IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY CHAPEL

JULY 3, 2021

“JULY 4TH And American Freedom”

Bob Butcher

MRO Pastor/Chaplain to NASCAR’s ARCA Menards Series West

7085 Battle Creek Road SE, Salem, OR 97317

Email: BobNKathy.MRO@gmail.com   Cell: 503-910-9310

It’s the 4th of July, and freedom is still a noble endeavor today. But it also has been a very divisive topic these past two years. We use the word quite often to describe different desires that resonate within us. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, freedom to choose our line of work, our own health choices, and perhaps most importantly, freedom from tyranny.  And, believe me when I say that I take that one seriously!  Not only am I a Vietnam Veteran, but Kathy and I have led many Christian outreaches into the former Soviet Bloc countries and experienced what Marxism and Communism means. Tyranny doesn’t even begin to tell the real story

As Americans, all those things are written into the very fabric of our nation’s Constitution. We believe in freedom so strongly that men and women are willing to sacrifice their lives for it. 

People have come from all over the world to live in a very imperfect America because they are hungry for freedom. I have a myriad of friends that escaped from tyranny in their home nation to America and our freedom.  Ask them about divisions in USA today.

It’s in our DNA to be free. But where does that desire originate, and who is the keeper of its integrity? Is it open to each individual’s opinion? Can I do whatever I want in the name of freedom and still call it that? At what point does my exercise of freedom become the tyranny I once despised?

Scriptures: Galatians 5: 13-15 “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other.  (GBB)

John 8:31-32  “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  (NIV) 

1 Corinthians 13:1-8  “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 7. Love never fails.” (NIV)

When America was founded our forefathers heavily debated and studied God’s principals and compared it with what tyranny existed in the government of the nation they left to forge our Constitution and Bill of Rights to endow us with our freedom today. 

However, never forget that one must ALWAYS go back to the Creator and the source of FREEDOM to realize the correct version of freedom God intended.  Just like Tyranny always strives to change history in order to get things its way, it also desperately seeks to pervert God’s scriptures to fit its own cause and have its way.

The ONLY way we can hold onto American Freedom today is to draw near to the Creator God and His Son Jesus Christ.

You can hear the entire message for yourself by going to COTHCommunity.com beginning at 9am July 4th.  It is on YouTube.com by going to COTH which stands for Church On The Hill.  It also begins at 9am.  Or you can go to our website BeyondCheckeredFlags.com and find it there and Facebook also.  We encourage you to do so and take time to celebrate our freedom on July 4th as the Lord intended us to do. 

Bob Butcher
with today’s core message from pastor bruce@church on the hill