was made by Thomas Jefferson and this meaning of separation of church and state is not how it was said. It is amazing how people like to twist words to make them match their agendas. And folks, there's a lot of agendas in this country. Since he said it, I think he best knows that he meant it to say this way. Listen to his words. The First Amendment was erected a wall of separation between church and state, but that wall is one directional wall. It keeps the government from running the church and it makes sure that Christian principles will always be in government. There's no way about this church and state separation. Nonsense that goes on. Our forefathers not one time sought to exclude God from this great nation. Rather, they made every effort to include God in every great document. That is one reason why America stood as long as she has. I'll tell you what. Who must believe that as America? America, don't forget God. Look what Abraham Lincoln said more than 125 years ago. We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious land which had enriched and strengthened us. We have vainly imagined all things were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated by unbroken success, we have become so self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us. America have become that way. We have kicked God out of the public arena, and in many homes, God was shown the door. Get out. You don't belong here. The reason why we see so many broken homes in America, so many headaches in America, because God was taken out. The God who can fix lives, the God who can build things for the better was invited out of this country. But praise the Lord for those who love God, who love America, who still believe that God can come back, that God can make America what it used to be, a Christian nation. Number two, Americans' destiny will be determined by its rebuke of sin, its rebuke of sin. Folks, let me tell you, we are more sinful than we think we are. And our minds are so polluted in many ways that we even laugh at sin these days. The God of heaven who came to this earth and shed his blood for me and you and hang on the cross of Calvary for me and you took sin very seriously. We play with sin, and we think it's okay, and we laugh at it. It comes in our phones. It comes right in our TVs. It comes in our computers. It comes in our behavior. It comes everywhere. And you know what? We think it's okay. Or at least we say it's okay. No. America is full of pornography and perversion these days. Scandals in high places rocks the country. Organized crime flourishes in many cities. Our nation is engulfed with sin, which is a shame to many people, threatens. Some people are even afraid to get out of their houses in places that they live because America and its people think sin is something we can play with. I told you about several preachers. I don't know if I told you that. but several preachers recently just met with one of our Christian senators and representatives to discuss what can we do to stop the moral free fall of America. One of the greatest concern of the legislators was expressed several times, where is the church? One senator said, I received 16 letters of non-believers about all this nonsense that they stand for to one letter of a Christian. Where is the church? We cannot sit idle and let America go. We must cry out loud, Christians, go vote. Vote for principles and personality. Don't vote, I'm sorry, don't vote for principles and personality. Vote for morals and godliness. America needs to repent of its ungodly transgressions. Christians need to wake up. Listen folks, we don't want to come to a day in America on which you cannot get out of your house even to go to a church. They say that will never happen. Don't say never because it can't come to that. It can't come to that. May we stand up. May we open our mouths and tell and say that sin is wrong. Because today we live in a day and age in America in which what is right for me might not be right for you. Well, we have a Bible which says, what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong. Regardless of my opinion or your opinion. The word sin seems to disappear from the public arena these days. Today we tolerate, we laugh at sin and we even enjoy what 30 years ago would have deeply shocked us. We call sin everything but what truly is everything. Luke says, what God called drunkenness, we call alcoholism. What God called perversion, we call alternative lifestyle. What God called immorality, we call morality. What God called pornography, we call entertainment. What God called murder, We call abortion. Listen to the results of sin. Sin damns the soul. Sin pollutes the conscience. Sin destroys homes. Sin devours nations. That's what sin does. General Douglas MacArthur indeed spoke the truth when he said the following words, and I quote, history fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay. have not passed into political and economic decline. There's been either spiritual awakening to overcome the normal lapse of progressive deterioration leading to the ultimate national disaster. Number three, America's destiny will be determined by its respect for the saints. 