Harrison Faith Church
One Nation - Policies & Politics | Pastor Scott Brandon | Oct 27, 2024
Man, let me just jump in and just say I'm excited about this series. I don't know why but Maybe you shouldn't be in fact, you know to I was just thinking about this a couple weeks ago October is pastors appreciation month and I realized I was probably preaching the one thing It's not what you would preach as a pastor If you're trying to encourage pastor appreciation month because not everybody's going to agree with you when you deal with politics But that's okay. You just do what the Lord tells you to do and go on with it and we've been talking the last two weeks About the overflow of Romans chapter 13 verse 1 says and that is simply That let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God and and those that exist I have been instituted by God and so what does that mean for you and I what what implications does that create? We have said that all government God has ordained Righteous rulers are a reward to righteous people and wicked rulers are reward to wicked people and that the government will never Be better than the people that governs. We just those are the principles that have never changed nor they ever changed and last week We spoke about the origins of silence we talked about German Partism and how that came over in the 1800s and and how that actually was a Misintention of theirs, but actually created an unengaged or a disengaged Christian And so we can't just take liberty and say we can't be uninvolved We can't just push it away We've got to be involved because our Constitution we have said was written by people of character For a people of character and must be maintained and executed by a people of character Less the Constitution itself loses its character. So it's important for you and I to speak into things I don't know if you agree with me or not But I just whole hardly believe that nobody else has a better voice to speak into the government than the church Seeing how it was the church that instituted it in the first place They don't want you to know that they'll teach you differently in schools Which is a different conversation. We'll talk to you at some point in time, but for that reason we cannot be silent in fact Richard Bonhoeffer he was a pastor and a spy in Germany and Man, I love these pastors that lead wars and go to battle and do spies and Assassinations, I feel like I miss my column to some degree I better not say too much too fast. I may be having to deal with some of that but but I I think about how radical these guys to change things and do things and and he said that it is in the face of evil to be Silent in the face of evil is itself evil and so we would know to listen to him because he was a part of the underground Reformation Church in Germany that was standing against Hitler Hitler told Bonhoeffer. Don't worry about the soul of America I'm sorry the soul of Germany I'll deal with the soul of Germany and And so they became silent and it was that silence of the church that saying songs by six million people died To what Hitler called the final solution. It was Hitler's campaign platform for a racially pure Germany now He didn't say the final solution was what he was going to do. He had a platform He had a particular policy he was going to implement and he was hiding that and and that's what we have to pay attention to Because right now we're looking at a generation of our own we have faced choices that have deep deep spiritual and Moral implications and so today we need to ask ourselves. How do we vote to ensure? We don't vote in a final solution that's hidden in a kennelitz platforms And we also need to ask ourselves. How do we vote when the parties are sinful fallen and morally impure and fail to meet the standards? That that we believe are required. I want to talk to you today about proxies and policies and really it's going to be a two-part sermon I'll probably have to talk about policies next next week because it's just too much to get all into one one day How do we make the sermon at the ballot box and so today we're tackling the challenging issue? Of choosing leaders who align with our values. Can we pray this morning? Father in heaven? We love you We thank you God for your word. I pray God your word God truly is the light of our life Lord a lamp unto a feet and a light unto our path that I pray this morning that your word is as hot as the sun God that that sends down its rays Lord and clears up the fogginess of the heels of doubt in our life God as to who to choose How to choose what to say what to speak Lord. I pray give us confidence today But we don't want to speak from our own opinion God because that'll pass away The Lord let us speak from the eternal word of God that will never return void help us nor to not just embrace Help us nor to understand Comprehend God and then teach as Paul Required us to do and called us to do to teach Lord others God who feel yet to understand the word I pray God you'd make it resonate in our heart God so clearly we may know things already But God I pray or if we don't know that enlighten us to understand your word And if we do know God then make us able to teach it. I ask it in Jesus name. Amen Would it all be easier if Jesus was just on the ballot Wouldn't it just be so much more easier. I mean he's the perfect and spotless lamb What are we gonna argue about right? He's the one who's been called faithful and truth would it be nice to have a president? You could say faithful and true Who is holy and sinless and perfect and sacrifice and he is perfect in fact in all of his ways It would be so much easier Jesus if you just come down and put your name on the ballot But to be honest with you although Christ definitely is King his name is not on the ballot sadly But one day thankfully there will be no vote Right there'll be no discernment. There'll be no comparisons to me There'll be no reasons for us to analyze his platform and his policies None of that stuff would matter and there's no parties to choose None of