America At Its Best | Pastor Rob Koke | Shoreline Church

This land I love, this land of the free, this land of purple mountain, rivers wide, wild, the soil of a billion seeds, land of Chesapeake and Cherokee, land of sojourners, seekers, land of progress and preacher, with the beat of every burrow, and the hero of the classroom teacher, this land of Bell, Thomas Edison, land of Jackie Robinson, land of bandstand and farmland, bluegrass and Graceland, this land is a Sunday meal, still warm on the kitchen oven, the warm brilliance of Abraham Lincoln, and the bravery of Harriet Tubman, this land is a good movie in the making, an idea in the waking light of liberty, still blazing, a bold prayer in the praying, yes, this land is a land where we never forget, where we may fall, but we shall rise, land of one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind, land of these many states united, indivisible under God, land of dreams on every street and hope on every block, land of working, land of wading through the water, through our fears, land of our father's blood, land of our mother's tears, land of 250 years of America, America, the young and old, America, the people, America, the beautiful, this land I love. Good morning, everyone, and a special welcome to all of you who are watching online. We're so grateful to have you in our services here today. We're going to take a moment to stand to our feet. We do this at the beginning of every single message to recite what we call our Shoreline Creed, just a few phrases to remind us at the end of the day that Christianity is not just information on how to live a better life, but it is the story of God's incredible, reckless, radical, unconditional love for the human race, and so we just celebrate that with our creed. If you're new to Shoreline, you can read along. The rest of us, we're going to say this with some enthusiasm and passion. You guys ready? Come on. You guys ready? Okay, here we go. I am loved by God. I cannot earn it.

I cannot lose it. I am forgiven and made brand new. In Christ, I live with passion and purpose. I am empowered by the Spirit to be the church in the world and to live this love revolution. Come on. Let's give God praise for that, and you may be seated. So a little boy out on a country farm had accidentally knocked over the outhouse, and when he got back to the house, the father was there and said, Sam, did you knock over the outhouse? And the little boy replied, no, I didn't, and so the dad told him the story about George Washington and how when he was asked if he cut down the cherry tree, he said, I cannot tell a lie, and he wasn't grounded, and so he asked the boy again and said, son, did you knock over the outhouse? And he said, I can't tell a lie either. I did it, and the father said, you're grounded for three weeks, and the little boy said, well, George Washington wasn't grounded, and the father said, well, George Washington's dad wasn't in the tree when he cut it down. All right, some of you are going to get that on your way home, yeah. Anyway, today we are celebrating 250 years as a nation. It happens, you know, of course, on Saturday of this coming week, but we're celebrating it today, and it might be the most significant, you know, July 4th celebration in our lifetime. I still remember back at the 200-year celebration and tall ships were sailing into harbors around our country, and it was just a big, big celebration. Well, 250 even sounds more significant to me, and we will celebrate with picnics and parades and fireworks. We will wear our red, white, and blue, and if you're anything like me, you'll put on your patriotic playlist, and you'll shed a few tears thinking about how fortunate we are to live in this. great land. I've had the opportunity to travel all over the world and there is nothing like the United States. In fact, one of the things that I think makes our country so special

is that it's a melting pot of a lot of different cultures in a lot of different places. I come from Holland. That's where my family comes from, the Netherlands. So we're the land of wooden shoes and windmills. But I've been, you know, to some of the neighboring communities there over in Europe and you think about England with its castles, you know, and you, you think about, you know, France with the Eiffel Tower and you think about Switzerland with its beautiful mountains and, and chocolate. And you think about Italy with its history and pizza. You, you think about Africa and the beautiful continent of Africa with its vibrant people and, and you think about their kindness and spiritual intensity. You think about Asia and its precision and, and one of my best friends in college was a Native American and, and you, you think about all the different cultures and all the different backgrounds. And then you think of course of the, you know, Hispanic, Latino, uh, background, which has the very best food. Come on, let's admit it. And you, you think about how we are this melting pot. It's what makes America unique. It's what makes America strong. It's what makes America so special. I want to invite everyone to sing along on an oldie but a goodie. You wanna stand, stand. If you wanna sit, sit. Let's sing together. This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to New Jersey to New Jersey, to New Jersey, up to the South. I follow my footsteps in the sparkling sands of a diamond desert, and all around me, a voice was sounding, that this land was made for you and me. Come on! This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the Redwood Island, from the Redwood Forest to the Gold Stream waters, oh, this land was made for you and me. This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the New York Island, from the Redwood Forest to the Gold Stream waters, oh, this land was made for you and me. Yes, this land was made for you and me. Yes, this land was made for you and me. You think about this great country, made up of all these different cultures, all these different backgrounds, all these different ethnicities, and we forged a life together. One of the things that I've noticed, and maybe you have too, when you travel overseas or

