July 3, 2017

The courage to preserve our freedom

Topic: Events

July 4, 2017: The bravery and the courage of the people who fought for our independence produced a document that we celebrate. Do we still have the courage to step up, make a difference and preserve our freedom?

Download the Courage to preserve our freedom mp3

Read the transcript:

Give me your John Hancock! The old verse that means, “I need your signature on an important document.” Those of you that might be of the younger generation maybe haven’t heard that as much as those in the more elderly generation.

And it’s those things that you stop to think about here on Independence Day. What’s the relevance of John Hancock in relation to Independence Day? He was one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence; the most prominent signature on the document. His name is the biggest.

That was back on August 2 of 1776. And some of you may be going, “But wait a minute, Independence Day is July 4th.” And that is correct. There was just short of a month delay from the adoption, on July 4th, of the Declaration of Independence, and the actual signing of the document, August 2nd, 1776.

But despite that, we celebrate Independence Day on July 4th, the day it was adopted. And there were many fascinating things that go into the Declaration of Independence, but none more important than the bravery, the courage of the folks that went forth and fought for our independence. They stood up against the strong arm and the over-reach over an over-bearing government and decided that there was something better. There were freedoms to be had, that had to be maintained and enhanced. And thus, we have the United States of America.

So as we think about Independence Day, we need to ask ourselves, “Will we have the courage to stand up when government is over-reaching?” When it’s over-bearing and going beyond its constitutional authority, will we take that stand and address changes that need to be made and ask and expect those that we elect – as political leaders – to preserve what was set forth in that Declaration of Independence; to make sure that we remain a free country.

When you’re enjoying that hotdog or hamburger today or this week celebrating Independence Day, are you willing to step up and make a difference to keep America the free country we were designed to be?