“The Key to God’s Provision and Protection-Part 3”

Temptations Americans Face Mark 6:1-6

“Only in America” Some of our craziness………..

Only in America can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance. Only in America are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink. Only in America do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions, while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Only in America do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a DIET coke. Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our junk in the garage. Only in America do we use answering machines to screen calls and have call waiting so we won’t miss a call from someone we didn’t want to talk to in the first place.

Only in America…. …do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Some of the Sadness of America “Paradox of our time” --by George Carlin

The Paradox of Our Time is… We have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less. We buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.

The Paradox of Our Time is… We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

The Paradox of Our Time is… We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

The Paradox of Our Time is… We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life but not life to years!

The Paradox of Our Time is… We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We’ve done larger things, but not better things. We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

The Paradox of Our Time is… We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait.

The Paradox of Our Time is… We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

“America is great because America is good.”

“If America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

Beware! If we put our trust in education, we’ll get what education can give us. If we put our trust in money, we’ll get what money can give us. If we put our trust in government, we’ll get what government can give us.

But if we put our trust in God, we’ll have everything we need, for all eternity!

First Temptation America Faces I.Temptation to enjoy fruits of citizenship without tending tree of liberty.

Most of us haven’t earned the freedoms we enjoy. We didn’t go to foreign lands and fight for them. We have not shed our blood and sweat and tears for them.

“We eat from orchards we did not plant. We drink from wells we did not dig. We reap from fields we did not sow. We are warmed by fires we did not kindle. We are sheltered by roofs we did not build. We are blessed by moneys we did not give.”

Second Temptation America Faces II.Temptation to enjoy benefits of capitalism while ignoring conscience.

Our forefathers believed that men were endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights—and that among these were life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The soul of America is God, and we’re in danger of losing our soul!

Third Temptation America Faces III.Temptation to want Christianity without commitment.

II Chronicles 7:14 “If My people who are called by My name will 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 heal their land.”

The Three “I Wills” 1.I will hear from heaven. 2.I will forgive their sin. 3.I will heal their land II Chronicles 7:14

IF…… 1.We humble ourselves 2.We pray 3.We seek God’s face 4.We turn from wicked ways

Nature forms us. Sin deforms us. Education informs us. But only Christ transforms us!