those things will matter because nobody's gonna get a vote right Jesus King and it makes no difference on what anybody else thinks they say or do when he comes down to establish his reign It will be a rain and not just a one-world rain, but a one universe rain Uncontestable and we're gonna call it the kingdom of heaven. I can't wait for that day We would have no more what I'm sure we'll probably have some kind of reason to argue But hopefully by that time will be perfect and be like him as we see him face to face And we'll no longer have these discrepancies or these ignorance or these lack of understandings between each other but that day is not today and so until then we We we won't have a ruler who is just and pure and virtuous and good So the question is is what do we do until then? How do we how do we manage and how do we move past that? I'm just gonna keep it simple today and really only deal with a couple of different things But here's what I want to start off with is do we hold to our own standards when it comes to choosing a role For a leader. Do we do we hold on to our standards in our choice or? Do we compromise and settle for gods instead? Can we hold on to our standards or do we less than our Lesson our personal standards and look at God's precedence throughout history Because I believe that if you and I would look at our standards, we would no one would qualify In fact, no one would qualify that that God would call and God would choose Because God often uses people that we would disqualify Can I tell you that God chooses people you would never choose? How do I know because today I stand before you I? Mean I'm serious if you just knew Scott Brennan really was you would you would you would run and be atheistic and say no When there ain't no way God, but God has the ability to Redeem people to renew them. We just saw 15 redemptions Not just forgiven people but entirely brand new people a new life God uses imperfect people He uses in more rulers He uses kings who are pluralistically pagan and Religiously tolerant he uses them. Let me ask you this. Would you choose a president? Who uses the nation's resources to cover up his immorality in the bedroom? Would you choose a president to do that? We would we would say no Yet, that's what David did When he learned that best she was getting pregnant or was pregnant He used national resources to obscure his sin And and still yet God used him we would never allow But God did would you appoint a Supreme Court Justice who surrendered their authority over the nation? Due to a character flaw that left him vulnerable to compromising top secret information We would never do that. We would call for justice immediately And we would never know the power of the impacted Samson in our country Because that's exactly what happened when Samson when he saw the truth of his power to defend the nation by allowing his weakness For women to exploit his strength What would you have chosen a founding father whose reputation was known for killing all who betrayed the king of England? To be a part of the first house of first house of representatives You and I you'll be crazy to choose someone to help shape our Constitution and our country Knowing that he was killing people on behalf of the king Yet, that's exactly what Saul did as he murdered far and wide all those who were built against the Sanhedrin Council and gave their lives The establishment of the church and the spreading of the gospel No church. I would say this morning the truth is that David Samson and Saul would have been disqualified by the church had they been on the ballot Absolutely And so this morning when we engage who to choose I want you to know is that the Lord has some understanding It's different than ours. In fact Isaiah says for my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord For as the heavens are higher than the urge so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts And when I think about that I think about how how God uses those people but God but God redeemed them He was using redeemed people, but can I tell you that God even uses unredeemed people? He believed us and even they don't even know the Lord You know their hearts not even to serve him and God still uses them And so today I think this principle is most powerfully illustrated in the story of king Cyrus Now, maybe some of y'all have already said it before king Cyrus and if you have great Hear it again Remember the details that you might be able to teach somebody else, but if you've not I want to introduce you to a character That is very famous and very well known in the 8th century BC King Cyrus was a man that God foretold of Almost 150 years before he ever came to power King Cyrus was known for his conquest over all Kingdoms of the earth Including the long-standing ruling Empire of the world at that time which was the Babylonian Empire who hadn't slave Israel and Much can be known about King Cyrus because they have done quite a bit of archaeological discoveries around him most importantly Around that which is called the Cyrus cylinder This is where he kept his laws and he kept his statutes and he kept his policies This was there where it was at and as we look at the cylinder They're he writes in they write from left to right actually right from top down, but it you'll see there's like there's like a there's like a hundred different Statements on there, but the one that is most significant as you look at it was in the establishment of the first charter of the human rights Here we find the first instance that human rights exist and that it practiced religious tolerance For all religions and all people This was Cyrus's policy that all people have the right to worship where they want to worship They have the right to worship with the temple. They want to worship. They have the right to worship the God and his image And he had that applied for all people. This was a this was a platform of his and this was unique This was a unique facet about Cyrus who was a pagan king mind you a pagan king He had a policy