Thank you, brother Al. I always like to put one hymn in there with some high notes for you. Stretch em a little bit. Well, I was called upon this week later in the week to fill in for pastor Polar. So, I did a little praying about what I could bring to us today.

Come up with a plan I think is in the Lord's plan. I'm going to start out in Proverbs chapter 29 verse two. Just one verse here. Proverbs 29 verse two. Just one verse.

Proverbs 29 verse two. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked beareth rule, people mourn. I'm going to speak today about three things. Three points of my message are our roots, second point our responsibility, third point our religion.

Those three things. You know we're in a season where there's a lot of division, a lot of contention, a lot of heartache, a lot of fears, and what we have to remember is that we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are to love people. That's our main responsibility. We're to share Christ's love with those, even those that we disagree with. And so we're going to be looking at some things here.

And first point about our roots, want to remind us about our great country that we live in and our great heritage. Our country was founded upon Christian principles and a good foundation and we're going to go from there to our responsibilities and then to our little bit on religion. Those are the things we're going to look at today. Let me begin with a word of prayer and they're going to be verses kind of throughout the Bible. So, it's not going to be all in one spot in the Bible.

Some of them I have written out but let's pray. Our father, we thank you so much that we have a great country that we live in and we can be a part of and Lord, we know as believers, we have responsibilities as believers to be concerned about what goes on around us. We need to exercise prayer and we need to be giving out the gospel to people and we need to especially love all people regardless and help us Lord as a result of this message to be built up and encouraged in our walk with you, in our walk as citizens, in our walk as family members, and I pray that you'll just use your word and by your spirit that you'll be able to help each and everyone of us to leave this place today rejoicing in you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

You know our true history was founded upon God. Our forefathers were believers in God almighty. They believed he was the creator and the guide guide in the affairs of people. The Bible was their source to get wisdom and information and if you go back through our history and you read quotes from great people, presidents and others, it's pretty amazing. Even monuments and so forth in Washington DC and documents.

I'll read a few things to you here. I could be here until tonight if I read everything that's out there, probably even beyond. James Madison, a man in our history. We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government. Far from it.

We have staked the future of our political institutions upon our capacity to sustain ourselves according to the 10 commandments of God. John Quincy Adams, the law was given from Sinai, that's the 10 commandments. It was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code. Noah Webster, all the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice crime, ambition, injustice, oppression and more proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible. That's a belief of our forefathers in an Almighty God, deity.

Then we look at the documents and monuments around our country. The declaration of independence. We hold these truths to be self evident that all men were created equal, that they all are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Washington Monument in the stairwell of the monument, you will find the verse John five thirty nine, search the scriptures. For in them you think you have eternal life and they are they which testify of me.

The Supreme Court, the 10 commandments are inscribed above the head of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. At least they used to be or they may still be. I'm not sure about that. Library of Congress, the walls of the libraries display such verses as Micah six:eight. What does the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God?

Psalm nineteen:one in the library, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. The Lincoln Memorial, words are these words are inscribed on the walls of the memorial as was said three thousand years ago, so it must be said, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. So, that's kind of a little summary of our roots. You know, we we started out with an a nation, one nation under God. We still say that but we have a great foundation, a great heritage and we have these great things and you know, with blessings and privileges go what?

Responsibilities. In America, for the godly to be an authority, we have to vote for them. You know, they'll not get elected if we don't vote for them. It's just that simple. You know, when we look at our society, God has ordained three institutions, the family, the church, the local church, you know, the visible expression, and place of service.

That's what we are here today and the local church is not a building. It's us, people, believers and then the other response to the other ordained institution is human government. I'm going to read in Romans chapter 13 just a couple verses here and I I mentioned I'm going have to jump around the Bible a little bit today but I felt the Lord wanted me just to share these thoughts with you today. Romans 13 says, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God.

Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God and they that resist shall to themselves damnation, shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil. Will thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is a minister of God to thee for good.

But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid for he bears not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. So we see human government is certainly ordained of God, the family is ordained of God, the church is ordained of God And the challenge that I have for you is that we should be a part of each one of these institutions. And within each one of these institutions we are afforded great responsibilities. But if we neglect these responsibilities, the result is confusion and heartache, whether it be the family or whether it be the church or whether it be our government.

I started out with this verse Proverbs 20 nine:two, When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Now how do we get righteous people in power in The United States? There are good people out there running for offices. There's no question about that. There are bad people running for offices.