you travel outside of our country, it's kind of easy, and I don't know why necessarily, but it's kind of easy to spot other Americans. I don't know if it's just our accent, you know, or... or if it's the fact that we don't speak many other languages, or it's that swagger that's in our step, but you can almost see Americans, even if you haven't met them. When I think about it, I think there's something that unites us, something that is unique to us, something that we share in common. It gives us a kind of national identity. On our money, there is this phrase, e pluribus unum, out of many, one. And it's out of our differences and out of our diversity and out of our different places from the world that we came from that actually makes us stronger. We are the United States of America. We hear every day about what divides us. I wanna share for a few moments today what unites us, what we all share in common, what we treasure about this land that we love. And most important, that we would continue to embrace and to make right decisions about our future. As I share these things, I'm not implying that everyone in our country shares these values or that as a nation that we've always lived up to them. Sometimes we've got it wrong, really, really wrong. But I do think that these virtues and these attributes that we share in common as a country are woven into the fabric of our national identity

and they are worth highlighting and celebrating this morning when we are at our best. When we're at our best, we share a common foundation. And that common foundation is this, in God we trust. I think it's really important that as we enter into this week of celebrating 250 years as a country that we remember how it all got started. One of the first official documents of the pilgrims who landed here recorded these words. We enter into this confederation together to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we now profess. In 1776, 99.8% of the people living in this country were Christians. 55 out of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were church-going believers. After signing the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams said, we have this day restored the sovereign to whom alone men ought to be obedient. From the rising to the setting of the sun, may his kingdom come. John Hancock, who's signature was the largest on the Declaration of Independence, he was the president of the Continental Congress. He said, I humbly commit our righteous cause to the great Lord of the universe. Nathan Hale, who was martyred and killed as a spy, was actually out of seminary, serving in the Revolutionary War, and he is the one who famously said,

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. Patrick Henry, is life so dear or peace so sweet? Asked to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death. Henry was also reported to have said, it cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religion, but on the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come on, somebody give God praise this morning. George Washington said, it is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. Oh, most glorious God and Jesus Christ, my merciful, loving Father, I acknowledge and confess my guilt and the weak, imperfect performance of the duties of this day. And there was a phrase that resonated in the hearts of all of the American Revolutionary Armed Forces, no king but Jesus. I know a lot of years have passed, 250 of them, and there's probably not 99.8% of our population that now profess faith in Jesus, but there still is a bunch of us who do, more than a majority. There's a lot of us who believe in God, and I love this verse from Proverbs chapter five,

chapter three, verse five, says, "'Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. "'Lean not on your own understanding. "'In all your ways acknowledge Him, "'and He will make your paths straight.'" This nation was founded by people who aspired to trust in the Lord, and my challenge to each and every one of us is that we would do the same, that we would remember that we are richer when we trust the Lord, we are stronger when we trust the Lord, we are kinder when we trust the Lord, we are better when we put Him first in our lives. This is our national heritage, this is our legacy, unshakable faith that God is good, and He has a destiny for each and every one of us, and He will see us through, and the best is yet to come. We share a common foundation, trust in the Lord. We also share a common love, a love for freedom. I don't know if we fully appreciate just how unique our country was when it was first founded. The ideas that went into the Constitution to guarantee our rights and freedoms for future generations were unheard of at the time. Every single nation in the world was either ruled by a dictator or by a monarch. To have a government that was of the people and for the people and by the people was something that had never appeared on planet Earth

up until that moment. The writers of the Constitution had freedom in mind. They wanted to guarantee those freedoms, so they put them in a document. They came to this land to be free, and our freedoms at that time were unique, and today they are worth preserving. The freedom to worship as we choose, the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, a freedom to pursue our own course in life. But you know what? You can have all of the freedoms that our culture affords you and still be bound up on the inside, and that's why we celebrate at church our freedom that comes through the magnificent grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Galatians chapter five and verse one, it says, so Christ has made us free. Now make sure that you stay free. All of us here in this room and those of you watching online, as Americans, we have the opportunity to be doubly free because of what Jesus has done. We are free by the matchless grace of Almighty God who has forgiven us of our sins and given us a brand new identity, who has blessed us with magnificent promises, and people, family of believers that we get to do life with, and heaven ultimately will be our eternal resting place