to restore pagan temples and their images which allowed the people to practice Their own religion and on line 12 of Cyrus's cylinder We see the writings match and Ezra chapter one verse two It's as does says Cyrus king of Persia the Lord the God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth And he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah now This is not only in scripture, but it matches his own writings on the cylinder What's crazy is is we know that God has used different leaders in the past. We know that he's used Pharaoh He uses Pharaoh's stubbornness, but he's not using the fair the stubbornness of Pharaoh He is using the policy in the platform of Cyrus in fact He goes way beyond that to describe who he is to him who God how God sees him Isaiah 44 28 says this Who says of Cyrus? He is my shepherd Now this is God. This is God speaking here. I want you to understand We're talking about a pagan king who does not know God and God is relating to him God is speaking to him and this is God is saying a hundred and about 50 years before he ever comes to power He says he is my shepherd and he shall fulfill all my purpose Saying of Jerusalem. She shall be built and of the temple your foundation shall be laid So God calls a guy calls Cyrus my shepherd in 45 in 44, but in 45 verse one he gets a bit more prestigious in his description of him It says thus says the Lord to his anointed That's a massive term To Cyrus whose right hand I have grasped To subdue some due nations before him and to lose the belt of kings to open doors before him that gates may not be closed Now notice this is that when he calls him anointed the Hebrew word for anointed is Mashiach, which means Messiah Now, I don't know about you, but God is calling Cyrus a shepherd my shepherd I have called him my shepherd and I have called him Messiah No doubt when those words are used in the Old Testament We're always pointing to Jesus and so in a in a in a crazy way We see that Cyrus is somewhat of a type of Christ to some degree We know that because he's going to free the people But to say those things you have to know if you are a Jew at that time would have been outright blasphemous to call King Cyrus those things and in fact notice this that God is in control here It is not saying that he has sought me, but I have saw him it is his right him who what I Grasped I made that decision because of do nations before him and to lose the belt of kings And to think that God would use language that foreshadows Jesus the Messiah is something that will not settle well with Israel I wonder today If how Israel felt when he said he's a shepherd and a messiah I wonder today if there's Christians in The land of America that would feel violated and offended if God called Kamala or Donald Trump my Messiah If God called them my shepherd you see We wrestle with Personalities and we wrestle with people and God is not concerned with personalities and people He's concerned with the proxy. He's concerned if there'll be the conduit will they do what I asked him to do Can I tell you that you can be a lawyer you can be you can be highly spiritual? You can know the word of God if you are not obedient. You are you are useless to God You must be obedient you must be obedient. He is looking for someone to do his will and Hear God even says that King Cyrus does not even know him The God of Israel doesn't have a relationship with him, but yet he is seeking him look at verse 4 through 5 of chapter 45 He says for the sake of my servant Jacob and Israel my chosen I Call you by your name. You don't call me. I call you I name you though. You do not know me. I Am the Lord and there is no other besides me. There is no God. I equip you Though you do not know me That changes the way I see things drastically And can I say I'm just not talking about a presidential race Because there are many races that are in the land right now in fact if you don't understand the concept of the overflow Then we miss a lot of the influence that we have You know you've heard me say oftentimes that our relationship that impacts the world starts first with our own private time With God and then it impacts our marriage if you have one and then your family and then your church then your city Your community and then the world there is an overflow principle and just because we're voting at a presidential level Does not mean that word you want to shape the culture by going to the end point and saying if we can just Get this one. Can I tell you that your vote matters at the school board level? It matters in your neighborhood in your community in your city and in your state all the way up to Capitol Hill All the way up to the president. Yes, but we cannot shape this position until we have first put voice to this position We have to be responsible. We can't just pass ourselves in the back and say oh I've voted every four years But yeah, have you been voting though? Have you been exercising that right that's been given to you? Can I just tell you right now? I have not I Have not and as I read as I say I stand convicted because no one taught me That my voice was essential at every level and every opportunity that God has given me by the grace And he has given this country to make Scott Brandon's voice be multiplied And if we live church voiceless Then there will be one who will speak for us and every level So let me encourage you that it's not just a moment where we get to put our vote out once a year You need to practice discretion Matter of fact Paul tells us or the writer of Hebrew tells us that we only have the power of discernment if we practice Discerning good from evil you have to on all levels of your vote at all levels of your discernment be practicing Knowing what good is from evil at all levels. How well how else will we know? How else will we know? You must be in the word and then practice what you see in the word and discern between good and evil And if you don't practice that the writer of Hebrew says that you're living off the milk of the word You ought to be