Scripture: Psalm 33:10-12
Sermon: Memorial Day 2026

A Sunday School teacher asked her students, “What was the name of the first man?” One boy held up his hand, “I know. The first man was George Washington.” And the teacher replied, “No, the first man was named, Adam.” The little guy said, “Well, I guess if you’re including foreigners, you’re right.” It’s funny yet, it reveals how many American Christians think. Our young friend was only thinking of America.

Too often we’re focused only on America and forget that the gospel and Church go back 2,000 years and that the gospel is for the whole world.

Jesus told His disciples, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). Symbolically America, and this corner of Wisconsin are our Jerusalem and Judea.

Our political leaders continually talk about “hope for America,” yet most don’t have a clue about the hope that America and our world needs. On this Memorial Day weekend, let’s take a few minutes and talk about America’s Only Hope. It’s found in the pages of Scripture.

Our Founding Fathers knew their Bibles. Of all the documents gathered from our Founding Fathers, which includes their letters and deliberations, the Bible was quoted more than any other book. Our Founding Fathers believed passages like Psalm 33:10-12 which says, The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen as His heritage!

America is in trouble morally and spiritually, yet God is the God of hope. We’re currently in a series on the book of Nehemiah. That was also a time when everything seemed hopeless. But God’s people turned to God and the Lord brought restoration and healing.

America’s hope isn’t political. It’s spiritual. What’s true nationally is also true individually. This morning let’s take a few minutes to work through our nation’s only hope. If you’re taking notes…

1. Our Founding Fathers knew the need for God’s blessings. 

We live in the day of revisionist history. In recent years there’s been a rewriting of our history, sanitizing out references to the faith of our founding Fathers. Anyone though who studies the original documents of our nation will see the faith of these men and women shining through at every point.

This year we’re celebrating the Semiquincentennial, or the 250^th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. In September 1775, 55 brave men gathered in Philadelphia to convene the first Continental Congress. Their first official act was to request a pastor to come and pray for their undertaking.

They summoned Dr. Jacob Duché, pastor of Christ Church two blocks away. Duché arrived and read Psalm 35 in its entirety. Then, he led them in a passionate prayer seeking God’s wisdom and guidance. There’s a famous painting of this scene of Dr. Duché giving this opening prayer for the Continental Congress and our first President, George Washington, and first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, along with others kneeling in prayer.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our President and Supreme Court Justices would fall to their knees in prayer today? It was such a powerful prayer meeting that John Adams wrote about it in a letter to his wife, Abigail: Our prayers were enough to melt the hearts of stone. I saw tears gushing from the eyes of the old, gray Quakers of Philadelphia.

These prayers continued every day whenever they convened. In ten months, they’d write the Declaration of Independence in which they rejected an earthly king and chose a heavenly One. They wrote about some self-evident truths they held: First, All men are created equal. There can be no more nobility, or lower classes. Second, “They are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights. Our rights come from God, not from an earthly king or government.

When the Declaration was signed. Pastor Duché went to his church and took the Anglican prayer book. Whenever there was a prescribed prayer for King George, he crossed out the words, King George and replaced it the United States of America.

Did you know that the Lord Jesus is not only in the Declaration of Independence, but He’s also in our Constitution? The last line says, Done in the Unanimous Consent of the States present the 17th Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven. There’s only one Lord that fits that description. His name is Jesus.

Our Founding Fathers embraced a strong faith and trust in Almighty God. Sadly, that’s no longer the case in our country.

2. God’s blessing on America is because of our defense of religious freedom. 

No other country has the religious freedom we have in America, not even Canada or Great Britain. Our forefathers weren’t perfect. Like us, they were all sinful who struggled with their faith. But they all knew the Bible. It had been their textbook at every level of their education. All of them agreed, there is a God in heaven who rules over the affairs of men.

One of the greatest and most radical aspects of our government’s design is the separation of church and state. From the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine, throughout the history of the Holy Roman Empire, all the way to the Church of England, there had been a close alliance between the church and state. Even today in Europe taxpayers subsidize churches, whether they attend church or not. For instance, the Church of England receives about 15 million pounds from the government each year.

This is very important! The purpose of the separation of church and state was to keep the State out of the church, not to keep the Church out of the State. That’s a concept that would have been foreign to our Founding Fathers. Sadly, most Americans have been taught a myth, that it’s the other way around – to keep the Church out of the State.

That phrase separation of church and state isn’t in our Constitution. The term originates in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut on January 1, 1802. President Jefferson used the metaphor of a wall of separation between Church and State to describe the Establishment Clause of the 1^st Amendment, assuring this group of Baptists that the government could not interfere with their religious liberties. Our Founders did something that was revolutionary. They loved their churches and religious freedom.

Basically, there are four kinds of governments. Monarchy, which is a rule by one, a king or queen. An Oligarchy, which is a rule by a few. A Democracy, which is a rule by the majority. Finally, there is a Republic, which is a rule by law. Actually, there’s a fifth kind of government, which is anarchy…a rule by nobody.