for every single one of us. We are free because of what Jesus has done for us, but we get to live out that freedom in a free country. Do you know how blessed and privileged we are? We are free to worship and free to celebrate. There are Christians, and you know this to be true, that are persecuted all around the world, but we get to celebrate with freedom. We don't have to wonder when we walk outside the doors of this building what's going to happen. Let's never take our freedoms for granted. We share a common foundation, trust in the Lord, a common love for freedom, but we also share a common dream. This is a land of opportunity. America truly is a land of opportunity. You can do anything, and it doesn't matter what your background is. It doesn't matter what your ethnicity is. It doesn't matter where you came from or what your family has ever accomplished in the past. You live in a free country. country, and you can dream of great opportunities. I have four grandchildren. Three of them are from the union of my daughter, who is white, and my son-in-law, who is black. So I have three mixed children, and they are the most beautiful, the cutest kids you'd ever, ever meet. And I am so glad that they are growing up in this country where they can actually accomplish anything they put their heart and mind to do. You can go as far as your intellect and passion and faith will carry you. Americans have put a man on the moon, and just recently we flew around that moon, and all of us were inspired again at what we can do together. Americans have harnessed electricity. They were the first ones to fly. We are the ones

who lead the world in technology and medical breakthroughs. You can build businesses, and some of the finest businesses in the world were started here. The telephone was invented here. The automobile was invented here. The iPhone was invented here. You can run for office, or you can get an education. The first settlers here saw how beautiful this land was, and they pushed their progress forward from one side of the land facing the Atlantic all the way over to the other ocean on the Pacific. The first settlers saw that this land was beautiful and explored it from sea to shining sea. You know, I am the first one in my family born here in the United States. My mom and dad immigrated from Holland. My two older brothers were Dutch citizens. One of them is now an American citizen. One is still a Dutch citizen. My parents became American citizens, but they had that same love that our explorers and pilgrims had before them, this love for adventure and exploring this country. When they arrived here in 1959, I was born in 1960. My parents always loved to explore this great land. And one summer, my dad decided that he wanted to see the whole country. He wanted to drive all the way to California and back. And so he got some extra time off of work, and we had a six-week trip that we took as a family together. And he had often bragged that he did it, because we were not a wealthy family, he did it for $150 more than what he would have originally spent if he just stayed at home. $150 more for all the gas and everything else that we did. And we stopped in Niagara Falls. That was the first stop that we did. We camped everywhere we went. You couldn't, you know, do a trip like that for $150 if you stayed in hotels. We camped everywhere we went. Niagara Falls. I'll never forget, the second stop was Gettysburg and Pennsylvania. And we saw all of the things that happened there and the sacrifices that were made. And then we traveled up to the Great Lakes, made our way over to the badlands of Montana and Wyoming, all the way out to California to see if we could wrap as a family. There were five of us kids and my mom and dad. If we could wrap our arms around one of those great big redwood trees. This land that we live in is blessed with beauty, with resources. And you can live anywhere you want to live. You can live in Alaska if you want to. You can live in Florida. You can live in California. You can live in New York. Or if you're really wise, you can live in the greatest state in the union, the state of Texas. Come on.

Alaska truly is a land of opportunity. For heroes proved in liberating strife. Who more than said our country love and mercy, more than I? America, America, may God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness, and every gain divine. O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, For purple mountains and majesties above the fruited plain. America, America, God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. Come on, let's sing it together. America, America, God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. Oh Lord, shining sea, yeah, shining sea, yeah. We share some things in common. A common foundation in God we trust. A common love for freedom. A common dream for a land of opportunity. But we also share a common heart of generosity. Said in a piece that appeared in newspapers all across the country, he quoted this about our country. The United States is possibly the most generous and least appreciated people on planet Earth. American generosity is not dependent upon the government or public policy. It's not written into the Constitution or our laws, but it is the heart of our people. It is a part of the American cultural fabric. In all of human history, there has never been a country as compassionate and as generous as the United States. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Russian novelist who stood up to communism, he said this about our country.

He said the United States has shown itself to be the most generous country in the world. Whenever there is a flood or an earthquake, a fire, or a natural disaster, an epidemic, who is the first to help? The United States. And who helps the most and unselfishly? The United States of America. We share a common heart, generosity. But we also share a common legacy of sacrifice. This is our flag. I saw it waving this morning when I drove up to the church in the strong southern breeze. It was flying proudly and beautifully. There are three colors to this flag. There's red, there's white, there's blue. The blue stands for loyalty. We are for each other. As divided as it might seem, we are at times. And we fight tooth and nail, like cats and dogs on the inside. But if you attack us from the outside, you better watch out. There is more to us than you would ever, ever fully understand. There's a loyalty. And the white stands for purity. And I know we don't always get it right. But that's what we aspire to, to be a good people,