teaching, but you're weak and you're soft And you have no voice because you've not understood the voice that you should be speaking And so we're not talking about just presidential elections We're talking about all aspects of our life where our voice matters and God is telling us in this moment He says I'm going to do this at this level. I call you by your name. You don't call me. I Equipped you because you don't know me But I'm going to use this pagan king to fulfill all my purposes even if Israel disqualifies my selection And he knew that was going to happen because he reminded them in verse seven. He says I formed like remember He's speaking 150 years before they ever even see this come about He says I formed like and create darkness. I make well-being and create calamity I am the Lord who does all these things so before you get Preturbed and mad and say all that's out of God God says you don't know how I do things My ways are not your ways My thoughts are not your thoughts It's the privilege he has being being not only sovereign but being omniscient that he knows all of it He knows all can I tell you when I look back to Scott Brennan's life There are some things I would love to change But I'm thankful that God knew every step of my journey and to get me where I am today I would go back and repeat it not because I love those moments, but they were hard moments But I did not know that those things would bring me to hear God knew and God said let him go through that let him endure that let that hardship be upon him let him suffer Let him pull away from grace just for a little while I'll still come for him But let him go through some difficulties of life because in the end I know what he'll choose he'll choose me And it's the grace of God allow you to go through stuff that you don't want to go through It's the grace of God that will entrust you for Satan to destroy you of your flesh that he might save your soul in the end This is the God that we serve He will do all he will do all because he values you He doesn't value you because you made all the right steps He values you because he wants to spend eternity with you and whatever has to happen or not happen He's okay with it is the grace of God to allow you to undergo and go through something if it in the end saves you But America we don't like that because we live comfortable lifestyle But that's not the grace of God that I know And so he is practicing the same thing with Israel. He says I formed like I create darkness I I make well-being I create calamity I and the Lord who does all these things and he doesn't stop there He contends with Israel even further because he knows they're going to rebuke his selection of Cyrus And he says this what's sorrow verse nine what sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator He's argue with me and they're a sorrow waiting for you Does a clay pot argue with its maker does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it saying stop you're doing it wrong Does the pot claim how clumsy can you be I? Reminding you this is the Lord speaking. He is not using hyperbole to get across his point. He knows the foolish rhetoric of the Jews He knows that they will look at this moment as blasphemous And he says you cannot speak to me you are the pot and I am the potter I Shape you and if I give you no handle, that's what I designed you to be He goes on how terrible would it be if a newborn baby said to his father why was I born or if it said to his mother Why did you make me this way? This is what the Lord says the Holy One of Israel and your Creator? Do you question what I do for my children? You give me orders about the works of my hands. I Am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it with my hands I stretch out the heavens all the stars at my command. I Not because he called me Not because he's virtuous Not because he has character. No, I will raise up Cyrus. It is my own volition It is my own will I will raise up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose And I will God his actions and he will restore my city and free my captive people without seeking a reward man What's it like to seek God as a pagan and not even asked for the blessing of it? When most of us time us Christians are only asking for God's will because we're hoping that he reciprocates with the blessing upon our life and our family He's his even here is a pagan king and he's asking nothing from me. He's just wanting to perform my will That's a statement church I the Lord of heavens armies have spoken. So what does this mean for us as voters today? First off, you should know that God can use any leader any leader Regardless of moral standing to fulfill his purpose This is not my opinion This is what the word just showed me It's what God has showed us and he did it with such detail because he wanted you to know that when you argue with him You're still just the pot You're still just the one who has been created And he goes if I ask in such a way that seems blasphemous to you Know that I I justify Because I form light and I create darkness I make well-being and I create calamity. I'm the Lord I do all these things and sometimes to be honest with you church it destroys my view of God's holiness. I Feel like God's not holy. He's not righteous to choose something that's unrighteous God surely would not do that But I have to remind myself that I am limited in knowledge Limited in understanding limited in comprehension. I do not know his ways. I do not know his thoughts So I must trust his word I must I must lean into his word Again, God is demonstrating to us here that if he wants to use Kamala Harris Then he'll do so If he wants to use Donald Trump, then he'll do so and if he gets real desperate use the Scott Brandon You know y'all have been praying at all, you know But he'll do so And so what does that say to us special Scott? How does that how does that impact us? Now that I know that God has an advantage to us when choosing his rulers because he's omniscient how how do I? Make those decisions when I'm at