Pastor Mark Mikels
\nAugust 27, 2006<\/p>\n
“MY COMMITMENT AS AN AMERICAN –
\nPart One”<\/p>\n
“My Relationship To My Government”<\/p>\n
Church Under Construction – Behavioral Phase #5<\/p>\n
Intro … Our theme these past few months has been “Church Under
\nConstruction” for we have seen that even as we are engaged in building
\na church structure on the corner of Apple Valley and Ottawa Roads, so
\nthe Lord Jesus is engaged in building the church congregation that will
\nassemble within it. You and I are the raw materials the Lord is using
\nto build that special congregation – He is shaping us and refining us
\nand then arranging us into a spiritual structure that will suit His
\nPurpose in this little corner of His Kingdom.<\/p>\n
We have seen that this construction project will proceed through four
\ndistinct phases … the doctrinal phase where we come to understand the
\nkey teachings of the Christian Faith, the behavioral phase where we
\nwill we exposed to key practices of the Christian Life, the relational
\nphase where we will explore key inter-actions within the Body of Christ
\nand finally the evangelistic phase where we will discuss our outreach
\nto the world. So far we have completed the doctrinal phase and we are
\ncurrently right in the midst of the behavioral phase.<\/p>\n
During the doctrinal phase we carefully examined the statements
\ncontained in our Sonlife Statement of Beliefs and now in the behavioral
\nphase we are proceeding statement by statement through our Sonlife
\nCovenant of Behavior. Here are the statements we have covered so far
\n…<\/p>\n
The Behavioral Phase of Construction<\/p>\n
I will seek to worship God in spirit and in truth as a continuous
\npractice of my life and I will commit myself to a regular study of
\nGod’s Word so my mind might be renewed and my life transformed by its
\ntruths.<\/p>\n
I will make my time, energy, and personal resources available for God’s
\nuse knowing that all I am and have is simply a trust from Him and I
\nwill invest my finances cheerfully and sacrificially in the work of the
\nLord, taking the Biblical “tithe” as my guideline for giving.<\/p>\n
I will endeavor to give positive witness of my relationship to Jesus
\nChrist by word and deed in every circumstance in which I am placed and
\nI will refrain from any activity or practice of life that might
\ndiscredit the name of Jesus, harm the temple of the Holy Spirit (my
\nbody), hinder a fellow believer, or cause my personal testimony to be
\ncompromised.<\/p>\n
(John 4:23-24; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; 2 Timothy 3:15; Romans 12:1-2)
\n(Psalm 24:1; Matthew 25:14-18; 1 Corinthians 4:1; Malachi 3:10; Matthew
\n6:19-20;<\/p>\n
1 Corinthians 4:7) (Acts 1:8; Colossians 3:17; 1 Peter 2:15) (Romans
\n2:24; 1 Corinthians 6:19-10; 8:9; 1 Timothy 4:12b, 15-16; Proverbs
\n23:29-35)<\/p>\n
That’s quite a list of commitments … that’s quite a blueprint that
\nthe Lord is following as He seeks to form us into a spiritual structure
\nthat will honestly bear His Name and accurately reflect His Cause.
\nToday we examine the next commitment that’s on the List …<\/p>\n
Here’s how it reads: I will fulfill my responsibilities as a citizen of
\nthis land by: respectfully submitting myself to the authorities that
\nGod has placed over me, carefully informing myself on public issues of
\nmoral concern, and prayerfully involving myself in the political
\nprocess through which leaders are chosen so that reasonable,
\nGod-fearing men and women might be placed in all levels of government.