Are we a democracy or a republic? Many Americans think we’re a Democracy; but we’re a Republic. We say, I pledge allegiance to the flag and to the republic for which it stands. We’re a republic where we elect our leaders through a democratic process.

What’s the difference? If the majority decided Hispanics have no rights, would they be protected? No. What if the majority decided churches could only meet in buildings with stained glass windows? Could they meet? No.

So, a Republic protects even the minority by rule of law. And our Republic at the founding of our country decided churches would not be State Churches and can teach according to their conscience, not according to what the government says that they must teach. A Republic form of government protects even small groups by the rule of law.

While we can change our laws, it’s a much more difficult process, than the whim of the majority. It’s why our founders designed our government to be a republic. In America it’s not, “the majority rules.” Instead, we live by, “it’s the law of the land.”

And a democracy is not far from mob rule. It’s a republican form of government, not the political party, who protects individual rights and religious freedom. But during the last seventy years, our religious freedoms have been under attack. Let me share just a couple of examples.

New York City adopted a policy that barred churches from renting public schools on weekends for worship services, even though non-religious groups could rent the same schools for other uses. In its 100-year history, the University of California Hastings College of Law has denied student organization status to only one group, the Christian Legal Society, because it required its leaders to be Christian and to abstain from sexual activity outside of marriage.

Religious freedom is much more than the “freedom to worship” at a synagogue, church, or mosque. It means people shouldn’t have to go against their beliefs in order to conform to culture or government. It protects an individual’s rights to live, speak, and act according to his/her beliefs peacefully and publicly. It protects their ability to be themselves at work, in class, and at social activities. Here’s how that applies to the most common allegation in religious freedom cases today – charges of discrimination.

Should florists, photographers and bakers be forced to provide their services for same-sex weddings that violate their religious beliefs? Let’s flip the question. Should a lesbian graphic designer or printer be forced to create a flyer for a religious group’s rally opposing same-sex marriage?

Our banners at Grace are created by a Muslim print shop. I’d venture that if someone asked my Muslim friend, Ahab, to create a banner promoting gay marriage, he’d refuse. It would violate his religious convictions.

3. America’s only hope is to turn to God. 

Doomsayers have long predicted the decline and fall of this country. While these short-term predictions have proved inaccurate, there is some truth to the prevailing belief that the U.S.A. will eventually fall like every great nation before it. Apart from revival and reformation, America is destined to decline.

The problem with most doomsayers is that while their prognosis is right, their diagnosis is wrong. Yes, the future is bleak. But our problem is not political, economic, or social. The decline of this nation (just as the decline of every other nation) is due to spiritual factors. The political, economic, and social problems we encounter are symptoms of the spiritual deterioration of a nation.

Just as there are spiritual principles that influence the life of an individual, there are political-spiritual principles that govern the life of a nation. Though we may feel that these are obscure and difficult to discern in reality they’re visible to anyone willing to look at the record of history.

Sadly, we fail to learn from history. George Santayana said, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Or as Winston Churchill observed, The one thing we have learned from history is that we don’t learn from history.

When we study history, we observe that nations are born and die just like people. Their longevity may exceed the average person’s lifespan, but nations also die. The average age of the great civilizations is around two hundred years. Countries like Great Britain and the United States have exceeded the average age. Each of the great civilizations passed through a series of stages from their birth to their decline, ultimately to their death.

Recently, we’ve had individuals coming by our home pushing their candidate for the next State Senator’s race. Christ-followers know politics is not the answer! It never has been and never will be. King Jesus is!

As a nation, we’ve rebelled against the Lord. How will we ever find our way back to God? The answer won’t come from the White House or the Governor’s Mansion. Politics will never save us or heal our land.

Our greatest need is spiritual. We need another great awakening. Maybe it will come in our day. I hope so. This is what I do know…

Repentance always begins with God’s people. 

1 Peter 4:17, For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? True change doesn’t happen with a change in government. It happens when God’s people get serious about obeying and serving God. So, it’s not a problem with “them,” it’s a problem with “us.” So, how do we know when repentance is taking place?

The gospel is recovered. 

Times of revival always have some sense in which the gospel is recovered. The gospel is believed and communicated in a new vital and vivid way. The gospel is that you’re saved by faith alone, but not by faith that’s alone or remains alone. The gospel changes you from the inside out. It’s a spiritual transformation.  

Revival happens when a church recenters on the gospel. Either a church must move away from a rigid, anti-everything conservatism into a more positive gospel-centered, grace-filled Christian life. Or a church must recover from the liberalism that doesn’t believe the Bible, in Christ’s sacrifice for sin, or we’re really sinners and Jesus had to die for us to take our punishment on the cross, so we could be forgiven by a holy God.

Repentance is normalized. 

It’s what happened in Korea. The early stages of a revival that led to tremendous growth in the Korean church started at the beginning of the 20^th century. Repentance was a big part of it.