the ballot box. What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to act this out? So when it comes to choosing a person to be the conduit or to be a proxy for the will of God The moral qualifications of a person do not disqualify him for use For God even says in Proverbs 21 1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord and he turns it however He will not the heart of a righteous king, but the heart of any king But why would God do so? What was God after? Could it be that God was more concerned about the policies? Then the person this one is it possible that God was looking past that and say I know who he is I know who they might be as a person, but what I'm looking for is a policy You see a rulers authority ceases when he is no longer in the place of authority And for Cyrus the great that meant his authority would end when he no longer held the position of king when his reign ended So did his authority end and so that's a problem because God was using Cyrus to do what? He was using Cyrus to rebuild the house of Israel to lay again the foundation But when Cyrus's reign ended then his authority would end and so therefore would the will of God end with the commission of God end? No, no, which is the reason why God was not looking for a person. He was looking for a policy Something that would go beyond this person For Cyrus the great that meant his authority would end But we had to maintain the policy and here's what I see here. Look at Ezra chapter 4 Do we got a little time? We got a little time. I want some time at the end to pray So I'm about to wrap it up. I'm doing good on time you guys Really good, but I want to pray Well, thank you. I'll take about 15 minutes right there. I Want to pray Because I told you last week that we can't be silent and I hope that you will not be We've only got about one more Sunday before we have to make a vote and maybe you already have maybe you voted early Next week. We're gonna talk about policies. My my gold is this. I want to I want you to have peace and confidence Knowing that I voted the way the Lord has asked me to vote I voted the way the word if I stood against the word and the word chose my my direction I want you to know that I have confidence that the word agrees with me. Oh really I said that wrong, but you agree with the word more importantly as We're chapter four tells us that there was a people of the land and Obviously, we know that Cyrus gave it to Cree and he didn't say oh house of Israel But he really wanted everyone all of the religions all the people he restored back to them But we see in the word of God that he sent the the Israelites back to their place to restore their house and to lay again the foundation And while that was happening the people of the land they called them the people beyond the river those people They didn't like that Because they knew and they had heard what Israel was when she was fully established When she was in alignment with God and when Israel was fully in alignment with God She bowed her knee to nobody She bowed her heart to no one and they did not like that because they realized this when Israel is right with God We're no longer the leaders. We now become the subjects And it should always be that way That when when when the people of God are in alignment with God's word that we bow our knee or our voice to no one Because we are his authority being exercised here on earth and so The people beyond the river saw the house begin to be put back They saw the foundation to be laid again and they bribed Counselors and they paid people to go and discourage them and they try to create division they try to sew discord and Discouraged them because they knew if we can divide the house or discourage them Then the house will not be built and that the house is not built the temple will not be laid the foundation Won't be laid and the house of God would not exist and the people of God would not have power And then they will not rule over us. Do you see how that works? The enemy comes just a so discord Why not because he hates you he does but he does not want you to operate in his domain with power He does not want you to overcome and take the things that belong to him that once belonged to God to return those things Back to God as his rightful heir and to exercise the authority that Jesus gave to us through his victory on the cross And so it starts small this negativity this complaining this murmuring right and then it begins to escalate And discourage and then you you create dividing lines which we see right now in America There's so many different people groups and so many so many different types of people dividing against himself Which is really just a strategy of socialism, which I could get into that But I don't have time today, but the point is to divide people It's an it's an age-old strategy To divide people the only time the enemy is interested and Uniting the people is when he wants to establish his government over the whole world Which is the reason why God scattered everybody else implementations of creative borders next Sunday. All right so what happens is is that they contest with Israel and Finally they have a king 65 years later They have a king that's on the throne and they write to the king and they say king But if you would look and see if you would search you would find that these people are seditious people They are unruly people they will not submit themselves to you king and We would encourage you to write a decree that they are not allowed to build the house of God again And so that's what happened King Artaxerxes he went he searched the decree and he found that there was That they were exactly this and so he wrote a edict he wrote a a decree that says to make them stop And so they stopped until God spoke to the prophets When the next king came up on Darius the second and as Darius the second took the throne God told the prophets tell the people to get to build Tell the people to get back to my house to get back to my temple and begin to build again as they begin to build again