TURN US AGAIN, OH GOD!
SERMON STARTER
In just a few days, we will celebrate 242 years of independence from the King of Great Britain. When the 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence they knew the risks, they knew the situation, but most of all, they wanted religious freedom in this new land to pursue the fruit of liberty.
Our spiritual foundation and moorings have been all but demolished by wanna-be leaders who do not remember the struggles of our founding fathers. Our nation has become a world leader spreading evil, filth, violence, immorality and sin of all types.
If we as a nation do not repent and God restrains His Judgment, the Lord will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah for their destruction. We are a nation on a collision course with the judgment of our Heavenly Father. We are divided people, polarized one against the other. Soon the world will be calling us the Dis-United States of America.
The time has arrived on our national calendar for a great turning in the hearts of our people. A nation-wide repentance is nothing more than a turning back again to the God who has made this country the greatest and strongest on earth. People have forgotten 9/11, the cold war with Russian Communism, WWII, the Holocaust. . .all these catastrophic events of the past.
When we don't know about the sins of the past, we are destined to repeat them.
Let's pray together that we can once again be a nation whose God is the Lord. Psalm 33:12,
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
Pastor Phil <><<
July 1, 2018 - Sheepfold Ministries
Pastor Phil Roland <><<
TURN US AGAIN, OH GOD!
Psalm 80, Esp. vs. 3,7,19
“The time has arrived on our national calendar for a great turning in the hearts of our people. Our national repentance is nothing more than a turning back again to the God who has made this country the greatest and strongest on earth." Pastor Phil <><<
5 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." Malachi 4:5-6 (NIV)
3 Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!
7 Restore us, O God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!
19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!
RESTORE - Hebrew understanding: Return us to the House of our birth
REPENTANCE - Septuagint , Gr. - Change minds to get God's Approval
Two hundred years of US history span the lives of FOUR presidents!
a. Thomas Jefferson died, July 4, 1826
b. Abraham Lincoln was a young man of 17
c. Woodrow Wilson was only a boy of 8 when Lincoln died, 4-16-1865
d. Ronald Reagan was a teenager of 15 when Wilson died, 2-3-1924
FOUR STRONG REASONS WE NEED TO TURN BACK TO GOD:
I. NATIONAL POLARITY, DIVISION - e pluribus unum - out of many 1
II. NATIONAL INTEGRITY and CHARACTER - Not just politics. . .
III. NATIONAL PREOCCUPATION WITH UNWORTHY THINGS
IV. NATIONAL LOSS OF THE FEAR OF GOD
“Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, that we may return;
renew our days as of old. . .” Lamentations 5:21
I. TURN US AGAIN THROUGH GOD-SENT REPENTANCE
A. God's anger is revealed through calamity - Romans 1:18
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. . .”
1. God often punished the wicked through loss of property
2. Jesus prophesied what was coming - Matthew 24:6-8 (NKJV)
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not
troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not
yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
TURN US AGAIN, OH GOD, cont. p.2
kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes
in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
B. Jesus Himself is the Door / Way - John 10:9
“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in
and out, and find pasture.”
1. Jesus is NOT the way out of our consequences - Sowing/Reaping
2. Jesus promises to be WITH us through trials - Matthew 28:19,20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and
lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
II. GIVE US THE SHINING OF YOUR APPROVAL
A. Oil of Gladness - Psalm 104:15 - “. . .oil to make the face glad. . .”
1. Oil for Mourning - Isaiah 61:3 - “. . .the oil of joy for mourning.”
2. Olive Oil - Semitic People - Cooking, Lamp Fuel, Cosmetics
B. Give us, Oh God, the shining joy of Your approval
1. Anointing - Heb. Mish-Ma - Smear - Greek, Chris-Ma- rub w/oil
2. Your face w/the rub of oil will reflect the sun
III. GRANT US YOUR SALVATION
A. God responds to nations and individuals
1. Jeremiah 18:8 - “If that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.”
2. Jeremiah 24:7 - ”I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.”
B. Our Participation in the Process of Salvation
1. Repent of our Sinning
Eg. Prodigal Son
2. Turn our Hearts to God - James 4:8
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands,
you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
C. God's Promises His Salvation through Jesus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaxGNQE5ZLA
TURN US AGAIN, OH GOD!, TEXTS:
Psalm 80
1 To the Chief Musician. Set to 'The Lilies.' A Testimony of Asaph. A Psalm. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!
2 Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, Stir up Your strength, And come and save us!
3 Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!
4 O LORD God of hosts, How long will You be angry Against the prayer of Your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears, And given them tears to drink in great measure.
6 You have made us a strife to our neighbors, And our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!
8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it.
9 You prepared room for it, And caused it to take deep root, And it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with its shadow, And the mighty cedars with its boughs.
11 She sent out her boughs to the Sea, And her branches to the River.
12 Why have You broken down her hedges, So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
13 The boar out of the woods uproots it, And the wild beast of the field devours it.
14 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; Look down from heaven and see, And visit this vine
15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, And the branch that You made strong for Yourself.
TURN US AGAIN, TEXTS:
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish at the
rebuke of Your countenance.
17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we will not turn back from You; Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!
Short 2 minutes, w/lyrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pETPgviNrls
Kids, Short 3 minutes, w/lyrics (poor videos)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXi3ULFzkY0
5 Minutes, Great harmony w/orchestral accompaniment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-27hj4z5u0
4.4 Minutes Good Graphics Lyrics, Last Song, "Long may you stand. . ."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVvk99Lg9uk
The National Anthem As You've Never Heard It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaxGNQE5ZLA
PATRICK HENRY'S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS
“They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”
“The war is actually begun!” Henry cried.
“The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!
Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish?
What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?”
(As he spoke, Henry held his wrists together as though they were manacled and raised them toward the heavens.)
“Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty” —“or give me death!”
(—Henry burst from his imaginary chains and grasped an ivory letter opener— As he uttered these final words, he plunged the letter opener toward his chest, mimicking a knife blow to the heart.)
March 23, 1775