In one place, revival spread in some of the towns where many of the proprietors were Chinese. Often, the Chinese were the wealthy ones in town and owned the businesses. Many Chinese proprietors were astonished because when the revival started to spread, Korean Christians, came under conviction of sin and started coming back to the proprietors and confessing they’d robbed or cheated them. That’s repentance.

It was seen during the Asbury Awakening in 1970 that went on around the clock for weeks. During the chapel services, students started getting up and confessing, “I’m sleeping with my boyfriend, and I really want to stop, and I’m confessing this to God.” This public confession brought about a remarkable spiritual seriousness on the campus.

Disciples are multiplied. 

Where there’s repentance, when there’s revival, there’s always church growth. You can have church growth without revival, but you can’t have revival without church growth. Why? Because when God is working, it’s impossible for you to keep your mouth shut about the gospel around your friends and the lost turn to Christ.

4. Whatever happens we must not give in to anger or anxiety. 

What if things continue to deteriorate? What if America gets worse?

Perhaps the greatest expression of committed faith comes from an Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk. Most prophets spoke to the people for God. Habakkuk spoke to God for the people. He lived in terrible times. He saw the righteous suffering and the wicked prospering. He asked God the two questions we often ask: “Why?” and “How long?” Why are these things happening? How long will it be before they’re rectified?

God revealed to Habakkuk that the Babylonians, the epitome of everything Habakkuk (and God for that matter) detested, would become God’s instrument of judgment on Judah. Habakkuk didn’t understand and he couldn’t explain it. For a time, evil would win over righteousness. Bad things would happen to good people. God wouldn’t intervene. Yet during this time of punishment, God reminded Habakkuk of the right way to live: The righteous will live by His faith (Habakkuk 2:4).

Habakkuk realized that though he didn’t understand God’s ways or timing, he couldn’t doubt God’s wisdom, love, or reliability.

Then Habakkuk wrote out his great affirmation of faith. They’re some of my favorite verses in the Bible. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on my high places (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

Habakkuk realized that whatever happened, God was still on the throne, God was still in control. Habakkuk affirmed that even if everything he relied on failed, if everything that gave stability to his life crumbled, he’d still trust the Lord. In other words, if Habakkuk were speaking today, he’d say, Though the stock market crashes, the company goes bankrupt, the economy tanks, there’s rampant crime – if everything I rely on falters – still I will trust in the Lord. My confidence in God will not waver.

Conclusion

Throughout history Christians have thrived and glorified God even in the worst of times. Concentration Camp survivor, Corrie ten Boom knew about tragedy and suffering. She lived through it with courageous faith. After emerging from a concentration camp she said, There is no pit so deep that God isn’t deeper still.

She picked a great analogy. Pain and tragedy are a pit. Corrie ten Boom reminds us that even in the pits of disaster and tragedy, God is still there. When it looks like the world is out of control, He’s still in control.

Yes, pain is real, suffering is terrible. But God is real, too. That’s where faith comes in. Faith reminds us we may not fully grasp God’s design for our lives now, or our country or culture, but in time we will see that we chose correctly to trust God.

Church History teaches that Christians run in when the world runs out. We’re in a tough period in our culture’s history. With the pandemic, rising costs, inflation, economic decline, race riots and contentious politics, it’s understandable if we feel less like God’s light and more like hiding!

In the midst of darkness and uncertainty we’re reminded that Jesus calls us not to hide, but to choose to be His light in a dark world. God calls us, as Christ-followers, to let Jesus’s light through us right now!

God wants people to live in peace—not in a culture polarized by turmoil and division. Jesus said, A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).

Jesus is the only hope for America. He’s the only hope for our broken world and Jesus is our only hope! As His followers, we must share His hope. We’re to display the light of Christ in a dark, hurting world. We do that when we love people the way Jesus loved us.

How did Jesus love us? He moved toward us when we were far from Him. He didn’t let our sin or brokenness get in the way but forgave us. He gave His life that we might trust Him and be accepted into the family of God.

The way of Jesus is the path of renewal and restoration for our culture. It’s what it means to be a light in the darkness and draw people to Christ.

So, is your light hidden or is it shining brightly? You can’t shine Jesus’ light though unless you trust Him.

Are you trusting Him? Even if you don’t understand, will you trust Him? Trust Him because you know that He knows why. Even if you wonder how long, will you trust Him? Trust Him without explanation, logic or reasoning. Trust Him because He’s God. Trust Him because He’s the answer and our only hope!

Like Habakkuk, will you trust Him even in the worst of times?

What’s America’s Only Hope? Jesus Christ!Repentance and surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is only hope.

The bottom line is that first individually and then nationally, we must repent of sin, turn to the Lord, and surrender to Him! That’s the gospel, that’s salvation.

Have you ever confessed that you’re a sinner and that your only hope is Christ’s cross? If your only hope, it’s my only hope and it’s the only hope of America!