Traditional Worship

36:53 It is a blessing to be here at Resurrection. It's a blessing to be in our nation and it is a blessing to be in our world. 250 years ago, members of the Continental Congress came together in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, representing the 13 colonies in the United States of America. And there they made a bold decision. They made a decisive decision. And that was to seek independence from England. Setting into motion a new nation, a new government, and what we now celebrate during this 4th of July weekend, the United States of America. So this weekend is important because over the past 250 years, our nation has grown, our nation has developed, our nation has become the strongest in the world.

37:51 And we have so much to be thankful for. We have so much to be proud of. So the 4th of July, yes, is about the fireworks. Yes, it's about the food. Yes, it's about the fun and the parades, but it's also about coming together in unity to give God thanks for our nation and all that we've been able to accomplish over the last 250 years. During this anniversary celebration, during this anniversary weekend, I want to remind you that this is a time of reflection. When members of the Continental Congress voted in favor of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, they set in motion this very anniversary weekend, this new nation, this place, America. Many of these congressional delegates who were writers and editors and signers of the Declaration of Independence would go on to shape the very foundation of our nation and our names and their names would ring through history forever. Names like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin and John Adams and John Hancock and Samuel Adams.

39:13 They were seeking a dream, an ideal, a hope of a nation that would not be ruled by kings, that would not be ruled by queens, that would not be unfairly taxed, but a nation that was a democracy represented by and for the people. In the Declaration of Independence, it says these words, that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved. These early founders, These early leaders, they believed in democracy. They believed in freedom.

40:06 They believed in justice. They believed in a government represented by the people. Today, as we reflect on those early pioneers, those early sojourners who fought, bled, and died for our United States of America, Many of their names and stories are not just the signers listed on the Declaration of Independence. Many of them were farmers. Many of them were laborers. Many of them were lawyers. Many of them were doctors and nurses and craftspeople and seamstress and business owners and soldiers and teachers. Those who were enslaved and those who were free mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters. who hope for a better and a brighter future. They were a people of faith.

41:05 Their stories of faith, their stories of resilience remind us of the insightful scripture that you heard earlier from Hebrews chapter 11, verse 13. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised. they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners living in a strange land. These biblical characters that we speak of in the Holy Bible were folks like many of the early pioneers for America. They had big dreams, they had big hopes, they had great aspirations, but they never lived to see those things come true. But yet through faith, they believed the next generation would inherit their promises. Thanks be to God for these early pioneers, these early founders who through faith believed that even today, 250 years later, we would be living the American dream. Not only do we reflect on the stories of the founders and these early pioneers and sojourners of the past. But even today, we remember those family members, those friends and loved ones in more recent times that we remember who also died in faith and were integral parts of the fabric of our nation. In my latest book, Faith for essential practices. I listed some of those heroes and sheroes from my own family, from my own community who lived by faith and who died by faith. I remember growing up in a small town in Texas and to the left was my grandmother and to the left of my grandmother was Mr. George who was born in 1899 and across the street from Mr. George was Pete Buckley and next door to Pete Buckley was

43:14 Willie and Aunt Verge and next door to Willie and Aunt Verge was Mrs. Blunt and next door to Mrs. Blunt was Willie and S.C. Ward and then to my right was my great aunt and my great uncle. Like many of these early pioneers they didn't have much education they didn't have many material resources but they had faith and they had character. And like so many of our family members, we give God thanks because they are a part of the fabric of the American dream. Today we honor them and today we give God praise for them. For some of them, you may call them soldiers. For others, you call them veterans who are still with us. Some you call your great-great-grandparents who took the risk of moving their families from one country to another country in pursuit of the American dream.

44:12 And for many, we call them our brothers and our sisters who stood by us and believed in us when we dare to live this one and only life. Today, not only do we reflect on the historic actions that took place 250 years ago in Philadelphia, today we reflect on those who through their faith and their perseverance helped us build a nation that has created space for people from all walks of life. Many of their names and stories are remembered as great builders, builders of communities, builders of neighborhood, builders of churches, builders of libraries, builders of green space, builders of hospitals, builders of roads, builders of bridges, builders of philosophies, builders of theories, builders of business, and builders of civic organizations, and even names that are remembered on battlefields throughout our country and around the world. And so on this holiday weekend, we stop to reflect and remember. Thank you for those who live by faith. And although they didn't fully see what they hoped for, their living was not in vain. And so this anniversary weekend, we take time to reflect. But not only do we take time to reflect, we also take time to be renewed because this is a season and an opportunity for renewal. When members of the Continental Congress in 1776 drafted, revised, approved, and signed the Declaration of Independence amid significant tension, significant disagreements, and significant debates.

46:24 They wrote these following words, 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 that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Professor and author Walter Isaacson, in his recent book, The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, gives commentary on this powerful sentence from the Declaration of Independence. And this is what Isaacson wrote. Even if the rhetorical flourish of all men conveyed a broad scope, they consciously and intentionally did not mean in most instances to include women, slaves, Native Americans, and in some cases, even non-property owners.