People came to him and said what right do you have this is I said we we have a right because King Cyrus He was the first king of Persia King Cyrus wrote a decree commanding us to rebuild this temple And so they send word to the king and the king says let a search be made And so we see in Ezra 6 chapter 1 Then Darius the king made a decree and a search was made in Babylonia in the house of the archives The documents were stored and at McTana the citadel that is in the province of media a scroll was found of which that was written a record And on that record is everything that Cyrus said first off it said that this that let them go back to their place of habitation let them lay the foundation let them build the house and When they do it give them everything that they need to do so Make the enemy pay for everything that God's people needs to put back the house of God again, and then After he finds that he says this In case my edict has ever changed and in case this policy that was written in Cyrus's day is ever altered He goes I now make a decree That whoever alters this edict Let a beam be pulled out from his house set up and let him be impaled upon it But there'll be a consequence that nothing would strive against the building of the house of God Why because there was a policy that was written over a hundred and fifty years ago a hundred years ago You understand there are people There are presidents and there are policies and God knew exactly what he was doing when he used Cyrus who built multiple temples and allowed multiple people to worship God says I don't know much about you I don't care much about you Cyrus, but I know this is that your platform is right and I'm going to use your platform to accomplish my word That's why we vote not people But we vote policies He can choose someone not simply because of their conduct But how they become a conduit to his will And so can I tell you that in the days of Cyrus the Jews may not have been been for Cyrus as their king But he was definitely for their policy of restoring people in their temples That's why you and I we vote policies and not people because policies like the like the decree of King Cyrus Policies outlive the authority of the rulers who install them as a worship team comes back. We got about 15 minutes We need us to pray we need to pray Because these are no small things next next week. We're gonna probably tackle five Maybe seven of the major policies that I believe that the word of God has spoken to the greatest There's some things we could call preferential But what I care about when I stand before the Lord and I put my name down on paper I want him to know that I've I cited my name with the policies That we're leaning his direction, and let me just talk about that for a second as they come maybe I'll explain it next week, but there is a dialectic that Hegel who was alive in the 1800s he established this way of reasoning was it was a form of philosophy and What he come up with was a way of trying to understand the progression of mankind and the moving of a current situation To another situation and how we do that on a worldwide or cultural or civilization Level and here's what he said He says given the current status of something, which is what they call a thesis He says for us to move out of our thesis. We must make an antithesis Something that is a polarized opposite of what the current status is if we want to move from here to here Then we have to create these polarizing views, and we know that there's going to be conflict in the middle But that won't always happen people would just want. Oh, yeah, let's just move that direction So what he does is he simply does this he he creates a pyramid and says here is a thesis the way things are and here Is an antithesis the way things are trying to move towards by a certain party and Since we can't have both of them. Let's find a synthesis Let's find a compromising point And so you move from where you are to where you don't want to be But to resolve conflict to main come to maintain comfort to be politically sound Let's find a synthesis and now the synthesis becomes the new thesis And now there's another antithesis until conflict is had and the weaker party gives up and guess what? new synthesis But what we don't realize is this we start here and they're pulling us here and we compromise and So we start here and they're pulling us here, and then we compromise and then we start here And they're pulling us here, and then we compromise. This is where the idea of left and right came from But the good thing is is that that model works two ways They can pull us towards unholyness. They can pull us towards blasphemy. They can pull us towards a church that's powerless and Not united Or the people of God can say we know we're here. Let's not be comfortable Let's say where we want to go Let's go where we want to go and they go no no no no we can't go that far No that we can't get rid of abortion like that with this meat in the middle and let's overturn Roe versus way And then that's the new norm and now they go no no we don't like it we go no no no we're going a little further We got we got places to go We got places to go, but if the church is not pushing towards God if the church is not pushing towards all in this There is a default for you and I And here's the thing that default is in you already Because it's in your human nature Your human nature loves comfort It hates conflict But can I tell you the church has never been born out of comfort or conflict or lack of conflict? It's always been persecution Whether it be social persecution or physical persecution or government of persecution makes no difference We are a church that is forged out of fire But we thrive in the fire Because we have a God who is over the fire and he can take you out of the fire church and not even smell smoke That's the kind of God that we serve So this morning I just want to remind you of two things God can use any leader regardless of moral standing to fulfill his purposes and That policies outlive the authority