| Government & Christians Sermon Series |
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I am starting a new series next Sunday (June 10) about Government and I want to let you know up front what some of my goals are and what some of the things I want to avoid are. First, the things I am trying NOT to say: which political party to belong to or which people to vote for. This is the reason I am doing the series now when there are no elections underway.
What I do want to talk about is the Biblical foundation of government and what its God given purpose is and how that relates to the purpose of the church. A proper understanding of the roles of church and government will go a long way towards helping us to think through how we live as citizens of the USA as well as citizens of the kingdom of God. With this understanding we will look some at the basic positions of the 2 major political parties, at criteria for selection of candidates for political offices as well as some specific "hot button" issues (war-vs-pacifism, civil disobedience,& sanctity of life). Yep, I'm going to touch on all of it. From the pulpit. Because God (not Steve) has something to say to us about this area of life.
I am going to do my best to approach these things through the lens of scripture and the principles that God lays down through the Bible, rather than through the lens of any particular (such as my own) political view. The church has split far too often on conservative-liberal lines of political thinking. These ideas have been put first rather than the Biblical teaching and principles. My hope is that we will begin to look first to God to inform our views of government.
Here are my requests going into this series:
1. Please try to come with an open mind and spirit, prepared to hear God speak to your heart.
2. Please pray for me to be able to communicate clearly God's principles without coloring them with my personal opinions. Pray that I will be able to handle difficult and complex issues with grace and wisdom.
3. Pray that we will maintain harmony as a church through this series. We have members of both parties in our church who are able to worship together and call one another brothers in Christ. We want to maintain the ability to love in spite of differences.
I think you will probably be surprised and hopefully challenged by the clarity and relevance of the Bible in this area. |
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