10 people would have spared the nation of Sodom from destruction. 10 people. During the war with Germany, Churchill, the Prime Minister of England, paid great tribute to the pilots in a speech before the House of Commons by saying, never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many by so many to so few people. The pilots talk, though few in number, in comparison to the number of people, they save and keep Great Britain from being defeated by the German war planes. The warning of march by many to so few is even more true concerning the righteous in our society today. Few though they are, the righteous have year after year spare many cities of America from destruction. I believe This is me. That God is sparing Americans from great judgment because God's people are praying for America. There's a lot of people in this country, maybe fewer in number compared to the whole nation, who are praying for America. You may not have political power. You might not be famous. You may not be genius. You might not have a great fortune, but you have a tremendous thing in your hands. You know what that is? The power of prayer. That's the Christian weapon. We go to the throne of grace and we bring the name of America to the Lord and say, Lord, there's a lot of wrong with this country. Lord, bring revival to this nation. Do something that people will run to you. because people are run away from him today. On that third point, we need respect, letter A, for the preaching that is pointed. A French diplomat years ago said, not until I went into the churches of America and heard the Pope put flame, which righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power? We need pulpits of fire against preaching, against sin, and against this society that is going down to the ways of hell. Unfortunately, many pulpits of America have called down. on the attack against sin. Many pulpits in America became a place for comedy, for politics and for entertainment. The pulpits of America needs to be a place where the preaching of God's Word goes out to God's people. So we can be encouraged, so we can live godly lives for God. That's what the pulpits of America is made for. The churches of America need to stand up and stop being afraid of the political society and preach God's Word. That's what they need to do. The people of this nation, this great nation, needs to know there is a God in heaven who loves them. There's a God in heaven that loves every human being in this nation and He wants to save them. How are they going to do that? May people understand the church is a place where God's Word is being preached and proclaimed. Let it be, we need to respect for people that are pious. They need to be returned to the power of believing prayer. In 1904, a great revival movement began in Wales. The impact on the moral condition of the nation was overwhelming. Judges had almost no trial cases. There were virtually no robberies. Imagine that. Drunkards were cut in half and many taverns or bars were forced to close for the lack of business. Wow. All this happened because one man began to pray. One man. As people called by God's name. Listen, sometimes we think we cannot make a difference. Look folks, the nightclubs are open. The places of sin are open. The drunkenness is everywhere. I tell you what, I was coming from, I'm not trying to say, talking about my vacation, but it happened to me. I was coming through from Pensacola Beach home. That was on July 4th. And in the plain daylight, it was already drunken. There's people driving drunk in the streets. There were alcohol everywhere. I tell you what, we can't celebrate America without that stuff. But I think also we have to believe individually in the power of prayer. You can say, I cannot make a difference. What can I do with all this nonsense that goes on? You know what we can do? We can stop praying. You say, but I'm the only one praying. Yes, that's how revivals start. It comes in the heart of a person who goes to another person, to another person, to another person. It keeps on growing. We don't give up. Listen, if we believe that God can hear us, if we believe that God is real, if we believe that God loves us, I think we can talk to him about this great nation. as people called by His name. Christians, you understand God's character and God's attributes. We must remember that while good government is a good thing to have, no government, no candidate, no political ideology is the hope of America. One comes, does one thing, the others complain. Another comes, does one thing, the others complain. It's always going to be the same way. Isn't that the way it is? Oh, I'm going to live in America if this guy gets in. Oh, I'm going to live in America if this guy gets in. Oh, so leave. No, we need gods in the White House. The man who's our president right now needs your prayers. Now you criticize me. You might not agree with his policies, I understand that, but he's a man made of flesh and blood like me and you. He needs salvation. He needs gods. so was his cabinet members, so was the senators, so was their House of Representatives, they need God. Instead of us being so critical of what they're doing, may we be more prayerful so the Lord can lead them to do the right things for our nation. They need prayer to make decisions. They need our prayers so the Spirit of God can convict their hearts and to give their lives to Christ. If we don't pray, listen, If we don't pray, who will? If we don't pray for our nation, who will? The atheists are not going to pray. