We're talking about politics today which can be pretty challenging, so our pastors’ commitment to you as we preach this series, is this:

• We will not tell you WHO to vote for.

• We’re not going to preach based on our opinions.


Here’s what I would ask you to commit to us:

• Keep an open mind as we look at the Bible.

• As conversations come up with people in the church,
 give them the benefit of the doubt, and look at their heart.

You are a Citizen of Heaven

Philippians 3:20
But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.

When someone asks, "who are you, what is your identity?" I really hope that you would say, “I’m a follower of Jesus” far before “I’m an American” or “I’m a Democrat or a Republican.”

In Philippians 3, Paul talks all about how he used to live with confidence in his earthly life:
his nationality, his tribe, his social class, his actions and accomplishments.

Just like Paul, if you live in this country you have quite a bit of room to boast. But here’s what Paul says about all of that:

Philippians 3:7-8
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.

There is nothing wrong with being a Democrat or a Republican, but there is a problem when you let that designation turn into tribalism, when being a follower of Jesus takes a back seat to your political beliefs, or when you start believing that everyone who disagrees with you is automatically evil because of their choices.

Philippians 3:17-21
17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

He’s talking about people who REALLY THOUGHT they were Christians, but missed Christ because of their tribalism.

You’re also a Citizen of America

If you told the early church leaders under Roman rule that you have the power for your voice to be heard in the empire you live in, what do you think they would tell you?

USE IT!

Paul risked his LIFE for that opportunity.

In Acts 23, the Jews had Paul arrested for preaching to the Gentiles, and in Acts 25 he ends up speaking directly to King Agripa.

He takes the opportunity of a captive audience of people in power to share his testimony about how Jesus changed his life.

Acts 25:28-29
28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” 29 Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

If you are an American Citizen, you have been given influence in our country and you would be a fool to ignore it.

Martin Luther King in his letter “Letters from a Birmingham Jail”

“There was a time when the Church was very powerful — in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”

Don’t be a thermometer talking about how bad it is,
Be a thermostat bringing the TRUTH of Christ to our world.