Message To Life

We celebrated New Hope's 171st birthday at Homecoming this year.  Well this Sunday is America's 234th birthday.  This Sunday we recall one of the greatest days of new hope in history, new hope for the colonists of America and for the entire world, the day of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, one of the greatest sermons ever preached.  Yes, you heard that correctly....a sermon. ...

Every act this year signed by President Obama will say, "In the year of our independence, 234."  When those 56 men signed that document of new hope for America and for the world,     their faith convictions shone brightly for the world:  Their convictions about the guidance of God, about the sacredness of life and individual liberty, convictions about government that reflect Christian faith convictions about the role of government.

I was reading this morning about Rev. John Wise, a preacher in Massachusetts in the 1680's.  He preached a multitude of sermons about biblical principles of government and taxation, themes of equality and the granting of inalienable rights by our Creator.  In both 1772 and in 1774, the Founding Fathers took his sermons, reprinted them and spread them all over America.  Clearly the themes Thomas Jefferson expressed in our founding document expounded on the themes highlighted in the sermons of John Wise. 

We do well to remember and celebrate the faith convictions embedded in the founding of our nation, the hope of every government, the hope of our world in our Lord and Savior.  

In Christ's Love,

Larry Patton