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, may we never forget that he is the one we can trust. He made America beautiful, and He is the only being who can keep it that way. Some people trust in government and turn to national leaders for help, but we are different. Look what it says. Psalm 20, verse 7 says, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. We need to pray to God. We need to rely on Him more than the politics that we vote for. We need His guidance. We need His grace. We need His insights. We need His power. Christians, we need to pray. We need to pray for our government. regardless who is in power. May we remember and keep in mind that there are people just like me and you. May we remind ourselves that there are sinners just like you and me. Keep in mind that they need the Savior just like you and I. Praying for our nation's leaders helps us to remember that they are humans and they need our prayers. Prayer will remind us that there are this special, I'm sorry, there are needy people who need the Lord. Let me go to my next point, my last point. America's destiny will be determined by its relationship to the Jewish people. Luke says in Genesis chapter 12 verse 3, And I will bless them that bless thee, And curse him that curse thee, And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Though the years America has been a good friend of Israel, And I'm not trying to be politic play politic politicians here and take sides. I'm preaching bible right here Okay, i'm not i'm not going to tell you to vote for not to vote for i'm not going to take this side take that side It's not me. You're never going to hear that from me. One thing you're going to hear from me is the bible Okay, the bible says I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee You know one thing we need to do for israel pray for them Pray for the peace of Israel or Jerusalem. Pray for them. Pray for the nation of Israel. I understand, depending on the president that we have, sometimes the relationship a little rocky, sometimes a little good. But let me tell you, if we want America to prosper, if we want America to be a great nation, if we want America to be blessed, which we are, pray for Israel. Don't be an enemy of Israel, be an ally. That's God's people. He's coming for His own. He's going to rule and reign for a thousand years in Jerusalem. He's coming to sit at the throne of David as He promised He would, and He will. When we get out of here, when the church gets out, After the seven-year tribulation, Jesus is going to come and put his reign on earth. Earth is going to have the greatest king that earth will ever witness. See, we need to bless. God deals with nations in relation to those who deal the way they deal with Israel. America is a great nation and I didn't try to put America down here today. I'm just sharing with you the realities of our nation. There's a lot of flaws in America. Lots of flaws. It's a lot of things that walks away from the morality or from the standards of the Bible. But let me tell you, God will never change His word to accommodate the sin of the people. He will never do that. So what we need to do as Christians is to pray for America. That go back to her roots. That people in this nation will invite God back in their houses. Not just in the public places, but in their houses. Because in the houses of many Christians, God was told to leave. In many homes, there's profanities, all kinds of stuff going on. There's no godliness at all. No, we need to open the door right open and say, Lord, please come in. Take the best seat in the house and rule this house because I don't know how. That's what we need to do. The same thing in America. We need a public place and say, Lord, it's right open. Our courthouses are open. Our schools are open. Our hospitals are open. Everything. Come in, Lord. and do it because we don't know how. We made a mess out of everything. Look, can you build this thing up back again? That's what we need in America. We need this in individual lives. We need this in homes. We need this in our country. We need this in the courthouses, in the public school. Listen, the generation of tomorrow is being raised without a notion of God. That is so sad. Our young people are raised with no notion of God in their minds at all. We need to invite God back. We kick him far, far away from our minds and our hearts. America is a land of opportunity. May we not become like the people when they came from Babylon. when they got to the promised land and they saw the temple being built, when they remember the old, they cried. They cried because it was not the same. May we look at America's history and say, I'm proud of being an American. I'm proud that this nation is a Christian nation. I'm proud that I have the liberty and freedom to live and to speak and to show my ideas with others. I'm proud that I can go to a church and worship my God. I'm proud that God is back in public school. I'm proud that God is back in the courtroom. I'm proud that I opened the door of my home. and told God to come in and got the best seat in the house. Which is your best seat in your home? I know you know exactly where it is. Give it to God. And I close with this. You ready? Open the door of your heart and say to the Lord, Lord, come in. No longer me, but you, Lord. Come in. Because if something's going to change America, it starts in the heart of every individual person. