Happy 250th Birthday, America!!!

As I wake up today, thinking about America at 250, I am encouraged by a nation, although imperfect, is a symbol of hope and doing the impossible. America is a bold nation, embodied with great freedom and bound by the dream of liberty and justice for all.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, America made a bold declaration: all people are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.

The years since have been marked by remarkable achievements, profound challenges, seasons of unity, and painful division. America’s story has never been one of perfection. It has always been one of people—humans who are flawed, hopeful, resilient, and in constant need of God’s grace.

As we celebrate 250 years ago f the greatest nation on Earth, let us resist both blind patriotism and cynical despair. Instead, let us choose grateful realism.

Let us give thanks for the multitude of freedoms we enjoy.

Pray for our leaders.

Honor those who sacrificed to preserve liberty.

May we continue to work for justice, freedom, mercy, and truth in our own communities.

Help us continue to be better.

Let us continue being a nation of unshakable hope, magnificent dreams and endless possibilities.

And let us also remember that while nations rise and fall, the Kingdom of God endures forever.

Our ultimate citizenship is in Heaven, yet God has placed us here, in this nation and in this moment, to love our neighbors, seek the common good, and faithfully bear witness to Christ.

May America continue to be a place where faith can be lived freely, where truth is pursued courageously, and where every generation learns anew that liberty is best sustained by virtue, humility, and dependence upon God.

Happy 250th, America!!!

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

Psalm 33:12 ESV