But for the righteous to get an authority, there's only one way that that can take place in our system of government in The United States Of America and that's by voting them in or voting them out. That's the challenge that we have as believers. You know, as God's people, we have an awesome responsibility to pray. Second Chronicles seven fourteen, here's what it says, if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, heal their land. That's an awesome responsibility that we have as believers and we pray for our families and we pray for, you know, things and needs and for sicknesses and so forth but it's there's also a need for us to pray for the government that is over us, that God has placed us under.

And maybe we don't pray enough in that way. So we have an awesome responsibility to pray. But here's the challenge I have for you: We also have an awesome responsibility to vote. To vote. Use our right to vote.

Here's a quote by Samuel Adams. It says, Let each citizen remember at the moment that they are offering their vote that they are executing one of the most solemn trust in human society for which they are accountable to God and their country. Voting. That's a basic part of how our government works. It's a privilege, it's a freedom, it's an opportunity to put good people in power, it's an opportunity that millions in other parts of the world can only dream about.

You know, as bad as our country is, it's still the best place to be born into and to live. You know, many other countries, people are trying dying to get out They're not being allowed out. In The United States, people are dying to get in here. They'll go to almost any extreme to get here. There's a reason for that.

We're still a great country. Here's the astounding thing, and as I studied this verse it does apply, and it's not a political message or anything like that, but it's just a biblical message. Astoundingly, less than half of those eligible voters do so. Now, the statistics that I have are a few years old, but I don't think they're much different. Less than half of those eligible to vote do so.

Here's something even more astounding. Of the 60,000,000 evangelical Christians in America, only half are registered and only half of them vote. So totals, if you add those figures up, there's 15,000,000 that vote and 45,000,000 that don't vote. Can you imagine the difference that could be made if every Christian took their responsibility seriously and and viewed it as a spiritual issue? Like the Bible does?

Can you imagine the difference that that could make? We have an awesome responsibility to vote righteously and Jesus said in Matthew chapter five verse six six thirteen through 16, that we're to be the light of the world. Salt and light he says. In fact, it's true when Christians retreat from the arena of government, we allow Satan to prevail in a place where we are told to make an impact with salt and light. I've heard people in recent days say, and this kind of has concerned me, Well, it's no use.

I'm not going to vote anymore. It doesn't make any difference. That's just giving in to Satan. That just makes it easier for evil people to get elected. And if we do our responsibility and we let it in God's hands, you know, it might surprise us, you know, what might happen out there.

There's an old proverb that goes like this: Bad politicians are elected by good people who don't vote. That's true. Bad politicians are elected by good people who don't vote. See, there's even more to it than just voting. We should vote in a way that pleases the Lord.

It is a spiritual issue. There is a way that pleases the Lord. There's some I'm going to mention a couple issues that is that are very concerning and and issues that the Lord wants us to face and deal with. See, when we vote, we have to be concerned about righteousness. Proverbs fourteen thirty four, Righteousness exalted the nation but sin is a reproach to any people.

And I believe that there are certain values that believers must hold to and never waver, not one iota. There are couple issues I'm going to mention and I'm not trying to be unkind. These are biblical issues. You know, I'm just giving you what the Bible says. This is not me.

And this is not about hating people or anything like that. These are moral issues that we should consider in life when we vote, even when we support causes and things like that. The first one is the value of human life. Life is precious. It's miraculous.

It's sacred. And it's given by God as he creates every human being. And every human being is unique. I don't have time to read this but you can look in Psalm 139 fourteen-sixteen and it's talking about the baby in the womb of a mother. And the fact that every life is created and planned by God Almighty.

And so we have to be concerned about life. Life is a fundamental human right. Right in the Declaration of Independence, all men are endowed by their Creator with a certain unalienable rights. Life there it is liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is a God given right to every human being born and unborn.

And it's biblical and our nation was founded on biblical truth as you remember in the roots of this message, the first point. But here's the problem. Life has been undermined in America with the culture of death. Every day in America there are more abortions than lives lost in nineeleven. There are a whole lot more abortion deaths today than COVID.

One point three million children are aborted every year in America, and that's gone up. Nearly twenty five percent of all pregnancies in America end in death with abortion. And almost all of them are for convenience sake. Many because women are not counseled with the truth. Many women find out later and sincerely reject and mourn and seek God's forgiveness and they get it.

The fifty million babies more than fifty million now have been killed thus far in The United States since abortion was legalized. It's an American holocaust. Why should we be concerned? Because Exodus twenty thirteen says, Thou shalt not kill. That's the sixth commandment.

