Pastor David Hicks
July 2, 2023 at 11:00 AM
The Nation and the Church need to be Born Again
the_nation_and_the_church_need_to_be_born_again.docx
The Nation & the Church Needs to be Born Again
John 3:7 Jesus said, “You must be born again.”
John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
On July 4, 1776, was born One Nation Under God, 244 years later it needs to be “Born Again”.
The Book of Acts records one of the greatest days of Biblical history, the outpouring of the H.S. known as The Day of Pentecost that has been recognized as the Birth of the Church. 2,000 years later, the Church needs to be “Born Again”.
America, the greatest Nation/Republic, in all of human history is in decline. Many believe it has already reached the tipping point. Billy Graham, before his death, said, “America’s best days are behind us.” The social and moral decline is “Bankrupting” this once great Nation we hold dear. America needs to be “Born Again” ! It’s America’s only hope.
No particular Party or policy will ever be enough. Repentance and revival is the only answer for our Nation today.
The Church needs a Rebirth, re-energized by the Holy Spirit with a new vitality and enthusiasm to reach our post-Christian World.
Author Eddie Gibbs of Fuller Theological Seminary writes about the Born-Again Church.
He says, “We have to get back to applying Paul’s vision for ministry in our post-Christian World. We need to exchange an unbiblical, consumerist institutionalism for a robust ecclesiology that offers hope for the future, upholding the true Apostolic Message. We need a rebirth, a revitalization of the Church today.”
As we have personally experienced “New Birth”, being Born Again according to John 3:1-21.
The scriptures declare the results of that experience in II Cor. 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature/creation/reborn. The old things (the previous moral & spiritual condition) have gone. Behold the fresh and the new has come.” Our Nation needs to be Born Again. Our Churches need a Rebirth, God is the God of New Beginnings and fresh starts.
The New Birth then makes all things New, Rebirth represents a New Beginning.
Our Sister Church, Carbonton Community Church, has recently been “Born Again”; a New Beginning, for that congregation, as we rejoice with them in the Lord for their future.
We, too, at Spring Lane Assembly are on course for a New Beginning. On Friday of this past week, June 30, marks the end of a 17-year Mission of the Church with the closing of the successful Child Care Program, We would like to offer our sincere thanks to the Staff and all who helped throughout the years to make this such an All-Star, Five Star endeavor.
We, as members of Spring Lane Assembly, have been seeking God for some time for a New Direction, a reallocation of resources. We are believing for and expecting God to birth new ministries that will be a blessing to this Community. By Faith and much prayer, we are in the process of being “Born Again” ! AMEN We believe “For such a time as this.”
Sixty-six years after the four Gospels and the birth of the Church, Jesus wrote seven letters to seven Churches. The goal of these messages of Christ to the seven first-century local Churches existing in Western Asia Minor (modern Turkey) was to challenge, encourage, warn, and build up Believers and Churches throughout Church history
The value of these messages for Churches today include . . .
A Revelation of what Jesus Christ, himself, loves and values in His Churches as well as what He hates and condemns.
A clear statement from Christ about the consequences of disobedience and spiritual neglect/ the rewards for spiritual alertness, diligence and faithfulness to Christ.
A standard by which any church or individual may judge their true spiritual condition in relation to God.
An example of satan’s methods for attacking and working against the Church or individual Christian.
Spiritual decline can be stopped and corrected in any Church or group if there is sincere repentance and a sincere return to the original love, truth, purity and power of Jesus Christ and His original Biblical revelation according to Rev. 2:5-7, 16-17 “Remember therefore of the height from which you have fallen and repent and do the first works; or else I will come unto you quickly and remove thy candlestick out of his place, except you repent. But this is in your favor. You hate the life lived by the Nikolaitans, and I also hate it. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying unto the Churches; to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”
We need Born Again people. We need Born Again Churches. We need a Born Again America.
Prov. 14:34
Righteousness is a sign of a Nation’s greatness but sin degrades any people. (NCB)
Godliness/Righteousness exalts a Nation but sin is a reproach to any people.
Doing what is right makes a Nation great but sin will bring disgrace to any people. (NIRV)
God Bless America Again