47:33 My friends, all was not well in 1776. All was not equal for our Native American brothers and sisters. All was not equal for women. All was not equal for people of African descent. But yet these words in the Declaration of Independence inspired a new nation. Somehow, in some way, the words written in this document even transcended the conflict, the contradictions, and even hypocrisy that existed within many of our founders. Our opportunity 250 years later through renewal is not to see our founders as perfect people, but to fully live up to the words and the ideals that they wrote so that freedom and justice become a reality for all people.

48:41 And the promises of the Declaration of Independence ring true for every person in our country. This is an opportunity for renewal and to fully live up to the powerful and inspirational words in the Declaration of Independence. words like these truths, words like all men, words like created equal, words like endowed by the creator, words like unalienable rights, words like life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is the opportunity to renew not only our faith, but also our belief in the ideals that were written 250 years ago that thanks be to God can be true and must be true for us today. And so in this nation's anniversary, we take time to reflect. We take time to be renewed.

49:46 But finally, we take time to reimagine. I love this working definition of the word reimagine. to conceptualize, form a new idea, or think about something familiar in an innovative or a creative way. Our nation and our world are far from perfect. By acknowledging our history and living fully in the present, we can reimagine and claim a brighter future, a future that is filled with life, a future that is filled with liberty, a future that is filled with the pursuit of happiness for all of God's children. What if we took some time this weekend to reimagine? What if we took the time to reimagine creating space for healing and reconciliation for our Native American community that suffered a trail of tears for centuries?

50:50 What if we took the time to reimagine a nation built in part by the labor of enslaved black men and black women committing today to becoming a nation that is more fully free by confronting the injustice that continues to shape our present reality? What if we took the time to reimagine the courage and sacrifices of all of the women who from our nation's earliest days fought for equality, fought for justice, fought for the full rights of all women? What if we remembered their names? And what if we didn't just remember their names? What if we called out their names? What if we said the name of Susan B. Anthony? What if we said the name of Sojourner Truth? What if we said the name of Harriet Tubman?

51:43 What if we said the name of Ida B. Wells? What if we said the name of Elizabeth Stanton? What if we said the name of Coretta Scott King? And what if we said the name of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt? What if we took the time to reimagine the words of the poet Emma Lazarus, whose famous poem is enshrined at the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York City. She wrote these now famous words. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of our teeming shore. send these the homeless the tempest tossed to me I lift my lamp beside the golden door what if we took the time to reimagine the next 250 years with the fulfillment of Dr. King's dream where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

53:04 But we didn't stop there. We had the opportunity in our nation for the rich to join hands with the poor, for those who were free to join hands with those who live behind bars, for those who are sick to join hands with those who are well, for those who suffer from anxiety to join hands with those who have more joy that is so unspeakable. What if our nation reimagined? Thanks be to God for these early leaders who taught us not only how to dream, but to imagine a nation and a world where together We're stronger than we are divided. 250 years ago, our nation began with a bold and inspirational proposition. That was the Declaration of Independence.

54:05 But this was not the first Declaration of Independence. There was another Declaration of Independence written 2,000 years earlier that came from the Johannine community from which we have the Gospel of John, which is the fourth gospel in our Protestant New Testament. And Isaacson, the professor, said in his recent book that maybe the Declaration of Independence has the greatest sentence of all time. But I wonder, as we reflect on John's Gospel, chapter 8, verse 36, could we agree that maybe this might be one of the greatest scriptures of all time. And this is what it says. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Today, as we commemorate our nation's 250th anniversary, as a people of faith living through Christ, we are free. Thanks be to God for a declaration of independence 250 years ago that started this new nation that we live in today, but long before the paper of a declaration of independence, through the power and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we became free. Free to love, free to heal, free to build, free to connect, free to inspire, free to transform, free to share, free to laugh, and free to celebrate anniversaries like we share this weekend. Friends, 250 years later, we give God thanks for our nation and all that we have become. And much like the writer in Hebrews, we thank God for those early pioneers, those early

56:14 founders, those early sojourners who by faith believe that we would be here today. And thanks be to God for John's gospel who reminds us that beyond any vote of anybody, you are free. Why? Because Jesus Christ has set you free. Here's the truth of where we stand today. None of us will live for another 250 years But what if on the 500th anniversary of our nation There are a group of people who come together Like we're here celebrating today And they remember that there was this world There was this nation And there was this year Called 2026 And on that 500th anniversary of our nation, they will stop to give God praise and stop to give God glory for each and every one of you who not only live by faith, but every single day of your life, you worked to ensure that all of God's children were fully free.

57:38 we thank God for the United States of America. We thank God for our freedom. But most importantly, we thank God for Jesus Christ who sets us free. Let's pray. God, we thank you for a time of reflection. We thank you for a time of renewal. We thank you for a time to reimagine. We know that as a nation, we have been richly blessed. And for all of the sojourners whose names we now remember, who live by faith and towards the end of their life, they looked into the future to what could be. We are the answers to their prayers. We are the beneficiaries of their promises.

58:37 And so we give you praise and we give you thanks for our freedom, for our nation, and for our future. And so as believers, as Christians who follow Jesus Christ, who have been eternally set free, we commit today to ensure that every day we'll work as hard as we can to make sure all of your children are free. It's in Christ's name what we pray and ask it all.