It is something that God hates with a passion. In fact, Proverbs six sixteen-seventeen These six things doth the Lord hate, yea seven, are an abomination unto him, a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. That's describing abortion. And I believe it's our duty as followers of Christ and citizens of America to find out where candidates stand on the biblical value of life. It's our responsibility to check their records, see if they have a connection with pro abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and groups like that.

And as a believer we should support and value human life above tax policy, above energy policy, above foreign policy or any other policy. We have to value human life. As a believer that's a top priority. Here's a fact. When I was up in Maine as a pastor, my wife and I were invited to a of a Christian group, but it was more of a conservative mixture, and they often had Christians speak, but they focused on moral issues and they were kind of their purpose was to educate pastors and their wives so that you go back to your church and kind of let them know what's going on and often they'd have a list of candidates and what they believed and what they didn't believe and it's very helpful and they came they did a study and here's what they found out.

Candidates who are against abortion are almost always have the right position on all other important policies, like tax policy, energy policy, foreign policy. But candidates who were pro abortion almost always were wrong on all the other important policies. Those were statistics given by this group called the New Hampshire Renewal Project. That's all around the country. In fact, I could have gone to Orlando to a meeting not long ago, but I wasn't able to do it.

So this group, as a believer, we have the responsibility to view candidates, see where they stand on this important issue life and abortion things like that. After I got saved, I determined and this is the way I operate and think, and a lot of other believers do too I will not give my vote to a candidate who supports abortion or who will not promise to oppose it. That's a big issue today. The previous administration not this one that's going out they pushed abortion to the eighth and ninth month. Like a baby could be in the womb eight or nine months old and they pushed the idea that you could abort it.

And in recent days, they even believed that if the baby is born alive and it's on the table, that you can kill it. It's justified to kill it. I mean, that's how far it's gone. And that's one of the reasons I wouldn't vote for them. The way to stand against that is to vote for the right kind of people.

Not bombings, not killings, not things like that, find out who the candidates are and where they stand. And then vote. That's why your vote's so powerful. That's why it's a sacred trust. That's the first issue.

And again, I'm not trying to be unkind, and I'm just telling you what the Bible says, and in light of our country and what we're dealing with today, I think this can be very helpful to us. The second thing is the value of the traditional family. And that's a big thing. The family remember it's one of God's institutions that he's ordained the family is the building block for a society. It's God ordained.

The family in Genesis one twenty seven is a union between one man and one woman. Verse 27 says, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him male and female created he them. Two genders were made to complete each other physically, emotionally, and in every other way, and it says they're to become one. Genesis two twenty four, Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. It's good to know the history of the world.

It's good to know the history of The United States. What you will discover is that every successful civilization that has ever been built has been built on traditional family values. Many of them have gotten away from that and they've kind of fizzled like the Roman Empire. Mother, father, children. That's God's design.

Creatures. It's the only foundation that will endure and we see that in history too. It's the only foundation where the welfare of the children is assured. It's a place to propagate the true faith, teach and model God's plan before children in a Christian home. It contributes to the well-being of a society, it contributes to the orderliness of a civilization, it's a place where parents take responsibility for their own children.

When the God given pattern is undermined, the whole superstructure of society becomes unstable. That's why we see our society the way it is today. When we deviate from God's divine pattern, we invite disaster. And our biggest challenge today is the big push to remove names like father and mother and he and she and that's being pushed big time now. It's been brought up already in the halls of government in Washington DC.

They're trying to eliminate a person from saying he or she or mother or father. You know, they want everything to be, you know, gender neutral type stuff and they're trying to push that through. And that's a an attack on the traditional family. And that's an abomination to our Lord. Leviticus chapter 18 verse 22 says, thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind.

It is an it is an abomination. You know, that word abomination is the strongest biblical word for a denunciation of sin and the proof is seen in, you know, what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter 19. The proof is seen in Romans chapter one. You just read that whole chapter and you'll see what it's all about. It's an attack on the traditional family.

And the divine pattern for the sacred institution of marriage is under attack. Radical homosexuals and their allies in courts are trying to redefine everything. Some states have already declared same sex marriage and things like that. And in most of the states that was decreed by a handful of judges and it wasn't the will of the people. That's the sad thing about it.

