America the Beautiful

2 dates to consider.    Rom. 13:1-8,    Gal. 5:13-15,    Matt. 22:15-22

I: The World is Full of Ugly things.
1. Great numbers are living under Police State.
2. No freedom to move about in search of a better way of life.
3. Our life time has brought Wars, Famine, and Slavery.
4. No Wars have been uglier.
5. Our own nation is divided by the longest war of our history.
6. The by-products effect all of us.
Our own Cisterns are dry!!!

II: National Security and Personal Integrity.
1. Two World Wars left us to little pieces. “The problem of War basically is Theological and involves a Spiritual Recrudescence and improvement of human character. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.” Gen. McArther, 1945.
2. When personal integrity decays the National life will decay. Ill fares the land to hasty ills of pray.
3. When leaders of a nation choose to turn their backs to God, the nation will suffer.
4. Democracy has a Spiritual basis. The World of the individual is found only in the Bible.
5. The Nation reflects the Spiritual of those who make up its Government.

III: Where can we Look for Peace?
1. The future generation that will guide our Nation is now being trained in our homes.
2. Every citizen ought to become familiar with our constitution. We ought to know our rights and responsibilities.
3. Liberty is the most precious thing we have.
4. Peace must begin with the individual.
5. Peace must rule in the home.
6. The Nation will never know peace until the home is at peace.
7. The good news of the Church is peace.
8. To be a Peacemaker, one must be at peace with God.
9. The Peacemaker must be at peace with himself.
10. The Peacemaker must have the Maturity necessary to live at peace with others.
11. The Peacemaker must have the ability to reconcile others.

History records a progressive degeneration of Warfare since the 18th Century. Sherman’s “Scorched Earth,” Poison gas, the bomb. We are in search for an alternative to annihilation. Two dates stand out in History:
The birth of Jesus Christ, and The Hiroshima bomb, Aug. 6, 1945.

Only by the influence of Christ can we find peace and remove the threat of total destruction.