God Is With Us

Proud To Be A Christian

Leader

Good morning everyone. I would like to know what did you do on the Fourth of July? Raise your hand if somebody wants to tell me. (Let children respond)

Leader

The Fourth of July is kind of like a big celebration, right? Do you know what we’re celebrating? Why are we celebrating on that day? Does anybody know? (Let children respond)

Leader

It’s our country’s birthday. You know when you have a birthday, you want to celebrate? We celebrate our country’s birthday. I just got a question for all the big people. You all listen, okay? Are you proud to be an American. (Yes) Oh, good. They said it with a big, resounding yes. I like that enthusiasm.

Now, I’m going to ask you to help me sing a song to the children. They might not know this song very well. I know you know the chorus; to God Bless the USA. When we get to the part where it says “And I proudly stand up,” I’d like for all of us to stand up on that part.

And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the men who died who gave that right to me.
And I’ll proudly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
For there ain’t no doubt I love this land God bless the USA.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much. You can ask anybody on the street, “Hey, are you glad to be an American? Are you proud of America?” Probably everybody would say yes. I’ve been thinking. If someone were to come up to you and say, “Are you proud to be a Christian? Are you proud to be a follower of Jesus?” Hopefully, we would say yes. You know, a long time ago, there was a man named Paul. Paul was a follower of Jesus. Because he was a follower of Jesus, he was put in jail.

If you tell somebody that you go to church, are they going to put you in jail? No, because we have the freedom to go to church and worship like we want to. Paul knew that his time on this Earth was coming to a close so he wrote this letter to his friend, Timothy. He wanted Timothy to continue in the faith. I just want to read to you what Paul said. He said, “God did not give us a cowardly spirit, but a powerful, loving, and disciplined spirit so don’t be embarrassed to testify about our Lord.”

Just as we’re proud to stand up and say we are Americans, we should also be proud to stand up and say we’re Christians. I’ve kind of got the words re-written to God Bless the USA. I’m going to sing the new words and when we get to the part, “Stand up,” I want everybody to stand up, okay? You all with me? Okay.

For I’m proud to be a Christian, and I love my God you see.
And I won’t forget the one who died on the cross on Calvary.
And I’ll proudly stand up next to you and praise His name today.
For there ain’t no doubt I love this man who took my sins away!

Thank you.

Let’s have a word of prayer. Dear Jesus, (Dear Jesus) thank you for letting us (thank you for letting us) have the freedom to tell others (have the freedom to tell others) about you (about you).