And one little issue that's attached to that, what they're trying to do is to prevent even things mentioned in the Bible from being mentioned. It's not unseen that maybe in the future, if I would even mention a message like this, I would be arrested. That's where it's going. We're trying to eliminate all opposition to those that want the traditional family. So let me just ask you this question: Is this what you want for The United States Of America?

Is this what you want for this nation that was founded by godly people? This nation that began by operating on Godly principles. Well, we can do something about it. And it's called voting. It's right to vote for the candidates who support traditional family values.

Find out if the candidate is aligned with groups that don't. Find out if a candidate is for even civil unions which is a political way of skirting the issue. It still is an attack on the traditional family no matter what you call it. I mentioned that I would never vote for somebody that was pro abortion. I would never vote for somebody that's against traditional family values because I know it's a biblical issue.

It's a moral issue. It's a responsibility that I have as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. So those are some things, you know, that we have to face as believers. So, we have a heritage that's godly. We have responsibilities as citizens and believers.

It's called voting. How do righteous people get in power? They're voted in. We're not to be a nation of violence and killing people and destroying property things like that. But we're a nation we're a nation that has believers in it that are called to pray and to give the gospel out and to make a difference when they exercise their their vote.

There's all kinds of things happening in this day and age. There are good people that are protesting and things like that and they have good intentions and they're not causing any trouble or any violence. But then you have others mix in with those good people and they're causing violence and lots of trouble. And we need to be concerned about that. So we've looked at our roots, we've looked at our responsibilities, and here's another big one.

We might not think too much about it, but what I'm talking about is our religion. Our religious freedom. That's something that's important to think about when we vote too. Freedom is inspiring, it's liberating, and it's priceless. Galatians chapter five verse one says, stand fast in the liberty where with Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage and what that was talking about back then is they got saved.

They understood that it was about a relationship with Jesus and not just religion. And they had relationship with Jesus and then the Jewish leaders were turning him back to this religion that couldn't save. But God, you know, he gave us a free will. He gave us a free will to choose. And I've chosen Jesus.

I've chosen God's word and yet there are a lot of people that resist that and reject that and suppress that And the fact is we have to guard that freedom, defend it, or we will lose it. You know freedom often comes with great cost and sacrifice. This is not only true spiritually with the death of Christ to set us free but it's true in a nation as well. You know, The United States is a place where we can worship freely who we want, what we want. You know, that's the freedom that we have.

Just because it's legal doesn't make it right. And if somebody from another religion, let's take the Muslim religion, if they want to worship that way, I'm not going to use violence toward them. I'm not going to say you can't do that and you must be a Christian and force you to be a Christian. That's not right. They they have that freedom in The United States Of America.

I have the freedom to be a Christian. I can worship God in the way I see fit, and I want to keep that freedom. I don't want another religion to try to push me out and say that that's illegal. See that's what's happening in a lot of countries, especially the Arab countries. You can't be a Christian there.

If you say you're a Christian, you're dead. Yet, they come here and and and they they promote their causes and their religion and they're free to do that. But it doesn't work the other way. There there are Christian pastors in prisons right now being tortured and there's probably in the news, I think there are a couple right now in North Korea that they're trying to get out. Why?

What is their crime? Being a Christian. We have the freedom in this country to be a Christian and when another religion or group tries to take that freedom away, we need to resist that and push back. One of the ways we can do that is find out the candidates that are for religious freedom. I know there was a big battle a while back with some nuns.

They didn't want to promote birth control and abortion and things like that. The government that was in power arrested them. And then it eventually worked its way out with the next administration. Religious freedom was upheld, but it's a battle that we're facing this day and age and we might be seeing more and more of that coming up. The fight for freedom is never over.

We've got to fight to win, we've got to fight to keep it, and that's religious freedom. So we looked at three issues, really. Abortion issue, we've looked at the family values issue, and the religious freedom issue. Those are on the ballots when we vote. And although it's too late now, the voting is over for a while, it's coming again.

We're going to have opportunities again to vote for good people. And I hope that believers, a higher percentage, will be willing to see, you know, it's a sacred trust, it's something that's important. It's not too late for our country, I don't believe. We can still as believers exercise our freedoms. The first amendment tells us about this freedom.

It says Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of a religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Now some would like you to say that that means that Christians can't have anything to do with government and you can't pray at meetings. That's not what it means. This does not mean that Christians can't be involved and influence their government and the decisions of government. It simply means that we cannot have a state church in which the state runs and requires that everyone have the same beliefs.

That's not The United States Of America. That's the direction some would have us to go. Atheism is a religion. You know, secularism is a religion. There are those that want to push God completely out of the of The United States Of America.

