No other nation in the history of the world has been so _______ _______ as has the United States of America. blessed by God

Our Pledge of Allegiance — ____________________ One nation under God Our National Motto — _______________ In God We Trust

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown.”

“But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us… and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.”

“Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!”

“It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” Abraham Lincoln

Deuteronomy 8: When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. 11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them;

13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

Areas of Moral Decline

We truly are a culture in _____! crisis

“Once religion had been made vulnerable, a series of assaults were made in one court after another, on one issue after another.”

“Suits were brought to abolish the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, and to remove “In God We Trust” from public documents and from our currency.”

“Without God there is no virtue because there is no prompting of the conscience…without God there is a coarsening of the society; without God democracy will not and cannot long endure…

“If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under. Ronald Reagan

A breakdown of _______ and ________. family morality

2.The rapid increase of divorce and breakdown of the _______ 1.The decay of religion — resulting in ______________ family The Roman Empire moral collapse

4. Higher and higher _____________________ 3. The craze for _________ — sports increasingly important taxes, spending, debt The Roman Empire pleasure

5. The building of huge armaments (for protection, of course, from outside enemies — when the real enemy lies _______) The Roman Empire within

First Amendment—Congress should make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the _____________ thereof… Separation of Church and State free exercise

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.” Psalm 33:12

The Founding Fathers The Bible directly contributed to over _________ of their quotes. one-third

The Founding Fathers: James Madison “We have staked the future... upon the capacity of each... of us... to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”

The Founding Fathers: Benjamin Franklin “Whoever shall introduce into public affairs the principles of Christianity will change the face of the world.”

The Founding Fathers: George Washington “I went to church and fasted all day.”

The Founding Fathers: George Washington His temporary landlord at Valley Forge said about him: “I have seen this day what I shall never forget. Till now I have thought that a Christian and a soldier were characters incompatible; but if George Washington be not a man of God, I am mistaken, and still more shall I be disappointed if God does not through him perform some great thing for this country.”

The Founding Fathers: George Washington John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, said about him: “he was a sincere believer in the Christian faith, and a truly devout man.”

The Founding Fathers: George Washington On Washington’s tomb is engraved: “I am the Resurrection and the life, sayeth the Lord. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.” John 11:25–26

The Founding Fathers: John Adams “Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book... What a Utopia, what a paradise would this region be.”

The Founding Fathers: John Adams “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

The Founding Fathers: John Adams “The destiny of America is to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to all men, everywhere.”

“I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors...; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution.

“Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.”

“America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” Alexis de Tocqueville

_________ is what makes a nation ______! Godliness great “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Proverbs 14:34

1. PRAY for America …the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16b

2. LIVE God’s Way …lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 1 Timothy 2:2b

3. SHARE Christ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Mathew 5:16