
Independence Day has always held special meaning to Christians…
"Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?" "Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?" ~John Adams, July 4, 1837 when he delivered a Fourth of July speech at Newburyport, Massachusetts
Our country was birthed as a result of the pursuit of religious freedom….the pursuit of God.
2 Corinthians 3:17 assures us, “… Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
The value of liberty was thus enhanced in our estimation by the difficulty of its attainment…. ~George Washington, letter to the people of South Carolina, circa 1790
We set aside the 4th of July to celebrate and express gratitude for the freedom our country provides. We must also remember the cost of that freedom…
Not only must remember the battles fought by our forefathers for the freedom we are blessed with in this country; we must always remember that even the freedom a country provides is nothing compared to the ultimate freedom bought and paid for by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus, quoting Isaiah, said, “He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners.” ~Luke 4:18
Romans 5:8 reminds us of both the gift and the cost, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Celebrating Freedom in Christ Together...