\n(Romans 13:1-7; 1Timothy 2:1-3)<\/p>\n
You see … we as members of Sonlife Community Church and as followers
\nof Jesus Christ have certain Biblically based responsibilities as
\ncitizens of this great nation in which we live. We cannot be a true
\nChurch of Jesus Christ unless we take those responsibilities
\nseriously. Jesus Himself would build us into a congregation of
\ncommitted Christian Americans.<\/p>\n
So what does it mean to be a “Committed Christian American” – What
\nspecifically are my responsibilities as a Christian American to my
\ngovernment?<\/p>\n
Our Sonlife Covenant identifies three. We call them this morning …
\nTHE ACTIONS OF A COMMITTED CHRISTIAN AMERICAN:<\/p>\n
1. I Will Respectfully Submit Myself … Be OBEDIENT<\/p>\n
“I will fulfill my responsibilities as a citizen of this land by …
\nrespectfully submitting myself to the authorities that God has placed
\nover me”<\/p>\n
That action arises directly from Scripture … Romans 13:1-5<\/p>\n
“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there
\nis no authority except that which God has established. The authorities
\nthat exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels
\nagainst the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and
\nthose who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no
\nterror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want
\nto be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and
\nhe will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you
\ndo wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is
\nGod’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
\nTherefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only
\nbecause of possible punishment but also because of conscience.”<\/p>\n
This is ground that we have covered before … Followers of Jesus
\nChrist have no option but to submit themselves to those who rule over
\nthem as long as those who rule over them are not requiring them to do
\nsomething that is morally or biblically wrong. Generally speaking,
\nChrist would have his followers obey the laws of the land and
\nrespectfully submit themselves to the governors of the land. Generally
\nspeaking, government officials should see the churches of their
\ncommunity as their allies not their enemies.<\/p>\n
But there’s more that makes up our citizen commitment …<\/p>\n
2. I Will Carefully Inform Myself … Be AWARE<\/p>\n
“I will fulfill my responsibilities as a citizen of this land by …
\ncarefully informing myself on public issues of moral concern.”<\/p>\n
Now here’s something that the Apostle Paul could not have imagined. In
\nthis great land, to some degree every citizen is part of the ruling
\nbody. Any law-abiding citizen can run for office and can share in
\ndetermining who in fact gets elected to office. To some degree every
\ncitizen is accountable to God for the moral condition of the country.<\/p>\n
It is the responsibility of a Christian American to become informed
\nregarding the state of affairs in the nation and in the part of the
\nnation in which they live because our American Constitution gives every
\nlaw-abiding citizen a say in what happens. Our Constitution is build
\nupon solid moral principles – principles that have allowed this nation
\nto prosper. I believe that a careful study of the Constitution will
\nuncover grounds for a rigorous defense of things that are morally
\nright.<\/p>\n
As I’ve said before … the challenge for any Christian in government
\n(especially in national government) is to find “Constitutional Reasons
\nto do what is Biblically right”.<\/p>\n
A government official in this country can never and must never defend
\nhis decisions by saying “The Bible Says” … he must defend his
\ndecisions by saying “The Constitution Says …” On local levels the
\nappeal might be “the contract says” or “the ED code says” …<\/p>\n
And so it is imperative that we, as the most junior members of the
\ngoverning structure, carefully inform ourselves on public matters of
\nmoral concern so we know what and where the issues are that our leaders
\nneed to address. In our next message (“My Responsibility To My Society)
\nwe will focus on several of those very issues but for today we
\nrecognize the commitment to “carefully inform ourselves” …<\/p>\n
And now there’s one more action that our Covenant says a Committed
\nChristian American and we as members of Sonlife Community Church<\/p>\n
will take and that is …<\/p>\n
3. I Will Prayerfully Involve Myself … Be ENGAGED<\/p>\n
“I will fulfill my responsibilities as a citizen of this land by …
\nprayerfully involving myself in the political process through which
\nleaders are chosen.<\/p>\n
Here’s the Scripture that suggests such a commitment … 1 Tim. 2:1-4<\/p>\n
“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and
\nthanksgiving be made for everyone– for kings and all those in
\nauthority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness
\nand holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all
\nmen to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”<\/p>\n
Surely if we are to pray for those who are in office it follows that in
\nthis country we would prayerfully concern ourselves with the process by
\nwhich men and women are put into office. In a certain sense a church
\nshould pray as much for the Lord’s leading when facing an election as
\nit does when it faces the calling of a pastor. In both cases they are
\nasking God to fill one of the positions of authority that He has
\nestablished in the world of men.<\/p>\n
So what does it mean to “prayerfully involve myself in the political
\nprocess” …<\/p>\n
Certainly it means “voting intelligently” … it might mean “actively
\nsupporting a candidate” … it might even mean “running for office”
\nyourself!<\/p>\n
And to what end are these “Actions of a Committed Christian American”
\ntaken? Consider now …<\/p>\n
THE ASPIRATION OF A COMMITTED CHRISTIAN AMERICAN:<\/p>\n
That REASONABLE, God-fearing Men and Women be PLACED In all LEVELS of
\nGovernment!<\/p>\n
“I will fulfill my responsibilities as a citizen of this land … so
\nthat reasonable, God-fearing men and women might be placed in all
\nlevels of government.”<\/p>\n
That’s what we desire … that’s what God desires … that reasonable,
\nGod-Fearing Men and Women be placed in all levels of government – Men
\nand women who will uphold and reward that which is right and good and
\nwho will stand against and punish that which is wrong and harmful.<\/p>\n
May God stimulate our hearts to take up the call to truly function as
\nCommitted Christian Americans! May Christ successfully build us into
\njust such a church body – a body of believers who function absolutely
\nbiblically in relationship to the government under which they exist.<\/p>\n
To that end I would share with you this …<\/p>\n
Final Thot …<\/p>\n
GODLY leaders leading well bring BLESSING to the people they GOVERN! So
\nSEEK them out – put them in OFFICE and PRAY for them once they are
\nthere!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pastor Mark Mikels August 27, 2006 “MY COMMITMENT AS AN AMERICAN – Part One” “My Relationship To My Government” Church Under Construction – Behavioral Phase #5 Intro … Our theme these past few months has been “Church Under Construction” for we have seen that even as we are engaged in building a church structure on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"template":"","meta":[],"categories":[9,3],"archive_item":"http:\/\/archive.org\/details\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com--church-under-construction---behavioral-phase-part-4a","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons\/194"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sp_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}