of the rulers who install them this morning. I want you to pray God Show me show me the extremes Show me the extremes Shake me from my comfort. Shake me from my voiceless disposition Help me to understand God the things that are at stake you and I we we have a Incredible value. I can preach the gospel and not be hindered I don't know I can always say that for your children your grandchildren And so we must act now To give them the same type of life that you and I have now in the future if they might hear the gospel of Christ And not be ridiculed or persecuted or calls our family to be slain in front of them, and that may seem extreme But just hold on Just keep being silent Just keep being quiet Just quit living like the church and see what happens church or go away Christ will come And you'll be like those versions not hurt having your your oil ready your lamp ready And you'll be left and the real church will be gone And I'm praying that your children are With you when you go Just stand with me today As I pray I'm just going to lead and I just want you to Turn at your seat or come down to the altar But I'm just going to pray and as I pray I want you to pray with me. Here's what I'm asking to do God Give me boldness again Give me boldness again Shake me Shake me from my comfort Shake me from my self-righteous Perceptions and show me what your word desires of me and others country and help me help me To pray that way Would you join me and pray this one in Father in heaven we come to you? Oh God we just lift up the name of Jesus in this place in this house God God we throw ourselves God upon the altar and The first thing we say the first thing that I say God is forgive Scott Brandon Forgive me God for being apathetic Forgive me God for being lazy and seeking comfort God and to not want to challenge God status quo God forgive me Lord for and running from conflict God and just seeking a false peace Not only in this country But in this state in this city God even in this house Pray God you would stir me God Remind me that there is a spirit inside of me that is not that does not want to be quiet But wants to declare to the world that Jesus Christ is king and that Jesus Christ is coming And that he is coming for a bride without spot and without wrinkle a holy bride But God it must begin with me. I must come to you God and ask that you clean me You say to find me you forgive me you set me apart God from those things that strap me down God And notice it changed Scott Brandon God you'll change my house Change my family Change this church to change this city. You know change this nation this country Lord But God helped me Lord to not judge The position of my life and the country that I live in father without not without first owning it God Without owning it God. I can't place blaming anybody else got until I have become a hundred percent responsible And own it and so I pray God she would continue Lord to multiply my voice and the voice kind of those that are in here today God multiply our voices God do not let us be silent God Do not let us be silent God Don't allow my eyes got to be hidden From the sin do not allow my eyes got to weak at the murder of a baby's God I pray God that not my voice be silent God as they change the gender God Not only a child but God the family itself God let not my voice be silent Lord and call me to a place that I will decry to the land Jesus requires holiness The Jesus requires repentance The Jesus requires us to be a people of righteousness that Jesus requires us to be a people of his word and to perform his word and to uphold his word and to Vote his word and to hope people accountable to his word, but that begins with me God Hold me accountable to your word Where I have missed it God I pray that you would double the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon my life God help me to feel that God not just know it, but God let my heart proceed the heaviness of Me not being aligned with your word God and give me the voice God to declare to this world that you are King Give me the ability God to discern At the ballot box Lord how how in who to trust? Show me God the policies and the platforms God that I need to lean into and then give me God the Humility God to pray for those God who would pull the church and pull people away from your grace And you're light of the gospel Help me to pray for those who are lost Help me to pray for the rulers God not just to shut their mouths But God that they too might see the light of Christ That day to God would know that you died for them and you saved him and that your blood Bleeds freely for me and it bleeds freely for them I pray God today you would unite this country Let us be God one nation Let us be God our people below we cannot be one nation until we're one body Lord And so I pray you would unite us unite us That's what you said God you said this this this this one thing That if we are one with each other we'll be one with you and if we do this then the whole world will know That God sent his son To die for us and declare his love for us By our oneness with you Which is predicated upon our oneness for each other So got our pray today Would you do these things? more than just Reder it God more than just words Pray you remind me of this prayer Pray you hold me accountable for to my words Lord That I would not pray empty and vain things like that of the Pharisee God And I pray God that my words God would have eternal impact and eternal way God not just in my life or father in my family's life Church's life my friends life Pray God you would do these things for the glory of your name I asked you Lord today Thank you Lord today Oh God that we need you today God but we don't know Show them this guy who don't know How to choose We don't know the place our vote got I pray you would awaken the body of Christ Awaken them God to voice their vote once again And choose those things that will last Choose those things that are enduring By the decree of silence what I pray But you would do it Jesus name I pray Me, me, me.