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for liberty and freedom. Thank you, Lord, for Calvary's cross. It was there that we were set free from the bondage of sin. Thank you, Lord, for America as we celebrate America, for this great nation on which we can worship you in freedom. Thank you for the laws and liberties that we have. I pray for America, Lord. There's a lot of flaws, a lot of wrong things going on. I pray for revival throughout this nation, that this nation would turn to you. May we invite you in back in our hearts, in our homes, in our public places, Lord. Come in, Lord. Sit. Stop with thoughts, Lord. Change our hearts and wash us. In Jesus' name, amen. If you could stand, please. We have a song of invitation this morning, and it will be, I believe it's 214. All the way, My Savior Leads Me. all the way my savior leads me all the way my Savior leads me, what have I to ask beside? Can I doubt a standard mercy, who through life has been my guide? Have me peace, divine discomfort, have I faith in Him to dwell? For I know Let me tell you this, don't get discouraged, okay? I'm like, oh Pastor, man, Pastor, listen, don't get discouraged. God's still on the throne. He's still sitting on the throne. He's not like in panic. He still loves you and loves me. But guess what? There's many people in this country that don't know the Lord. He loves them too. All right, you know what we do as Christians? We go and tell them that is a great God that loves them. How are we going to change America? We change one person at a time. Reach them with the gospel. Tell them how much God loves them. Listen, don't go to them and go say, oh my goodness, oh God. No, God loves them. What a great God we serve. Tell them how much God loves them. Tell them how much God loves you. Then go tell them. Something's going to change America as we, Christians, we are the ones who need to put, you know what? Believe in our God, walk as He lives, not as God is dead. And you know what? And pray for our nation. We need to pray for our nation. You believe in the power of prayer? You're not just blabbing words, just talking to God, like seriously. We need to talk to him and say, Lord, here am I again, Lord. And the next day, Lord, I'm here again for you, Lord. I'm going to pray again. You know, Lord, I asked you yesterday. I'm going to ask you again. My nation needs you, Lord. My home needs you, Lord. My heart needs you, Lord. Lord, and the next day, you're doing it again. And you're doing it again and again and again and again. And don't stop. Don't give up. Don't give in. God is good. You follow that? Listen, God is good and God loves you, don't matter what you're going through in life right now. He loves you unconditionally regardless of what you have done, regardless of what you're doing now, God loves you. He's a great God. Let's sing verse number two. ♪ All the way my Savior leads me ♪ ♪ Cherish when in pain I fall ♪ ♪ Gives me grace for every trial ♪ ♪ Feeds me with the living bread ♪ ♪ Though my weary steps may falter ♪ ♪ And my soul a thirst may be ♪ Cushing from the rock before me, lower spring of joy I see. Cushing from the rock before me, lower spring of joy I see. Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you for being with us this morning. We won't have evening service tonight. But if you plan to go to Chrissy's house, if you don't know how to get there, you want to ask her how to get there, I'll be right after we leave church. I don't know what time you want them to be there. It's right after we leave church? Okay, right after we leave church, make your way. There's no time. Okay, I mean, you can't be there until midnight? No, I don't know. There's no time to show up there after the morning service, okay? Let's pray we'll be dismissed. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for America. Thank you, Lord, for the liberty we have and freedom we have to celebrate America. Thank you, Lord, for those who pay the ultimate price for the freedoms of America. Thank you for those families that sacrifice their loved ones, their moms and dads, even to their cry for their children. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for Calvary, for shed blood that give us salvation and hope of heaven. And I pray, Father, if there's someone here that never truly received Jesus Christ as personal Savior, may today they call upon you for salvation. And Lord, for us Christians, May you open the door of our hearts and invite you back in. Go with us, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.