with good hearts. And the red stands for sacrifice. It stands for the blood that was shed. And we sit in this auditorium this morning because others have made the ultimate sacrifice. Many of those who signed the Declaration of Independence, they pledged their honor and their lives and their sacred fortune. Some of them lost it all for this dream called the United States of America. Sometimes I think we can take for granted what others have sacrificed so greatly for. I grew up in New England. I was born in New Jersey. I grew up in Connecticut, but I got to Texas as fast as I possibly could. But in the Northeastern part of our country, you won't drive very far and not see some monument to some battlefield or some heroic person that laid down their life in the Revolutionary War. Historic landmarks. Our nation was birthed out of people who were willing to lay down their lives. And you might not have agreed with all of the wars that America has fought throughout the years, but I'm sure that every single one of us are grateful for the legacy of courage and sacrifice. I wouldn't be here standing on this stage if some brave men and women from our own country

didn't liberate my former homeland, Holland, from the tyranny of the Nazis. John chapter 15 and verse 13 says, greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for one's friends. It's a part of our American heritage. It's a part of our legacy. American blood has been shed to save the world. Not once, not twice, but many times. We as Americans, we share so much in common. There is far more that unites us than what divides us. When we are at our best, we do certain things, and I wanna challenge you to do that. On a ship that was headed over to liberate Europe, to liberate. There was a young sailor on one of those ships. His name was William J. Hennessey. And it was listing and would fall into the oil-soaked water. And before he knew it, he found himself running towards that flag inside of his shirt. And he jumped into the water where he was rescued a few days later. I realized in that mother's kitchen, my father's workshop, my right to pray, and the hope of the people I hadn't even met yet, I wasn't just saving a flag. I was holding on to our future. And speaking of our future, I would like to invite our children out onto the stage.

And as they come, let me just say this, to remind all of us of what we celebrate this coming Saturday. 250 years ago, a group of men signed a document that changed the world. Today, we don't just celebrate their signatures. We celebrate the God who gave them not only the courage to sign, but the fortitude to see it through. And you know what? God is not finished with our story yet. That same courage, that same legacy, that same sacrifice, I think it's still in our own hearts here today. And maybe this fourth, we will learn to appreciate that what unites us is far more significant than what divides us, and that the best is yet to come. ♪♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah ♪ ♪ God bless America ♪ ♪ Land that I love ♪ ♪ Sandy side earth, land I live in ♪ ♪ In the night with the light from above ♪ ♪ From the mountains to the prairies to the oceans ♪ ♪ I would walk ♪ ♪ God bless America, my home sweet home ♪ ♪ God bless America, my home sweet home ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ God bless America ♪ ♪ Land that I love ♪ ♪ Sandy side earth, and I live in ♪

♪ In the night with the light from above ♪ ♪ From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans, I would flow ♪ ♪ God bless America, my home sweet home ♪ ♪ God bless America, my home sweet home ♪ Come on, let's stand to our feet. Let's celebrate the freedom that we have. Come on, church. Let's go. Come on, sing. Yeah, come on. I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. Let's go. ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ Sing, look at what. ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ I'll sing, I'll dance, come on, girl. Let's go. Let's go. You took the cross. You shed your blood. My blood is paid. Yeah. You took the cross. You shed your blood for me, Jesus. My blood is paid. I couldn't do it. No, no, no. You took the cross. You took the cross. I shed your blood.

My blood is paid. Oh, yeah. Let's go. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. I couldn't do it, so. I'm so glad you did it for me. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. I said, I couldn't do it, no. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. Give God some praise today. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. If you wouldn't mind just bowing your heads and closing your eyes, you can live in the freest country in the world, but you'll never be truly free until you invite Jesus to take your sins as far as they even go. this from the West and maybe you came to church today and you'd say pastor I'm not where I need to be with God and you want to invite him into your heart or maybe you made a decision at one point in time but you slipped away and today you need to rededicate your life to serving him if you want to meet him for the very first time or rededicate your life to serving him would you just be bold about it here this this morning just raise your hand wherever you are you say that's me I need to get right with Jesus wonderful God bless you all of you with your hands raised and I want to lead you in a very simple prayer all of you with your hands raised here this this morning and and everyone else has a reaffirmation of your faith in God would you join me in this prayer let's pray together Heavenly Father I thank you for sending Jesus Jesus I ask you to come into my heart forgive me of all my sins I put my trust in you and I will live for you from this day forward by your power for your glory in Jesus name would you give them all a great big hand clap listen if you if you raised your hand to get right with the Lord then I want to

encourage you to make your way either to my right or to my left or even in the in the center lobby there are people there who want to give you some information that'll really help you to live this Christian life that you just prayed to receive and today outside we have some popsicles for you just to celebrate you know and kick off your week-long 250 year celebration of July 4th and we're really looking forward to next Sunday it's going to be a fantastic fantastic time together if you've got any prayer requests please come forward our prayer partners will be delighted to meet you here for prayer God bless you have a fantastic rest of your week and we'll see you on Sunday