There are those who would like to make Christianity a crime and arrest people and arrest church members and things like that. It just simply means we don't have a state church which we're forced to be a part of. Again, is kind of slowly being taken away by activist courts and school boards and some educators and teachers. You look back over our recent history, public prayer in school was outlawed in 1962. Public Bible reading was outlawed in 1963.

The 10 Commandments were taken down from school house walls. Now the military is banning praying in Jesus' name. I remember I was up in Canada, there was a plane crash over in Nova Scotia. It went down on the coast there, so the Canadian government had a gathering, a memorial service of some sort and they called a couple preachers that they wanted to give the prayer and kind of say a few words and what they said was we want you to say a few words but you cannot pray in Jesus name. Well, a few of the preachers said, no, I cannot do that.

I can't, it's impossible for me to pray and not pray in Jesus name. So, the government scratched them off the list. They finally got someone from the United Church of Canada and they they they prayed to something or someone and that they didn't use Jesus name. They didn't want to offend, you know, Jehovah Witnesses and Muslims and other groups. They couldn't pray in Jesus' name.

Well that's kind of what they're trying to do. They're trying to take away our religious freedom. Let me wind this down. It's a little different kind of a message, I felt the Lord wanted me to bring this, and I want to bring you some encouragement. I believe the solution to these serious problems begins with God's people.

It really does. You know, remember the verse second Chronicles seven fourteen of my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Then, will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land? It's the responsibility of God's people to put the right kind of people in office. Remember, Proverbs twenty nine two that I started with, when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

And the way to put people in office, righteous people in office in our democratic society is to vote for the right people. Pray and then act. And the question to ask ourselves is where does a family, where does the candidate stand on life, family, and freedom? Are we going to let God guide us as we vote? Are we going to devote biblical values or pocketbook issues?

You know that's a real problem. If a politician promises groups of people that he's going to give them more money or more benefits or do things for them, That's who they vote for. That's why I say, Is it going to be voting on biblical values or pocketbook promises? I heard the question, Do all fairy tales begin with once upon a time? And the answer is no.

Sometimes they begin with when I am elected. Are we willing to trade our godly heritage for a secular society that is destined to fail and certain to face God's wrath and judgement someday? There's no question it's going to fail. There's no question secularism is deep seated in our country. If you are a believer in Jesus and love his word then you can absolutely make a difference on the moral health of this country.

You can make a difference on the character of our country's leadership. You can change the direction of our country is going by living and voting your Christian values. Don't forget that the highest calling that we have is to share the love of Christ with everyone. All that we hold dear comes back to Christ and his death on Calvary's Cross for us. And this is what we don't want to forget.

We're to love all people even those who we may disagree with about life, liberty, and religion. See, we're seeking, we're to seek their salvation by witnessing to them and by loving them and by praying for them. And that's the only thing that's going to change their hearts and their belief system. In Romans chapter one verse 16, still true. The Gospel is still the power of God unto salvation.

I want to finish up here with just a few positive comments. We see a lot happening in our country today. But for the believer, there's no place for violence, there's no place for property damage, there's no place for disrespect for those in power. Know, no one gets in power without God's permission. We may not like the result but we have to accept the result we need to pray and and give out the gospel.

If every believer fulfills their God given responsibilities to the family and to the church and to their government, things will get better. There's no question about it and we have have some future things coming up. But don't wait till, you know, the day before to find out information. You know, you need to be thinking about things now for, you know, voting on down the road. And here's what I want to leave with you, and this is where I get great comfort and assurance.

God is still on the throne. We must never forget that God is still on the throne, and Jesus is still the king of kings no matter who the president is. God is still on the throne and Jesus is still the king of kings no matter who the president is. So, let's pray. Father, we do thank you for these few moments that we've been able to look.

Lord, I pray these thoughts will encourage us and challenge us and Lord, help us to be a people that love others even those that disagree with us. Help us to win them by loving them and praying for them and and then carrying out our responsibilities that we have in our families. In our church, and in our government. Lord, all three of those institutions. Lord, we're to be involved in as believers.

We're to do our part. We're to seek your will on the matters that and issues that we're faced with to vote on. Help us to do the right thing and Lord, I pray that we'll leave this place today encouraged and and again Lord help us never to forget that you're still on the throne and that Jesus is the king of kings and Lord of Lords no matter who in our human government is in position. In Jesus name I pray, amen.