America at 250
Jeremiah 2:11-13
This weekend our nation marks 250 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. July 4, 1776, was the day the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration, and it became one of the most important documents in the history of the world.
Today, we need to be confident about God's role in the founding of this nation. Because if we are not careful, we can celebrate independence and forget our need for dependence. We can celebrate freedom and forget the God who is the source of true freedom. We can celebrate rights and forget the Creator who gives us those rights.
So here is the main idea: America was born clearly acknowledging a deep dependence on God. At 250 years, the Church must lead the way back to that deep dependence on God.
Our Hope Is Not In America
Let's start by making one thing clear.
Our hope is not in America.
Our Savior is not America.
Our gospel is not American freedom.
Our Savior is Jesus Christ. And our gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But having said that, we can also say something else clearly. America was founded with a deep dependence on God. America was not founded on the idea that truth is whatever we want it to be. America was not founded on the idea that government can create rights. America was founded on the conviction that there is a Creator God, that God has given us moral truth, that all human beings have unalienable rights, and that government is accountable to recognize and protect those rights that come from God.
The Foundation Of God-Given Rights
That is not simply opinion. That is in the Declaration itself.
The Declaration begins by appealing to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." And then it says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…"
That is a theological statement.
Unalienable means these rights are not created by the government. They come from the God who created us. This is about the absolute truth that God created us all equal, and God alone gave us these unalienable rights.
Our nation's founding documents were written for government to protect these God-given rights, not replace God as the giver of rights, which is what Progressive Socialism does.
The founders rejected the idea of a government-run church, and we should be thankful for that. They rejected forced religion by the government, and we should be thankful for that. They understood that faith cannot be compelled by government.
But they did not believe that public life could be, or should be, stripped of God or God's moral truths, which is what Progressive Socialism does.
Our founders believed that freedom could not survive without moral truth. They believed that liberty could not be maintained without godly virtue.
George Washington said religion and morality are indispensable supports of political prosperity.
In other words, our freedom needs a foundation higher than itself. Our liberty needs a moral framework higher than itself. And our unalienable rights need a source higher than human government.
And that higher source is God.
The Progressive Socialism rising in this country today replaces God as that higher source with government as that higher source. I am not saying America has always followed these truths. But I am saying those truths are woven into the very fabric of the creation of this nation.
All of our country's founding documents say God is our higher source in all things, not the state. Progressive Socialism replaces God as our higher source with the state - the government - being our higher source.
There are so many God-centered truths woven into the founding vision of this nation, God-centered truths that were bigger than the men who wrote them. And those God-centered truths have exposed our national sins and failures since they were written.
But when America fails to live up to the God-centered truths it was founded on, the answer is not to throw away those truths. The answer is to return to them. When a nation drifts from God, the answer is not to rewrite those truths with Progressive Socialism. The answer is to return to God.
When we, as a nation, forget the source of our freedom and the source of our rights, the answer is not louder arguments. The answer is repentance.
Jeremiah Shows Us What Happens When A People Forget God
Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. He ministered in the years leading up to Judah's exile in Babylon. And Jeremiah was speaking to a nation that had once known God, once followed God, once loved God, but had drifted far from God.
Now, we are not taking the covenant promises given specifically to Israel and applying them directly to America. But the spiritual principle is clear. Any nation, any people who forget God are in serious danger. Any people who abandon the fountain of true life will end up drinking from broken cisterns.
Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols! The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay," says the LORD. "For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me- the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all! Jeremiah 2:11-13 (NLT)
That is the diagnosis. They abandoned the fountain of living water. And they dug cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all.
That is what every culture does when it says, "We do not need God anymore." That is what every person does when we say, "I can define truth for myself. I can define morality for myself. I can define identity for myself. I can define good and evil for myself."
We abandon the fountain. And then we start digging cracked cisterns.
We dig political cisterns. We dig financial cisterns. We dig entertainment cisterns. We dig sexual freedom cisterns. We dig self-help cisterns. And we dig government-savior cisterns, which is what Socialism is.
And after digging all those cisterns, we are still thirsty. Because cracked cisterns cannot hold living water.
This is where we need courage. We need courage to say, lovingly and clearly, a nation cannot reject God and keep the blessings that come from God. A culture cannot deny the Creator and still preserve the dignity of every human life. A government cannot redefine truth and still protect freedom. A people cannot abandon the fountain and then wonder why the cisterns are dry.
The Founders Understood Dependence On God
This is where our history matters, because this nation was absolutely founded with a deep public recognition of dependence on God.
Not perfect. Not uniform. But there was a clear public recognition that God is real, that God sovereignly rules, that our rights come from the Creator, that moral truth matters, and that prayer is critical in the life of a nation.
In 1775, just after the War for Independence began, the Continental Congress called the colonies to a day of public humiliation, fasting, and prayer. They understood the moment was too great for human strength alone. They understood that if freedom was going to survive, they needed help from Heaven.
In 1789, right after Congress approved the wording that would become the First Amendment, Congress asked President George Washington to call the nation to thanksgiving and prayer. Think about that. The same founders who gave us "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," also called the nation to thanksgiving and prayer to God.
Why?
Because they understood the difference between forced religion and public dependence on God. They refused a state-run church. They refused government coercion in matters of religion. But they also absolutely believed our liberty needed God. Our freedom needed God. They believed God's moral law was fundamental and foundational. They believed a free people must be a responsible people. And they believed a responsible people must be accountable to God.
Abraham Lincoln Shows Us The Way Back Is Humility
Fast forward to the Civil War. The nation was being torn apart. Blood was being shed. Families were divided. The sin of slavery had brought the nation to a terrible reckoning.
And in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln called the nation to a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln said, "We have forgotten God."
That is a sentence that should shake us today.
"We have forgotten God."
That is exactly what Progressive Socialism does.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln also said we had become too self-sufficient and too proud to pray to the God who made us. That is exactly what Progressive Socialism does. And then Lincoln called the nation to humble itself, confess our national sins, and pray for mercy.
That is not merely a political message. That is one of our greatest leaders ever saying, "We are in trouble because we have forgotten God." And if Abraham Lincoln could say that in 1863, how much more can we say it in 2026?
As a nation, we have forgotten God.
But hear this clearly. The answer is not first for Washington to get right. The answer is not first for our schools, courts, media, or culture to get right. The answer begins with the people of God falling before the Lord and saying, "Lord, begin with us."
The Call Is To Return To God
After confronting the sin of His people, God still gives an invitation.
Therefore, go and give this message to Israel. This is what the LORD says: "O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. Jeremiah 3:12 (NLT)
That is the heart of God.
Come home.
You have wandered. You have sinned. You have exchanged the fountain of life for cracked cisterns. But come home.
Only acknowledge your guilt. Admit that you rebelled against the LORD your God . . . Confess that you refused to listen to my voice. I, the LORD, have spoken! Jeremiah 3:13 (NLT)
That is repentance. Not excuses. Not blame shifting. It is acknowledging. Admitting. Confessing.
"Return home, you wayward children," says the LORD, "for I am your master . . . Jeremiah 3:14 (NLT)
"My wayward children," says the LORD, "come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts." Jeremiah 3:22 (NLT)
That is the hope. God does not expose sin to destroy us. God exposes sin to heal us. God calls us to repentance because He loves us.
"Yes, we're coming," the people reply, "for you are the LORD our God. . . . Only in the LORD our God will Israel ever find salvation. Jeremiah 3:22-23 (NLT)
That is the message America needs at 250. Only in the Lord our God will we ever find salvation. Not in replacing our nation's God-foundation with the anti-God foundation of Socialism. Only in the Lord our God will we ever find salvation.
Salvation Has A Name
Salvation has a name. His name is Jesus.
Our hope is not merely that America becomes more religious and more moral. Our hope is Jesus Christ. He is the One who died for sinners, who rose from the dead, who alone can forgive sin, who alone can change hearts, and who alone can give living water.
That is why the Church must keep Jesus at the center, even when speaking clearly about our nation. We can love our country without worshiping our country. We can thank God for freedom without confusing freedom with salvation. We can speak truth about America's founding without ever allowing America to become our gospel.
The gospel is Jesus Christ crucified and risen. The hope of every sinner, every family, every church, every community, and every nation is found in Him.
Our Independence Must Lead Us Back To Dependence
So what do we do on the 250th anniversary of American independence?
We thank God for every good thing He has allowed us to receive. We thank God for freedom. We thank God for the ability to gather openly. We thank God for the Bible in our hands and the gospel we are free to preach. We thank God for those who have sacrificed for our freedom. We thank God for every way He has shown mercy to this nation.
And then we humble ourselves.
Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker, Psalm 95:6 (NLT)
The strongest thing the Church can do is to worship and bow down. We kneel before the Lord our Maker knowing that we are not self-sufficient. We are not in control. We are not our own Savior.
We need God. Our families need God. Our church needs God. Our community needs God. Our nation needs God.
Courage To Stand And Kneel
We need the courage to speak the truth in love. We need the courage to say America's foundation was built on the opposite of Socialism. We need the courage to say our rights come from God, not government. We need the courage to say freedom without God's truth will eventually destroy itself.
We need the courage to say the Church must not hide its light under a basket. But we also need courage in humility to say the return must begin with us.
We need the courage of people who are willing to stand for truth and fall before God. The courage of people who can love their nation without worshiping their nation. The courage of people who can say, "America has been blessed by God, but America desperately needs to return to God."
So today, we celebrate 250 years of freedom with a deep dependence on God. We thank God for America. But we worship Jesus alone. We remember the true foundation of our country, and we kneel before the Lord, because only in the Lord our God will we ever find salvation.
If My People
Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)
God's people must humble themselves. God's people must pray. God's people must seek His face. God's people must turn from sin.
If there is going to be hope for the future of our nation, it begins with the people of God returning to the Lord.
Begin With Us
So we have to ask personally: Where have I abandoned the fountain of life? Where have I dug cracked cisterns? Where have I wanted God's blessing without God's Lordship? Where have I wanted freedom without surrender? Where have I wanted rights without responsibility? Where have I wanted revival but resisted repentance?
This is where it starts. Not out there. In here. With each of us.
Lord, search me. Forgive me. Restore me. Make me courageous. Make me humble. Make me faithful. Lord, teach me to stand for truth and kneel before You.
At 250 years, America does not need a louder religious argument as much as it needs a living witness of people who truly depend on God. People who pray. People who repent. People who love truth. People who love their neighbors. People who proclaim Jesus.
People who understand independence is a gift, but dependence on God is our life source.
A Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for every good gift You have allowed us to receive. We thank You for freedom, for the ability to gather openly, for the Bible in our hands, and for the gospel we are free to proclaim.
But we confess that our hope is not in America. Our Savior is not America. Our gospel is not American freedom. Our hope is in You alone.
Forgive us for abandoning the fountain of living water and digging cracked cisterns that cannot satisfy. Forgive us for wanting Your blessing without Your Lordship, freedom without surrender, rights without responsibility, and revival without repentance.
Lord, begin with us. Search us. Restore us. Make us courageous enough to stand for truth and humble enough to kneel before You. Teach us to love our nation without worshiping our nation. Teach us to speak truth in love. Make us a living witness of people who truly depend on You.
Only in You, Lord, will we ever find salvation. And salvation has a name. His name is Jesus. Amen.
Independence is a gift, but dependence on God is our life source.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation.